Class 34 Habano Blend No. 30

Bound by a mahogany brown Brazilian wrapper, Habano Blend No. 30 is another band-less beauty from Class 34. Sporting a core of well-aged Honduran and Nicaraguan long-leaf, this medium-bodied treat will WOW your tastebuds with a toasty complexity and just a hint of spice. Richly nuanced, you’ll find bready nougat and cashew give way to a sweeter, caramelized 2nd half. The silky milk chocolate finish is simply decadent.

About Class 34: 
A customer called Class 34 cigars the Dollar Shave Club of cigars. I think that nails it. The question is, why do some good cigars cost so much – and why so much variation in costs between blends? The answer is strictly brand name. There’s still art to cigar making but at this day in age the production itself is more science. Established, accepted processes for growing tobacco, fermentation and pre-industry, and cigar production are more uniformly followed than at any point in history. Innovations are only incremental at this point, as fewer barriers exist with less hidden knowledge than ever before. So any factory that wants to meet the threshold of making quality cigars can.

There are bad or inexperienced cigar makers, corner-cutters, or factories who choose to specialize in cheap cigars for the “barely premium” value market. Set those aside for a minute. For the rest, with any volume it costs a dime more at the factory level to make a good premium vs. a basic handmade….which after taxes landed here stateside is about a 20-cent difference. With each additional cent of cost put into the production of a cigar, there’s a quickly diminishing - if not vanishing - incremental increase in quality.

So back to cost, why is it $10, $12 or more a cigar on the shelf? 75-cents might be import taxes and shipping cost. Then there are middlemen markups. Then there are often pricing policies where brands mandate that retailers double the price. There are also sales taxes. But it comes down to some brands simply charging more – they count on their marketing spending to capture that premium price, not because it’s better. These brands often pay retail stores co-op money and other fees for placement in their store. These costs and markups are all passed to you, and what you get in return is zero. What's the difference between a $2 cigar and a $12 cigar? Answer: “10 bucks.”

Want to try some other great Habano Blends from the Class 34 line? Try: Class 34 Habano Blend No. 03, Class 34 Habano Blend No. 36, Class 34 Box-Pressed Habano Blend No. 63