My first OpusX experience...

:lol: I respect not only this forum, but Cigar.com. If it weren't for Cigar.com and their partnership with Amback, we would not be here. You coming here and saying they are "jipping" people is just like one of us coming to your house and insulting a friend or family member, even if you were refering to more than just Cigar.com. I have a good relationship with cigar.com, and yes, I will stick up for them when they are under fire. I have made alot of friends at Cigar.com, and I will be loyal to them. I am done with this thread. Sorry to Amback if I have overstepped my bounds with anything I have said in my previous posts in this thread.

We are all here to exchange ideas. Sometimes we say things that others don't like but, we talk about it. We may not all agree on things (in a Stuart Smalley voice) and that's okay.

Now, let's all chill out and smoke a cigar :wink: .

Agreed. Thanks Brenda! :lol:

Even when critical, we appreciate feedback. First and foremost Cigar.com offers superior service, and for the majority of our products our prices are competitive with not only retail cigar shops but online distributors as well. Regarding your comment this particular brand - based on our heavy volume, as compared to most shops, the manufacturers of certain brands such as the one you reference, simply do not ship us nearly enough inventory to satisfy our demand. This leaves us with a dilemma. We can either a) maintain regular MSRP and sell out of our inventory of such brands in a day and remain seemingly out of stock at all times, or b) we can buy from other dealers and distributors to try to ensure we have ample inventory at all times, which makes maintaining MSRP more difficult. In fact, sometimes when we have to buy from other suppliers we are forced to pay close to what we sell them for. For a variety of reasons, we've chosen b), having found that most of our customers historically prefer the immediate availability. There is a small handful of brands this applies to unfortunately, but fortunately it is the exception and not the rule. I am, like a number of other cigar crazies that work here, an avid cigar smoker. So I will tell you that based on the economics, my first advice is to spread the wings and try some of the numerous other brands out there, most of which Cigar.com carries at extremely competitive pricing (and many available in singles as well).

To clarify, 99% of the Opus we buy, we buy in the second market which believe me there is a huge market out there for moving around rare cigars. Cigar.com does not have a large markup. What you see on our site is close to what we pay. We are not an authorized OpusX dealer.

Some of the "authorized OpusX Dealers" that I hear people talking about with great esteem are the real culprits. While they put a box out and limit peopel to 2 sticks a day, what you dont realize is that many of these "infallible cigar shops" actually get 10 boxes. They put out three in their shop and then put 7 boxes into the second market at 2 x MSRP. It is extrememly easy to look at Cigar.com and assume we gouge, but the truth is that we get skrewed like everyone else. We just try to have the cigars our customers are looking for. Consider the one simple undisputable fact, that there are tons of full boxes floating around out there at expensive prices and each one of them had to originate from an "authorized OpusX Dealer".

Sorry for the rant but I want to set the record strait.

How about this selection?

http://www.cigarauctioneer.com/opus22.html

:shock:

Yup, that's just another one of the folks out there capitalizing on the hype and true quality that is the Opus X.

Folks, I just have to say, as someone who has smoked various sized Opus X's right out of the store, or shortly after buying them, years ago, much closer to the time of their original release, if you haven't, or don't ever smoke one, you won't die. Yes, they are a fantastic cigar when they are fresh out of the box, much too strong for me to try again, but a really great, unique cigar, worthy of the Fuente's advertising.

On the other side of the coin, if you cannot ever get an Opus X at the right price, understand all the vagaries of the realm. I've been going through this with my efforts at getting certain bottles of whiskey through the years, and one current big name in particular. There are people in this world who know, and I mean truly KNOW, that they are paying $225 for something that they can get for $90, if they really wanted to, but continue to pay $225 for various reasons. And there are people who aren't in that financial class, don't like getting soaked financially, look for value, but will wind up paying $140 for something that maybe should really sell for $90, because they are well off enough to still afford it.

And last, but not least, there are the rest of us. And the frustration with trying to get certain products that you know shouldn't sell for more than X, but knowing that if you ever want to see one in your house, you'll have to pay X+an arm/leg, to actually make that happen. And when that happens, sometimes you just have to surrender to the realities of life. And as an American, oh boo hoo, so I'll never get to have the Hirsch 20 year old bourbon, or if I want to drink George T. Stagg, I'm going to have to pay $10-20 more than I really should.

If you never get to smoke a fresh Fuente Fuente Opus X cigar, yes, technically you will have "missed" something, but there's such a huge world of great cigars out there, I would perhaps get philosophically mad about it, but I wouldn't let it go any further, or walk around with it in my mind.

Maybe Alex or Thor can tell us what the truth is, but I heard this from an esteemed cigar board poster.

Fuente Don Carlos is an Opus X, only difference, the maduro wrapper.

I've had a few hundred Opus over the years. I prefer the Don Carlos. That's just me...

:cheerschug:

Which one of those has a maduro wrapper? The Don Carlos doesn't. What I've heard is that there's a similiarity between the Anejo and the Opus X, but I forget which similarity that is.

Opus and Anejo have same filler and binder. Difference is that the Opus has a Dominican wrapper and the anejo has a 5 year old connecticul broadleaf maduro wrapper that has been aged in a cognac barrel.

God of Fire is also different, Don Carlos Blend has a Cameroon wrapper and the blend by Carlito has a sumatra wrapper.

Thanks for the info. That's what I heard, now that you've refreshed my memory. The Anejo is the one with the maduro wrapper, not the Opus X or Don Carlos. I knew the Don Carlos had the Cameroon wrapper, and a mighty good tasting one at that. The Cameroon wrapper that the Fuente's use for certain cigars is wonderful.

I realized I goofed as soon as I just re-read this. Too much exposure to the Great Dumboni...

Anyway, I still like Don Carlos better than Opus, and Anejo is better as well.

Oops.

So, if you like the Anejo better among those three, that means you like . . . mg: mg: mg:

FLAVORED cigars!

:cryinlaugh: :neer: :neer: :neer: :cryinlaugh: :cryinlaugh: :cryinlaugh: :mrgreen: :sm_angel:

:giveup: :giveup: :giveup:

At least they're not Magus strawberry ice cream...