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When Did Your Collection Become - Smokeable?

rdj735

Active Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2009
Messages
120
I've seen the opinions of some of you about this question - a few of you are still admiring the construction of your Anejos, while others are puffing away on a Cohiba Behike. For those of you in the "smoke 'em if ya got 'em" crowd, at what point did a cigar become something to smoke, rather than something to collect? In the past couple years, I've picked up some fantastic sticks, either from random B&Ms or fantastic BOTLs around here. Unfortunately, I'm having a hard time making myself take a sharp object to the head and a flame to the foot. Did you always light up with reckless abandon, or did something change over the years?


Bobby
 
For me it was when our "New" deck fell in June of '09. I fell with it and shattered my leg and foot. I was laid up for months. I had a bunch that I was saving for the special day. I realized then that every day is a special one. I sit out on our new "New" deck every night with my beautiful wife and smoke whatever I pull from the humidor.
 
When you get some more cigar storage, the whole prospect gets easier. Now that I have a nice cabinet, I can store many boxes of smokes so smoking a three to five year old stick is pretty much the norm. I always back fill, but the goal is to put any new box away for a year or three. So far, so good....

On a more serious note....

You never know what tomorrow will bring. I'm sure we will all live to be 100 and no misfortune will happen, but we both know that's crap. Life can sometimes be an evil bitch and you never know what may go down, what may happen. Don't mistake my thoughts; I'm not looking for bad things to happen, but unfortunately, bad things sometimes happen to wonderful, awesome people. Be realistic.

Ask Brian....were he still with us. Search "Infinity" and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Not to be morbid or on a complete downer, but honestly, every day above ground is a good day. I don't care if your 20 or 50 or 80.....life is a precious gift but tenuous at best. Brian used to say (perhaps I'm paraphrasing a bit) that he "....smokes his best s#!t every day....". Those are wise words from a smart, generous, wonderful guy. Be it smokes, or life in general, it makes so much sense.

What the hell - drink that 20YO bourbon, and enjoy a fantastic smoke. Love life and embrace the wonderful pleasures it offers.....;)

B.B.S.
 
What B.B.S. said.

For me, I have always smoked the "good stuff" along the way. More so as I received good advice from the likes of No. 1.
 
I smoke what I have and save the good ones for when I can really enjoy them or I can share them with friends.

Half the joy of these nice cigars is sharing them with others :)

The real question to ask is what are you saving them for?
 
More or less back on topic, I guess we all "horded" HTF smokes in the beginning our our quest...but, at some point you have a few nice things and realize they are all more or less flammable.

Smoke the good stuff. Today. If you have the luxury of some storage, buy two boxes; smoke one now, and age the other until you can't take it anymore.....:p

Like engspot said....what are you saving them for? A good day? I've found nothing makes a shitty day into a great day like a fantastic cigar and an hour of blissful, private time on the deck. Hope you find that true as well....:cool:

JMHO....B.B.S.
 
More or less back on topic, I guess we all "horded" HTF smokes in the beginning our our quest...but, at some point you have a few nice things and realize they are all more or less flammable.

Smoke the good stuff. Today. If you have the luxury of some storage, buy two boxes; smoke one now, and age the other until you can't take it anymore.....:p

Like engspot said....what are you saving them for? A good day? I've found nothing makes a shitty day into a great day like a fantastic cigar and an hour of blissful, private time on the deck. Hope you find that true as well....:cool:

JMHO....B.B.S.


I've been leaning more and more toward this "philosophy." Think about it, when you first start out you say to yourself every time you open the humi: "No, I cant smoke that one yet I have to save it." Whats going to happen if you just keep saying that every time? You'll never get to it. Reminds me of the scene in Sideways where Miles is saving his bottle of '61 Cheval Blanc and Maya says to him: "You know the day you open a '61 Cheval Blanc, thats the special occasion."

Now, when I feel like a smoke I reach in and pull out a good one. Every time you smoke it should be an enjoyable moment.
 
Just smoke it all. I have always felt this way, you never know when you will get attacked by a bison and die. Tuesday is a good day for the real htf shit
 
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You guys are right, and I think the same way... but I guess part of my hesitation is the thought that I'll never see one again, and part is that I'm worried about being disappointed with such a rare smoke. Hey, I think I may have just convinced myself! What if I kept those cigars, not a couple of years, but a dozen - I finally smoked one, and THEN I realized that it was terrible?!?! I'd be pissed! I'll be danged - looks like I'm smoking a fake HDM EL '07 tomorrow - if the bison don't get me first![/size][/font]
 
I've always been a part of the hold um until later crowd until just recently. I ain't getting any younger so I'm starting to open up some of those older boxes now. It's taken some pretty ugly happenings over the past year to get me to this point but I'm now enjoying some outstanding cigars.
 
Aside from a three pack of special cigars that I bought back when my brother first began his long and troublesome journey to try to join the Marine Corps, and which we were supposed to smoke when he graduated, I don't subscribe to the, "saving hard to find, ect for later" camp anymore. Just like others here have said, any day is a good day to smoke it.


That three pack will be smoked, mind you. Now that he finally was accepted into the military, when he graduates boot camp we will be lighting those cigars up, and celebrating the end of one long journey, and the beginning of another.


Heck, I was given a very old, very rare cigar by a friend here, and I didn't save it for long....it was smoked about a month later on my birthday. :D
 
I am not a collector. I am a smoker, and a hoarder. I have always subscribed to the idea that we have to live in the now moment.
This means, smoke your best when you can, because you knever know what will unfold in life.

Only time I let a cigar sit, is if I am exerimenting with aging, to see how a cigar
changes, or if I get them, and they are obviously ammonia bombs, or sick in flavor lock.

Everyday you wake up again, it is time to celebrate with your best.
 
I realize I'm in the tiny minority here, and don't expect to convince anyone to change their philosophy on the subject. That being said, if one assumes one has a finite number of cigars in one's collection, if you smoke your best cigar everyday, everyday you smoke a worse cigar than the day before. If you smoke your worst cigar every day, every day you smoke a better cigar than the day before.
I like having something to look forward to.
 
I like Ron White's quote: "I've got a great cigar collection - it's actually not a collection, because that would imply I wasn't going to smoke every last one of 'em."
 
I've always been a part of the hold um until later crowd until just recently. I ain't getting any younger so I'm starting to open up some of those older boxes now. It's taken some pretty ugly happenings over the past year to get me to this point but I'm now enjoying some outstanding cigars.

You've got my address :)
 
I agree with everyone, and I smoke my best as time and the situation allows. I was gifted some great smokes several months ago that I did save for smoking on my birthday , vacation and to share with a special friend, but I did smoke them.

So kick back, smoke your best and enjoy life!
 
I have certain sticks that I'll set aside for a later time or if I have a certain occasion in mind. But, I usually smoke what ever it is that I have an itch for. I've been able to get some nice stuff thanks to my local (Jim :thumbs:) and will attack them when the mood strikes. At first I did let a lot of HTF sit, though after reading alot of people's thoughts on here, I've come to my current stance. It's all about the mood and what strikes my fancy at the time.
 
I realize I'm in the tiny minority here, and don't expect to convince anyone to change their philosophy on the subject. That being said, if one assumes one has a finite number of cigars in one's collection, if you smoke your best cigar everyday, everyday you smoke a worse cigar than the day before. If you smoke your worst cigar every day, every day you smoke a better cigar than the day before.
I like having something to look forward to.

And what if that "forward" part never comes? To each his own, and I'm not trying to dissuade you from your practice. Your scenario is also assuming you'll never get any better cigars once you've smoked your "best", which I think is a bit of a pessimistic view.

Tomorrow is guaranteed to nobody. To me, the main things I consider when choosing a smoke is whether I'll have the focus and solitude to enjoy a great smoke or whether I'll be amongst a lot of people and the cigar will take a back seat. If I do, I'll grab one, no matter if it's expensive, rare, or whatever.

Cigars aren't for collecting. Internet pr0n, now that's for collecting.
 
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