Well for the past 4 years or so I've been smoking cigars off and on. I'd go to the local tobacconist every now and again and buy a couple and smoke them. Well this past break my three closest friends and I went down to Charleston, bought a few cigars at a local tobacco shop, headed down to the battery lit up, and then roamed the streets. This is the first time that I actually sampled several different cigars in one sitting. I got to try my friends and became intrigued with the variety of tastes that we had chosen. Well the initial intrigue has lasted long enough for me to delve into this habit a little more.



I had planned on going to a couple of the local tobacco shops up here and buying a few more cigars. But as luck would have it this past week I found a local bookstore going out of business and amoung the barage of 9 books that should have cost me 79 bucks but got for 11, were two books on cigars. I have since finished the first and am half way through the second. Yesterday, since I was almost finished with the first, I headed down to a local place that I had heard about and had recieved some mail from. This specific place is a cigar/cafe type place. The setup is one large room with a counter on the right where the coffee is made and the humidor in the back left corner the rest is smoking tables. Unfortunately it is not properly ventilated. So I restricted my purchase of cigars to one and a small "Victor Sinclair" cigar box converted into a humidor. Yes I know it doesn't really seal properly but we'll get to that. My next venture was to a place that I had been before, where I bought my pipe and tobacco last year. Unfortunately as I was driving down the back ally I could not find it, but my luck continued when I found a different cigar shop. This place I liked.



This particular shop is much more sophisticated than the others. They have cabinet humidors and a seperated lounge for cigar smoking, and another for pipe both properly ventilated. I purchased several cigars from them and talked with the husband and wife for a little while, and was invited back to use their lounge any time, an invitation that I assume is offered to all, but was nice to hear none the less.



The humidor. Well this is my first and I lucked out on it. The man who sold it to me didn't realize that it had Oasis, the green stuff flourists use to keep plants in, in the bottom of one of the slots, so I got an extra sponge type humidor as well. The actual box is made of some wood on the outside but inside is lined all sides with cedar, and has three stackable cedar shelves that have individual slots for cigars not any longer than 5 inches or so. I plan to cut a groove in the top where the lid meets and instal a rubber o-ring type application and then adjust the clamp on the front so that it actually seals close to air tight. It also came with a hygrometer and from the readings the box is slowly getting up to 70%. Unfortunately my delve into this cigar purchase has left me pennyless for the weekend, so I will have to wait till Monday to buy some Propylene Glycol to mix with the Distilled water.



Last night I smoked Maccundo out on our porch in the freezing wind while my roomates and their friends were busy breaking glass spilling bear and putting holes in our walls. Well this was the first time that I actually wrote down what I thought about it. I'll skip the details but I found it to be somewhat mild, and the taste seemed to decrease as I smoked it.



Today I stopped by the second upscale shop and sat down to smoke a Cohiba Siglov IV. I have been very fond of Cohiba's. It has a good taste, is a more medium bodied cigar to me, but the taste and the increased presence of spice is what draws me to it.



So I will be keeping documentation now on my cigar purchases and my opinions on them to help me decide what I like. I will say that I plan on buying a Henry Clay to try and see how I like the spiceness of it. Unfortunately my cigar taste were somewhat biased from the start. The first cigar that I ever smoked was a Cohiba. No not a Dominican Republic, but an all Cuban, all hand made Cohiba. I bought seven of them that day. And miss them all terribly. So what do you guys recommend. What are your favorites. Get specific if you like. I think I am going to try and stay with cigars that have a ring size of above 45 because I like the fuller flavor, although if you've had a smaller ring size that still has good taste by all means recommend it. I'd like to see what tastes you guys really go for.



- Hand

 

Well, Hand, We actually agree on something for once. I love cigars. Cohiba's are also a personal favorite, but I'm not extremely picky. Its hard to be picky when I've just recently turned 18, and I'm still developing my tastes and opinions..



I'll have to see what you find, and compare my experiences...

 

One of the nice things about living in Japan is we can buy Cubans all day long....if you are willing to spend the money. My favorite is a tie between the Cohiba and Punch, which I highly reccomend. Also try Don Diego's and Romeo Y Juliet, they are very good.

 

I think I have tried a don diego. I believe that was one of my first real cigars.



I'm going to start trying to find a few that I like.

 

havent had a good cigar (well any cigar!) in years, its the most relaxing thing ever



-emu

 

almost

 

Dominican cohiba's are a real dissappointment after you have had a cuban, something about the cuban cohiba that makes the difference, which by the is not always the case.



My favorite smoke is the La Gloria Cubana, however there are two versions, one made in DR and a limited quantity made in a small factory in Miami, the Miami versions are the best.



I also enjoy pretty much anything Drew Estate puts out, they make a quality smoke.



That's the best part about stogies, everyone's taste is different so you gotta try them all!

 

damn.. I could never get any ifon on drew estate when i was in Nicaragua.. I even met a few people who worked in the tabacco factories.. and went to the duty free stores on the borders.. and nuthin..



ima just have to order some.. I brought back a box of Joya De Nicaragua cigars.. they were pretty smooth.. but i never have tried more than on in one sitting..

 

Yup Phins is right, almost every producer in Cuba has another producer somewhere else, and the product is different. Cohiba, Romeo et Juliet, Punch etc. I aggree as well that D.R. Cohiba's lack some of the taste that the Cuban's do, and they are both fairly pricey. I have a hard time believing anyone who says that they have cubans in the US. If they say they have a source, most of the time I just stop listening. The best place to get a REAL Cuban is to go outside the US to a reputable Tobacco shop, and then you can usually find real cubans. I've never been a fan of Romeo et Juliets although I've never had a Cuban one. They are still expensive. Maybe in a couple weeks I'll try one and see how it goes.



- Hand

 

its pretty simple to get cubans, you buy them out of the us and bring em in. they do let you bring in a couple/few. since these people are cigar enthusiasts they share/sell em. so a source means maybe they have a box at most