Venturing into cigars (...as a side. I'll never abandon my pipes!)

[edwinbaz]

A good friend gifted me this small 10 count humidor last week. It isn't my birthday, we're not close to Christmas (I don't care if department store decorations say otherwise), and nothing celebratory has happened recently, to the best of my knowledge.

Like any other group, there's all kinds of people, but I'm truly amazed at the huge amount of good hearted, generous and all around nice people that are pipe and cigars smokers. I think it is because when you truly enjoy a hobby, you don't mind letting others in to see for themselves how great it is. At least that's my reasoning behind giving tobacco samples and corncobs to some of my friends.

Anyways, I quickly got myself a cutter, a torch lighter, and a Boveda 84% packet. So, now I just have to season it and get it ready for my first cigars order with November's TAD. Looking forward to it!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Looks sharp!

 

[simong]

I too love a cigar, only trouble I've found is once you've smoked the good Cubans it's hard to downgrade & smoke the more affordable variety. Here in England unless your very wealthy its a no go area for us. Came back from Cuba on holiday once with 2 boxes of partagas & 2 of Romeo y julieta. Didn't do too much pipe smoking while I had them around.nearly cried when they all went,oh well happy puffing!

 

[orobusto]

Don't use the 84% packet. It is too much humidity and you will have mold issues. Get something in the 65-68% range. Try to keep the temperature below 70 deg F. to help prevent any possible beetle eggs from hatching. As far as cigars go, try different types. You'll get as many suggestions as you would when you ask what VaPer should I try. Just beware, it can be as enjoyable but as slippery a slope as PAD and TAD.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

IMO the Nicaraguans have been making Cuban cigars much better than the Cubans. GTO's are my absolute favorites, but I haven't been let down by any of the hand rolled Nicaraguan Maduras wraps yet.

 

[edwinbaz]

Thanks, cosmic.

simong, Cuba is our next-door neighbour two islands down, but as US citizens, the embargo applies to us as well, so you can't legally buy cubans in Puerto Rico. That said, I know some people... Haha.

orobusto, the 84% pack is to season the humidor. It's allegedly better than wiping the cedar or leaving the sponge for 24 hours. You just open the pack and leave it in from 7 to 14 days and it's supposed to give the wood a slow and steady saturation. Once it's seasoned I plan on using a 69% packet, since Puerto Rico is tropical and pretty humid already. If not, I can always up to a 72% packet.

 

[edwinbaz]

The humidor only holds 10, so I initially plan to buy 5 cigars and the other spots I can fill with local cigars I may purchase. For example, there's a company called Papiros, who produce puertorican puros, from a revival of puerto rican seed tobacco of which a farmer in Cidra had a couple of plants in his land. We used to be a big producer of tobacco in the 19th and early to mid 20th century, but after the 70's the production sadly declined. I've always found that weird, that while the market in Tampa, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, etc. went up, our production died.

Anyways, I digress. After a bit of research, the 5 I'm gonna try first are as follows: (although suggestions are always welcomed)

Alec Bradley American Classic in Toro, Arturo Fuente 8-5-8 Maduro, Carlos Toraño 1916 in Robusto, Gran Habano #1 Connecticut in Toro, and an Oliva Serie G in Toro.

 

[rhoadsie]

Nice set-up, I started with something similar and quickly outgrew it. Be prepared to buy another, larger humidor relatively soon...CAD.
EDIT: Boveda packs are the best thing since sliced bread...no fuss, no mess, no worry.

 

[shaintiques]

Yep Nicaraguans Are great. My favorite cigar is the Brickhouse.

 

[andrew]

only trouble I've found is once you've smoked the good Cubans it's hard to downgrade & smoke the more affordable variety

I would disagree, I wouldn't call it downgrading either. I have some cuban monte's and cohiba's and RyJ's, and I do love that cuban profile, but smoking a La gloria cubana non cuban is so close I don't think many people could tell unless they were absolute experts. I also love Nicaraugans and find they have a totally different taste profile which isn't trying to be cuban. Stuff like a Joya de Nicaraugua antano 1970 is absolutely epic with about a year of age on it. A really nice cigar that was just discontinued is the CYB line by JDN, I would grab some while you still can, I'm glad I have about 19 left. There was a time for a while where cuban's had gone to shit mostly and they've just resurged in the last 5 years or so.

 

[andrew]

To your suggestions I would instead grab either an alec bradley american sun grown in either a torpedo or corona, both of these were in the top 10 budget smokes of the last 2 years for CA magazine rather than the american, and I have a box of the Oliva series G in the belisco that have never let me down. I carefully researched pretty much every cigar purchase I've made. A really great cigar that has flown under the radar is the Cain daytona, I have it in a #4 size, it really has a cuban like taste with cocoa, coffee, cedar.

 

[andrew]

This site has been hiccuping lately and double posting my posts.

 

[simong]

What sort of price difference in the States is there between a Cuban & Nicaraguan?

 

[andrew]

@Simong I live in Canada, but I can get a good Nicaraguan for under 5$ from the US, but that same cigar would cost me about 15$ in Canada, and the starting point for any Cuban is around the 20$ mark. When the US embargo is lifted I think Cubans will be around the 15$ a piece starting point. If you're interested shoot me a pm and I know some very good sites that will ship worldwide with no hassles.

 

[andrew]

@Simong I live in Canada, but I can get a good Nicaraguan for under 5$ from the US, but that same cigar would cost me about 15$ in Canada, and the starting point for any Cuban is around the 20$ mark. When the US embargo is lifted I think Cubans will be around the 15$ a piece starting point. If you're interested shoot me a pm and I know some very good sites that will ship worldwide with no hassles.

 

[crusader]

Cigarbid.com. You can thank/curse me later

 

[simong]

Cheers guys!

 

[andrew]

Check your private messages @simong

 

[torque]

I would also put Don Pepin Garcia, Crowned Heads, and Tatuaje into consideration. All three fantastic brands.

 

[hakchuma]

Bought a similar humidor and seasoned it according to many instructions. My seasoning failed or something. It was a pain in the summer to keep it dry here in Michigan. It's hovering now around 65.