Hello from the Pacific Northwest!


amaxp81

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Hello all - Name is Adam, I'm from Portland Oregon out here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest!  I have been casually into cigars for a few years now - primarily only smoke them socially in the summer months with friends in my outdoor space.  I tend to stick with mild-to-mediums but don't think my palate is advanced enough to really have a "go to" cigar.  My wife and I were on a vacation last week and I smoked my first Cuban cigar, a Cohiba Siglo and ... well.... here I am.

 

I immediately fell in love... the best smoke I've ever had.  My wife, who typically hates the smell of cigar smoke was infatuated with the smell of the Cohiba - didn't insist I shower/brush my teeth after my smoke like she normally does.  Naive, I immediately started surfing the web for US customer options for reputable Cubans.  I came across these forums (I LOVE forums) and here we are.  I arrived back into the states Monday and am now trying to decide where to begin my foray into Cuban cigars so I can determine my palate. 

 

We're finishing our dream home on 5 acres of private/forested property in the next 30 days so we've been temporarily living with my parents since April (our previous home sold too quick) so I haven't smoked but a few sticks ALL summer but our new home has an incredible outdoor space that I'll be taking advantage of near-nightly once we get keys with hopes I can really start to explore Cuban cigars and develop a collection over time.  My wife is a bit nervous of my recent excitement because of the health risks associated with cigars but I think I'll likely be a 1-2x a week kind of guy, not a daily.

 

A few questions for all of you with hopes you can advise me:

Is Rob's Cuban sampler the best starting point to determining what I like/dislike for Cubans?

I'm going to have to buy a bigger humidor (or two).... my wife is VERY much into design/appearance in our home...  Anyone have some suggestions on attractive humidors for my home office that I can start looking into?  Would prefer a rather large one for aging, and a smaller one for current smokes..

Is there a community in the US on here that does trades/box splits and such?  I think variety is best until I find what I'm in love with.

Lastly - it seems most of the forums I can't access - how do newbies create a positive reputation on here without post-whoring?

 

I'm very excited to venture into Cubans and can't wait to start collecting, if you are in the Portland-Metro area of Oregon or Vancouver Washington, please reach out to me!!

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Welcome aboard!  Your dream home sounds great.  Y'all got room up there for more California defectors? :)

My first purchase from here was one of Rob's samplers.  It's a great place to start.  Like you, I'm a 1-2/week guy, on average.  Some weeks more, some less.

As far as attractive humidors, I'd consider the furniture-grade options like Aristocrat.  Beautiful form meets excellent function -- but you pay for it.

(I'll let mods or more senior members answer the forum access questions.)

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32 minutes ago, planetary said:

Welcome aboard!  Your dream home sounds great.  Y'all got room up there for more California defectors? :)

My first purchase from here was one of Rob's samplers.  It's a great place to start.  Like you, I'm a 1-2/week guy, on average.  Some weeks more, some less.

As far as attractive humidors, I'd consider the furniture-grade options like Aristocrat.  Beautiful form meets excellent function -- but you pay for it.

(I'll let mods or more senior members answer the forum access questions.)

NO!!! Not more Californians!! :P  All of you moved up to our area and have helped home prices soar but also have made our roads more congested - thus I'm moving further north to Vancouver haha.  No really - not sure how people live down in southern Cali especially with how expensive homes are - the value you can get up here is phenomenal comparatively although you pay for it with more rain less sun! 

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Welcome to FOH.  

From the few posts of yours I've read I can tell you are REVVED.  That's awesome!

Depending on your wallet, YMMV. In addition to the info gleaned from the forums, try checking out the Cuban cigar website.  It'll provide you a platform to view the variety in marca and vitola currently available.

In the end, your preference really comes down to your own palette. You can decide just how quickly (cost factored) you wish to acquire this info.  I will say however that the samplers here have an exceptional spread and come with an endearment to quality not available outside with rare exception.

There is a regional section that you can search out via the search function (details about - not to access).  It was recently amended IIRC to require 6 months and 30 posts to view/subscribe to and 75 posts to create a thread in.  Again, please do your own diligence as I am not 100 percent on that.

In first jumping in, the hardest thing can be to have patience.  The patience to wait for info, such as researching your storage options (are you OK storing your cigars in subpar conditions), the patience to let cigars properly acclimate when you get them (smoking drier than, or overly wet, etc.).

For someone with your passion to learn, I can assure you that this IS THE PLACE to be.  

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 8/18/2016 at 10:40 AM, miurajus said:

 

 the patience to let cigars properly acclimate when you get them (smoking drier than, or overly wet, etc.).

.  

 

Well, I am new to the forum as well and would still consider myself new to CC's. I am currently smoking a BRC that has only sat a week in my humidor (60rh/70-73F) because I just needed to try it.  I figured I am doing research to test the acclimation theory! Ha... Just dont have any other CC's to smoke.  So, yes patience here is needed as well.  Patience to acquire and buy CC's for me is what is needed. Glad you are here.

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@amaxp81 I suppose we've already met in your overwhelmed thread. Just want to send an official Welcome! Ya know, my post in your thread has been expanded and edited..

The two headed monster is here:

                     The Noob Thread I Never Read.. Buying Cuban Cigars..                    

Cheers Cheif!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On August 17, 2016 at 5:59 AM, amaxp81 said:

My wife is a bit nervous of my recent excitement because of the health risks associated with cigars but I think I'll likely be a 1-2x a week kind of guy, not a daily.

I'm going to have to buy a bigger humidor (or two).... my wife is VERY much into design/appearance in our home...  Anyone have some suggestions on attractive humidors for my home office that I can start looking into?  Would prefer a rather large one for aging, and a smaller one for current smokes..

Is there a community in the US on here that does trades/box splits and such?  I think variety is best until I find what I'm in love with.

I'm very excited to venture into Cubans and can't wait to start collecting, if you are in the Portland-Metro area of Oregon or Vancouver Washington, please reach out to me!!

Glad to see another Portlander on here!

We will have to discuss splitting some boxes sometime.

Just had to offer you a couple links regarding the health issues. These may be found elsewhere on the forum, but I'm new here as well. Check these out:

http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2014/08/01/cigar-warnings-go-up-in-smoke/

http://rodutobaccotruth.blogspot.com/2016/08/fda-study-cancer-risks-nearly-nil-for-1.html

Also, you owe it to yourself to at least check out this humidor for your home if your wife is design-conscious (yes, it's very expensive, but it's simply spectacular): http://www.gerber-humidors.com/humidors/ascension/ 

 

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My advice RE the forums is to just jump in with both feet. If a subject or thread interests you, comment. Why not? Don't worry about what others think cos most will tell you that anyway!
And you might even find out about the best bar in the world...

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Vancouver WA (BattleGround, actually) checking in.  Nice to see a couple local guys in the forums...!!  

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Vancouver WA (BattleGround, actually) checking in.  Nice to see a couple local guys in the forums...!!  

Hey hey!!! Just took keys to our dream home we had custom built out in Hockinson - we may be neighbors!! I see a future smoke on my back patio in the near future...

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

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Welcome, Adam!  My son and his wife live in Portland.

Yes, Rob's samplers are my recommendation for your journey into the dark side.  Go ahead and expand your credit card limits. Please feel free to PM me.  I'll be glad to help.

Go ahead and order an Aristocrat humi for that new house. 

This is mine, but Bob will custom make whatever you want to fit any décor:

Aristocrat.JPG

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Another Aristocrat owner here.  Mine isn't quite as beautiful as stogieluver's amazing example, but it has worked flawlessly for almost a decade.  Mine has the full THC (temperature and humidity control) capability, and I really like it.  OK, this year I did send the thermal / humidity controller in for calibration but other than that, and water and filter swaps every now and then......it's been perfect.  One of the purchases that I have zero regrets about.  As a plus, Bob Staebell is quite likely one of the nicest guys you'll ever do business with; a class act, to be sure.

 

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