Just to keep poking a stick into this beehive...
The purchase price of tobacco is IRRELEVANT - it all comes down to the desired sort, shrinkage, yield and index - for example $24.95 p/lb is a common current price for CTBL No. 1 Darks, however once we select out what we want to use on LP, ferment and age it as desired, the true cost of the selected leaf ends up being well over $55 p/lb. It takes about 23lbs of said leaf to make 1,000 toros - hence the cost per cigar is about $1.27 just for the wrapper. Somedays it is higher, other days it is lower... everything depends on the leaf.
Just knowing the price of raw tobacco don't mean jack. Or labor or anything really. What is important is knowing how to make consistently the cigar you desire to make day in and day out ... and running a factory with 1,200+ employees is a little different than writing about it.
The bottom-line is some folk will love what we do, while others will hate on us for it... it is what it is. <shrug>
Steve Saka
CEO, Drew Estate, Inc.
"Boycott the Evil Liga Privada Company!"
ps: To the guy who wrote that Papas Fritas are "acrid" - he is right, they are pretty spicy and pungent - they are blended with the intent of delivering a lot of zip in a small format, I would never consider them a refined or balanced blend and they definitely will NOT appeal to every smoker. They were never intended too.