Do you really know cigar moochers?

[Ropey]

So the body of the latest CI email contains a link to some real cheap cigars with the following ad copy:

"This is one helluva deal, señor, with the added benefit of filling the dent those holiday moochers and shameless, self-prescribed 'aficionados' are making in your innocent humidor."

Let's forget for a moment the typical chummy, slap-you-on-the-back, obnoxiously friendly tone of the writing which is a topic unto itself. My question is:

Are there really people out there who have so many friends requesting cigars that they actually have to buy low quality stuff just to protect their better sticks?

Now, the copy doesn't say whether the fumas are for you or to be purchased to hand out to the "moochers" themselves. However. It's pretty typical for CI to mention moochers when they advertise low quality sticks and I believe it's a winking way of saying "These sticks suck, but at least they're cheap, so you can give them to others rather than giving them your good stuff."

(For further examples, see the ad copy for the "Bender Ender" sampler and "Gerant's Golden Siesta" on CI.com)

But personally, I know so few people who actually smoke cigars -- and I live in a large city -- that I try to give them good sticks, suited to their tastes, in the hopes that they will continue to smoke with me and perhaps even take up the hobby themselves.

I would be fascinated to hear about those who hand out so many cigars that it actually impacts their budget. I kind of wish I had that problem. Please tell me about your experiences.

[AndyCAYP]

I don't know any moochers, no. In person, especially, anyone I'm smoking with has access to my entire humidor - if I disliked you so much that I'd want to give you some of the junk CI passes off as budget cigars, I wouldn't be smoking with you in the first place.

To the larger topic at hand: it's CI's chosen sales tactic. I have my own way of marketing cigars, just as every other retailer does. I think it would be fun though, just once, to take their route. Maybe, just maybe:

"Hey, buddy... YOU, yeah, you! You're pretty smart. You're good looking, you have great taste, women everywhere are falling over themselves to kneel before you. We know you like cigars. We also know that you're soooooo insanely popular that there are literally thousands of lesser beta-males trying to hang out with you, and you're so damn generous that you give each and every one of them a cigar even though they're dirt and they don't deserve a sniff of your superior tobacco. What else do we know about you? You can spot an awesome value at a mile away because YOU'RE awesome! Yeah, that's right: YOU ARE AWESOME! So we have this great package all ready to go for you. It's filled with a bunch of crap you can give to the masses, and they'll be thankful for every inch - of which you have many, no doubt - and that in turn will make you thankful because the primo shelf in your humidor has gone untouched. That's the name of the game, buckaroo. You stock your humidor with handmade treasures and still appease the peasants with a cigar, even though it's total dogshit. They won't know... Anything coming from you is gold, buddy. GOLD!"

[Cardinal]

I don't know any moochers, no. In person, especially, anyone I'm smoking with has access to my entire humidor - if I disliked you so much that I'd want to give you some of the junk CI passes off as budget cigars, I wouldn't be smoking with you in the first place.

To the larger topic at hand: it's CI's chosen sales tactic. I have my own way of marketing cigars, just as every other retailer does. I think it would be fun though, just once, to take their route. Maybe, just maybe:

"Hey, buddy... YOU, yeah, you! You're pretty smart. You're good looking, you have great taste, women everywhere are falling over themselves to kneel before you. We know you like cigars. We also know that you're soooooo insanely popular that there are literally thousands of lesser beta-males trying to hang out with you, and you're so damn generous that you give each and every one of them a cigar even though they're dirt and they don't deserve a sniff of your superior tobacco. What else do we know about you? You can spot an awesome value at a mile away because YOU'RE awesome! Yeah, that's right: YOU ARE AWESOME! So we have this great package all ready to go for you. It's filled with a bunch of crap you can give to the masses, and they'll be thankful for every inch - of which you have many, no doubt - and that in turn will make you thankful because the primo shelf in your humidor has gone untouched. That's the name of the game, buckaroo. You stock your humidor with handmade treasures and still appease the peasants with a cigar, even though it's total dogshit. They won't know... Anything coming from you is gold, buddy. GOLD!"

Lol that's suck me right in for sure.

[oleballcoachtn]

I do not have any moocher friends, just friends that only smoke cigars when we are together. I will give them a quality cigar first time around and depending on what they say about the flavor or how they handle the experience, I will make adjustments on the next cigar.

I have one friend that I know is going to smoke half of it, let it go out and then try to light it up later in the night or forget about it all together. He doesnt get the best cigars, just a random single I may not care to see halved then sitting. The funny thing is that his palate is way better than mine. He can tell me what flavors he is getting when smoking it.

Another friend takes the experience seriously and enjoys the routine of cutting, lighting, seeing how long he can go before it ashes, etc. He usually gets what I am smoking at the time. He is interested in the Shark and luckily I will have some on Saturday thanks to D307P.

[restomod]

I may be the only one but I get this sometimes. I would not say moochers per say but I run into this a lot at the golf course. Either playing in a tournament with a lot of people I don't know or sometimes at my home course it can get a bit overwhelming for someone like me on an insane tight budget. If someone was coming to my house and had access to my humidor or even friends I know, then it's pretty much full access as it doesn't happen hardly at all. But at golf tournaments, scrambles, and on the patio of the golf course I could burn through a serious amount of sticks if all I carried was extreme good stuff. Basically it boils down to budget for me, if I could afford to supply a lot of guys higher end sticks even if they were moochers I absolutely would but I cant.

The thing I have to remember as I often feel bad giving someone something that I feel is a yard-gar, is that in this stage of my humidor my yard-gars are most people's high end cigar if they dont smoke that much.

[WNYTONY]

I don't know any moochers, no. In person, especially, anyone I'm smoking with has access to my entire humidor - if I disliked you so much that I'd want to give you some of the junk CI passes off as budget cigars, I wouldn't be smoking with you in the first place.

To the larger topic at hand: it's CI's chosen sales tactic. I have my own way of marketing cigars, just as every other retailer does. I think it would be fun though, just once, to take their route. Maybe, just maybe:

"Hey, buddy... YOU, yeah, you! You're pretty smart. You're good looking, you have great taste, women everywhere are falling over themselves to kneel before you. We know you like cigars. We also know that you're soooooo insanely popular that there are literally thousands of lesser beta-males trying to hang out with you, and you're so damn generous that you give each and every one of them a cigar even though they're dirt and they don't deserve a sniff of your superior tobacco. What else do we know about you? You can spot an awesome value at a mile away because YOU'RE awesome! Yeah, that's right: YOU ARE AWESOME! So we have this great package all ready to go for you. It's filled with a bunch of crap you can give to the masses, and they'll be thankful for every inch - of which you have many, no doubt - and that in turn will make you thankful because the primo shelf in your humidor has gone untouched. That's the name of the game, buckaroo. You stock your humidor with handmade treasures and still appease the peasants with a cigar, even though it's total dogshit. They won't know... Anything coming from you is gold, buddy. GOLD!"

This is exactly why I buy so much from Andy and Nice Ash ! He just gets me .......LOL





I may be the only one but I get this sometimes. I would not say moochers per say but I run into this a lot at the golf course. Either playing in a tournament with a lot of people I don't know or sometimes at my home course it can get a bit overwhelming for someone like me on an insane tight budget. If someone was coming to my house and had access to my humidor or even friends I know, then it's pretty much full access as it doesn't happen hardly at all. But at golf tournaments, scrambles, and on the patio of the golf course I could burn through a serious amount of sticks if all I carried was extreme good stuff. Basically it boils down to budget for me, if I could afford to supply a lot of guys higher end sticks even if they were moochers I absolutely would but I cant.

The thing I have to remember as I often feel bad giving someone something that I feel is a yard-gar, is that in this stage of my humidor my yard-gars are most people's high end cigar if they dont smoke that much.

I get a little of that at the golf course too. Then you hand them a stick and they smoke it for a few puffs and toss it or forget it somewhere on the course.
I just let them know I grabbed some and this isn't the best stick in the word but it's not bad............ because they may truly like it even though I may not have.
But then again I don't purposely buy low end bundles to give away. I will however grab stuff I wasn't wild about or that is in the yard gar category if I think I'm going to be handing them out.
I generally don't take top end sticks to the course anyway - to tough to really enjoy when you're hacking it around and searching the hazards for balls !

[Usafvet509]

I kinda do. I have a couple of local herfing buddies, and they have a... friend. If I go to one of their houses and bring a couple cigars, this guy gets the "where's mine?" look. I have shared a couple with him. One day he was having a crappy day (heard that from one of my friends). I took a stick to him, just cause. He later tells me, "I didn't like it, it wasn't very good." For me anyway, that ended his freebies. I tend to sell a stick here or there at box price to them, and the other 2? I still throw in a gift stick on occasion.

[Demuths1770]

for me i wouldnt call them moochers or anything like that but i have some guys that like to enjoy cigars with me but are not really into it (as in on forums like us and have cigars out the a$$). i dont give them junk sticks i give them middle of the line. Undercrowns, AF, Tats, an Joya reds usually for first time smokers. I have really gotten my one buddy into it so i usually treat him with higher end stuff now like ligas limited tats Anjeos.

[Sticky B]

Suckers! This is why I don't have friends- get to keep all my cigars for myself :devilgrin:

[piperdown]

It's been mentioned ITT but I keep decent solid inexpensive cigars around for some of my friends who wouldn't appreciate a more expensive subtle cigar.
So, they get a good cigar that didn't cost me a whole lot, we get to enjoy each others company, and I steal from their Crowne Royal stash :devilgrin:

[Rocket Scientologist]

for me i wouldnt call them moochers or anything like that but i have some guys that like to enjoy cigars with me but are not really into it

Same here. I used to have the mindset of giving them the cigars I didn't like or other cheap cigars because they're not going to know the difference, but that's changed. First, I don't hold onto cigars I don't like anymore, so every cigar in my humidors are ones I would smoke myself. When I was starting out, if I was buying a cigar I hadn't tried - instead of just getting 1 to try, I'd stupidly buy 2 or 3. Then when I didn't like the first, I was stuck with sticks I didn't like. Lesson for those starting out: Try new cigars 1 at a time.

Second, even the cheap cigars that I might offer, my yard-gars, are cigars I still enjoy like Sosa or Isla del Sol. And third, as Ropey said:


But personally, I know so few people who actually smoke cigars -- and I live in a large city -- that I try to give them good sticks, suited to their tastes, in the hopes that they will continue to smoke with me and perhaps even take up the hobby themselves.

I want more people to smoke cigars with, so why would you give a noob some shitty cigar? Give 'em something tasty so they come back for more.

[Upstatemax]

I don't really have any moocher friends. When we all get together for whatever reason we all usually bring something, so I always make sure to bring some good cigars.

I'm the dedicated cigar guy, we have a scotch guy, a bourbon guy, couple of food guys and one just "personality" guy.

I do have one buddy that I let him keep his cigars in my wineador and I crack up when he comes over and we have a cigar. He will pass right over his cigars and grab one of mine. So I'll shoot him a wink and take one of his...

[Emperor Zurg]

"Hey, buddy... YOU, yeah, you! You're pretty smart. You're good looking, you have great taste, women everywhere are falling over themselves to kneel before you. We know you like cigars. We also know that you're soooooo insanely popular that there are literally thousands of lesser beta-males trying to hang out with you, and you're so damn generous that you give each and every one of them a cigar even though they're dirt and they don't deserve a sniff of your superior tobacco. What else do we know about you? You can spot an awesome value at a mile away because YOU'RE awesome! Yeah, that's right: YOU ARE AWESOME! So we have this great package all ready to go for you. It's filled with a bunch of crap you can give to the masses, and they'll be thankful for every inch - of which you have many, no doubt - and that in turn will make you thankful because the primo shelf in your humidor has gone untouched. That's the name of the game, buckaroo. You stock your humidor with handmade treasures and still appease the peasants with a cigar, even though it's total dogshit. They won't know... Anything coming from you is gold, buddy. GOLD!"

Holy crap, this Andy guy is SO AWESOME because he thinks I'M COOL!!!
Where is this sampler and put me down for 2!!!! :p :p :p

[droy1958]

I don't have any cigar friends because....
Nobody loves me....
Everybody hates me.....
I'm going to the garden to eat worms....
Yesterday I ate two smooth ones and one wooly one.....

[Yarddog]

I don't have moochers per se...my son in law is just getting into ceegars...so he raids my humidor from time to time. My neighbor up the street occasionally runs out of sticks, so he offers to buy one or two to get him thru, I never accept his money. He's not been the best about reciprocating, but I've been much less inclined to be generous with him in the last few months, and now he's coughing up a little better.

But what I have done is segregated my humidor a bit. I only have one at the moment, but those sticks on the right of the divider are those that I feel ok with giving away. Those on the left are my special occasion sticks...and those, you cain't have! What I really need to do is have two humidors...thataway there is no chance for butt-hurtness..."Take one from the right, but keep yo' mitts off the left!!!!" "But whyyyyyy? Aren't I your special pal?" "NOH! Take a three dollar stick and be happy you're getting that!"

Not a good scene...

[Slowpokebill]

Friends don't let friends smoke cheap bad cigars.

I have a few close friends that are serious BOTL. They have full run of my humidors but are also fully aware of what is what in those humidors and would ask before pulling out a high end stick. Of course they would be told to smoke what they will.

I also enjoy starting out and introducing others to our hobby. I keep some good, less powerful cigars as good start out sticks to get people going. My favorite stick for that are A. Fuente 858 and Cuban Corona naturals. They won't break the bank and if one gets put aside early who cares. They are good smokes that I'm happy smoking which is a plus. So far I haven't had a newbie turn green and have a bad experience.

Cheap is okay but make sure it is smoke anyone can enjoy, including yourself.

[Hardheaded]

I don't have any moochers. Just my wife, who enjoys one occasionally, and her sister, who refuses to smoke one of her own but always wants to try mine or my wifes when she is in town. So I suppose anyone has free reign to most of my humidors. Just not any that were gifts to me.

I smoke plenty of cheap sticks, but if ita not good I don't keep them.I won't keep something I won't smoke, and I won't give someone something I won't smoke unless I bought it at their request because they like them.

[Upstatemax]

I don't have any moochers. Just my wife, who enjoys one occasionally, and her sister, who refuses to smoke one of her own but always wants to try mine or my wifes when she is in town. So I suppose anyone has free reign to most of my humidors. Just not any that were gifts to me.

I smoke plenty of cheap sticks, but if ita not good I don't keep them.I won't keep something I won't smoke, and I won't give someone something I won't smoke unless I bought it at their request because they like them.

My wife thinks that I'm nuts that I not only buy cigars for certain friends, but I study my humidor before I hang out with my buddies. I have to select cigars that I'm hoping they like!

A few of my buddies are easy, they will smoke pretty much anything decent. But a few are picky and have good palates. Plus one of them always brings really, really good scotch. You HAVE to keep Greg happy!

[Cool Breeze]

I have one friend that I know is going to smoke half of it, let it go out and then try to light it up later in the night or forget about it all together. He doesnt get the best cigars, just a random single I may not care to see halved then sitting. The funny thing is that his palate is way better than mine. He can tell me what flavors he is getting when smoking it.

Another friend takes the experience seriously and enjoys the routine of cutting, lighting, seeing how long he can go before it ashes, etc. He usually gets what I am smoking at the time. He is interested in the Shark and luckily I will have some on Saturday thanks to D307P.

I have some folks like this as well.
The ones I know are going to leave 2/3 of a stick in the ash tray when the night is done, isn't getting a top shelf stick. Don't get me wrong, I won't hand someone something that I wouldn't smoke myself. But I'm not watching you smoke half a Opus, Anejo or Padron '64 and leave $10.00 worth of cigar sitting in the ashtray. Not happening.

I have a nephew that loves the experience of smoking a cigar and enjoys everything about it. He will smoke it until it's burning his fingers. He can have whatever he wants.
I had him and his fiance house/dog sit while we went to Florida last year and that was part of the deal. I would stock the fridge and when he got off work, he could smoke whatever he wanted. I got selfies that weekend of him on my balcony, drinking my beer and smoking my stuff. I think he went through more pipe tobacco than cigars though. :stogie:

[Old Smokey]

I have 3 neighbors who all enjoy a cigar from time to time. We all get along great and have a good time. Only 1 of them keeps a small humidor and he usually buys cheap bundles. I don't consider them moochers, they are friends. I always supply the cigars and I don't have a problem doing so. I always grab them something I think they will enjoy.

Premium cigars are meant to be smoked and enjoyed. Luckily I have friends so I don't have to smoke them all myself.

[Sticky B]

I don't have any cigar friends because....
Nobody loves me....
Everybody hates me.....
I'm going to the garden to eat worms....
Yesterday I ate two smooth ones and one wooly one.....

Looks like we can be friends! But you gotta share that wooly worm with me :updown:

[bluenoser]

"Hey, buddy... YOU, yeah, you! You're pretty smart. You're good looking, you have great taste, women everywhere are falling over themselves to kneel before you. We know you like cigars. We also know that you're soooooo insanely popular that there are literally thousands of lesser beta-males trying to hang out with you, and you're so damn generous that you give each and every one of them a cigar even though they're dirt and they don't deserve a sniff of your superior tobacco. What else do we know about you? You can spot an awesome value at a mile away because YOU'RE awesome! Yeah, that's right: YOU ARE AWESOME! So we have this great package all ready to go for you. It's filled with a bunch of crap you can give to the masses, and they'll be thankful for every inch - of which you have many, no doubt - and that in turn will make you thankful because the primo shelf in your humidor has gone untouched. That's the name of the game, buckaroo. You stock your humidor with handmade treasures and still appease the peasants with a cigar, even though it's total dogshit. They won't know... Anything coming from you is gold, buddy. GOLD!"

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww347/Gsxblaze/temporary_164.jpg (http://s734.photobucket.com/user/Gsxblaze/media/temporary_164.jpg.html)


I haven't had anyone attempt a mooching since getting into this hobby. That said all of my friends live about 5000km away and I only smoke at home. We don't have any friends around here to visit and the wife don't like anything to do with smoking so unless the kids start tryin to mooch I should be safe.

[AK47]

Like some others..I have a friend who's into cigars for whom I give the best..and it's paid off, he just made his first tupperdor and bought some of his own sticks from me. I have a few others who don't really care at all what I give them, they just smoke for the company. Those get the $3-4 buck smokes, which are still decent and all sticks I smoke myself.

[Bruck]

Brothers-in-law and nephews. See them on the holidays. I wouldn't call them moochers per se, but I do generally provide the cigars at holiday gatherings and no, I don't exactly break out fistfuls of Padron 1926s.

[Ropey]

Thanks for the replies. I don't have an "open humidor policy" but I give friends decent stuff. For noobs I've found that I can't go wrong with RyJ 1875s and Avos. Solid construction plus dependable pleasant flavors. For people who know more about cigars it might be something I know they like or something perhaps a little obscure that they've never tried.

I'm not gonna drop an Opus X on em but neither will I give them some Cuban sandwich junk.

[Cool Breeze]

I'm not gonna drop an Opus X on em but neither will I give them some Cuban sandwich junk.

That sums it up well.
It's not like I keep a box of Swishers in the drawer for when company comes over. Heck, if I don't enjoy it it's not in the humidor to begin with.

[herman]

Space is limited so I don't even keep but a couple yard gars. I usually share mid range stuff and enjoy sharing. That is until they stump it out after the first 3rd. That happens a lot. I don't know if it's because I pass out smokes that are too strong or they just don't like them. Breaks my heart.

[Tobias Lutz]

I know someone will think I'm full of it for saying this, but anything in my humidor is an option for a guest to my home. I keep the coffins and tubes from my kid's birth years in separate storage, but if you're in my home you will get your choice. That said, I tend to not be very good friends with many selfish or inconsiderate people, so it's not a huge deal.

[Sticky B]

I know someone will think I'm full of it for saying this, but anything in my humidor is an option for a guest to my home. I keep the coffins and tubes from my kid's birth years in separate storage, but if you're in my home you will get your choice. That said, I tend to not be very good friends with many selfish or inconsiderate people, so it's not a huge deal.

Yeah you're full of it Tobias. Generosity, that is!

[Chad Vegas]

I kinda do. I have a couple of local herfing buddies, and they have a... friend. If I go to one of their houses and bring a couple cigars, this guy gets the "where's mine?" look. I have shared a couple with him. One day he was having a crappy day (heard that from one of my friends). I took a stick to him, just cause. He later tells me, "I didn't like it, it wasn't very good." For me anyway, that ended his freebies. I tend to sell a stick here or there at box price to them, and the other 2? I still throw in a gift stick on occasion.

Well played! People have to know that your generosity has limits. A handout is good once or twice, but after that they have to get their act together & purchase their own cigars. I usually will only invite someone once & if they dont step up their game & start buying their own shit I wont promote their dependence on me.

[HIM]

I don't really know any moochers. I have a few friends that smoke occasionally, I don't think they can really discern flavors, and while they don't know much they know a few brands they like. Having said that I do get the occasional guest that I know won't finish more than half a cigar and that's usually when I'll bust out the cheapies.

[projectsunfire]

I had a friend back in Philly who always wanted a cigar when we went golfing. But he never ever ever had any. Since I was the "cigar guy" he always expected me to have one for him. Thing was he honestly couldn't tell the difference between an Opus and a New Jersey gas station habana. So I bought a bundle of Pirates Gold off CI just to give him. I think I got them for about a buck a piece. It all worked out perfectly

[Rocket Scientologist]

I haven't had anyone attempt a mooching since getting into this hobby. That said all of my friends live about 5000km away and I only smoke at home. We don't have any friends around here to visit and the wife don't like anything to do with smoking so unless the kids start tryin to mooch I should be safe.

:lol: 5000km, oh you silly Canadians and your metric system.

[goodgollyjosh]

I kinda do. I have a couple of local herfing buddies, and they have a... friend. If I go to one of their houses and bring a couple cigars, this guy gets the "where's mine?" look. I have shared a couple with him. One day he was having a crappy day (heard that from one of my friends). I took a stick to him, just cause. He later tells me, "I didn't like it, it wasn't very good." For me anyway, that ended his freebies. I tend to sell a stick here or there at box price to them, and the other 2? I still throw in a gift stick on occasion.

I know people like this. The only way I know how to describe them is to say that they are not "self aware". What can you do? :loco:

[stonecutter2]

Any moochers I have are guys I'm glad to give good sticks to. Although at "gatherings" of different sorts, if I'm puffing on a good stick with a friend, it makes others wander by and comment/inquire. I sometimes keep good but cheaper sticks on hand to offer them, or for myself if I think I'll be neglecting the stick more than savoring it.

I don't hand out sticks I wouldn't smoke myself...that'd just waste humidor space to keep those around :). And might turn off someone who wants try a cigar and not get turned off 'em.

[stonecutter2]

I had a friend back in Philly who always wanted a cigar when we went golfing. But he never ever ever had any. Since I was the "cigar guy" he always expected me to have one for him. Thing was he honestly couldn't tell the difference between an Opus and a New Jersey gas station habana. So I bought a bundle of Pirates Gold off CI just to give him. I think I got them for about a buck a piece. It all worked out perfectly

No joke, this one time I bought two bundles of Pirates Gold coronas. I let them rest about 3 months. I cannot explain it, but they reminded me of Habanos. Like, it about knocked me out of my chair when I first puffed it.

I haven't bought more since...figured something magical happened and I better quit while I'm ahead.

[StogieNinja]

I'm a single earner with a wife and five kids. I'm on a budget. When we have large get togethers, or events, I cant afford to give away 20 $10 sticks. Much as I would love to be able to, I can't just open my humidor to anyone.

I'm also known as the cigar guy in my circle, so at our monthly herf,
people who don't usually smoke or people who brought a friend who doesn't have anything to smoke always ask me for a cigar. I'm happy to oblige, but I can't afford to hand out a bunch of premium cigars every month.

So I have a nice selection of inexpensive cigars I keep on hand just to hand out to people, stuff I consider very smokable but also very affordable. Ramon Bueso Genesis and Genesis Habano, Jose L Piedra, Party MFs, etc. At $2-3, I don't mind when half the guests leave more than half unsmoked, but they're all good enough I'd be happy to smoke one myself with them, and usually do.

Then if they're into the experience I might select something special for them next time. If they're not, they can keep smoking my bargain sticks and everyone is happy.

[allusred]

Suckers! This is why I don't have friends- get to keep all my cigars for myself :devilgrin:

My first read thru of this thread, was hoping for an outstanding comment.....found it right here.

[allusred]

i don't have any cigar friends because....
Nobody loves me....
Everybody hates me.....
I'm going to the garden to eat worms....
Yesterday i ate two smooth ones and one wooly one.....

Bon appetit.