[!Xoible]

A few months ago i tried smoking a cigar for the first time. The scent of the the cigar amazes me to be honest! From that point i started smoking cigars every few weeks. I am a bit paranoid about throat or mouth cancer, so I try to maintain a 3 or 4 weeks before I smoke again.

Anyway, I was wondering if you guys have a favorite cigar. I usually seek help from somebody at the store to find me something that's really smooth, light, not spicy at all, and lasts around 40 min's to 1 hour, i dont like spending more than $20 usually, but that might make a difference. if it does make a difference i could treat myself to a $50 one every once in a while.

I have tried a few but none of them really impressed me, and the scent is always different than what i use to smell (the smell i like kinda smells like pipe).

My next question is how can I store cigars? I know they keep them cold in a non-dry or non-wet place to maintain their moistness. I tried keeping cigars in my car but they got really dry, bad idea. I just dont want to have to buy some every time i want to smoke. Would you guys buy them online?

any additional thoughts too?

[OC Guy]

See -
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humidor

[!Xoible]

thanks John... yah i did all the wiki'ing and googling and stuff. I been reading about this topic for months.
just wanted to get ideas on what people use.

See, i travel a lot, and it's not practical to carry a big thing with me. there's probably some smaller thing to carry around...

[OC Guy]

I've seen those metal cigar cases?

[!Xoible]

i thought those are just to protect the cigars, but not to preserve them for more than a couple of hours. i am not sure if they function like the humidor

[!Xoible]

cant believe bimmer drivers dont smoke that stuff

[fobunited]

There are travel humidors available, but ultimately, it depends on how many cigars you want to carry with you. Seeing as you have limited space and you don't really want to carry a box around with you, you can buy small cigar pouches and buy a cigar pillow to put inside. You soak the cigar pillow in water, and it absorbs the water, then slowly releases humidity to keep your cigars fresh.

There are 3 main things you want to pay attention to when storing your cigars. Most important would be humidity, for a cigar left in a dry place for even a couple days can be ruined. Second, is temperature, and third is the materials which surrounds the cigar. Cigars should be stored in a 70 degree/70 percent relative temperature and humidity. If you are storing your cigars long term, make sure they are sealed in a humidor made of Spanish cedar, which gives off the least amount of its own odor and therefor wont affect the taste of your cigars. If you are only buying a handful of cigars at a time, and smoking them all probably within 3-6 months, that won't be as big of an issue.

What type of cigar also vastly depends on your preference and taste. It's kind of like wine in that regard. Some of my favorites:

Bahia gold
J. Fuego natural
Ashton Cabinet
Dunhill cigars (most people like Davidoff, and I do too, but Dunhill cigars are one of my favorites)
Graycliff Red

I rarely smoke flavored cigars, pretty much only when I'm with girls or people who prefer them, I like Drew Estate Natural's Dirt Torpedo.

Hope this helps out, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask! Oh, and if you ever come up to Nor Cal, one of the largest humidor rooms on the west coast is up here and the owner's a buddy of mine. The shop is called Tobacco Republic in Loomis. Give him a call, his name is Ron and tell him Charles sent you.

[montreal_bimmer]

get urself a humidor... its the only way to store cigars... and get urself up here in canada and buy some boxes of cubans.... dominicans are nothing compared to cubans.... thats one thing that i hate when i travel to the states... cant bring my cubans(not worth getting busted at the border for cigars), and gotta smoke dominicans when im there....

anyway, if you can get ur hands on some cubans, try to get some Romeo & Juliettas no.2 .... not expensive, $15cdn a cigar, and it is exactly what ur looking for... smooth as hell, not spicy and lasts about 45-hour, depending how u smoke it...

[!Xoible]

i hear lots of good things about Romeo and Juliettas. I hear you can bring in small amounts from Canada of Cuban Cigars as long as you take off the tags from them.

What's the closest to Cuban? i know there's not one close enough, but what's the closest?

[!Xoible]

Originally Posted by fobunited

There are travel humidors available, but ultimately, it depends on how many cigars you want to carry with you. Seeing as you have limited space and you don't really want to carry a box around with you, you can buy small cigar pouches and buy a cigar pillow to put inside. You soak the cigar pillow in water, and it absorbs the water, then slowly releases humidity to keep your cigars fresh.

There are 3 main things you want to pay attention to when storing your cigars. Most important would be humidity, for a cigar left in a dry place for even a couple days can be ruined. Second, is temperature, and third is the materials which surrounds the cigar. Cigars should be stored in a 70 degree/70 percent relative temperature and humidity. If you are storing your cigars long term, make sure they are sealed in a humidor made of Spanish cedar, which gives off the least amount of its own odor and therefor wont affect the taste of your cigars. If you are only buying a handful of cigars at a time, and smoking them all probably within 3-6 months, that won't be as big of an issue.

What type of cigar also vastly depends on your preference and taste. It's kind of like wine in that regard. Some of my favorites:

Bahia gold
J. Fuego natural
Ashton Cabinet
Dunhill cigars (most people like Davidoff, and I do too, but Dunhill cigars are one of my favorites)
Graycliff Red

I rarely smoke flavored cigars, pretty much only when I'm with girls or people who prefer them, I like Drew Estate Natural's Dirt Torpedo.

Hope this helps out, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask! Oh, and if you ever come up to Nor Cal, one of the largest humidor rooms on the west coast is up here and the owner's a buddy of mine. The shop is called Tobacco Republic in Loomis. Give him a call, his name is Ron and tell him Charles sent you.

thanks! ^^ a pro
great info man.

I have tried Davidoff but they were my first so i couldnt compare them to anything at the time. Now i can

[!Xoible]

so would you guys buy em online? doesnt shipping them pretty much ruin them?

i found humidors that i can use, what do you guys think:

http://www.amazon.com/17th-Green-Cig...160851&sr=8-15

http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Humidor...160901&sr=8-20

[c0nstant]

i used to roll my own 'cigars' way back when

as Bizzy Bone would say: 'open up the dime, stimulate your mind, slide my thumb up the blunt'

[!Xoible]

weed cigars? lol

[c0nstant]

Originally Posted by mantisG35

weed cigars? lol

never!

[!Xoible]

really? why would you want to roll your own then?

[c0nstant]

Originally Posted by mantisG35

really? why would you want to roll your own then?

lol im kidding, youre right

[!Xoible]

u scared me there for a while!
im like someone in socal rolling their own cigars put he doesnt put weed, what am I missing?

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by mantisG35

so would you guys buy em online? doesnt shipping them pretty much ruin them?

i found humidors that i can use, what do you guys think:

http://www.amazon.com/17th-Green-Cig...160851&sr=8-15

http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Humidor...160901&sr=8-20

Hmmmm. On another section your response to smoking is .?????

[!Xoible]

Originally Posted by gonzo

Hmmmm. On another section your response to smoking is .?????

yes you're right. Cigars are obviously cleaner than cigarettes, and i do cigarettes because they are addicting, too. I am not sure cigars are as addicting, and i try to keep a few weeks distance between them too.

Cigarettes are just messy, they make you smell horrible, and you find yourself needing to smoke every like 30 minutes.

Like i said, i smoked hookahs for like 3 or 4 months then i got bored of it. I am not the kind of person who gets hooked on something for too long. Eventually i'll stop.

you're right, technically my statement is hypocritical, i cant argue that. On the other hand there's a lot of stuff that's but we still do it for some reason.

thanks for pointing that out tho

[Neurorad]

Don't buy a great humidor for several years. Just buy a Chinese-made cheapo from your local tobacconist. I don't like buying humidors online because I like to test them for quality first - drop the lid closed, shouldn't slam. Because you don't smoke a lot, get a 20-50 cigar humidor. Should come with a humidifcation device and a cheapo hygrometer - those will work for about a year, replace them when they crap out.

For travel, I use wooden boxes from the tobacconist - they cost 1-2$ or free if you buy a few cigars (just ask). Each lasts me typically about 1-2 years, depending on how often I travel. Never check them in your luggage, always in the carry-on. Put cigars in ziplocs inside the wooden travel box - they'll be good 4-5 days (squeeze air out of ziploc before closing).

Never leave cigars in your car - the heat will make them expand and the wrapper will crack. If I'm going to the gym after buying cigars, I'll toss them into my gym bag rather than leaving them in my car for an hour.

Every line of cigars comes in a variety of sizes, just pick the size you prefer. The taste of a robusto compared with a corona will only be slight and not noticeable to the novice.

I found the Ashton VSG cigars to be pretty close to the flavor of my favorite Cubans, but just as with Dominican and Honduran cigars, there are wide ranges of quality and tastes of Cubans too. There are really crappy Cuban cigars, too.

I have favorite expensive cigars and favorite 'everyday' cigars.

Expensive - Opux X, Ashton VSG/ESG, and all Avos (Avo XO and Avo Signature are my favorites), Fuente Don Carlos

'Everyday' cigars - Fuente Chateau line (only the 'Sun Grown' wrappers, the ones with the black ribbon wround the foot, come in 4 sizes, priced $3.50 - $8, avoid the natural (green ribbon) and maduro (red ribbon) wrappers), La Gloria maduros, CAO Extreme, Rocky Patel 'The Edge'.

Most of these are more 'flavorful' (powerful?) cigars. For the novice I'd recommend the regular Avo. IMO, Avos are the best all-around cigars available in the U.S., running you ~$7-15/stick.

For the 'advanced', filthy-rich cigar smoker, you can buy boxes of Cubans from Canada by phone. Thomas Hinds in Toronto will mail you whatever you want, if you want to spend hundred of dollars on a box.

[Neurorad]

Originally Posted by gonzo

Hmmmm. On another section your response to smoking is .?????

The difference between cigarettes and cigars is like night and day. Ignorant people always group them together.

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by Neurorad

The difference between cigarettes and cigars is like night and day. Ignorant people always group them together.

I was not grouping anything together. A person with such a strong displeasure regarding cigarettes and their smoke liking cigars seemed odd. Calling someone ignorant purely from an internet forum read is what i would call assuming and approaching arrogant status.