Opus heaven

[Devil Doc]

There's this cigar shop that is in a town on the edge of the middle of nowhere. Pop. 5000. It's been there since the mid '60's. I haven't stopped by in years, mostly cause he keeps weird hours and you have to catch him just right. Today, I caught him. Well actually his son. The fellow I knew retired a while back. Now I knew these guys had a old Fuente account, so upon entering the store I asked him, " got any Opus or Anjeo"? 'No anjeo", he replied," don't care for them, but I got Opus." "What do you have?", I replied. "Anything you want, probably", he said. And boy did he. "How many can I buy?". "As many as you want." I've never seen so many boxes of Opus in my life on display. He seemed to have every vitola and most, a couple of years old or older, according to him. The problem was they were double MSRP. Well he's a nice guy and we bullshitted an hour or so. He's an honest fellow; he passed the plume/mold test. Traffic, being what it is in that town, I can understand his pricing. He has to make double on every sale just to survive. So I bought a bunch and I'll probably go back. Is that so wrong?
BTW, don't PM me. He doesn't do mail order.

Doc.

 

[MoeCizlak]

That's a neat story Doc, thanks for sharing. I've got to move out East and find a cigar shop that has been around for a long time like this one. Fuentes or no it would be neat to smell the age of the place, if that makes any sense. Please tell me they had wooden floors.

 

[jlada]

Did I win? GB?

Great story, Doc. I recently got some quite old Opus. Such a fluke. Guy didn't know what he had.

 

[Nimrod]

You take horrible pictures Doc. :angry:

 

[Marcos]

In the end its your money. You should do as you choose with it. There is a difference to me between gouging and surviving.

 

[carmike24]

Well considering that they had some additional age on them, I wouldn't say thats a bad deal. I've seen places online that charge double for ones that don't have age on them. I'm sure it was nice to see a huge assortment like that too.

 

[Smok'em]

I don't think I would pay double MSRP for anything, but then again I'm a cheap SOB. If you enjoy the cigars and company it sounds like it was worth it.

 

[wtrfwler1]

I think you did the right thing. If the guy was nice and honest like you said, and you knew your were paying over MSRP to help him survive, you did a good thing in my opinion.

Robby

 

[SPIVY]

I understand him needing to charge more to stay afloat but look at the turnover he has. If he sold faster he would have more cash. I personally think you did the right thing, but it is a eh view on business.

Ed

 

[grateful1]

Is that so wrong?

Nope.

Enjoy them!

 

[JHolmes763]

Sometimes it's not all about MSRP. Nice tale and enjoy the smokes.

 

[Jack Straw]

Nice find, Doc.

Not the smokes, but what sounds to be a nice spot to stop and enjoy an afternoon smoke.

 

[Goldie]

I am a firm believer of support local business, but it's hard to justify when you are paying double for your purchase