Do You Like the Taste of a Really Good Cigar?

[cosmicfolklore]

I did avoid using the word "ruminations" in my thread title, ha ha.

But, in another thread, someone had posted that they didn't like the taste of cigars.
This is curious to me. Let us know whether you like a good cigar, and if so, what leaf do you favor?
If you don't like a good cigar, then let us know your favorite pipe tobacco genre?

I am just curious. Plus, it could be fun.

I am partial to Criollo leaf myself, but a good strong ligero or madura can hit the spot. Heck, even a Connecticut wrapper on a hot and sweaty day can hot the spot. But, when it comes to pipe tobaccos, I can range from Virginias, to burley, to latakia... heck almost any pipe tobacco. I just love the taste of tobaccos.


What about you?

 

[gervais]

I havnt smoked a cigar since my trip to Cuba 8 years ago. I have a few at home here, but don't grab at them ever. Someday I'll smoke one! Lmao. I'm sure I'd enjoy it. I love tobacco flavour so I don't see why I wouldn't

 

[fireground_piper]

I thought I liked cigars until I got into pipes. Since getting into pipes, almost every cigar I have had since, I typically end early. The only one I can think of that I have finished lately is a Kentucky Fire Cured MUWAT.

I smoke mostly Virginia dominant blends. A little oriental, perique or Kentucky blended in I rotate around with but almost always secondary to the Virginia. Even my aromatics that I stock up on are Virginia based.

Cigars tends to always have that hearty base to them and a much more pungent aroma that I just don’t look for often. Similarly a burly or DFK heavy pipe blend I also don’t reach for much but once or twice a year.

 

[tobefrank]

Yes, I love a good cigar. However, I’m not refined enough to have a favourite leaf.

I think my favourite so far has been the Oliva Serie V Melanio that I smoked last year. I just looked it up and that was aged ligero leaf. Probably the best cigar I have ever smoked.

With pipe tobacco I mostly prefer Virginias and VaPers with the occassional Latakia crossover blend.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The only one I can think of that I have finished lately is a Kentucky Fire Cured MUWAT.

I love those sticks. I keep a brick of those about, as well as the Swamp Thangs. I love 'em.

 

[telescopes]

I have smoked cigars as long as I have smoked pipes. Nearly four decades.

I prefer my cigars to be inexpensive and for that reason, I don't smoke them as much as I use to. I'll smoke a Dutch Masters if you have one.

I like candela leaf wrappers - but they are unicorns in this day and age.

I like them with dark, oily madero leaf wrappers, just at the point of getting white dots of mold on them. These remind me of beautiful women.

Connecticut shade wrappers - sure,

And old cuban cigars - always.

What I don't like is sitting with a bunch of men who think they know something about cigars and then start talking about them. Over and over and it then they connect it to their own personal life choices, which all seem to have to do with income.

When it comes to these guys, Sigmond was clearly wrong...

Sometimes, a cigar clearly is not a cigar.

 

[fireground_piper]

Storing them is a pain. I just threw out maybe 6 various cigars people had given me cause they went to mold. I just can’t be bothered to keep up on a humidor and the damp summer weather took them out.

I would probably keep some of those Kentucky sticks around if I didn’t have to maintain them.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

When it comes to these guys,

We have a cigar bar just just down the road from my house. I used to really enjoy going there. My wife would even pick out a stick to enjoy, sometimes I had to pull her leash when she would start laughing at the men buying a vanilla stick, ha ha. She'd be all like, "do you need a maxi pad with that," and I could feel an impending bar room brawl coming on, ha ha.

But, yeh, I stopped going there, because I can stand a barroom fight, but I can't stand that stupid, "Cuban seed" discussion, or this brand, blah blah blah. It's like they all have these discussion memorized from a magazine article and just puke it out on everyone's shoes.

 

[telescopes]

I honestly don't understand what it is about some men and the bravado that comes out of their mouths when talking about cigars. First of all, try having an alternative opinion or idea or anything contrary to whatever they are talking about - which most likely is coming out of their a@s.

Shut up and smoke.

The other thing I've noted is that most, if not all of these guys, think they are something when it comes to women.

I want to point out that they are going on about sexual exploits while they are sucking a big stick that is hanging out of their mouths.

The correlation would convince a statistician, right, that these guys have Ph@#lic issues.

But, in the interest of civility I am willing to concede that my above thoughts are only my opinions and I stand corrected if I am wrong in my assumptions.

I do find them mildly entertaining, if for no other reason that they can't help themselves in offering me a cigar from their own stash. I told you I was cheap.

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

I do like a good cigar!
I tend to mainly smoke cigar with predominately Nicaraguan leaf, but will smoke most cigars. Padron being on of my go-tos when I smoke a stogie.

I really like a good Cuban, but don't want to pay the price for them now.

 

[condorlover1]

I have developed a fondness for Marsh Wheeling Stogies as the price point is great and they taste pretty good to me...

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I honestly don't understand what it is about some men and the bravado that comes out of their mouths when talking about cigars.

I will admit, I am guilty of being a bit of a smoking lounge rat. The camaraderie... ever watch bulls in the pasture? They buck, nudge, and charge each other, testing out who is a friend, who is the competition, and who needs to go. Men will tend to do this as well. Backslapping, verbal jabs, nudges, etc... I dig that to a degree, but when it is all about "I've flown to Cuba and told the Cubans how to do it better shit..." Or this brand over this one, etc... I just prefer to stay out of that mess. It sounds so magazine article-ish.

 

[mso489]

I smoked cigars before I smoked pipes. I didn't want to look like I was imitating my professors with the pipe. I tend to like somewhat robust pipe tobaccos, but milder cigars, Dominican Republic sticks typically. Some of the DR sticks seemed tastier than the Cubans I smoked in Canada on business, maybe just the wrong Cubans. A good cigar after a substantial meal is a fine moment. A box of cigars feels like a burden, an assignment -- this from a guy who has over ninety pipes! At an arts event in Gramercy Park NYC I was given a cigar; nothing tastier than a free cigar. Remember when dads used to give away cigars on the birth of children? That was a long time ago. My dad did that when my kid sister was born. I think they had a band that said, "It's A Girl ... or Boy" as the case might be.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I enjoy cigars just not as much as I do pipe.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Much better than a cheap cigar!

Sure for some there are phallic issues, whether size, disuse, etc., it obviously does not apply to anyone here!

If someone offered me a great cigar, I'd smoke it with him. I wonder also if a cigar "needs" company, whereas a pipe does not.

Otherwise, I can't be bothered learning what is right for me, keeping them at the right humidity level, etc. Not to mention the $$!

 

[JOHN72]

Three decades smoking pure cigars. For me it is the best thing that could happen to you in life. I love the tobacco. Petit Robusto, Corona, Robusto, Mature, Oily shiny coverage, dark, mature red. Arturo Fuente, H. Upmann, Partagas, Cohiba, Plasencia, Oliva, Turrent, Padrón,Among others...........In short, a good premium cigar............

 

[Duck]

I've never smoked a really good cigar. I've smoked decent ones and enjoyed them, but I've enjoyed them nowhere near as much as I enjoy a pipe. So, I guess I'll never know.

 

[DAR]

I like all type of cigar leaf. Depends on the mood I'm in or the circumstances. When I know I will have a lot of time on my hands, I tend to smoke 48-50 gauge 5-7", mild-medium cigars like Macanudo Hyde Park, Romeo y Julieta 1875 or my favorite cigar of all time, Arturo Fuentes Double Chateau. Mostly something that has a Connecticut or Cameroon wrapper more than anything else but I do come away saying, "Wow, that was good" after a strong Punch or Montecristo.

My problem with cigars in general is the commitment of time to smoke one. Re-lights don't go well with cigars. At least not as well as they do with pipe tobacco.
Also, I really can't keep a cigar in my mouth too long without drooling like a rabid dog and I have to put it down much more than any pipe, which sits in my mouth when I need two hands for an extended period of time. So cigars are an occasional pleasure for me. When I know I will have a lot of time on my hands.

I have spent too much money on cigars and accessories considering how few cigars I smoke. I guess they will age well for that day (if it ever comes) when I have a lot of time on my hands.

 

[lawdawg]

I mostly like mild to medium cigars, but I've enjoyed stronger smokes as well. Much like pipe tobacco, I find that I prefer individual cigars more than I prefer any particular genre. That said, my go-to is the Arturo Fuente Flor Fina 8-5-8. Far better IMO than other common and relatively inexpensive cigars, like Macanudo or even most of the Drew Estate sticks.

My favorite mild to medium cigar right now is probably the HVC Pan Caliente. Though some have found them overrated, I also really like the San Cristobal Elegancia as an excellent mild smoke - mild but with discernible layers and complexity. I would not usually choose a $20.00 cigar myself, but as part of a cigar subscription service, I've had a couple of Davidoffs recently, and they were all excellent. I really enjoyed the Davidoff Churchill Late Hour, which is on the fuller flavor and strength side.

I will add that I think well-balanced milder cigars are underappreciated. It's similar to the present state of the bourbon and scotch communities, where everyone wants BIG BOLD FLAVORS. It's like when all the pipe smokers used to love latakia Personally, these days, I am more appreciative of balance in my smokes and booze than of any particular big bold dominating flavor.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

There is a boutique cigar brand called GTO that I really like. They make the Anesthesia and Pain Killer lines of cigars, usually $12-18 a stick. Well, I had someone give me one that didn't have a line label on it, and it was awesome, probably the best cigar I have had to date. I went back and asked him what it was, and he told me it was their off's, I guess like a factory off cigar. They had a Criollo wrappers, at $3.50 a stick, so I loaded up with them. I still really like their stronger blended sticks, but the price doesn't always equate better.