Need Help/Advice Building Stock

[rhodges]

Hey guys been smoking cigars for a while now but only in the past 2-2.5 months started smoking cubans and need your help building my stock. How did you go about building up your stash so that you would be able to age and smoke. I have bought 11 boxes so far (none of which are duplicates) and dozens of singles, but that approach in such a short time frame has taken a toll on the wallet and i want to find a more approachable way to build my stash. So what are your thoughts/advice/help

thanks

[Ginseng]

Step 1. Buy what you enjoy.

Step 2. Buy more than you smoke.

Wilkey

[beamer]

Step 1. Buy what you enjoy.

Step 2. Buy more than you smoke.

Wilkey

You are a wise man

[cckandb24]

In the same boat myself but I think the costs just come with the territory. no way around it

[maverickdrinker]

do some trades, or buy singles/fivers to determine what you like. try to get samplers of one marca with different vitolas to see what size you like. For instance, maybe get a cohiba sampler of siglo I to VI.

Once you know what you like, start to stock up on, based on what you can afford. I try to get 2 boxes of cohiba VIs every year so I have one to smoke through and one to age.

Enjoy your journey.

[Ghabanos]

Step 1. Buy what you enjoy.

Step 2. Buy more than you smoke.

Wilkey

X2

5 months. I think I bought 30 boxes.... Shite

Most of my boxes are with Lisa at czar until I think of which humi I want. At home I keep 5 boxes... Way more than I can smoke. If you like many marque and vitola, it will be more diff. I am picky and haven't tried many so the boxes I buy are limited in range

[maverickdrinker]

Forgot one last thing. Buy the biggest storage that you can. If you think it is too big, buy even bigger.

[Habanakane21]

I keep to a monthly budget and also make sure I don't over smoke my stash. If I feel like I've smoked too many Habano's in a week I grab some NC from my smoke shop. Nothing wrong with smoking " Hot Dirt" once in a while. With LFTH it's very hard...but you gotta have self disciple. Sounds like you're off to a great start. Take Care

[tdlfoto]

Forgot one last thing. Buy the biggest storage that you can. If you think it is too big, buy even bigger.

+1

[docbp87]

Buy 50ct. cabs of anything that comes in that format. Smoke them every once in a while, and before you know it, 5 years will have passed, and you'll still have half a cab left, with 5 years of age!

[Diamondog]

do some trades, or buy singles/fivers to determine what you like. try to get samplers of one marca with different vitolas to see what size you like. For instance, maybe get a cohiba sampler of siglo I to VI.

Once you know what you like, start to stock up on, based on what you can afford. I try to get 2 boxes of cohiba VIs every year so I have one to smoke through and one to age.

Enjoy your journey.

The Piramide split would be a real good way to get some of the heavy hitters in stock to sample

[TonyV]

After you find what you like to smoke,then figure out how may you smoke in a year.As fast as you are able buy 3.5 times that amount.Every year after, you replace what you smoke plus a box or two. It worked for me,but i only smoke on average 3 cigars a week and there are a bunch of weeks on the east coast when you can't smoke outside-my favorite place to smoke.So my formula works for me.

[cigcars]

I used to buy boxes, boxes, boxes; and gave away 80% of the stash to happy friends I educated and shared with. I also bought the large churchills and double coronas, and my favorite preferred sizes were pyramides/belicosos/perfectos... Nowadays, having stopped and pondered...I'm figuring you know - I'm just gonna buy singles for myself and share "other" (NC) stock with all these acquaintances who really are just as happy with those than my specialty Havanas. I'm also finding the smaller corona, lonsdales, and petite corona sizes will do just fine for me too. In short and for advised specifications for you - get what you KNOW you both will smoke, and for WHEN you will smoke them. It's very cost cutting. Unless you smoke 3 to 5 a day. My 2 cents

[gigabyte056]

My way:

1. Buy the splits.

2. Avoid the expensive RE and EL ( to the most part, some are good, but rarely worth the coin).

3. Buy 2 boxes of whatever I liked, but I have 5 favorites so no issue there.

4. buy one more whenever I reach the half mark on my first box.

5. if one of my favorites ends up in the deletions list, buy all I can get my hands on.

6. buy stuff that is recommended but in moderation so I always have funds if a good box of one of my favorites arrives.

7. Manage stock using excel, It will get to a point where you can't remember when you bought a box.

8. hide credit statements, chew the receipts, deny when confronted...

Regarding the costs, there is one sure way to fight it, work harder

Remember, this is not a sprint,don't rush into it and pace yourself or you'l end up with boxes of stuff you don't smoke (but there is always the trading room for that).

[Pilgrims]

My way:

1. Buy the splits.

2. Avoid the expensive RE and EL ( to the most part, some are good, but rarely worth the coin).

3. Buy 2 boxes of whatever I liked, but I have 5 favorites so no issue there.

4. buy one more whenever I reach the half mark on my first box.

5. if one of my favorites ends up in the deletions list, buy all I can get my hands on.

6. buy stuff that is recommended but in moderation so I always have funds if a good box of one of my favorites arrives.

7. Manage stock using excel, It will get to a point where you can't remember when you bought a box.

8. hide credit statements, chew the receipts, deny when confronted...

Regarding the costs, there is one sure way to fight it, work harder

Remember, this is not a sprint,don't rush into it and pace yourself or you'l end up with boxes of stuff you don't smoke (but there is always the trading room for that).

2,5,6 & of course 8 are the keys to it if you ask me!! I spend a lot of time building cellars (as in the wines not the bricks and mortar) for people and the key thing is also to buy things you realise you will (most likely) like so don't limit yourself to just you current favs as you'll find you don't have variety later, same goes for sizes - you can always sell or trade if you over buy.

Good luck and enjoy!

[kiwirwe]

Step 1. Buy what you enjoy.

Step 2. Buy more than you smoke.

Wilkey

NICE!! :-)

i new there was a way lol

[Black Plague]

Travelling a lot, I keep a spreadsheet of my cigar box stock in Google Docs, so that I can always see what I have PLUS I make notes. For the notes, I have a column for the date of the last time I smoked one from that box and the next column is a quick note (like "Good, smokeable now" or "Muted and sick since last smoked, try again after Jan 2012" or even "Very tannic, don't touch until March 2016"). That way, I give them plenty of time.

As far as building up the stock, keep buying boxes, through any of the good methods suggested above. To keep from pilfering your boxes too much and allow them to age, smoke singles from the store or pickup some samplers, five-packs, etc. from different vendors.

[thechenman]

I think it would be safe to say that everyone here has a budget allocated from their DPI that they try to stay within. Now some of these budgets are egregiously large, while others are more modest, or small. Unfortunately, for most, cigars are not an inexpensive hobby. No matter how you crunch the numbers, there is no getting around the fact that building a collection/selection of aged CCs is an expensive proposition. But the only way to accomplish this task is to buy more than you smoke. Buy what you like and then buy some more. Initially the costs will diminish if your rate of smoking remains constant. If you don't have the financial wherewithall to build the collection you covet, just buy to enjoy, buy to smoke and in time hopefully you will have the means to build the collection you desire. Patience is key...take it easy...enjoy your cigars and let the rest take care of itself in time.

[Poniboy]

I found smoking your stash to be easier on the wallet if you can find a smaller format cigar to be your go to daily smoke, wich is usually priced less per stick, and save your larger, more expensive cigars for a special occasion. For me the special ocasions are weekends with a good ballgame on, and a cocktai,or just friday after a long week of work i look forward to a larger fomat cigar or an EL, or something I just don't smoke very often. Hope this idea helps.

[dB69]

I have a point, that has not risen yet in this topic.

Maybe it's not good to buy too much if one is in the beginning of this wonderful hobby. The cigars one likes today might be unpleasant for example after 5-10 years.

It is possible that one finds then:

- Thick cigars were the best you could ever think of, but one prefers thinner today.

- Open draw cigars which one liked earlier are boring today and won't give enough flavors.

- The big volume of air/smoke with open draw and/or thick cigars is disturbing and one might like more thinner and/or tighter draw cigars, because one doesn't have to suck so much like one did yesterday.

- Palate may also evolve to a different direction from what it was in the beginning.

I would say that buying twice the amount smoked at the moment would be good, but buying 10 times the amount smoked may possibly be a little waste - if thinking afterwards.

This is (maybe) not "The Truth", but with some people maybe it is. You don't know it today - neither do I.

Personally I am happy today, that I didn't buy too many robustos in the past.

Enjoy!