Montecristo Petit No. 2 now in stock @ CigarOne

CigarOne has announced that they are now stocking the brand new vitola from Montecristo, the Petit No. 2. It's a short piramide, measuring 4.7 x 52 and promises to offer the full Monte 2 experience in a shorter package.  Boxes are currently limited to one box of 10 per customer for the price of $133.

Black Friday Deals

Some new Black Friday deals are popping up.  I will add to this post throughout the day if I find more.

• CubanLou's has added what appears to be a pretty nice sampler deal that is a one day Black Friday only special.  The contents of which are:
• 5 Montecristo No. 2
• 5 Partagas D4
• 5 Bolivar Royal Coronas
• 5 Cohiba Robustos
• 5 Romeo y Julieta Wide Churchills
• 5 Ramon Allones Specially Selected
• 5 Jose L. Piedra Cazadores

The price for this sampler is $270.

This amounts to 30 sticks for around $9 apiece.  Even if you take out the JLPs (which to be fair, are a throw in on this deal) then that's still a pretty good value, especially if you appreciate just 3 of the 5 marcas in the package.  Singles prices for these sticks, particularly the Cohiba Robustos, tend to run fairly high.

Inaugural Pricelist Posted 11/26/2013

The first edition of the Cuban Cigar Shopper pricelist has been posted above.  You will always find the link for the current list at the top of the blog.  It is a Google Docs hosted PDF spreadsheet, viewable either in browser or downloadable for viewing in Adobe Acrobat (preferred). The scaling on browsers is a little iffy, but standalone PDF viewers with good zoom yields a good result.

This week's notable sales and highlights:

• CUNTINT has a 15% off sitewide sale going on until the end of the month
• CigarOne has ended their own 15% off regular production sale -- a curious move just before Black Friday.  Perhaps a new sale is in the offing?
• CubanLou's has announced their own Black Friday sale, but as per their custom they only have selected single boxes on sale.  Most of their value lies in their 2, 3, and 4 box package deals.  Check their site for details.

Discuss the current pricelist in the comments below.  Any other questions about the site, feel free to comment in the other blog posts - let's keep it to strictly price talk in posts tagged as pricelist.

What I track, what I do not track

It is impossible to track every known marca and every known Habanos offering.  Check that, it is possible - just not for anyone who wants to have time on their hands to do anything else.

I do not presently track the following marcas:

• Belinda
• Cuaba
• Fonseca
• Guantanamera
• Jose L. Piedra
• La Gloria Cubana
• Quintero
• San Cristobal
• Sancho Panza
• Troya
• Vegueros

I do not track clubs, minis, cigarillos, or any other product that I deem to be of general little interest to the Cuban cigar consumer.  

I do not track every packaging type offered - if you want something in a 3x5 cardboard pack from a selected marca, you are going to have to track it down yourself.  I stick to the most frequently purchased options - boxes of 25, boxes of 10 or 15, and the occasional cabinet of 50.

I do not track every single regional offering as they are far too numerous and far too spread around the various retailers.  I do make an effort to track the regionals that get good publicity or are reputed to be currently smoking well.  

How I obtain my information and how you can help

I don't have any magic tools or website scrubbers that do the work for me.  Everything is done by hand checking prices on a somewhat daily basis.  As you can imagine, this takes a lot of time and effort.  Sites and stock are always fluctuating, and sales are constantly launched and ended in the world of Cuban cigars.

I will endeavor to keep my stock and pricing spreadsheet updated at least on a biweekly to weekly basis. I will also post when various sales and interesting restocks take place.

If you like the work that I am doing and want to see more frequent updates, additional marcas, or other statistical analysis added to the spreadsheet, (such as price changes over time to see "what's hot" in the market) then please consider clicking the Subscribe button up at the top of the page.  This is, of course, completely voluntary.  Doing so will set up a $4 monthly contribution, less than the cost of an issue of Cigar Aficionado.

I have been in the cigar world for some time now, and I have been consistently stunned at the generosity of my fellow BOTL/SOTLs.  If I can save you guys money on box purchases and you feel like kicking a few bucks my way, it's a win/win relationship.  Again, you are not obligated to do this -- only if you like what you see here and want to see it continue.

Thank you for your support.

Welcome to Cuban Cigar Shopper!

The Internet is a global marketplace.

The purpose of this blog is to track the pricing habits and inventory of the nine most reputable vendors of Cuban cigars that accept orders online and ship anywhere in the world.  It is intended primarily for the global audience and in no way encourages the purchase of illegal contraband for United States residents.  While it is illegal for US citizens to purchase and import Cuban goods, it is not illegal to discuss them.  Likewise, it is not illegal to discuss pricing, who has what sales at present, and where the current best values are in the market. For those of you that are angry that this site exists (and I realize there will be some), I say unto you:  The jig is already up.  Sites and sources are openly discussed on reddit, on Cigar Inspector, and on dozens of cigar forums all over the world. There is no mystery (or at least, there shouldn't be) and nobody is being afforded greater protection by withholding information or "protecting" their sources.

There is a great deal of paranoia on cigar sites and cigar forums that is simply misplaced. We are here to talk about prices, sources, and current stock.  There might be an odd review here or there or other news, if things pan out.

It is my hope that this site will inform shoppers of not only where the best box prices are to be found but also hopefully to increase competition among vendors, resulting in lower prices for all consumers.  The discrepancies between various Internet vendors is astounding, and I don't think too many folks are aware just how vast they can be, even between retailers in the same country.  Tobacco taxes are a fact of life, but not all price differences can be chalked up to taxes.

The prices listed on the spreadsheet are in USD for convenience.