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Liga Privada Papas Fritas Opinions

I have not tried them yet, but this thread has me interested. I agree that the pricing seems a little over the top at approx. $5.50 a piece plus shipping.

But I have spent more on worse, I assure you.
 
I'm smoking one right now and it a tasty little cigar....a solid medium smoke. I have smoked more expensive sticks that didn't come close to the taste of this little guy. To me, it tastes a little like their Undercrown line.

Definitely worth trying at the cost.
 
Update:

The first one out of my tin was clearly a dud and the one I had this morning at work was much better in the aspect of the burn/draw of the smoke. The flavor of the smoke was still really good like the other LP's but I still think the DE needs to address the price and if that is to change the packaging of the smokes than so be it.

Paul
 
Update to my previous post, as I thought it would be better to provide an actual quote rather than paraphrase:

SteveSaka 6 days ago
Tried posting a reply last week, but I just couldn't get it to work... maybe I am getting to the age where I am going to start being technology challenged... yikes!
First, thanks for the kind words in the review and the super pics - I am genuinely pleased had how well this cigar has been received - it is a pretty risky thing to make a tripa corta version of what is arguably one of the hottest uber-premium cigars in the marketplace. No one every accused me of being smart...
Thanks to JD for acknowledging the work of Nicholas and myself on this and the LP line on the whole - it is appreciated.
I could write a book on the LP line, but I just wanted to comment on the one thing that I have seen come up time and time again regarding the PFs:


The price, the price, the price...

All of our cigars are priced based solely on what they cost to make plus a fixed margin - we essential make the same profit margin on Kuba Kuba as we do a Liga Privada. This approach means as a business we are equally pleased no matter which of our cigars sells.

Papas Fritas are priced in the same manner except we actually have slightly thinner margin, but we are ok with this because we believe the Papas Fritas fill an odd niche in the Liga Privada line.

The odd niche is a personal one, as is the entire LP line up... essentially I wanted a small cigar that was packed with LP flavor, smaller in size, quicker to smoke and very portable while being more economical than a $12 Dirty Rat. I also wanted to find a way to best utilize the extremely tasty leaf better rather than it going into some sort of bundle.

It is a tad harsher, not as sophisticated, but a super flavor bomb in a very tight little format that is less fussy. Perfect for me when I jump in my jeep, out fishing, moving wood around, whatever... this is why the tin is important to me. It is extremely durable, fits great in my coat pocket, in my glove box or my tackle box. I love the Dirty Rat, but it seemed wasteful to smoke one for twenty minutes and pitch it... I am ok with doing that with a Papas Fritas, although I rarely do as the flavor makes me want to smoke it to the end... sometimes I actually just spark another right after...

Could it be cheaper if there wasn't a tin? Sure... but so would a BMW if it came with cloth seats... The Papas Fritas are a very unique product, no one to my knowledge has ever put this type of effort is sorting tobacco or attention to construction detail in a Tripa Corta cigar. It deserves to be packaged in a functional, yet beautiful tin. Plus like I said, the tin provides the portable protection I desired for this cigar to have.
Most makers are looking to cash recover when they make a "sandwich" cigar, this was never the goal for this product. The desire was to make an exceptionally blended potent little smoke that smoked as good as any long filler and I think we have achieved this.

Our goal with LP has never been to make the most economical cigar, rather it is to make the very best possible cigars.

There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of cheaper cigar choices, but there is only one Tripa Corta with this flavor profile and construction execution that delivers a smoking experience worth of being a LP imo. If I had never been forthright and disclosed it was Tripa Corta in the first place I doubt 99.9% of the cigar smokers would have ever known so.

And to achieve this costs $6 at the retail counter. I understand some folks might think this is too much and only you can make that determination as to whether you think it is a good value.

Granted I am biased, I love everything LP, it is blended and made exactly how I desire, so for me I would be very hard pressed to personal find a better option in this size at this price.

But that is me.

BR,

Steve Saka
CEO, Drew Estate
ps: Happy New Years to All! (even those bitch'n about the price...)

5LikeReply
 
I was able to smoke the one that my SS sent me tonight. It was good, had everything you would expect from DE. I would smoke one again, but not willing to chase them at the current price point.

I would be all over them, if they were a bit less $$$.
 
Great points by Mr. Saka about the tin...that being said, why not offer them both ways? With the tin and then at a lower price point without. I personally don't need a dozen or so tins to carry a few cigars with me. I'd buy some in the tin and then buy "refills" until the tin became damaged or whatever and then order a pack in a "new" tin. My .02 on that
 
Vicster said:
I have to agree with your thoughts. I was not overly impressed, it was good not great. I think the cost for four stick at $25 and it being a filler tobacco is a big part of what bothers me. If they packed them like Bait Fish they might get the cost down. No need for a tin that I am going to toss anyway.

I have been a fan of the Liga Privada and Unico stuff, but lately have been a bit disappointed with the availability and IMO a drop in quality/consistency.
Click to expand...
I could not agree with this statement more. I think that the 9 blend has lost some luster over the past year or so, and the unico series and the lack of availablilty paired with the false rumors that they are just around the corner is annoying. Just a shame as I used to love these smokes.
 
I finally broke down and bought a tin this past weekend and smoked my first one last night. While I'm still not crazy about the price because of the mixed filler, it's pretty hard to argue that the stick isn't worth it. It was one little firecracker of a cigar full of spicy flavor just the way I like 'em. After having one, I can see why they're able to get away with the $6.00 price tag. I think if they were priced any lower there would be a run on them and they'd be even harder to find.
 
I am a big fan of liga and was excited to give them a try. I always get excited when a good company like DE come out with a small cigar. I'm always looking for a great quck smoke. I purchased them without doing much research. I figured its a Liga/Undercrown how bad could it be. After buying the tin I saw that they were all short filler and was a little disappointed that I paid that much. The packaging is definitely cool and it it a nice looking cigar. I thought it was a decent cigar but not something I van see myself looking for again. IMHO if your looking for something small and don't mind dropping $30(what I paid in Jersey) I would recommend the MUWAT Baitfish. I actually am finishing one as I'm righting this and I think it's one he'll of a little smoke
 
To update;
I finally smoked one this weekend and really enjoyed it!  A bit pricey, but it burned well and had good flavor.  The draw was fine.  The Broadleaf wrapper was what made it though....if that didn't exist, I do not think it would have worked.
 
I'm going to do a full review of these in my small smoke review thread that I'm about to kick off.  Kinda expensive, short filler, expensive packaging, yada, yada.....this is a smoke I more or less didn't want to like.  So much for that bright idea.... :whistling:
 
Not a bad cigar but too pricey for what you get.  I think there are better petite coronas to be had for less money.
 
I think with any cigar you are going to have people that love them, people that hate them, and everywhere in between. The price is merely a reflection of what the market is willing to bear given the limited availability and hype around this cigar. The comments by Steve Saka do makes sense in regards to the packaging. The tin helps protect the small smokes during shipping. I also think the tin is easier to sell in $26 (approx.) increments than an entire box of 20-24 at $5-$8 a piece. That way more people have access to them, if they are indeed limited by some constraint..and the circle continues. I do enjoy the Papas Fritas and don't mind paying the price for a smoke I enjoy. I'm not running out every time my B&M has in stock but if I see them when I'm there then I usually buy a tin or two. Like anyone I would love to see them come down in price but that's not going to happen when these little suckers fly off the shelf.
 
It would seem that most of the complaints are about the price point for these being a "short filler" cigar.  I think "short filler" is a bit of a misnomer here.  Yes they are made from left over clippings from their other lines, but...
 
From DE:
 
Although “tripa corta” means “short filler”, these coronas are unlike any “sandwich” cigar ever created. All of the tobacco trimmings are individually hand sorted back into their original leaf variety and thickness, hand cut to be uniform in size and then are hand blended cigar by cigar to ensure consistency in flavor and aroma.
 
Whether or not the above is just marketing mumbo-jumbo, I can't say, but I do know that I've had some pretty bad short filler cigars that are made from chopped up leaves that leave little pieces of tobacco in your moth after each drag, and these cigars aren't anything like those.
 
Short filler...long filler, it's all the same tobacco.  As mentioned earlier, cigars will be priced at what the market will bear, and it looks like the Papas Fritas are selling well.  How do I feel about this short cigar?  I buy them by the sleeve, not the tin.  In addition, I think the tine makes for very nice packaging.  I also think that Drew Estates could probably sell a lot more Papas Fritas if they offered them in tins for a premium and without tins at a cheaper price.  But given how well they already sell...I can't imagine that they need to do anything to stimulate sales of this cigar.
 
Setting price aside, I really enjoyed these. I have always liked the LP smokes I have had, but never really fell in love with any, and I didn't particularly care for the Undercrown line. I was wondering what those more experienced with the entire DE line might think these compare most closely to? I'd live to find a larger verision of this same smoke.
 
My understanding is that you won't be able to find what you're looking for.  The Papa Fritas is a blend of all of the left over LP tobacco used to make the LP cigars.  So there's probably some t-52, some lp 9, some from the various unico line, etc. 
 
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