On another forum is a thread about how you started smoking cigars. I found I wasn't happy with telling just how I started but the whole shebang of how I got where I am now. If you read it there, skip it here, its mostly a copy/paste.
I would like to read the stories of members here. POST YOURS
I bummed my first cigarette sometime in College at a party or a bar when I was drunk. Throughout the year I bummed cigars from friends who smoked at parties/bars/concerts. On a trip to NYC to visit a friend I tried an unfiltered Lucky Strike and it became "my brand", I started buying them for myself. The cigarette addiction took hold and soon (as a poor college student) I could no longer afford the habbit.
I found that rolling my own would allow me to continue, and at a party I noticed a guy with a nice case that rolled the cigarette and kicked it out of the top when you closed it. I went and asked him about it, and he told me where he ordered it and also shared with me that adding a bit of aromatic pipe tobacco to the mix would draw attention from chicks. I thought the case would get girls' attention by itself but decided to go into a tobacco store to pick up some pipe tobacco anyways. That store also had a huge walk in humidor that intrigued me, but I never went in.
When I knew I needed to kick the cigarette habit I started to buy all of my tobacco at this store because they carried a brand of additive free tobacco. One afternoon when I was in there I asked the salesperson (whom by this time I knew by name) what he'd recommend I try for a cigar. He said, "I was wondering how long it would be before you aked." He recommended I try AF pointing at the DCs. I reached below those for a couple of less expensive cigars of the same brand (a couple of Curly Heads) and reminded him I started rolling cigarettes because I was poor. He confidently told me, "you will be back for those."
The rest is history. Although some of my friends and neighbors smoked machine made GyV and AyC they never tasted any different/better to me than my cigarettes. When I let them try the Curly Heads they were all also going to the cigar shop and buying them there and trying different brands. One of my favorites early on was Macanudo (when they were still made in Jamaica), but quit that as the boom cranked up and they moved to DR. Following that my pattern was to get a recommendation for a cheap yet decent cigar. After trying singles I would buy boxes/bundles and stick with that brand until the boom swallowed it up. I went through periods of Montesino, then La Unica, Tamboril (don't know how I could stand those), and finally La Finca. In 1998, after I had been used to spending $28/box of La Finca, they rang up for $80 (CI gave them a 91). I quit buying cigars at that point. I would smoke them twice a year or so at gatherings with my wife's family as its a longstanding tradition. On a backcountry hiking trip in 2000 with the men of my wife's family I was asked to bring cigars for the group. I was pleased after a bit of online shopping to see that cigars were back to the prices of the early to mid 90s. I bought a box of La Finca coronas and a bundle of La Unica #400M. After this trip I started buying singles of different brands, but still only smoked 3-4 times a year.
In May of this year my Father-In-Law and I were asked to bring cigars for the guys on a week long trip on the beach. I decided to hit some forums to study and got swallowed up by this addiction. My tupperdor of 6-8 cigars became a Coolerdor of 350+ sticks after finding cigarbid.com. Although at least 20% of the sticks I have bought since I wouldn't buy again; smoking them has allowed me to realize exactly what I do like. On the trip I brought 50 cigars, 5 different ones apiece for the 10 smokers, and now several of my wife's uncles are asking me for recommendations.
I now know about several $1 - $2 sticks I like for go to/yard cigars, and many $3 - $5 cigars I can smoke on Fridays or better-than-ordinary days. Best yet is that the few cigars I have "splurged" on in the $8 - $15 range this year (recommendations from forums) may now be my new favorites. ('64 PAM and Ashton VSG) Although I can't buy expensive sticks like that often, its great knowing what exactly I want to try next. (big $$$ Graycliff Espresso). When I walk into a store's humidor I no longer walk around randomly looking at cigars or the stupid "rated X by Y" signs but instead have specific cigars in mind or at least a specific type. On my last trip to the closest cigar shop I told the clerk I was looking for a sungrown I hadn't yet tried. After about 8 recommendations he went and got a book and was finally able to come up with a Fonseca Cedar Sungrown. I am going to need to find a different shop to continue my exploration of this wrapper. Cigar smoking is very fun for me to say the least.
!!Thanks CP!!
Matt
I would like to read the stories of members here. POST YOURS
I bummed my first cigarette sometime in College at a party or a bar when I was drunk. Throughout the year I bummed cigars from friends who smoked at parties/bars/concerts. On a trip to NYC to visit a friend I tried an unfiltered Lucky Strike and it became "my brand", I started buying them for myself. The cigarette addiction took hold and soon (as a poor college student) I could no longer afford the habbit.
I found that rolling my own would allow me to continue, and at a party I noticed a guy with a nice case that rolled the cigarette and kicked it out of the top when you closed it. I went and asked him about it, and he told me where he ordered it and also shared with me that adding a bit of aromatic pipe tobacco to the mix would draw attention from chicks. I thought the case would get girls' attention by itself but decided to go into a tobacco store to pick up some pipe tobacco anyways. That store also had a huge walk in humidor that intrigued me, but I never went in.
When I knew I needed to kick the cigarette habit I started to buy all of my tobacco at this store because they carried a brand of additive free tobacco. One afternoon when I was in there I asked the salesperson (whom by this time I knew by name) what he'd recommend I try for a cigar. He said, "I was wondering how long it would be before you aked." He recommended I try AF pointing at the DCs. I reached below those for a couple of less expensive cigars of the same brand (a couple of Curly Heads) and reminded him I started rolling cigarettes because I was poor. He confidently told me, "you will be back for those."
The rest is history. Although some of my friends and neighbors smoked machine made GyV and AyC they never tasted any different/better to me than my cigarettes. When I let them try the Curly Heads they were all also going to the cigar shop and buying them there and trying different brands. One of my favorites early on was Macanudo (when they were still made in Jamaica), but quit that as the boom cranked up and they moved to DR. Following that my pattern was to get a recommendation for a cheap yet decent cigar. After trying singles I would buy boxes/bundles and stick with that brand until the boom swallowed it up. I went through periods of Montesino, then La Unica, Tamboril (don't know how I could stand those), and finally La Finca. In 1998, after I had been used to spending $28/box of La Finca, they rang up for $80 (CI gave them a 91). I quit buying cigars at that point. I would smoke them twice a year or so at gatherings with my wife's family as its a longstanding tradition. On a backcountry hiking trip in 2000 with the men of my wife's family I was asked to bring cigars for the group. I was pleased after a bit of online shopping to see that cigars were back to the prices of the early to mid 90s. I bought a box of La Finca coronas and a bundle of La Unica #400M. After this trip I started buying singles of different brands, but still only smoked 3-4 times a year.
In May of this year my Father-In-Law and I were asked to bring cigars for the guys on a week long trip on the beach. I decided to hit some forums to study and got swallowed up by this addiction. My tupperdor of 6-8 cigars became a Coolerdor of 350+ sticks after finding cigarbid.com. Although at least 20% of the sticks I have bought since I wouldn't buy again; smoking them has allowed me to realize exactly what I do like. On the trip I brought 50 cigars, 5 different ones apiece for the 10 smokers, and now several of my wife's uncles are asking me for recommendations.
I now know about several $1 - $2 sticks I like for go to/yard cigars, and many $3 - $5 cigars I can smoke on Fridays or better-than-ordinary days. Best yet is that the few cigars I have "splurged" on in the $8 - $15 range this year (recommendations from forums) may now be my new favorites. ('64 PAM and Ashton VSG) Although I can't buy expensive sticks like that often, its great knowing what exactly I want to try next. (big $$$ Graycliff Espresso). When I walk into a store's humidor I no longer walk around randomly looking at cigars or the stupid "rated X by Y" signs but instead have specific cigars in mind or at least a specific type. On my last trip to the closest cigar shop I told the clerk I was looking for a sungrown I hadn't yet tried. After about 8 recommendations he went and got a book and was finally able to come up with a Fonseca Cedar Sungrown. I am going to need to find a different shop to continue my exploration of this wrapper. Cigar smoking is very fun for me to say the least.
!!Thanks CP!!
Matt