Any cigar smokers?

Thanks for the advice! I'm stopping by the shop later today - looking forward to it!

I'll add my vote for Acids. The Kuba Kuba is a pleasure. If you don't enjoy smoking these things then fine, but I think most of the backlash is from image-driven snobbery.

5 Vegas, mentioned above, is also a winner.

Check out CAO--I've yet to smoke a bad one. Was delighted by a brazillian the other day--and the cigar wasn't bad either. Try the Italian also.

Ghurka maduros. Silky smooth, power packed. The luxury performance sedan of the cigar world. Not for the casual.

La Flor. One of the best damn cigars I've smoked in a long time. Exquisite boquet.

Punch. My everday cigar.

Cuba Libre. Some day brothers, some day.

H. Upmann. One of the best American cigars from Carolina. I smoked a surprisingly good cigar from Connecticut the other day, but can't for the life of me remember the name--anyone, anyone?

And now a few that have dissapointed:

Every Rocky Patel I've ever smoked. Not worth the money.

Cohiba. Ditto.

Monte Cristo. Coasting on name recognition. last few dom reps i've tried have been real let-downs.

Cuban cigars in general. The talent left years ago, people, and they took their strains with them. I wouldn't be surprised to learn Castro was puffing on imports.

I can't argue with that list, except the Cuba Libres that I got a year ago online. They were like smoking a roll of printer paper back then, but they may have just needed some time to sit and mature. I'm eager to see what they taste like now.

My first cigar was a Bolivar(?) that my dad brought back from a mission trip to cuba about 6 years ago.
It was exquisite.

So... It was suggested to me to pick up the CAO champions selection (bonus it comes in a mini-humidor) for around $100 for 10 of their various cigars, I also picked up 5 others:

Rocky Patel - "The Edge"
RP - "ITC"
RP - Vintage
Fonseca - "Vintage"
A G3 - "Toro"; I think this is a Ghurka?

It sounds like a few folks aren't happy with the Rocky Patels - the purveyor seemed to like them well enough, and I figured as largely a bunch of newbs, we're okay to try 'em out.

Sounds like you did good, Hedge. Rocky Patel is name brand. Whether it was worth it or not has yet to be seen. Let us know!

I've had a few Rocky Patels and found them to be ok. I also picked up a RP The Edge this week, along with:

Punch Rare Corojo
Punch Gran Puro
C.A.O. MX2
Oliva Series V

I plan on broadening my horizons through the samplers from Cigars International. Definitely looking forward to trying the 5 Vegas.

The_Replacement wrote:

Punch. My everday cigar.

And now a few that have dissapointed:

Every Rocky Patel I've ever smoked. Not worth the money.

Cuban cigars in general. The talent left years ago, people, and they took their strains with them. I wouldn't be surprised to learn Castro was puffing on imports.

I've enjoyed some sticks from Rocky Patel, but they have some stuff that is way overpriced for sure. Their Edge is a price-dependent buy. If it's a few bucks, it's a good stick, but for $5 or more there are better values.

Punch Rare Corojo is one of my all time favorite value cigars. I've found them to be a bit inconsistent in quality but it's not a major loss if you get a bad stick at that price.

Based on my friends, and the ridiculous hype of stuff like Fuente Opus X, alot of current cigar smokers are power whores. If it doesn't knock you on your ass with nicotine, then it's a dud. Don't get me wrong, I love powerhouse cigars, but if there's no depth to the flavor, nothing but power (see: Opus X), then I'm not interested. And Cubans are just not powerhouses (in general), they are all about balance. Plus there are some shoddy importers where you get dried out crap from Cuba.

Phillies Titans.

Kidding. Got one as part of a Jayne Cobb costume. Awful, vile things.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Phillies Titans.

Kidding. Got one as part of a Jayne Cobb costume. Awful, vile things.

Can't be any worse than the grape flavored cigar I had once. But, it did cure my sore throat and coughing.

Rat Boy wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:

Phillies Titans.

Kidding. Got one as part of a Jayne Cobb costume. Awful, vile things.

Can't be any worse than the grape flavored cigar I had once. But, it did cure my sore throat and coughing.

Suddenly my memory is flush with that White Owl orange or peach or whatever the f*ck that thing was someone gave me once.

I'll be off retching if anyone needs me.

LilCodger wrote:

Suddenly my memory is flush with that White Owl orange or peach or whatever the f*ck that thing was someone gave me once.

I didn't think anyone actually smoked them. I people just used the wrapper for a blunt.

CannibalCrowley wrote:
LilCodger wrote:

Suddenly my memory is flush with that White Owl orange or peach or whatever the f*ck that thing was someone gave me once.

I didn't think anyone actually smoked them. I people just used the wrapper for a blunt.

Phillie does make a product known as a blunt wrap. I hear they can mellow some harsh tobacco.

I remember my first cigar. It was a great big cuban and I was sitting outside the pub with a couple of mates (we all had one). It was a very hot summer day so we drank beer instead of a spirit but man the afternoon was good.

SpaceDog wrote:

I remember my first cigar. It was a great big cuban and I was sitting outside the pub with a couple of mates (we all had one). It was a very hot summer day so we drank beer instead of a spirit but man the afternoon was good.

I love a good bitter with cigars. I'll take a good scotch first though. And a port over brandy anyday.

So, HedgeWizard, how did your weekend turn out? Did you enjoy the smokes? Inquiring minds want to know.

I can't believe I missed updating this thread!

It was a good weekend, though I ended up with only a few takers. I particularly liked the CAO MX2 I had; I honestly don't recall much about the other two I had (what with all the drinking). I remember them being pretty good, but I can't recall which ones they were given my state at the time.

I am planning on getting a small humidor in the next few months, and then I'll start stocking up. I also have to finish the remaining 6 or so smokes I have, and I'm planning on taking some notes on those.

As for everyone else; everyone seemed to dig their selections, and I know a couple of guys were planning on buying the CAO Champions set that I had to try more.

HedgeWizard wrote:

I can't believe I missed updating this thread!

What? You should've said something in the S&T thread; I would have brought a couple on Wednesday.

Better late than never, Hedge. I have to say that the last two CAOs I've smoked (both Gold I think) were outstanding. I could definitely see myself buying a bunch of those instead of messing about with all this sampler crap.

I had some Macanudo out of a buddies humidor and it was que bella.
That, women of poor repute and pacificos made quite an evening of watching movies.

I have a couple of MX2s waiting for me in my humidor, and will probably have one this weekend. I also had an Oliva Serie V the other day that was quite good.

If you can remember, saving the wrappers of cigars that you like can make for a handy reference when you want to restock with those you found pleasant. Just set them aside in the box or in a pocket if you are out.

And, no bones about it to me Cao, big fan of the Brazilia line myself(Warning to novices, they are stong), make some fine cigars. I get more compliments when I fire one of these up in a bar than any cologne I or my friends have worn.

I have a question. Awhile ago I heard that many cigar smokers will finish off the butt of a cigar in a pipe. But I can never get that to work, often the roll is too tight to get any smoke. Anyone do this as a habit?

KingGorilla wrote:

I have a question. Awhile ago I heard that many cigar smokers will finish off the butt of a cigar in a pipe. But I can never get that to work, often the roll is too tight to get any smoke. Anyone do this as a habit?

I'm not much of a cigar smoker, I prefer cigarillos, but I am an avid pipe smoker, and what I can tell you is that smoking the butt of a cigar in a pipe seems rather clumsy. The cigar will either be too tightly packed to get a proper go through or it will be to loosely packed and you'll mostly be running air through the stem. The former will have you huffing on the pipe until your lungs rupture and the later will have you puffing away with no avail. To have a good smoke in a pipe the packing of the tobacco is king, wether flake or that chopped up stuff the packing is the deciding factor. And I really don't see how the butt of a cigar would pack properly, even if you were to somehow gracefully unwrap the cigar the cigars tobacco would be far too dry for a pipe and it would burn to quickly causing a very harsh smoke. It seems downright impractical to me. If you want to smoke the butt of the cigar which in my experience is always harsher and really quite unpleasent most of the time, you could do to learn from those old "racist" american cartoons and just stick a toothpick in it.

Rat Boy wrote:
HedgeWizard wrote:

I can't believe I missed updating this thread!

What? You should've said something in the S&T thread; I would have brought a couple on Wednesday.

I didn't even think about it. Well, I guess that means we're going to have arrange another get together in the near future to make amends.

Rise! I SAY RISE!!!

Discovered Arturo Fuente 8-5-8. What a fantastic smoke. It's actually sweet on the wrapper. leaves a sweetness on your lips. Nice and mild, but not too mild.
Also tried an Oliva series G robusto. Great smoke, nutty and also a hint of sweet.

What have you smoked lately?

Oh snap. I didn't realize we had a cigar thread. I've thought about starting one several times, but no need I guess.

My go to brand is La Flor Dominicana. I don't think I've ever had a cigar from them I didn't like. After that I'm a big fan of Ashton Coronas and Churchills.

I generally stick to the mild side of the spectrum, but every once in a while I'll venture out to something a little more punchy.

I've actually got a mixture of kinda cheap cigars in the humidor right now. Mostly stuff that came bundled with my humidor or the lighter a friend bought me last Christmas. (The same friend bought me a whiskey flask that has a compartment for storage of 2 cigars. It's pretty neat.) So I've got some Hoyo de Monterrey Excaliburs in there and some 5 Vegas something or others. Not really great cigars, but not horrible. Good for poker night.

On a semi related note, Anyone smoke pipe tobacco? I've been a pipe smoker for a while now, and I've actually gotten a friend into the hobby as well. Picked up a couple pipes and a neat stand from a thrift shop several years ago and bought a couple new, nothing too expensive, but decent pipes. There's a couple flavors I like to stick to, not sure if the names are consistent from region to region though.

I enjoy my church warden after a long day.

The Excaliburs are awesome! I have a few now in my box.
http://www.holts.com/category.html?i...
If you have a chance to try these, The Hemingway bEst Selelrs are awesome little smokes.

I've tried La Flor's and they rock. Great flavor.
Another "La" brand to look up is La Aroma de Cuba.
The Mi Amor line is a little more expensive but very worth it
http://www.holts.com/category.html?i...

I have a good Cigar circle on Google Plus too if you are interested.

Is this the only cigar thread here? Hopefully the search is so woefully broken that this is all that came up and there's a bustling cigar thread at GWJ I'm somehow missing.

Anyway, it's cigar season for me once again, and I started it off with a few decent ones. Had an Oliva V, which was very smooth, about a month ago, and had a EP Carillo and a Hoya de Monterrey robusto this past weekend. Very satisfied with all three, with the Hoya being my favorite of the bunch.

My humidor is full right now because I went on a decent shopping spree last August. I've been getting my sticks from Mike's Cigars, they have some pretty good deals on samplers.