Not interested in new?
alienmisprint
Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 3,961
in Cigar 101
Does anyone else find themselves less and less interested in trying new cigars? I have only been in the hobby for about five years now, but I have gotten to where I am rarely excited about trying new stuff. If it comes from a maker I am a big fan of (Tatuaje, Illusione, Alec Bradley, My Father), I will generally seek one out and give it a whirl. But pretty much anything else new, I don't even attempt to get. I may be browsing through a shop and see something that catches my eye (this happened with a Diesel Grind and the Room 101 Namakubi), but for the most part I tend to stick to what I know.
The first few years I got into the hobby, I was constantly trying new stuff, always eager to find that next awesome smoke I just couldn't do without. It seems like lately, though, I prefer going with a cigar that I know I will love rather than a cigar that may be great, may be okay, or may be a dog rocket. Within the four major brands that I tend to favor, there is more than enough diversity to keep me happy. I could positively smoke just the four above brands and nothing else for the rest of my life and be perfectly content. Has anyone else experienced this?
The first few years I got into the hobby, I was constantly trying new stuff, always eager to find that next awesome smoke I just couldn't do without. It seems like lately, though, I prefer going with a cigar that I know I will love rather than a cigar that may be great, may be okay, or may be a dog rocket. Within the four major brands that I tend to favor, there is more than enough diversity to keep me happy. I could positively smoke just the four above brands and nothing else for the rest of my life and be perfectly content. Has anyone else experienced this?
Comments
I'd guess most of you guys could stop buying today and have several years worth of smokes on hand. Between Sprint, Ccom email & daily deals and the devil's site I'll be there soon myself. It's hard NOT to drop $50 every time I visit my local B&M stores… stubid hobby
Also, I think it's a factor of better knowing what you like after having smoked quite a few varieties. I don't have to try and get my hands on everything to see of I like it; I sort of have an idea of what I like already and can narrow down the new stuff I'd like to try.
I'm more interested in giving particular brands a try rather than new releases. For example, I just tried a few different Kristoff's over the last few months and I do like em. I want to give some more LFD's a try since I've only had a few of them. I know that I like Tat's, Pepin, Padron, and others... so I can just buy what I like from them, and maybe pick up a couple of new ones every now and then.
I never in a million years thought anyone would send me a free anything!! when my welcome bomb from Shizz arrived I was shocked and surprised at the same time.
As I build up my stock, I will always be the guy paying it forward!!
I am still in trying em Mode!! "Life is Good"
Oh, yeah, even within my chosen brands, there are new releases I am excited to try. There are still a few Tatuajes I want to try (Fausto jumps to mind) and I am extremely happy I gave the Flor de las Antilles from My Father a chance, what a great smoke. The Alec Bradley Mundial definitely has wow factor for me, and the Illusione Rothschilds were surprisingly good. I do get excited about new releases still, but pretty much only from the companies I am already a fan of. If it isn't from Tatuaje, My Father, Illusione, or Alec Bradley, I just really don't care.
There are a few exceptions here. For instance, Room 101. I would like to try a few more of their blends. The Namakubi was a phenomenal cigar, and I recall enjoying their namesake line as well. I do want to venture down their rabbit hole a bit; I'm eager to try the Darumba and San Andreas. Also the CLE Cuarenta impressed me, I wouldn't mind trying the Plus. And AKA was pretty decent, but I've already tried most of their blends; that being said, if they released something new I'd probably give it a shot.
For everything else, I could really care less about trying it. Like I said in the first post, if I am in a B&M and something catches my eye, I'll pick it up. Unfortunately, I find that when I do this I am disappointed more often than not. The Diesel Grind was pretty good, but the LGC Trunk Show cigars weren't. Not that they were bad, just not great. Even going off others' recommendations, I find that I am often disappointed. Almost everything I have read and seen people talking about and been told by other smokers indicated that the Gurkha Cellar Reserve was a fantastic cigar, but I was severely underwhelmed by it. The Esteban Carreras Chupa Cabra came highly recommended, and I thought it was barely above dog rocket level.
There are some diamonds in the rough for sure. Someone here sent me a couple of Obsidian mini-coronas when they first came out, around a year and a half or two years ago. I didn't get around to trying one for well over a year, but when I did it absolutely blew me away. I immediately ordered a box of them, only to find out that it was the year+ of age that really made it shine. That's a cigar that if I had tried it relatively fresh, I likely would have never revisited it. The Bueso Genesis was another one that really took me by surprise. Not sure if it was due to age or if they are just that good ROTT, but I do need to pick up a few more of them. But like I said, for every awesome smoke you find, you have to wade through a ton of less-than desirable sticks.
I think a large part of it is due to a limited time to smoke. When I first started, it was pretty normal for me to go through 3-5 cigars a day. Now, its more like 2-3 a week back home, and even out here I don't get one in every day. When I do sit down with a cigar, I want to know that I am going to thoroughly enjoy it. Another part of it is this:
This has happened a few times. The Alec Bradley Pryme, Xikar Defiance, and Tatuaje Anarchy all jump to mind. Another thing is when you find a perfect cigar and then they move factories/change the blend and it just isn't the same any more - here's looking at you, Rocky Patel Decade.
I do miss the feeling of discovering that new "wow" cigar, but I also really enjoy knowing that I am going to love 95% of the cigars I fire up. I guess its a trade off.
When I was introduced to CCOM, I was familiar with names like Fuente, Uppman, RyJ, etc., but I'd never heard of Rocky Patel or Gran Habano or many others. I don't go out of my way too much to just try things "because they're new", though. That's probably what I like best about the COTM. They send stuff, I don't know what's coming, some is new, some is great, and some I learn not to order.
I'm at a point, as others, where I simply don't have the money, time, or energy to expend on trying out new stuff. I "paid my dues" these last few years, and have settled down nicely with 25+ different cigars that I'm happy to pay for (at the prices I get them that is), and at my smoking rate, I never have to smoke the same cigar for 2 or 3 months if I don't want, so it's plenty of variety for me.
It's kind of a mess out there anyways, even a few of my "trusted" blenders are introducing new blends at an alarming rate, and I'm not sure where that will go, but I don't have a warm fuzzy feeling about it.
Who knows, in a few years, half of my favorites may be "re-blended"m or "licensed out", or simply discontinued. If/when that happens, I'll be back on the "trail" looking for new cigars that fit my taste buds and wallet.
From this post and what you said in my, "What do I like?" thread it seems our tastes are really similar. That being said, I'm only 6 months into this hobby and I'm already planning to narrow my "new" down and expand my "favorites". I'd love to have a box of each of a few of my favorites and just go to those most often with a sprinkling of new stuff every once in a while just because. I think I've smoked the same cigar 3 times at most in the last 6 months and just keep having new, new, new, new. It's been a lot of fun but now I think I know more about what I like, what's "good", etc etc so I'm starting to care less about the quantity.
I recommend the FT153 Fausto. It's really damn good. Pete told me it was his favorite and his "go-to".
I was just looking at the available sizes for the Daruma, I guess I might go with the lancero to try after all. Its either that or the churchill. I was reading more on the Fausto, and I believe I may have tried them before. If what I read is correct, they are the same as the old T110 blend, and I was fortunate enough to try a couple of those. I believe Rich sent them to me a few years ago. If it is the same, I am going to defnitely have to stock a few of them. The site doesn't list a FT153, is it a different size than what is available on Ccom or just a name they don't use for one of the sizes they do offer?