Back when I started in the early 70s I only bought a handful of cigars at a time from local cigar and pipe shops. They got "stored" in baggies until I smoked them. As I got more into cigars I bought a nice desktop humidor and just put distilled water in that green foam device, eventually figuring out how often I needed to refill it to keep the cigars properly humidified. I found Fuente early on and stayed solely with them for years. Eventually I found places like Famous and Mike's Cigars, got their catalogues and ordered over the phone from them.
Question for all the FOGs around
- Thread starter squaresoft
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Nacho Daddy
Irrepressibly Irreverent Inveterate Ignominy
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In the early 90s , thanks to the Cigar Boom, IF a vendor had any Fuentes, you could buy 2.
Hoyo, Royal Jamaica, Macanudo, and Griffins were big sellers, La Gloria Cubana was near the top of the food chain.
It was rare to find ANY boxes for sale, and at this point, the usual cost of most cigars was up around fifty cents each.
That made your average Fuente 898 cost around $2.75 for singles.
Lots of the new smokers were women.
New brands were coming out of the walls, ANYTHING you could put a band on was snapped up.
Many of those boom brands are gone.
from about' 97 to 2000, JR bought up ALL the remaining odd brands and discounted them heavily.
Lou Rothman was fond of making the sales reps wait, and then castrating them on his offers for the entire lot of remaining stock.
Lots of good deals back then, $30 to 35.00 would get most of these 25 count boxes, that were selling for 75.00 to 85.00 two years earlier. .
A favorite of mine was a cigar called Carlin. gone now.
JR was THE catalog company, and I drove past the Selma store on the way to the beach, so I always stopped.
Years later they built the one in Burlington NC ,30 minutes from my house, so I went there a lot.
At one point JR had a house brand Flor de Farach.
The deal was, buy a box and they would include a Pre- embargo Flor de Farach Cuban cigar.
Very cool.
The 50 ring gauge was a rare size, very few were made.
The word "robusto" did not exist yet, nor "toro".
Cuesta Rey was a big seller, tubo toro size were available in most Pharmacies, and were $1.35 for three sticks.
Shakespeare, Rigoletto, Robt. Burns, Gold Label, House of Windsor, were all big brands.
Lots of good stories from those days...…….
Hoyo, Royal Jamaica, Macanudo, and Griffins were big sellers, La Gloria Cubana was near the top of the food chain.
It was rare to find ANY boxes for sale, and at this point, the usual cost of most cigars was up around fifty cents each.
That made your average Fuente 898 cost around $2.75 for singles.
Lots of the new smokers were women.
New brands were coming out of the walls, ANYTHING you could put a band on was snapped up.
Many of those boom brands are gone.
from about' 97 to 2000, JR bought up ALL the remaining odd brands and discounted them heavily.
Lou Rothman was fond of making the sales reps wait, and then castrating them on his offers for the entire lot of remaining stock.
Lots of good deals back then, $30 to 35.00 would get most of these 25 count boxes, that were selling for 75.00 to 85.00 two years earlier. .
A favorite of mine was a cigar called Carlin. gone now.
JR was THE catalog company, and I drove past the Selma store on the way to the beach, so I always stopped.
Years later they built the one in Burlington NC ,30 minutes from my house, so I went there a lot.
At one point JR had a house brand Flor de Farach.
The deal was, buy a box and they would include a Pre- embargo Flor de Farach Cuban cigar.
Very cool.
The 50 ring gauge was a rare size, very few were made.
The word "robusto" did not exist yet, nor "toro".
Cuesta Rey was a big seller, tubo toro size were available in most Pharmacies, and were $1.35 for three sticks.
Shakespeare, Rigoletto, Robt. Burns, Gold Label, House of Windsor, were all big brands.
Lots of good stories from those days...…….
squaresoft
It's dangerous to go alone, take this.
wait are u an NC bro?
Lots of great stories here.
Tagging @hdroadglide for hopefully some more stories.
Tagging @hdroadglide for hopefully some more stories.
Love this thread! Thanks to all of the FOG's who are sharing their stories.
It's wonderful to hear the history you fellas bring to the table. Certainly the internet is what many of us rely on these days to learn as much as we can about the art of cigar rolling. Myself I have no real life cigar connesieur friends. Most of what I learn comes from BOTL. No b&m within a 2 hour drive so I can't gussy up to an old timer and pick his brain. Just my way of saying I am enjoying your stories and hope for many more to come. Thank you for taking the time to share.
Sent from my blanket fort using crayons.
Sent from my blanket fort using crayons.
Cigary43
Just Another Ashhole
Love the story about Lou Rothman....he and I went round and round years ago but I still like the guy and he's a person that you don't see many flies buzzing around him. In the early years you are correct in how cigars were sold and singles were the most advantageous way of getting more bang for the buck...portioned sales were smart because the shop can adjust cost to fit their profit margins. Royal Jamaica was one of the biggies and certainly LGC's were a big seller because they were pushed heavily in the early 90's. AF have a solid past and with good reason...they are all about quality and their business model is second to none and the family has not deviated from the way they do business and they are trusted by everyone.
I have to agree about this thread as to content and enjoyment...this brings back a lot of memories when I used to know a ton of people in the industry...B&M owners around the country and these days it's not like it used to be when I could visit the shops when the "famous Cigar Gurus" would take the time to sit and talk while smoking a cigar with you. These days it's more about selling....if you buy a box then you'll get more attention from the Reps and Owners. I have had more fun when the Fuente Bus would roll in for a couple of days and I'd share hours talking with them as they literally threw cigars around like confetti....David Blanco would stuff my pockets with about every brand he had in the trunk of his rented car....drag me out to the parking lot asking me...."have you tried this...have you tried that ...." and I had cigars falling out of my pockets as I returned back to the store. Fellas like Ernest Padilla and Boutique Owners were and are a joy to be around and talk via social media. These guys are generous to a fault....George Rodriquez is such a person and early on when he started his brand he and I would converse a lot....he'd send me cigars out of his own humidor and cigars that had not gone to market...some that were made but never were sold and he wanted my opinion then....that was a "heady" experience for somebody to ask what I thought who I respect a lot. I remember talking with Rocky when he was more accessible and at that time he was such a passionate man about the business...but reluctantly this side of him is not as present as he used to be and I understand that....it's a full time job running around the country taking care of "crossing the T's and dotting all of the I's" and the familiarity is not like it once was....those are the days I really miss because some of our Cigar Titans just aren't that available to the layperson unless they are throwing a lot coin around and buying boxes of cigars ....then having all of the photo ops. I'm not throwing around names to "name drop" because I am purposefully not doing it to impress anyone....I was fortunate to know owners of some great B&M's who took the time to introduce me to some of the famous people in the industry and have some personal time with them for an hour or so and they'd tell me stories about the lean years and how they started. It was like meeting with the President and they trusted me with our conversations and I just wouldn't divulge those personal meetings but suffice to say....there's a reason why these guys are as successful as they are because they have the "touch" and "gift" of being personable plus they know every damn story out there and they were hilarious in telling them. These days with the "new guys" on the block it isn't easy to get into their inner circle because they are always busy with their business and that's a shame because they are missing out on the one on ones with the regular people who keep them in business....but such is life and business in the post Cigar Boom Era of 2000. I miss those times of years past being the old bastage that I am....I don't think we'll ever see it again.
Jfire
BoM 9/9' 9/11' 8/12'
Cigary,
When Pete, Dion, Pepin, J.D. AJ Fernandez where starting out or at least their first five years. They were definitely traveling the country. I was able to meet and talk to all of them. A few times in very small settings where only a handful of other patrons were in the store. They just blew up quickly and I would assume tired of it quickly.
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When Pete, Dion, Pepin, J.D. AJ Fernandez where starting out or at least their first five years. They were definitely traveling the country. I was able to meet and talk to all of them. A few times in very small settings where only a handful of other patrons were in the store. They just blew up quickly and I would assume tired of it quickly.
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Cigary43
Just Another Ashhole
When Do I Become a Senior Citizen? - Senior Citizen's GuideI used to smoke Royal Jamaicans, can I be considered a semi-FOG?
The answer to the question, “What age is a senior citizen?” is 65.
Since Im 64 until the next June this makes me a happy camper to know I'm not a Senior Citizen so for 10 months I get to skip around and pretend that my arthritis and gimpy knees are just my imagination. I'm betting with your physical fitness program you've got a loooonnnnnggggg way to go before you're even considered to be middle age...damn kids....get off my lawn!
icehog3
Outlaw Hockey Biker
Nacho Daddy
Irrepressibly Irreverent Inveterate Ignominy
- Joined
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- 3,494
Cigary43
Just Another Ashhole
I smoked a ton of the HMRoths in the mid 90's.....great taste and about 1/2 that much of the El Ricos.
Roi Tans....the smoke that breathes....yes I did. They were like the Swishers of that era. I used to smoke Tijuana Smalls like they were tic tacs because they were great between classes and after those I went with the Hav A Tampas. Good question on the first double banded cigar....my Alzheimer's won't let me dig that one up.
This really makes me wish i would have more time to sit with old cuban shop owner that offered to make me a coffee and have a sit when i was in Sac. Seemed super nice, but my son was in the car. I bet this guy would have had some great stories.
Cigary43
Just Another Ashhole
Te Amo
Optimo ( loved these big green monsters...milder than British beer )
Dutch Master Queens ( in the glass tubes...loved these as well )
Muriels ( Edie Adams did it for me....I'd smoke anything she would tell me to smoke )
White Owls
Holy Crap.... some of you guys have amazing memories. I've been smoking cigars since I was 16 but only got serious about it 10 years ago (I'm now 60). I know I started with Old Port Untipped but I don't remember anything I smoked between 1975 and 2005. A cigar was a cigar. I only started paying attention when I started to looked at cigars as a hobby, or maybe I should say "as a passion".
Great thread guys.
Great thread guys.