The numbers are in and it was thick, big ring gauge cigars that dominated the premium cigar industry in the first half of 2012. Value brands, cigars under $7 also topped the list, giving more accuracy to the fact that a think cigar has a better value. Will this continue, new big size cigars that will be introduced at this year’s retailers premium cigar convention and trade show (IPCPR)? Early indicators say yes.
Sixty ring cigars, meaning sixty, sixty-forth of an inch across (just shy of 1 inch across) has quickly moved up to the norm since the economy tanking in late 2007. We have heard rumblings of cigars going over the inch and topping out at over 70 rings gauge joining cigars like LFD Digger and JFR.
It’s absurd to me and you’re going to have to tell me how it tastes because I’m just not going to smoke something late thick. But the cigar makers across the world believe lots of aficionados will though and plan to take thick cigars to the next level. Many have reported that their best selling sizes now include sixty rings and larger. Apparently value smokers feel that they get more for their money and it’s hard to dispute that. But can it be just too much of a good thing?
It’s funny, the loud and tiny minority screams for lanceros, small ring gauge cigars that just don’t sell in the U.S. marketplace. And now, apparently the silent majority that votes with their wallets are voting for big, thick cigars and the cigar makers are listening to them.
Please…Why can’t we meet somewhere in the middle, a place where I can get a nice value and a cigar that I can enjoy all the way through without needing to go on a short vacation in order to find the time to do so and getting lock jaw at the same time.
