Any cigar smokers on CP?
 

Being my birthday today I received a box of these and my favorite Scotch! Anybody else here enjoy a nice cigar? Happy 4th!
http://i.imgur.com/W79AKOj.jpg

Great present! I like a good Punch or Fuente cigar now and then

Not a big Padron fan, unless you're buying the crazy expensive stuff. If I'm in the mood to burn money Liga Privada #9 is my preference.

I quit a long time ago, but I used to like Macanudo.

I had two macanudos tonight

May I recommend Thompson cigar? I'm on their monthly club.

My uncle in SoCal got me hooked on cigars and the cigar culture while I was living out there. If you're looking for a quality cutter (and you should), I'd highly recommend anything made by Xikar. A bit pricey, but the lifetime warranty and the fact that they're a KC company sold it for me.

Have a Partagas Series D #4 tonight -- my all time fav.

I'm no Connoisseur but I enjoy a good stick every now and again. Especially if I'm sippin on scotch.

I usually pick up a Maduro of some sort, maybe a My Father by Don Peppin (Who I met with Stcchief up here at outlaw), a Kristoff or I'll smoke any stick given to me by a friend.

BOTL

That's a great cigar

Only if I'm putting some high grade bud inside it!

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showt...ghlight=Cigars

Some great info here too.

I used to be. Haven't in years. I had a decent humidor an everything.

Best I ever had was an H. Upmann Havana, a Cohiba, and the Romeo y Julietta Cubans a friend brought me from an overseas trip.

I've been smoking PG Cigars for roughly 25 years. They are rolled by Davidoff in the Dominican Republic. I smoke the Belicoso, varying the strength depending on when I am smoking them. They have a wide selection.

http://www.pgcigars.com/

I get to see the founder and his son here in McLean VA almost every weekend when I buy my cigars.

I was in Cuba in April 2000 and went to H Upman and Partagas factories as well as smoking a HUGE Romeo y Julieta at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba in the rear courtyard. Peacocks roaming all over, Cuban music playing and I'm drinking a mojito and smoking a Cuban cigar. It was idyllic

Here I am enjoying a smoke last weekend.

Only when Bwana is around. That fella always has a tasty cigar rolling around in his ATV or pickup.

Picked up a couple of cigars in Canada while taking the war department to Niagara Falls a couple of weeks ago. I don't know much about them but my hunting buddy likes a good cigar.

Anyone else like an inexpensive CAO Black?

Cao black is a nice cheaper stick. My everyday smokes are Acid Blondies or Drew Estate dirt torpedo. Delicious and cheap. I have a few that I keep in rotation and some more expensive sticks but I love anything drew estate/acid

Naughty naughty! Good cigar though!

CAO La Triviata is a great <$5 stick. Great!

This thread should not be close to the "Anyone else bought a new gas can recently" thread.

Enjoying a cigar right now. Casa Fuente with a late afternoon breeze and nice cold tea! Big fan of the Fuente lines, but enjoy a variety.

Acids are an interesting smoke. First time I tried one I was like, "yuck!". But the more I smoked the more I liked it. Just got a box. My faves are rocky Patel Connecticut.

I still say yuck! :)

Just not a fan of any infused smokes. Love the rest of the DE stuff though. Too cheap the for more than the occasional LP, but always have the less expensive Undercrown CV resting. The MUWAT BF are one of my favorite quick smokes.

I smoke Monte Cristo #2. I keep two sealed boxes in my humidor and everytime I head to the caribbean, I pick up another.

Nice. Never tried getting them through customs. Any tips?

Take your suitcase with you. I do cruises regularly....and when you get off the ship, they give you a number for your baggage......if you put the number on your bag, the ships people take your bags and then they go thru customs.

If you chose the "self-debarkation", you take your bags with you.....you walk right up with your suitcase, tell them there's nothing fancy in it, and walk right out.

You can also find a supplier online quite easily, they simply remove the labels and ship them in a normal box. I don't like this method as I don't know if they're authentic and they charge $60 just to ship, regardless of how many you buy. I only buy sealed boxes so I know they're legitimate.

Cool, thanks.

Wish they'd just end that stupid cold war crap and open up Cuba. Would love to visit.

You and me both!!

If you're in the KC area, next time I am there I would be more than willing to bring you a box back!

I had an Ashton and CAO last night.

I usually have a good stock of some of the cheaper Padrons in my humidor for my freqent smokes etc. I keep one or two good sticks in there for a post cookout smoke, or something of the like.

I wish! Nah, I'm in enemy donkey territory. I've got a single ISOM that was a gift I'm waiting to smoke.

Currently I'm into Alcazar No. 4 for daily, but I'm trying other cheap cigars. So far I still like the Nicaraguan Alcazar over the others.

So far this is my list but I keep trying new ones all the time.

**disclaimer ** I started a couple months ago.
Cigars Like
Alcazar #4
Acid, Kuba Kuba
Montecristo Platinum series
Herederos Clasico
Romeo Y Julieta Reserva Real
Alec Bradley American Classic
Macanudo Hampton Court
Alec Bradley Spirit of Cuba Natural

Everyday - "Cheapos"
Quorum Shade - very good!!!! WOW! - I may have been drunk. Will try again.
Forma
Prize Fighter
Casa De Garcia Tabacalera (?Everyday?)
rocky patel corojo especia

Don't like
Table 36
Jilius Caesar
Rigoletto, Black Arrow
809
Pride
Room101
vista De Cuba

For daily cheapos, I cannot recommend the GH 2002 highly enough. They're just OK to start with, but let 'em rest for a minimum of 6 months and they are a whole other smoke. For about $1.50 ea they are fantastic. This is the only sub $2 cigar I make sure I have in quantity. Available in robusto on CBID Free Fall pretty regularly...

http://www.cigarbid.com/Auction/Lot/...sto-20-Cigars/

Now that I think about it, I've got a couple left from a bundle I picked up in May last year. Think I'll take my coffee out back and light one up right now!

Hey, anyone here interested in a Planet Pass?

What is a planet pass?

A cigar pass, but here on the planet. Done this on some other cigar sites and found it pretty fun. Great way to try new sticks.

One person seeds a "pass" with a dozen or so cigars that fit the theme of the pass (all maduro, under $5, HTF, etc.). He then ships to the first member of the pass. That member takes a few from the pass, and replaces them with ones of comparable value that are different from the ones he took but meet the theme of the pass.

In theory, everyone in the pass gets to try a few sticks they've never had before, and the originator gets back a box at the end completely different from what he sent out.

Any cigar smokers on CP?
 

Enjoying a Rocky Patel tonight. Love these cigars. Blurry pic, no bueno.
Posted via Mobile Device

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...527f8ae772.jpg

I was into it for awhile, but the only time I ever have one these days is when I get into my Cuban montecristo cigars I snuck back from Belize a couple of years ago. I might have two a year. Even when I was in Belize a couple of weeks ago I only had one and that's only because one of the people we were with bought them.

https://www.stevegriff.com/images/ci...-no2-thumb.jpg

When I smoked cigarettes I would occasionally buy a Cohiba (Cuban) when I was in Korea (legal there). They were awesome cigars. When I quit smoking I stopped with the Cohiba too because I was afraid it would start me smoking again. Miss it though, a Cohiba with a glass of nice single malt scotch was great.

If you ask if I ever brought them back to the US with me I'll tell you I didn't. You can decide whether I'm telling the truth or not...;)

I used to enjoy cigars but this state's tobacco laws are worse than North Korea. I dont want to smoke in my house and can't smoke outside for a good part of the year. Also, this state is drier than a popcorn fart, as my grandfather used to say. Those typical wood humidors just don't keep my cigars in decent shape so they dry out quickly.

However, a cigar club just opened up nearby so I have a place to smoke inside during the winter. Also found a good humidor with an electronic humidification system so they can stay smokable. Now I just need to start filling it up. Got a fair number of cigars on the way and I intend to start smoking more often.

Went to a little shop in the Dominican Republic last fall and had an incredible experience just learning better how to smoke the damn things.

Went over the proper way to 'retrohale' the drag for just an incredible amount of flavor. We experimented with various sidecars and without question, without exception, the answer was dark black coffee as the best complement to a good cigar.

Different leaves, styles, shapes, which part of the plant the respective component parts of the cigar come from. How best to light them, how best to 'clean' them (i.e. you put a flame on the end and blow out to clear it and improve your drag; usually once or maybe twice per cigar). Best ways to cut them to keep them from unwrapping - stuff that is about half intuitive (but good to understand the 'why' of) and half stuff that really is enlightening.

I always enjoyed cigars well enough, but this took all that to the next level and made me really appreciate them the way I started appreciating scotch after several years of drinking it. Now it's really not that hard for me to determine a real preference.

So hey, if any of you go to Punta Cana, stop by Vivaldi Cigars. I promise that as you're pulling up to this dude's apartment he's not actually going to cut your liver out. And his dog is super friendly. And that guy will just hang out and talk cigars with you for 5 hours and let you smoke his stuff. Really fascinating Dutch expat that is friendly as all hell and really knows what he's talking about. We ended up dropping a couple hundred bucks on cigars before we left but they're damn good. My Don Lucas Dominicans are good but these are definitely better.

I've loaded up my Newair Humidor with 205 cigars.

E.P. Carrillo Encore, Oliva Series V Melanio, Henry Clay War Hawk, Alec Bradley Prensado, Rocky Patel Decade, Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua and their original, La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor amd Reserva, Oliva Master Blends III, My Father La Opulencia, San Cristobal Revelation, CAO Flathead 660, Rock Patel Sun Grown Maduro, some H.Upmann different variety, a few other Oliva brands.

We have a place in town that I like. It has a walk in humidor and they have a pretty good selection. They also have a room just outside of that humidor where guys sit down and smoke. I never really take advantage of that because I like to have a beer or whiskey when I'm enjoying a stogie.

Update:

I got a KingChii humidor and so far, it is doing a really good job. I got a 43L, the smallest size that controls humidity as well as temperature. It says that it will hold 300 cigars but I have about 100 and I don't see how I have room for another 75 let alone another 200. On the other hand, having about 150 -175 cigars should be plenty. I am trying to give my cigars a few months' humidor time before smoking them so they can settle down and flavors can meld and I've purchased some cigars with the express intent of keeping them for a year or more. I'm creating the same problem with my wine cellar, though - trying to balance stuff to smoke/drink now versus stuff to smoke/drink later. I have a lot of stuff in my cellar I don't want to drink right now because i want it to age more and my humidor is kind of like that now. I'm hoping by July I can be less reliant upon the local store and more reliant upon my humidor.

I've found some good websites for cigar reviews/news:

https://kohnhed.com/

https://www.cigarjournal.com/

Also found 2 excellent on-line cigar distributors:

https://www.smallbatchcigar.com/

https://luxurycigarclub.com/

Luxury cigar club has a few different clubs you can join to get different cigars each month. I joined one club already.

So far, I'm picking up brands that I know and have smoked in the past - La Gloria Cubana, Joyo de Nicaragua, Romeo y Julietta, and Rockey Patels. But I've heard about 4 brands I really want to try: Lampert, Principle Cigars, Viaje, and Casdagli. Principle cigars are sold, apparently exclusively, from:

https://www.principletrading.com/

I've heard nothing but great things about the Cochon Valante and I decided to try the Accomplice Decienne as well. So I have a few of those in my humidor waiting to get a few months' humidity before I start smoking them. When I ordered from there, the owner sent a few extra cigars above and beyond my order of some different cigars to try.

Last night I enjoyed a Joyo de Nicaragua Black Toro. Surprisingly mild yet flavorful with an excellent burn. Took me about 2 hours to smoke. I'd recommend grabbing a few if you have space in your humidor:

https://www.smallbatchcigar.com/joya...gua-black-toro

Lastly, I found a good app for you iPad or iPhone to keep track of your humidor if it's big enough:

cigar-app.com

You have to pay if you want to keep info on >25 cigars but it's not much - about $5 for 6 months. I like how it organizes my humidor and keeps track of what I've got. What I don't like is that if I come across a cigar that's not in the database, I have to get an administrator to add that cigar. Doesn't take long but it's frustrating. Also, there are no pictures of the cigar bands so you can ensure you're talking about the right one. It's similar to my wine cellar app - cellartracker.com but comparing the two it's easy to see that the cigar app is run by a German and the cellartracker is run by an American. The wine app is a bit more flexible to use, so to speak.

I'll update as I smoke some more of what's in my humidor.

I'm currently sitting in Fox Cigar bar in Old Town Scottsdale having my second cigar, a Oliva Melanio V with an Oban 18 yr old.

My first cigar was a H Upman Connecticut.

Life is good......

I'll PM you when I get back home to suggest cigars and places to order online.

https://www.cigarpage.com/

Trust me. Best cigars at best prices

I like cigarbid.com

Fox Cigar Bar is sweet.

And yes, I am a practicing alcoholic.

I don't need to practice.

And if I'm in Scottsdale, I'll drop you a line and we can smoke.

I read somewhere else about black coffee. Just seems odd to me to be drinking coffee with a cigar. I have to have whiskey. One of my employees got me smoking cigars a couple of years ago when he brought me some Cubans back from Costa Rica. So that's really all I knew for awhile. Then one year for Christmas he got me a small cheap humidor with a sampler of cigars. Some I liked, some I didn't. I'm an occasional smoker, with no real clue as to what I'm doing. Usually hit up a cigar bar on every vacation and try something new. Was just in Pigeon Forge in February and walked into a shop. Heard a guy say that he was newer to cigars and was looking for something mild. Owner recommended his best seller, Drew Estate Deadwood Fat Bottom Betty. So I said I'll take one too. It was the first cigar I'd ever had that had a taste too it. I googled it and it's not flavored technically but it's sweet. I ended up ordering a box of them the other day. Found out my neighbor just got into smoking as well and I'm going to give him one.

Coffee without sugar allows your palette to reset while you smoke the cigar and experience the different flavor stages of a cigar. The foot and first 1/4. Then the next 1/4 and the building of flavors. The 3rd quarter normally will start changing flavor notes followed by the last 1/4 that can have real intense flavors.

When I have a whiskey it sometimes mutes some of the more intense flavors of the cigar.

For me, nothing beats a cup of coffee with half and half no sugar.

Many of the newer cigar smokers love Acid or other flavored cigars. I don't smoke those and stick to the pure, more full bodied cigars.

I do have some mild to medium that I smoke in the morning or first if I have 3-5 for the day.

If you haven't done retrohaling yet you should practice first without the cigar and then try with the cigar. It takes practice and the tendency at first is to try too hard to push the smoke from your mouth through your nose. It should be a smooth transition when you close your mouth and continue exhaling through your nose.

If you really like cigars, try smoking a few back to back to see the differences. Some may have a metallic taste, some peppery, or leathery, or cherry or grass/earth.

Going from a Henry Clay War Hawk to a Rocky Patel Decade to an Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua should taste like 3 different cigars and not just 3 cigars in a row.

When smoking a cigar be careful not to speed smoke it and burn it up too fast and miss the flavors. It's OK and acceptable to have to relight a cigar more than once when smoking it.

When lighting a cigar keep the flame as far away as possible to achieve an even light and not burn the wrapper around the sides.

Don't keep flicking the ash! You knock some of the lit portions off, it develops poor uneven burn and you need to relight excessively. I can smoke an aged PG cigar and develop a 3"- 4" ash before sliding the ash off on the side of the ashtray.

Make sure to buy a proper torch lighter, a V-cutter, a blade cutter, and a 4-in-1 tool that has a large and small punch, a draw tool for tight or poor rolled cigars and a nubber that allows you to smoke the last 10% of the cigar without burning your fingers.

Learn how to correctly cut a cigar so that you don't cut off too much and have too much air and no flavor. Torpeedo, Belicoso, or Salamones are good sizes to control your cut, about halfway down the taper of the cigar.

Large 60 or larger ring sizes work best with a V-cut or a large punch. Sometimes a double punch next to each other will work.

Box pressed also work well with a v-cut.

Small rings do best with a small punch or v cut across the cap. Don't cut below the cap.

Box humidors must be Spanish cedar, should have a distilled water sponge or humidification, a digital hygrometer, and NO GLASS WINDOW. The glass window allows humidity to escape and it gets worse over time. Buy Boveda humidity packs to help you control humidity. 68%-72% are all acceptable.

Do not take your cigars out of the cellophane to store them and try to store like cigars by like cigars.

Buy and try cigars to find what makes your palette happy. One man's favorite is another man's clunker.

Some great cigars: Oliva Series V Melanio torpeedo, E.P. Carillo Encore valientes, Rocky Patel Sun Grown Maduro churchill, Alec Bradley Prensado robusto, Hoyo de Monterrey Excaliber epicure, Padron 1964 Anniversary #9, Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua, Liga Privada #9, La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor duque, San Cristobal Revelation toro, Montecristo 1935 Anniversary.

Lastly, save your cheap mild cigars for the golf course or fishing on boat. Smoke cigars in order of mild to full bodied. Some cigars like the La Flor Domenica Double Ligero will knock you on your ass with no food. It's a powerhouse so smoke after a nice meal.

Hope that helps and Happy Smoking!

Last week back in Virginia, my client gifted me these after dinner.

Cuban Montecristo and a rare Jefferson's Ocean bourbon.

Some random cigar photos.

1. A day of smoking five premium cigars.
2. and 3. Cuban Partagas Series P #2 gifted to me by my cousin.
4. PG Cigar long ash. PG's are spectacular.
5. Me smoking a Mexican made Te Amo Maduro in 1989 at my new house me and a buddy bought.

Should you poke said cigar in your wifes' face or pull a Bill Clinton?

First really mild spring evening. Monte Platinum and Makers Private Select on the deck.

I like Monte Platinum Series. Nice choice. :clap:

Try the Montecristo 1935 Anniversary Nicaragua series. Excellent and on sale big time at Cigar Page. Just bought a 2nd box of 10 for $89 after last week cost me $129 not on sale.

My second electric Newair 250 count humidor arrived last Monday and I conditioned and acclimated it. I got my latest shipment of 90 cigars Thursday. My current inventory is 220 cigars and I just ordered another 25 from Cigars International and 75 from Cigar Page for arrival on Wednesday. That will be 320 cigars across two humidors. Bought a lot of 5 packs from the Cigar Aficionado's list that I never tried. The Trinidad Espritu No 1 and the Ozgener Family Bospherus 55 are new for me.

Watching my wife smoke for 38 years and now tied to an oxygen machine until she dies makes me want nothing to do with any ****ing thing that causes lung damage!

Sorry to hear. Cigarettes so evil.

My Mom, Dad, two grandfathers and my maternal grandmother all had cancer from smoking cigarettes. 4 of 5 died from cancer, grandmother lost a breast.

Cigarettes have chemicals sprayed on them, cigars do not

People inhale cigarettes and pot, cigar smokers do not.

Never smoked cigarettes or did chew but cigars since 17 or 18.

My lung issues came from my blood clot breaking off. 4 pulmonary embolisms that are all gone. No scarring. Scary shit.

Smoking a Alec Bradley Kintsugi Gordo for the first time. Not bad.

Not as good as the Prensado but also not as strong.

Recommendation for a Baccarat Maduro upgrade?

https://cigarsdaily.com/wp-content/u...Rothschild.jpg

Not highly rated and cheap smokes but you know what, if you smoke em and like em, that's all that counts. :thumb:

Just lit up a Liga Privada #9 with my coffee

Cigars-
La Gloria back in the day (before Ernesto Perez Carillio sold out to General Cigar) was my favorite.

Today I would say El Rico Habano. It is popular with the Cuban community in Miami and made right there. I think the Carillo family still owns the El-Credito cigar Factory where they are made. It is a great place if you get a chance to go there.

I was in Ireland a few months ago, walked into a cigar shop and walked right back out after I saw the prices. $55.00 Euro for a Hoya De Monterey Petite Robusto.

I buy a lot of E.P. Carillo's. I have 10 Allegiance on their way, I have a box of Encores with about 14 left, I have 5 Pledge Prequels I just got.

Top notch! :clap:

Cuban cigars are a rip off now. They are STUPID expensive, even for a cigar snob like me. I don't try to buy them. :shake:

Nice ash tray it looks asian?

Most people don't inhale.

I do, but most don't. I see the sore spot though...

I bought it at an art fair years ago. It's Southwest motif.