PDR Cigars Announces Price Increase

Citing a number of factors, PDR Cigars has announced that it is increasing prices across the majority of its portfolio.

It’s an increase of between 5 and 15 percent on the retail prices throughout the company’s portfolio, though the increase does not apply to the Jose Rey line, which features three sweet-tipped blends, or to the Devil’s Weed line, which are pouches containing two leaves of wrapper tobacco. The change went into effect on Jan. 11.

Abe Flores of PDR Cigars said that the increases are due to several years of FDA-related expenses as the company prepared for the agency’s regulation of premium cigars. The COVID-19 pandemic has also been a factor as the factory needed to implement social distancing protocols and modifications such as barriers on the tables. It has also reduced the factory’s production capacity to approximately 50 percent of normal.

Tobacco costs were also cited as a reason to implement the increase, as Flores said that the company has been using more A-quality fillers, binders and wrappers, which means higher costs to procure that tobacco from suppliers. On the positive side, Flores said that “this means we are now back to being a smaller boutique producer and have more control over our quality and consistency.”

The following chart is a live look at what companies have announced price increases or no price increase for 2021.

Update (Jan. 17, 2021) — Flores clarified that the increase was on the retail prices, as well as that it went into effect on Jan. 11. Those details were not available at the time of publication.

Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, the G-League's Valley Suns, and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.