What got you into cigars?
ShadowInTheMoon
Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 486
Do you have a magical moment... That first time you tried a cigar? What was it and what did you think of it?What kept you coming back to cigars?
Comments
On a side note, this forum was so helpful, made it easier and probably saved me lots of money too.
Fast forward to a couple summers ago, and I accepted a cigar from a cousin at a family function and remembered how much I enjoyed it. Then I decided to buy a humidor and here I am.
Fast forward to around 20 years old, and my best friend calls me from England - he's been on tour in Iraq for the previous 9 months and had just gotten home. He tells me "Hey, I started smoking cigars out there with some of the guys. I think you should check it out, I think this is something that'll really be up your alley." He knows me better than anybody, so I figured I'd take his advice. Went to the only cigar shop I knew of at the time (a retail spot in a mall, a place I'd grown up walking past and always enjoyed stopping to take in the smell), and came right out and told the guy "I'm ignorant, but I understand there's a lot to learn. Help me learn, give me somewhere to start." Guy immediately tries to sell me on the $20 Davidoffs (a$$). I shut him down, told him that was ridiculous and I knew there had to be somewhere more entry-level to start. Ended up with a Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real toro; took that home, enjoyed it by the pool, didn't get much from it but decided I wanted to learn more. Found another B&M closer to my house; it was a classic cigar lounge, and became my second home. The owners were excellent mentors, and I spent a LOT of time there buying singles here and there.
Didn't take me too long to decide I needed a humidor - I remembered seeing an ad for some cigar website in my monthly Playboy subscription, so I looked that up. Booyah, $25 shipped 20ct humidor with 10pk of stogies coming my way (Cigar.com, of course!), and immediately I was on the forums asking about how to get it all seasoned. Here we are 6 years later and I've smoked a few thousand cigars, hosted a few cigar events, learned enough for a degree, and look forward to opening a cigar lounge in the future. I guess my best friend was right, seems like this was "up my alley."
Also, I did eventually get into pipes. Had 4 at one point, but gave away two of them when I left the States. Now I'm left with a nameless estate 3/4 bent and a custom one-off made for me by a good friend and pipemaker. He actually took the design we put together and put it into regular production for IPCPR, so there's officially a Chuck Long "Hays" pipe.
(I am definitely in a writing mood lately, so sorry if this post was a little too much!)
Snicker
I really liked it and started doing the buy 3 before going fishing or golfing guy, and I told my wife i think I want to get a humidor and start buying cigars online because they are so expensive in the store. She decided to buy me the get you in the door crackhead style $25 humidor combo from here and i have been here ever since.