You see several posts on social media of a cigar that people are raving about. It’s complex yet refined, full of transitions, and totally satisfying. Based on those posts, you do a search for reviews. The majority of reviewers praise the cigar with the same enthusiasm you saw in your socials.
You go to your local lounge and see that they have it. Excited, you pull one and buy it.
You light it up, take a few puffs, waiting for something to happen.
Nothing happens.
But you spent money on it, so you stick it out. You go further in.
Still nothing happens.
Top of mind, you’re thinking that it’s an enjoyable cigar. It’s delicious. But in the back of your mind, you hear a voice: “WTF! What am I missing?!”
That voice doesn’t go away. If anything, it starts to creep in a little more with each draw. You find yourself second-guessing what you’re experiencing. Maybe your palate is off. Maybe you’re missing something obvious. Maybe this just isn’t for you.
So you lean in. You slow down, pay closer attention, trying to catch whatever it is everyone else is talking about—trying to line up what you’re experiencing with what you were told to expect.
But they never quite connect.
It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the cigar. It’s just that your experience didn’t live up to the hype.
Granted, there are some cigars that simply don’t align with your palate. For me, it’s the Opus X. It’s a fine cigar, but my palate tends to lean toward more dark, structured cigars. That’s why, given a choice, I’ll reach for a Don Carlos over an Opus X any day.
But there are some cigars that, even though I enjoy them, require extra effort to understand. And that’s where the hidden cost shows up.
The currency of the hidden cost is attention.
Most of the time, you don’t think about it. You light up a cigar, it grabs your attention, and you follow along. Everything lines up on its own.
But some cigars don’t work that way.
They seem to say, “If you want to understand me, you have to pay attention.”
If a cigar is asking you to pay something beyond what you spent, is it worth going back to it? Do you want to buy more?
Take the Definition GEN 413 I recently reviewed. I love that cigar and gave it a high rating. It’s a cigar that practically demands attention to be understood. I was willing to pay that price to see what it was doing.
But if I’m being honest, it’s not something I’d return to regularly. It demands more attention than I’m willing to give on a regular basis. I only reach for it when I’m in the right mood.
Then there’s the Partagas Valle Verde. Truly understanding what it’s doing still requires attention, but unlike the GEN 413, it doesn’t get in the way of enjoying it as is. I can smoke one any time and not feel as if I need to dig deeper.
I just bought a box.
Some cigars cost more than what you spent.
Are you willing to pay?
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