Need Some Advice On My First Cigar

[MMAfan23]

I'm looking to get some input and experiences from those of you more experienced cigar smokers on the forum.

So what I'm wondering is what would be a good, first real cigar for me to try smoking? All of the cigars I've smoked up until now have been cheap shit like Swisher Sweets or Black & Mild's, although I did have a really nice Hav-A-Tampa Jewel Wood Tip Cigar that for a machine rolled, cheap cigar smoked and tasted really well. It was worlds better then Black & Mild's or any of the other cheaper cigars out there. I highly recommend them for anyone looking for a tipped cigar to smoke and they were a good price at like $0.79 for a single cigar. Here's a picture...



Anyway back on topic, what would be a good first cigar for me to try out? I'm pretty sure I'm looking for something that's mild since it'll be my first one and I don't want one that's too harsh or anything like that that's going to turn me off of them.

I've done some reading online and from what I can tell a Romeo y Julieta or a Montecristo are two good beginner cigars and I know my local cigar shop carries both brands as well as just about any other cigar out there.

The thing I'm curious about is if I were to go with a Romeo y Julieta or a Montecristo what would be a good one to try since there seems to be so many different versions of them and it's kind of confusing? I'm also open to any and all suggestions for other brands as well.

[DiverDan]

Honestly?

I like to check out the selection at the cigar shop and pick ones that look interesting. That or talk to the attendant. It's their job, so they should be able to help out at least minimally.

But for me I just pick a few each time and keep track of what I like and what I don't.

[FloydWonder]

me and my buddy got a bunch of free cohibas, worth 50$ each and they were exellent to just chill, talk and smoke one.
i have had other cheaper ones but they were shit compared to the cohiba. if i were to tell u to start with any cigar, try a pack of cohiba mini's, i think it was 37$ for a pack of 10. theyre pretty good too.

as for the romeos or montechristos, i havent had those before but i have heard montechristos are good to begin with.

[MMAfan23]

Honestly?

I like to check out the selection at the cigar shop and pick ones that look interesting. That or talk to the attendant. It's their job, so they should be able to help out at least minimally.

But for me I just pick a few each time and keep track of what I like and what I don't.

When I went in I was going to talk with the guy that runs the store and see what he recommends for a beginner but I also wanted to see what you guys thought and also have some information so I at least know a little bit of what I'm talking about when I go in there so I don't look stupid or anything and also so that I would have a good idea of what the most popular good cigars are and which ones to avoid.

[Dystopia]

I'm looking to get some input and experiences from those of you more experienced cigar smokers on the forum.

So what I'm wondering is what would be a good, first real cigar for me to try smoking? All of the cigars I've smoked up until now have been cheap shit like Swisher Sweets or Black & Mild's, although I did have a really nice Hav-A-Tampa Jewel Wood Tip Cigar that for a machine rolled, cheap cigar smoked and tasted really well. It was worlds better then Black & Mild's or any of the other cheaper cigars out there. I highly recommend them for anyone looking for a tipped cigar to smoke and they were a good price at like $0.79 for a single cigar. Here's a picture...



Anyway back on topic, what would be a good first cigar for me to try out? I'm pretty sure I'm looking for something that's mild since it'll be my first one and I don't want one that's too harsh or anything like that that's going to turn me off of them.

I've done some reading online and from what I can tell a Romeo y Julieta or a Montecristo are two good beginner cigars and I know my local cigar shop carries both brands as well as just about any other cigar out there.

The thing I'm curious about is if I were to go with a Romeo y Julieta or a Montecristo what would be a good one to try since there seems to be so many different versions of them and it's kind of confusing? I'm also open to any and all suggestions for other brands as well.

how bout you DON"T get ones packeged in a box and look like black n' milds.

go to a real cigar shop and tell them you are new but you don't want anything too spicy.

[MMAfan23]

how bout you DON"T get ones packeged in a box and look like black n' milds.

go to a real cigar shop and tell them you are new but you don't want anything too spicy.

That's what I plan on doing. That one I pictured was just one that I picked up at the gas station one day when I wanted a Black and Mild, except that one was a little bit nicer looking so I went with it and I was just telling people that it's a nice, cheaper cigar for when you don't want to sit down for at least an hour and smoke an expensive cigar.

I'm planning on going to a real cigar shop tomorrow and picking up a few cigars to try out but I wanted to do a little research and have a few in mind before I went in. I did that research and found the top 6 ones I'm interested in that seem to be nice for a beginner.

Here they are in the order that I'm thinking I'll prefer them. If anyone has smoked any of these and could give some feedback that'd be great.

1. Oliva Connecticut Reserve Robusto or Torpedo
2. Arturo Fuente Hemingway Work of Art Maduro
3. Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story
4. Rocky Patel Connecticut
5. Romeo y Julieta Churchill Tubo
6. Rocky Patel Vintage 1999

[Silence Dogood]

Swisher Sweets, or Dutch's, great first cigars : ]

[MMAfan23]

Well I went to the tobacco shop today to pick out one to try and ended up going with an Oliva Serie O. It cost me like $7, which I thought was a decent price since online they were like $5.

I smoked it tonight after I ate dinner and I gotta say it was a damn nice cigar and I completely loved the experience. It was almost like the first time I snorted some Oxy, the whole process of cutting off the cap, lighting it the right way, etc.

I had some problems at first because after I smoked about 1/2 an inch of it it seemed to go out after the ash fell off and I couldn't get a good draw so I realized I didn't cut off enough of the cap so I took off a little bit more and relit it and then it was good to go. It burned nice and evenly and left a good 1/2-1 inch long ash before it would fall off.

The taste was great with a slight hint of pepper as well as some sweetness and a cedar kind of flavor. The flavor is actually kind of hard to describe because it all blended so well that it was hard to distinguish the different ones but they blended into a nice, smooth and creamy flavor/smoke that I really enjoyed. I got about a hour smoke out of it and there was still some left to smoke but it was like 11:30 pm and my dad wanted to go to bed (I was sitting outside on my parents balcony because they have a table and 2 chairs out there so it was a nice place to smoke and use my computer) so I let it burn out and then threw away what was left. I know I could have had at least another 20 minutes of smoking left on it but I had had enough anyway.

The thing that really surprised me the most was how much of a buzz I got from it. I've smoked cigarettes before and never gotten any type of nicotine buzz but the cigar gave me a really good buzz that had me feeling pretty nice.

Cigar smoking is definitely something I think I'm going to get into as I found it really enjoyable and relaxing and there's a nice tobacco shop close to me that has a TON of cigars. While I was smoking it I was looking around and found a great website to buy them from and they have a special right now where they're selling a 35 cigar table top humidor with a 25 pack variety pack of some really nice cigars for $165 so I think I'm going to pick that up since it comes with a humidor and the variety of cigars that way I can find out which ones I like and which I don't then I can stock up on a couple I like and age them properly and have a nice smoke whenever I feel like it.

Here's the sampler pack if anyone is interested in it. It's a great deal IMO for what you get...

http://www.absolutecigars.com/MegaSampler.html

Swisher Sweets, or Dutch's, great first cigars : ]

Wow man really? That's such awesome advice. I think I'm gonna go buy a whole box of them right now! /sarcasm

[TerryToad]

"I've smoked cigarettes before and never gotten any type of nicotine buzz"

True! I just finished a William II Slim Corona (i gave up cigarettes recently) the flavour is very refreshing and I like the mellow buzzy feeling. Thanks for sharing these insights - I am grateful not to go cold turkey without my cigarettes, cigars are the substitute, then smoke - free with a cigar as an occasional indulgence.

[MMAfan23]

Yeah cigars have kind of become my new hobby and I've really gotten into it.

If you're new to them and want to try a great cigar I suggest going to your local tobacco shop and buying an Oliva Serie O in either a torpedo or a robusto. The torpedo tasted a little better but not too much. That'll run you about $6.50 or so and it tastes amazing but is nice and mellow.

If you want to spend a little bit more money then check out the Rocky Patel Connecticut Reserve. That one's like $12 but it has a ton of flavor. Once I got like half way done with it there was a ton of chocolate and cocoa flavor and the whole thing was just really mild and smooth.

I'm currently looking into getting a humidor since aging cigars makes them taste so much better and there's a ton of good deals online to buy them but it's usually in packs of 5-25 so I need a humidor to store them because if I spend the money on them I don't want to ruin them by not properly storing them. Plus my local tobacco shop is kind of overpriced so I'd rather get them online for cheaper.

[Mike R]

Arturo Fuente Hemingway Work of Art Maduro
Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story

Two of my favorites anything Arturo is great

[ldon]

How long does a cigar generally last? Do you guys inhale them?

[GimmeFiction]

How long does a cigar generally last? Do you guys inhale them?

Depends on the size, and no.

[MMAfan23]

How long does a cigar generally last? Do you guys inhale them?

No you don't inhale them and they generally last around an hour or so but the longer ones can last up to 1.5 hours, with some shorter ones lasting less then an hour but 1 hour is a general rule of thumb for them.

[Renegade]

I never used for the cigar because it is very dangerous for our health all the destruction of our body for this cigar then i suggest to the everybody to avoid the cigar and cigarette and not for the habit for use, sometime smoker to the cancer for only to the this cigar that,s why avoid to the this cigar.

Did you join to bump old threads to tell how bad cigarettes are?