My hometown hates good cheap cigars...maybe?

This is for Houston based members (but would love to see if other areas can relate?)

After receiving a Vegas 5 Gold as a good recomendation for a good inexpensive smoke. I thought I would definitely add this stick to my list of buys, but on further reflection I concluded that my B&M and most shops down here (Houston, TX) don't carry a lot of the reasonable priced sticks like Vegas 5 Gold and other sticks that members have recommended to me.

Just what I'm noticing, which is why I'm either feast or famine on reasonably priced good smokes, but also why I'm smoking lesser quality. So I starting to understand the draw of C bid and other online sources for a more diverse selection as well as prices.

Would love any feedback from Houston based botl or stories about others who had this issue.

There are a bunch of the budget brand cigars that are only available form online retailers. I don't know if 5 vegs is one of them, but I've never seen them in a B&M either. You might try talking to someone who works at your B&M ask them what they have that's cheap and good. And keep an eye out for on sale sections, I was able to snag a few 2015 Las Calveras for 6 bucks a piece when my shop was trying to get rid of the last few they had.

I think that's the norm for most B&M. They carry cigars that sell, and also appeal to any Joe that walks in off the street. That's why most B&M carry big name cigars - Macanudo, Montecristo, Arturo Fuente, etc. And the cheap sticks are low quality. If they sell a sub $5 cigar that's good, then some people wouldn't spend $10 for something else, IMHO.

That's also why finding a B&M that carries boutique brands or small batch or hard to find cigars is a real luxury. Those B&M are catering to the experienced smoker.

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Originally Posted by Rocket Scientologist

I think that's the norm for most B&M. They carry cigars that sell, and also appeal to any Joe that walks in off the street. That's why most B&M carry big name cigars - Macanudo, Montecristo, Arturo Fuente, etc. And the cheap sticks are low quality. If they sell a sub $5 cigar that's good, then some people wouldn't spend $10 for something else, IMHO.

That's also why finding a B&M that carries boutique brands or small batch or hard to find cigars is a real luxury. Those B&M are catering to the experienced smoker.

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Agree.

However, sometimes shop owners simply cater to their own taste...

My local shop falls right into this category. Brands and lines rarely change, and the owner likes big ring gauge sticks. So 90% of his stuff is big gauge stuff that I'm not interested in. Most of the lines he carries that I wanted to try, I did.

It's a sad day when I walk into a cigar shop with a sizable walk in humidor and struggle to find something I want to buy...

However, in downtown Saratoga Springs there is a pretty good shop that brings in new stuff pretty often. They carry some boutique brands as well as the big names and the owner brings in what CUSTOMERS want...

I'll happily drive the extra 20 minutes to go to the Saratoga shop.

I lived in the Houston area (San Leon, Webster, Baytown, Kemah, plus DFW) for a few years, and you best just go online if you want a bargain. Texas doesn't have a state tax, but the sin, fuel & property taxes seemed high to me. Great state though....

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Originally Posted by TreySC

There are a bunch of the budget brand cigars that are only available form online retailers. I don't know if 5 vegs is one of them, but I've never seen them in a B&M either. You might try talking to someone who works at your B&M ask them what they have that's cheap and good. And keep an eye out for on sale sections, I was able to snag a few 2015 Las Calveras for 6 bucks a piece when my shop was trying to get rid of the last few they had.

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IIRC 5 Vegas is a Cigars International exclusive. I may be wrong but CBID, CI and cigar.com are the only places you can get them.

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Originally Posted by jhedrick83

IIRC 5 Vegas is a Cigars International exclusive. I may be wrong but CBID, CI and cigar.com are the only places you can get them.

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5 Vegas is a Cigars International brand. I have been to other B&Ms that carried it but never as cheap as CI.

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Originally Posted by jhedrick83

IIRC 5 Vegas is a Cigars International exclusive. I may be wrong but CBID, CI and cigar.com are the only places you can get them.

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The 5 Vegas Gold is made specially for CI but they sell them to other stores (like us)