What's new

Cigar auction indicates Cohiba may be overpriced….

BoneYard

Spent loot on Scotch,Women&Cigars -rest I wasted.
Rating - 100%
26   0   0
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
854
Location
South of you
Cigar Auction Indicates That Cohiba Cigars Are Overpriced
Cuban Cigars, Opinion
Cohiba cigars have long been some of the most sought-after cigars from Habanos. They have also remained the most expensive cigars from Cuba. Recently, Habanos decided to further increase the price of Cohiba cigars. This price increase was met with skepticism and the latest auction seems to confirm this.

The latest auction from Online Cigar Auctions has just ended. The auction is managed by Mitchell Orchant who is the founder of C.Gars Ltd and the Chief Commercial Officer at Dominique London. These auctions have become a major part of the cigar industry and receive interest from all around the world. One could argue that the auction is one the best indicator of what cigars are actually worth.

With that in mind, the latest auction has resulted in many Cohiba cigars failing to reach the current retail price. Just to be clear, virtually every single auction managed to exceed the estimated price on the website. What they failed to reach or exceed was the current retail price.

For example, the Cohiba Talisman cigars are currently retailing for around $3,400 in the U.K. Despite this, the auction price for a box of these cigars averaged less than $1,800, almost half the current retail price.

Another good example is the Cohiba Behike 52. Behike cigars have an almost cult-like following and prices have continued to rise over the years. Despite this, the latest auction ended at $1,780, which is considerably lower than the current retail price of around $2,800.

Finally, the Cohiba Majestuosos, a cigar that currently has the heaviest ring gauge from Habanos and one of the highest prices too. Currently, the 50th Anniversary humidor retails for a whopping $73,600. However, the auction ended at a fraction of that price, $29,450.


Once again, it needs to be said that all of these auctions performed admirably based on the auction estimates from Orchant and the team. The issue is that the price increase from Habanos seems more artificial now because the market is seemingly unwilling to pay those prices.

Of course, plenty of Cohiba cigars went for prices well above the current retail price. However, most of these were vintage cigars with plenty of age of them. Aged cigars that have been looked after, will generally demand a higher price. The examples above are cigars with more recent box dates making for a more reliable comparison.

As of right now, it may be too early to tell. The market may have just not caught up yet and we may see a delayed reaction. Having said that, even the auction estimates do not match the current retail prices. We may be seeing a situation where the market simply does not accept the recent price increase on Cohiba cigars. If that is the case, Habanos may need to rethink its strategy.

Whatever the situation, this latest auction has been brilliant to follow and it will be interesting to see if the price increase will impact future auctions.
 
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Jan 25, 2022
Messages
106
Hold what stock I have now, get back into NCs, keep my stash from diminishing too quickly, and wait this shitshow out. Might be a long wait
I'm doing the same, but also adding that just like my retirement plan: hitting the powerball is on my list of things to combat these high price hikes.
 

BoneYard

Spent loot on Scotch,Women&Cigars -rest I wasted.
Rating - 100%
26   0   0
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
854
Location
South of you
I'm doing the same, but also adding that just like my retirement plan: hitting the powerball is on my list of things to combat these high price hikes.
Same here, I’m planning on taking that mega millions jackpot tonight. Funny thing is, even then I won’t buy Cohiba.
 

Jfire

BoM 9/9' 9/11' 8/12'
Rating - 100%
391   0   0
Joined
Sep 2, 2008
Messages
7,508
Location
Yorkville, IL
The 3 examples listed are not any of the regular production Cohibas. Any retailer who has or had CoRo for 1000. Espies for 1500 etc etc have sold out in minutes the last 6 months.
Having said that I have not purchased a box of CCs in almost a year due to price. But many are still buying them. Especially the Asian/Chinese market(s).
 

BoneYard

Spent loot on Scotch,Women&Cigars -rest I wasted.
Rating - 100%
26   0   0
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
854
Location
South of you
The 3 examples listed are not any of the regular production Cohibas. Any retailer who has or had CoRo for 1000. Espies for 1500 etc etc have sold out in minutes the last 6 months.
Having said that I have not purchased a box of CCs in almost a year due to price. But many are still buying them. Especially the Asian/Chinese market(s).
The regular production vintage stuff went for more than retail, but that is always the case. I don’t believe they auction off new, regular production Cohiba- for a side by side comparison.

Yes there is a big demand in China, and maybe they don’t care that the cigar smoking western world is looking at them like a guy in Vegas who just bought the $750 Gurkha. We’ll see how well that works out for Habanos
 

BoneYard

Spent loot on Scotch,Women&Cigars -rest I wasted.
Rating - 100%
26   0   0
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
854
Location
South of you
Yea let’s hope so. To be fair , in many gray market sites, we’re seeing the price increases from Habanos + additional store increases due to an almost complete lack of stock. Only the price controlled markets are showing the “real” post-increase Prices. I don’t think we’ll really know how this is going to play out until Cuba brings production back up to pre pandemic levels.
 
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
Joined
Feb 6, 2020
Messages
97
Yea let’s hope so. To be fair , in many gray market sites, we’re seeing the price increases from Habanos + additional store increases due to an almost complete lack of stock. Only the price controlled markets are showing the “real” post-increase Prices. I don’t think we’ll really know how this is going to play out until Cuba brings production back up to pre pandemic levels.
Sadly the pre pandemic levels are a far ways off. They may never get back to that level. People are fleeing Cuba at the fastest rate ever and losing the drying barns last year has put a serious hurt on production. From what I hear this year will be as high as 1/2 of normal production.. They just dont have the drying capacity anymore.
 
Top