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

[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