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(OPUS) X MARKS THE SPOT

Opus X open-market prices in frenzyLos Angeles, July 7 – Thomas Marshall would be stunned

Fuente Fuente Opus X open-market prices in frenzy

Los Angeles, July 7 – Thomas Marshall would be stunned.

Marshall was the U.S. Vice President who uttered the famed statement that “What this country needs is a good five-cent cigar” in 1919. He had obviously never had a Fuente Fuente Opus X.

This all-Dominican blend debuted in late 1994 and became a sensation when presented to market in 1995 and 1996. It’s an outstanding cigar which has earned its reputation . . . and a staggering price on the open market, thanks to its limited availability.

The Fuente’s suggested retail price for each cigar in the line ranges from $7.50 to $25:

> $ 7.50: Perfecxion No. 5 (4 7/8 x 40)
> $ 8.25: Perfecxion No. 4 Series X (5 1/8 x 43)
> $ 8.75: Belicoso XXX (4 5/8 x 49)
> $ 9.00: Fuente Fuente (5 5/8 x 46)
> $ 9.50: Petit Lancero (6 1/4 x 39)
> $10.50: Robusto (5 1/4 x 50)
> $11.50: Perfecxion X (6 1/4 x 48)
> $11.50: Super Belicoso (5 1/2 x 52)
> $12.50: Reserva D’Chateau (7 x 48)
> $13.50: Perfecxion No. 2 (6 3/8 x 52)
> $14.50: Double Corona (7 5/8 x 49)
> $25.00: Perfecxion A (9 1/4 x 47)

But these are not the sale prices on the street. Naturally, the tobacco taxes in each state increase the price, but the Opus X fan knows almost no bounds.

Two recent sales on eBay, which by policy does not allow the sale of tobacco products (!) but which had two recent Opus X lots in sealed boxes as collectibles, demonstrated the trend:

> A 32-cigar box of Churchill-sized Reserva D’Chateau sold in June for $960.00, more than double its suggested retail price of $450.00. The sale price averaged $30.00 per cigar.

> A box of 20 assorted Opus X sizes, originally packaged to accompany the Limited Edition travel humidors from Prometheus International offered in 2000, closed on July 4 for an astonishing $710.00, averaging $35.50 a stick.

To the credit of the Fuentes, they have not raised their prices to the trade since establishing the current full-line prices in 1996. But these high-end cigars are now among the world’s royalty in pricing and certainly in rarity.

You have to wonder at the irony of such a cigar being produced by a family which has insisted on value pricing in its lines for decades and which still offers excellent values in its Arturo Fuente and Montesino brands. Unfortunately, they are not the ones reaping the profits from the Opus X frenzy . . . a situation they created, but are – for now – powerless to stop.