rknicker said:
I've seen a lot of people ask for clarification of cheapies/premium/super-ultra-mega-premium-with-aftermarket-intercooler divisions, including how taxes in some states jack this all out of order.
For this, retail prices are not at all what determnes this. You have to look at MSRP and then compare that to a few different sources, then compare that to availability. Take the AF Anejo's. The Shark's MSRP was about $9. Because of the scarcity there is a bell curve from $9 peaking at $15+tax and subsiding at $18+tax. Now some states, tax is %150, well %150 of 15 is 22.50. So prices aren't the best judge of super premiums. My opinion on what makes a cigar a super premium is this:
1. Do %75 of most people I know score this as a 90+ using CA's system.
2. Does %75 of the people I know have a hard time getting these.
3. Of the people who can get them, is the retail price more than %100 more often than not.
4. Is the MSRP higher than $8.
In my complicated system, if you can make sense of it, it works. For instance, take the CAO Odessey. MSRP is $15.00 for a single coffin. Now by the price, one would think it is a super-ultra-mega premium. But only half the people I know rate this as a +90 cigar. About half the people I know have a hard time getting the cigar. Only 1/4 of the people I know have to pay more than MSRP. So, I think that this cigar still has another year or 2 before it peaks. But because it is available at MSRP fairly regularly, it isn't in the top %10 of cigars. It does make the top %15 of domestics though. And in another 2 years when it does peak in flavor, and it's rarity increases, this might be in that top echelon of cigars. Incidently, I put the Partagas 150 in the same catagory, along with the Diamond Crown line. Just my 2 cents and an insight to my method of madness.
Emo