A good cigar

[gahau]

Hey guys!
As a new member of CP and new cigar smoker, I would like to ask you guys what is a good cigar?
Beside our own personal preferences in a cigar taste, what would you guys consider a good smoke?
I mean after looking at some post it looks like you guys would go crazy over some brand, I saw the same Opus X come up a couple of time (I hope I got it right), beside the fact that it looks cool and cost a good bit of money, what makes you guys have a general consensus of calling it good and to be much coveted?

Here is the thing I have (unfortunately) purchase a humi combo with Thompson, along with it came 100 of their house brand smoke, Initially I didn't really like'em. But since I had them, I have revisited a toro toro that has been sitting in my humidor for a few days. The third stick that I have smoked wasn't as bad as i remembered it... However I still consider it a "lesser quality" of a smoke compared to a Casa Magna (latest non crappy smoke I had). And the reason would be:

1. The overall construction of the cigar and its finish was better with the Casa Magna.
2. The smoke from the C M was denser and bolder it had a more complex bouquet to it.
3. The toro toro tasted (I don't know if that makes sense) not ripe enough, tasted like grass from my garden.
4. The burnt appeared to be both consistent, but the ash from the C M was more compact, denser, heavier.
5. The toro toro left me with a crappy burnt taste after the smoke (only smoker 1/5 of it), it reminds me of burnt paper smell/taste.

Those are only some of the observations after the smoke, I am obviously a noob as far a cigars, this is why i am turning to this community to give me some general pointers on what makes up a good stick.
Please refrain of just telling me "We told you that Thompson cigars sucked" lol
Just trying to learn here =)

Thanks guys =)

 

[H311oLHD]

I would strongly suggest that you do searches for past reviews on cigars prior to purchasing them. Right now you're stuck with 100 crappy cigars, so I'd probably just throw them away lol.

What makes a good cigar you ask?
....THE FLAVOR. If a cigar tastes great to you, has your mouth salivating and you cannot wait to take the next puff...that is a good cigar.

A good cigar has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FOLLOWING:
-How popular a cigar may seem
-The price of the cigar
-The label on the cigar
-What your brother's best friend's father said about a cigar

Each one of us on this board has smoked a cigar and said to ourselves "damn this is a good cigar", while another one of us has said "sh*t this is a terrible cigar" about the exact same one. Sometimes a cigar doesnt even have to taste fantastic, to be a great cigar, if you're in great company!

Lesson to learn here is: Cigars are 100% subjective, which makes this hobby all the more fun!

Enjoy your ride brother..and please do take my advice: Read reviews before purchasing anything else, it will save your palate from sh*tty cigars and your wallet from dishin out dough for em!

 

[gahau]

I would strongly suggest that you do searches for past reviews on cigars prior to purchasing them. Right now you're stuck with 100 crappy cigars, so I'd probably just throw them away lol.

What makes a good cigar you ask?
....THE FLAVOR. If a cigar tastes great to you, has your mouth salivating and you cannot wait to take the next puff...that is a good cigar.

A good cigar has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FOLLOWING:
-How popular a cigar may seem
-The price of the cigar
-The label on the cigar
-What your brother's best friend's father said about a cigar

Each one of us on this board has smoked a cigar and said to ourselves "damn this is a good cigar", while another one of us has said "sh*t this is a terrible cigar" about the exact same one. Sometimes a cigar doesnt even have to taste fantastic, to be a great cigar, if you're in great company!

Lesson to learn here is: Cigars are 100% subjective, which makes this hobby all the more fun!

Enjoy your ride brother..and please do take my advice: Read reviews before purchasing anything else, it will save your palate from sh*tty cigars and your wallet from dishin out dough for em!

Totally agree to your post!
But some cigars appears to get more of "its a good smoke" then "its crappy" =)
As far as Thompson... I was an idiot... purchase the damn thing and THEN I decided to see what ppl think... Well that also the incentive that made me join this community! So in the end it wasn't that bad =)

 

[H311oLHD]

There are some brands that a lot of people tend to enjoy, but that doesnt mean you will.

Here's a list of brands to get you started:
-Padron
-CAO
-Illusione
-Davidoff
-Don Pepin Garcia
-Arturo Fuente
-La Aurora
-Oliva
-Padilla
-AVO
-Ashton

 

[gahau]

There are some brands that a lot of people tend to enjoy, but that doesnt mean you will.

Here's a list of brands to get you started:
-Padron
-CAO
-Illusione
-Davidoff
-Don Pepin Garcia
-Arturo Fuente
-La Aurora
-Oliva
-Padilla
-AVO
-Ashton

Thanks!

 

[StevenGarske]

From a fellow noob I find "Punch" to be a good brand as well. IMHO (Rare Corojo Double Corona is my go to stick at the moment)

 

[buzzed]

I agree that Punch makes some good cigars for the price. I enjoy the magnums and the Largos elegante. They aren't complex or anything but they just taste good in my opinion.

 

[woodbm]

Gahau, if you are interested in obtaining good cigars I would recommend going newbie sampler trade and try it out. This way you'll get some great cigars and meet some great people. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. This will also give you the opportunity to try different cigars and flavors. Just a suggestion.

 

[JayBay]

I know that burnt paper/grassy flavor you're talking about. I've experienced it with the small handful of times I've tried a mixed filler cigar. As opposed to a long filler cigar, a mixed filler cigar is comprised of clippings rather than leaves that go all the way from cap to foot...not to mention mixed filler cigars are often made with crappy tobacco.

The posts above list some great reasonably priced cigars. In addition, Hoyo de Monterrey makes several inexpensive cigars - my favorite being the Dark Sumatra. Oliva is mentioned above, and I specifically like the Serie V. My regular budget-minded favorites also include:

Joya de Nicaragua Antano belicoso
Romeo Y Julieta Habana Reserve (any size)
Rocky Patel Edge Missile Maduro
Gurkha Legend Anniversario Perfecto
Bolivar Dominican Lonsdale

For several of these, I will only pay online prices - NEVER retail. The Gurkha is the best example. The suggested retail of that stick (I think) is over $20 - but you can buy them online in mazos of six for 3 or 4 bucks a piece.

 

[cabaiguan juan]

Gahau, if you are interested in obtaining good cigars I would recommend going newbie sampler trade and try it out. This way you'll get some great cigars and meet some great people. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. This will also give you the opportunity to try different cigars and flavors. Just a suggestion.

Great idea! To me, its flavor and construction. Its not necessarliy price or spelling.

 

[CRQuarto]

I usually hand out, or recommend, the following cigars to people who are just starting out smoking cigars, or just generally prefer a mild yet tasty cigar:

Punch Rare Corojo (still a go to smoke for me)
Oliva Connecticut
Montecristo regular label

There are some other really good recommendations others have posted here as well. I also strongly urge you to go take advantage of the newbie sampler trade thread. I myself still need to do so!

 

[tone-ny]

This is advice for all new smokers to cigars not only you. This is rather simple, try the cigars you received from Thompson. You'll never know if they are crappy or not!

Next write down what you liked or disliked down for each one. Do the same with the cigars you purchase from now on and soon you'll have your own idea of what a cigar that you like tastes like. Recommendation are what other people prefer, take the time to enjoy your cigars and then you will know what you like.

Take the time to find out what cigars are about and not what others think. Read all the numerous reviews of cigars and make comparisons to your notes, then you can try them and see how they compare. Like in all things YMMV.

 

[KeyserSoze]

Great advice from H311oLHD. It all comes down to what you like. Trust me, it will change especially since you're just starting out. I remember when I first started I thought the Rocky Patel Connecticuts were great, now, bleh. And as for OpusX, yeah alot of people love these but me personally I know alot of other $3-7 smokes I'd rather smoke because I know I'll enjoy it more. The phase you're going through is the fun part. Experimenting and smoking various brands/vitolas of cigars. As stated, keep a track of what cigars you smoked and make notes to keep a record for reference.

 

[morcerf]

If a cigar tastes great to you, has your mouth salivating and you cannot wait to take the next puff...that is a good cigar.

Sometimes a cigar doesnt even have to taste fantastic, to be a great cigar, if you're in great company!

That's really all there is to it. :thumbs:

From a fellow newbie, I understand it can be frustrating when you want to smoke only good cigars & you want to know exactly what they are so you don't waste your time & money. However, you won't really know what you like until you start sampling. Read reviews & if it sounds good, give it a try. Obviously all the brands recommended are recommended for a reason, i.e. they are consistent, quality smokes. But the list you see here is not all-inclusive & do not be afraid to try no-name cigars.

Also, know that age can make a difference between a poor cigar & a good cigar. Not only that, the same cigar can be a different beast on different days depending on your surroundings & attitude (as it seems you have noticed). So in general it is best to give a cigar a few tries before writing it off completely.

If you are buying from a B&M, I wouldn't spend any more than $5-6 a stick until you know what you like. There are plenty of good smokes at that price range.

 

[MrAnderson41]

Gahau, if you are interested in obtaining good cigars I would recommend going newbie sampler trade and try it out. This way you'll get some great cigars and meet some great people. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. This will also give you the opportunity to try different cigars and flavors. Just a suggestion.

I'll second this. Gahau, the NST is a great way to try a bunch of different smokes. That is why every topic you've started has given this advice. I made the same mistake when I first joined here. I thought that if I told people here what I like they could give recommendations and the answer really was that it is very subjective. Just man up and hit up the NST once you make some room in your humidor to fit them in. You certainly won't get taken by the guys there and at the end of the day you'll end up with a good variety of different stuff to try.

 

[DirtyDave]

When you take notes on your cigars, try comparing them to different reviews. If you find somebody's review that matches your experience, you may want to see if they have reviewed other cigars. That is one way you can see if your palet is similar to another person's and give you a lead on some other cigars you might want to try. One reason I like Kingantz' reviews is that when I smoke cigars he's reviewed, I get very similar notes (he usually finds a few things my newbie palet misses though). Good luck on your journey!

 

[The Black Cloud]

I agree with Tone-ny. While we may not like the Thompson's cigars you have doesn't mean you won't. And after all, how would you know what you like if you don't know what you don't like? Okay, that sounded a bit zen, but the fact of the matter is it's all subjective. You've got some great recommendations here but it all comes down to you and what agrees with your palette. I've tried cigars that have gotten rave reviews and thought they were overpriced and I've also tried cigars that never get discussed and thought they were fantastic! To each his own. Smoke what you like and like what you smoke. There's a whole big badass world of cigars for you to explore and it's exciting! I suggest going to your local B&M and buying a bunch of singles and trying a bunch of different brands. Take notes on each one and write down what you like and don't like about each cigar. I've been smoking for over 10 years and I'm still exploring and taking notes!

Enjoy the adventure!

 

[ELittle]

First and foremost I think the flavor profile is what determines if a cigar is worth smoking. Next I would consider construction. That's about the only criteria I go by. I don't care if it's made in the DR, Nicaragua, or Cuba. If I like it I'll smoke it.

Also, there is nothing I hate more than a plugged cigar, and I tend to favor brands that are notorious for good construction (Davidoff, Padron, Fuente). If I get a $50 cigar that's plugged I'll give it a few minutes then throw it out, it drives me crazy.

 

[insight]

I think Anthony and Evan hit it on the head. When you are new to cigars (or not) it can be really beneficial to try a wide spread of stuff and take the best notes you can. I certainly smoked through dozens and dozens of singles when I was getting started to figure out my tastes. It sucks that my tastes are for shit that costs too damn much but thats life. FWIW having now smoked a lot of cigars I never thought I would have the chance to, there are still a number of sleeper more affordable cigars that I really like.

 

[{tpc}]

I will also add that sometimes you will try a cigar and think its nothing special and then the second one you will find great.

I had this happen the other night with a AF Chateau Fuente Maduro. Its a pretty short smoke, which I tend to favor when not on vacation. I had one awhile back (I bought two at the time) and i think they were about $4 each. It wasn't bad, but I had expected better from some reviews others gave it. I was rearranging the humi one day and i saw it, so i thought, what the heck...lets give it a second chance. This one was much much better, and was what I had expected out of the first.

Now maybe it was due to a longer stint in the humidor...not really sure, but I was quite happy with it none the less and glad I didn't just toss it (which I wouldn't have done anyways lol) or just gave it to a friend who probably would have lit it for a minute or two and put it down.

As for the crappy burnt taste you described. I can only say this, because I've asked the same question and received the same answer and found it to be pretty spot on. "Smoke better cigars."