Any cigar smokers here?

[Whiskey_Bravo]

I have smoked the occasional cigar here and there in the past but I am starting to get into them a little more lately(I know, yet something else to spend money on). I finally bought a decent humidor and have a few on order at Cigars International.

Just wondering if anyone else smokes cigars around here? Any recommendations, do's/don'ts, pointers, etc? What are your favorites? Do you usually order online or are you going to a local cigar shop?

[GotAmmo]

I love Cohiba's, from Cuba tho, but I settle for what I can order at Thompson Cigars

Always enjoyed Gurkha's and CAO's. I started out on Arturo Fuentes which were pretty standard.

After smoking the 6-7 inches for years I've come to prefer torpedo's. Short, full of flavor and they last about as long as it takes me to sip 2 fingers of my fav whiskey.

Highlight of my cigar smoking days was when I went to Honduras and was able to roll my own cigars with a local tobacco farmer.

[Whiskey_Bravo]

What little bit of experience I have had so far I seem to prefer the slightly shorter ones as well. Robusto or similar sizes seems to be my sweet spot.

I bought a box of Cubans the last time I was in the Dominican and they were damn nice. I met a guy that travels there 2-3 times a month for work and he told me where to buy them and what I should pay for them so that I wouldn't get ripped off or end up with fakes.

[Belmont31R]

Could write a book on this but I've been smoking cigars since I was 18.

CI is mostly junk. Cigar smoking is very personal and I've known people who are perfectly content to smoke has station cigars all the way up to a friend of mind of Austria who has a Fidel Castro signed box. Smoke what you're content with and experiment.

Also, price isn't a 1:1 junction of quality. Plenty of decently priced cigars that aren't bad at all and I would be ashamed of.

Before you get crappy advice about Cubans...they go through the same highs and lows of the growing season as everyone else. I prefer them but have had bad cigars from them. The vast majority of Cubans out there are fakes. Especially for cruise boat types who think they're gonna sneak a box back.

To start with you should get a couple varieties of each type like a maduro or lighter 'natural' wrapper. Don't spend over $10 per stick until you get a base idea of what you prefer. Darker tobacco tends to be stronger than lighter.

One of the reasons I rent where I do is because it came with a wine cooler. Perfect humidor that I store a lot of cigars in.

[ptmccain]

I smoke a cigar once a week and use the occasion simply to chill out and relax.

Don't rush it.

A really good large cigar can easily last you a couple hours if you smoke slowly and savor it.

[Inkslinger]

Smoking one right now. It's a new Drew Estates blend. It's called Nica Rustica. Very similar to their Liga Privada, but cheaper. Very enjoyable.

My suggestion would to be try as many as you can. Learn what you like and don't like. Don't get to wrapped up in cost and ratings. Just because it's expensive doesn't mean it's good. My recommendations for "lower cost" cigars would be, Alec Bradley's American Classic, J C Newmans Brickhouse, and La Aroma De Cuda by Aston & Garcia. Those are some I always keep on hand. There are so many good cigars out there so have fun and enjoy.

As far as where to purchase, online will probably give you the best deal. I prefer my local shop. It's like a second home. Good guys, good conversations, some stiff drinks, and great cigars.

[Whiskey_Bravo]

CI is mostly junk.

What online retailer do you suggest?

[Inkslinger]

What online retailer do you suggest?

The problem with online retailers is they have so many cigars. When you don't know what you don't know it's very easy to waste your money on shitty cigars. Say you were new to AR's and an online store offers every thing from Olympic to KAC. Once you know what's what you can easily navigate through the gimmicky garbage and by quality cigars.

[mtdawg169]

Could write a book on this but I've been smoking cigars since I was 18.

CI is mostly junk. Cigar smoking is very personal and I've known people who are perfectly content to smoke has station cigars all the way up to a friend of mind of Austria who has a Fidel Castro signed box. Smoke what you're content with and experiment.

Also, price isn't a 1:1 junction of quality. Plenty of decently priced cigars that aren't bad at all and I would be ashamed of.

Before you get crappy advice about Cubans...they go through the same highs and lows of the growing season as everyone else. I prefer them but have had bad cigars from them. The vast majority of Cubans out there are fakes. Especially for cruise boat types who think they're gonna sneak a box back.

To start with you should get a couple varieties of each type like a maduro or lighter 'natural' wrapper. Don't spend over $10 per stick until you get a base idea of what you prefer. Darker tobacco tends to be stronger than lighter.

One of the reasons I rent where I do is because it came with a wine cooler. Perfect humidor that I store a lot of cigars in.

Belmont, I've smoked cigars for about 15 years. Started in college with my buddies. I used to keep up with it much more than I do now and smoke much less than I used to. I'm going on a cruise in June and will be visiting Casa del Habano in St Martin. I refuse to buy them anywhere else due to the number of fakes out there. Any suggestions on the current state of Cuban cigars? Any recommendations?

[Belmont31R]

What online retailer do you suggest?

It depends on what you want to get. I'd suggest local as long as they aren't retarded on price. I'd rather pay $10-20 over for a box that's been in their humidor for a couple weeks or a month. Guess it depends on where you are.

If you have a personal humidor boxes are kind of out of the question so just stay local and buy singles until you're ready to buy a box. If you really have a crap local selection cigarbid is a way to get stuff but with shipping you have to wait and isolate them.

You can get bags and I did that for a while.