Most of the guys I golf and play poker with are cigar smokers. However, I got into it moreso recently when a cigar lounge opened in town. I brought my FIL and enjoyed sitting outdoors in the summer evening with him. Now I am hooked
My first cigar was an Ashton Cabinet Belicoso given to me at my step-daughter's wedding in June 2009. He was (and still is) a great friend to my SD and son-in-law. The cigar was OK, not having any idea what I was doing, etc. Having no cutter, I bit off a small part of the cap which left me spitting for a few minutes. My friend instructed me on a few of the basics but he could only do so much. As the summer went on, I got thinking more and more about the cigar experience, contacted the gentleman who gave me the cigar and he recommended CCOM. Not wanting to wait, I purchased a an Arturo Fuente from a B&M determined to 'give it another try'. That day, the wind was blowing quite a bit, smoked it way too fast, not overly-enjoyable. Then I actually started studying the information on these great forums. Found out I was smoking with the wrong technique, etc. My wife is supporting my new-found interest, tho not in the house. Thanks to some daily deals, my 50 ct humidor started to fill.
A couple of weeks ago, I called in and was able to commune with THE BEARD himself! With infinite patience, he helped my order my MOW sampler and pick out 10 Gurkhas.
I was in such awe from talking to HIM that I forgot to say "All Hail The Beard!" when I hung up.
Back in high school a friend of mine and I used to smoke cloves. Loved the smell hated the taste. Later on another one of my friends declared cloves crap and gave me a box of swisher sweets. I hung onto that box for the last 3 years of HS. To be honest they tasted like crap.
Long story short, last year while working on a story, I wanted one of my characters to be a cigar smoker. Remembering the asstasstic things I smoked in HS I thought it was time to do some research. Ended up heading to the local tinderbox and picking up a Macanudo, a NUB cameroon, a CAO Gold Maduro, and a sampler box of RP Renaissance.
Funny thing is I thought I could smoke all of them in one night, I was seeing green.
This was a good thread to start. It's pretty neat reading through everyone's first experiences with cigars.
The best part is that just about every story is one that the person is happy about.
Just about... but not quite...
In September 2008, my company sent a group of 5 guys to a job site 3 hours away from home. This job was going to be a six week project, long hours, but the company was going to take care of us - we were going to work 4 days a week, ten hour days, a three day weekend to come home & see our familys, with the promise of no weekend or holiday work. SWEET!
As you have prolly figured out, didnt QUITE work out that way. Job was a COMPLETE clusterfook, we worked 6 days a week 10 hours a day minimum, the 6 week project ended up taking nearly five MONTHS, and with that kind of schedule it just wasnt feasible to come home even on the weekends to see the families unless it was a special occasion, which didnt happen too often. Horrible working conditions, awful customer, this job had it all I tell ya! LOL Just an absolutely miserable time.
After one particularly shitty day (even by this job site's lofty standards!) one of my buddies grabbed his lighter on the ride back to the hotel, reached under his seat & came out with a baggie... and asked me "Cigar?" LOL To this day, I have no idea what that stick was. Certainly handmade, but to my eternal regret I will never know what brand. At any rate, by the time we finished our hour long ride back to the hotel (and our sticks) we were laughing and happy again. I was amazed - something that could bring my spirits back up after months & months of crappiness with the worst day EVER as the cherry on top? I HAD to explore this cigar thing further.
And my long-winded azz has been a much calmer person ever since. :-D
Had my first cigar the night I graduated from HS. I smoked it about as fast as I was throwing down the accompanying Mudslides and ended up puking on the side of the road that night.
Had another one in college...a female friend was passing them out, so I figured, why the hell not. Don't remember what it was, but the experience was much better than the first.
Finally decided I would take it more seriously when my son was born (3 years and a few days ago). I bought a desktop humi and went to my local B&M to fill it. I was fortunate that the selection was incredible but also that the owners were more than happy to make recommendations. I left with a bunch of Arturo Fuentes that I passed out and savored for myself. I still look to those guys for new things to try. Fast forward and it's become a full-fledged hobby (to go with my passion for wine)!
Always enjoyed smoking. Used to empty out Garcia Vegas and add my own filler. Grew out of that for many years. Moved to Tampa Fl where cigars are everywhere. Friend and I had one for my 31st bday. Was an R&J I believe. Love at first puff. Then started going to all the great Tampa BnMs and wonderfull Ybor city. That was all she wrote.
As I kid I remember my neighbor was constantly smoking a cigar. The smell was always amazing and I would sit outside with my parents and him just to smell it. Fast forward 10+ years my sister just recently turned 21 so she went out and got a bunch of stuff to drink and picked up some swishers to go with it. She told me to try it and thought to myself "This could be much better" then I remembered my old neighbor and how good those smelled. So once I got back to the school dorms after heading home for her bday I kept bringing up the subject to people that we should find some cigars. We went to a local shop and only bought things that were $5+ cause we figured those were the 'good ones'. Did that for a few weeks while lurking this site and others about what to try. My first decent purchase was a daily deal of MOW ruinations. Today i got my first humi which is a nice imperfect 75-100 count. All that's left to do is sell eveything I own and by nothing but cigars
When I was in physics class in high school I was doing an extra credit project that attempted to cook a hot dog using the sun. At first I made a parabola with reflective tin and put the hotdog in the foci using a wire that would rotate the dog for even cooking. The problem was heat retention so one day when I was at the gas station I noticed tubed cigars and thought that would be great. After a few modifications I had a glass tubed hotdog rotating on a sun grill which worked perfectly. Anyway, I had this cigar sitting around so one day I went outside my grandparents house to see what these thing were all about. My grandma noticed and came out to shoot the breeze and told me that my family used to be cigar rollers. She had some great stories.
When I was in physics class in high school I was doing an extra credit project that attempted to cook a hot dog using the sun. At first I made a parabola with reflective tin and put the hotdog in the foci using a wire that would rotate the dog for even cooking. The problem was heat retention so one day when I was at the gas station I noticed tubed cigars and thought that would be great. After a few modifications I had a glass tubed hotdog rotating on a sun grill which worked perfectly. Anyway, I had this cigar sitting around so one day I went outside my grandparents house to see what these thing were all about. My grandma noticed and came out to shoot the breeze and told me that my family used to be cigar rollers. She had some great stories.
My mothers side of the family were all part of the cigar industry. My grandma rolled them, my uncle packed them, and my grandpa smoked and shipped them. They worked for Dutch Masters in Pennsylvania. I'm not too fond off them cause they taste terrible to me, also they machine roll products now.
Comments
The best part is that just about every story is one that the person is happy about.
A couple of weeks ago, I called in and was able to commune with THE BEARD himself! With infinite patience, he helped my order my MOW sampler and pick out 10 Gurkhas.
I was in such awe from talking to HIM that I forgot to say "All Hail The Beard!" when I hung up.
Loved the smell hated the taste.
Later on another one of my friends declared cloves crap and gave me a box of swisher sweets.
I hung onto that box for the last 3 years of HS. To be honest they tasted like crap.
Long story short, last year while working on a story, I wanted one of my characters to be a cigar smoker. Remembering the asstasstic things I smoked in HS I thought it was time to do some research.
Ended up heading to the local tinderbox and picking up a Macanudo, a NUB cameroon, a CAO Gold Maduro, and a sampler box of RP Renaissance.
Funny thing is I thought I could smoke all of them in one night, I was seeing green.
In September 2008, my company sent a group of 5 guys to a job site 3 hours away from home. This job was going to be a six week project, long hours, but the company was going to take care of us - we were going to work 4 days a week, ten hour days, a three day weekend to come home & see our familys, with the promise of no weekend or holiday work. SWEET!
As you have prolly figured out, didnt QUITE work out that way. Job was a COMPLETE clusterfook, we worked 6 days a week 10 hours a day minimum, the 6 week project ended up taking nearly five MONTHS, and with that kind of schedule it just wasnt feasible to come home even on the weekends to see the families unless it was a special occasion, which didnt happen too often. Horrible working conditions, awful customer, this job had it all I tell ya! LOL Just an absolutely miserable time.
After one particularly shitty day (even by this job site's lofty standards!) one of my buddies grabbed his lighter on the ride back to the hotel, reached under his seat & came out with a baggie... and asked me "Cigar?" LOL To this day, I have no idea what that stick was. Certainly handmade, but to my eternal regret I will never know what brand. At any rate, by the time we finished our hour long ride back to the hotel (and our sticks) we were laughing and happy again. I was amazed - something that could bring my spirits back up after months & months of crappiness with the worst day EVER as the cherry on top? I HAD to explore this cigar thing further.
And my long-winded azz has been a much calmer person ever since. :-D