Why did you start smoking cigars?

[Kyoung]

For me it was my father. I grew up around him smoking cigars and had my first with him. I fell in love with everything about it thereafter. We always have the best conversations over a couple good smokes.

So, what/who got you started on smoking cigars?

[Edrock80]

Great topic. My dad smokes cigars(never smoked cigarettes:) and his dad smoked cigars. Some of my first memories are walking into the living room when company was over and it being filled with cigar smoke. During the cigar boom in the 90s as CA came out, my dad got back into cigars, collecting, aging and studying cigar history. He would share info about his hobby with me here and there but I wasn't too interested(I was a cigarrette smoker, not proud of that). He gave me a few sticks in my late teens and early twenties and I never really understood what was so special about cigars. Then right about the time I was having my last cigarette ever! he gave me a cigar he seemed pretty stoked about...it was a Cohiba Lancero. I remember smoking it in the living room and finally "getting it" I remember the nuttiness and cocoa flavors, I was amazed. I sat on the coach all alone and puffing on it, thinking "wow, how can a cigar taste this good?!" The rest is history.

[MIKA27]

Firstly welcome to the forum guys, always great to read other peoples thoughts, experiences regarding our first cigar(s) and the memories we have enjoying them. For me, it was with my dad hunting in Wonnangatta for Sambar deer, I enjoyed a Padron 3000.

This topic has numerous and related threads scattered about the forum over the years, a few examples below.

What was your first CC

Young Cigar Smokers - Beginnings

Share your journey from NC to CC

[dicko]

My mate bought me a 3 pack of monty PE's for my 21st, hooked first puff

[AndrewNR]

Always just had an inkling then at a premier of my favourite independent show internationally held in Melbourne for the first time due to a big Australian fanbase I was invited to the after party with the stars.. Where I tried my first cigars and ******.. I'll never forget that weekend.

[Bulldog4]

when in rome err i mean cuba first trip to the island thought i better atleast try a cigar cohiba sigloVI from the lcdh on 63rd was a dream of a cigar been hooked since

[TCContender]

My mother-in-law....she hates cigar smoke.

[ebhead]

a friend gave me one when we went out for dinner one night...back in the days when you could still smoke indoors in a restaurant in Toronto.

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[finecigar]

Always loved the smell growing up from my grandfather and relatives. Back in highschool a friends dad had a huge CC collection he was giving up for pipes so I would go over and smoke one at a time!

[parabola66]

My Sister would go on vacation occasionally and I would watch their house and take care of their dogs. My brother-in-law has a small 25ish count desktop humidor and I remember the smell of opening it. The delicious cedar mixed with tobacco smell was intoxicating to me. I tired one of the no name ones, something that didn't look too expensive... Looking back they were all no namers. I think it was a JR something or other.

I remember sitting on the deck late at night after some drinks and feeling the most zen I have ever felt before. The smell and taste of the cigar.. the crickets and starts of a summer night.. and of course the nicotine buzz...

[Cohiba007]

My grandfather used to give me the band off his cigars and I'd wear them like a ring all day when I was very young. Always been around cigar smoke and enjoyed the aromas. And it's very lucky to smoke in casinos.

[amart]

Friend gave me one once and I found it to be a great stress reliever so I kept it up

[cabaiguan juan]

Went to college in Colorado. Then I graduated and moved to DC. Couldn't smoke what I smoked in college anymore and ran across a cigar store one day after work. Went in to see what it was all about and got hooked.

[godpheonix]

a college friend brought me to a small coffee and cigar shop. once we sat in the cigar lounge, i got hooked instantly. it felt relaxing and you have time for a nice conversation with friends and colleagues while smoking. its great!

[beparrish]

On our annual golf trip to the mountains of West Virginia, the gnats would bother us to no end. While the rest of us were spraying ourselves with Deep Woods OFF and rubbing Avon Skin-So-Soft on our arms, we noticed that the bugs did not bother my friend's father-in-law. The difference was that he was smoking a pipe.

This being the early 90's, we went to a drug store and bought some packs of plastic-tipped Swisher Sweets cigars. They did the trick in keeping the bugs away, although I joke that they must have been dipped in kerosene, as you could only get a cigar to last a hole or two.

After doing this for several years, I ended up going to a tobacco store to get some "real cigars". I bought a handful of cheap cigars, but the difference between those and the Swisher Sweets was noticeable. That started me down the slippery slope.

[sengjc]

Cigars always had a sense of mystic about it to me when I was growing up - probably influenced by the media.

[btp1979]

I honestly don't know why I started to smoke cigars. I just knew I wanted to do it.

[torsion]

Trying to retrace my footsteps - must of been around 2010 I came across an article somewhere on another forum (Styleforum I think) and I became more intrigued on the subject. My interest at the time in classic menswear had developed including all things considered gentlemanly, also was interested in gastronomy, my appreciation on flavour and food was growing. Seemed to go hand in hand with my interests and after reading a few more articles I remember heading to a B&M to buy my first sticks to try in London.

The rest is history, from then on I'd buy the occasional stick and when I ventured on a business trip to Dubai in 2012, I smoked my first ever PSD4 - that I think was the stick that wowed me. Bought 3 Cohiba robusto in duty free there on the way back to London and was shocked at the price differential between the two countries (if I was where I am now with CC knowledge I would of come back with boxes!!)

[jholen]

Grandfather smoked cigars, though I never got to share in the hobby with him, and got started when my wife bought me my first as part of our 5th Wedding Anniversary celebration. She's a keeper! In fact, to celebrate being at my current job for six years she suggested, "Pick yourself a box of Cubans to celebrate." Thinking a cab of Party Shorts.

[nicaraguanlubber]

My Brother-in-Law is Nicaraguan and at a family gathering, he shared a cigar with me that I really enjoyed. So the next time I visited him I asked him about it and we shared a couple of sticks while he shared of his Nicaraguan upbringing, his family's passion for tobacco and how intertwined it was with their heritage.

The experience coupled by the bonding and I was hooked.

[airtrade]

Every man needs a vice. This is mine.

[FalseCast]

I've always loved cigars' aroma. That was probably the most significant enticer.

[rtrimbath]

I started smoking to look cool.

[Mr.T]

My father introduced me to cigars in my senior year of college. It was a Siglo II. My father loves the Siglo II and IV. We have our best conversations while smoking. Unrelated, but I also remember my great-grandfather smoking cigars. I have very clear memories of him smoking Lanceros sized smokes in the living room while watching the Cubs.

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[Habana Mike]

Was fishing with a friend on Cape Hatteras in the early 90's and he handed me a small Partagas cigar.

Totally blew me away with the depth and richness of flavors. Started picking one up every now and then at a shop near me.

Really picked up when I went to work for a company a few years later where all the execs smoked. Every time we were out for dinner or drinks they'd pass them around. After a few months of that I was all in.