Newcomer (Newbie) Q&A

[Keith_james]

On 2/23/2018 at 11:20 PM, El Presidente said:

If it were myself I would

• avoid purchasing the "big sellers' blind. Monte 2/4  Partagas D4 etc
• avoid purchasing "challenging" (difficult to roll) cigars blind.  Lancero/Panetela etc. 
• avoid purchasing cigars that are out of love blind. Sancho/Vegas Robaina
• Avoid purchasing anything made at the Pinar Factory Francisco Donatien blind. That means Trinidad as well as the two above. 
• Avoid purchasing expensive cigars blind. 

Outside of that you are good to go 

Remember, most vendors are happy to help out. 

I just placed my first order on this site (before discovering the forum) My order included all the “big sellers” listed in this post. None of which came off the 24:24 list. The order has not shipped yet. Should I cancel it and just shop off the 24:24 list for those brands? 

[Fuzz]

3 hours ago, Keith_james said:

I just placed my first order on this site (before discovering the forum) My order included all the “big sellers” listed in this post. None of which came off the 24:24 list. The order has not shipped yet. Should I cancel it and just shop off the 24:24 list for those brands? 

There is nothing inherently wrong with buying off the FOH online store. All stock is checked before shipping. If you want PSP/HQ quality, then you will have to wait for that particular box to pop up on 24:24, and risk not having fingers fast enough to type the email.

[FatPete]

I know cigars can be rolled at almost any of the factories in Cuba, but could anyone tell me which is the main one for Montecristo? Thanks 

[ToddT]

What does "Mostly" mean in a 24:24 offering?

[Fuzz]

43 minutes ago, ToddT said:

What does "Mostly" mean in a 24:24 offering?

Refers to the box code. There could be a bunch of different box codes, but there would be more LMB MAR 19 than other codes for example.

[Bmbroads]

New to the forum. Smoked a few new ones a couple days ago and just want to say A+ ... pure class.  Have been watching vid reviews for a while and now happy to join the rest of the club.  Cheers everyone- looking forward to all the great content!

[Tonyontop]

Wow... just read through all 20 pages on this thread and gained tons of info/knowledge. I’m a noob to FOH & CC but already hooked big time! On a side note im extremely grateful I found FOH, everyone here seems to be very knowledgeable and willing to take the time to help a noob like me. Thank you & cheers all!

[Jal154]

22 hours ago, Snifnix said:

What WAS that?

Hi all.

Being a Cuban cigar newbie is a lot like being a detective without many solid leads and a bunch of witnesses contradicting each other. The cigars themselves are often confusing and the vendors never give me any info worth a damn.

I just had a Montecristo No.2. I picked up a pack of 3 40 days ago, and it's been resting in my humidor since then at about 65%. In the interest of brevity, won't get into the details regarding the flavor notes save to say that if the quality of the first half had also included the last half, it would easily have placed in my current top 3. A veritable array of different yummy caramelized flavors and incredibly smooth and pleasant overall. Then something happened, and I'm specifically interested in this one flavor that is a first for me and that left me kind of shocked and befuddled. A distinct taste of what I would characterize as acetone or perhaps glue. I guess a general description would be some kind of solvent. Luckily, the solvent disappeared quite quickly, but the cigar never really recovered. I picked up distinct notes of ammonia and it got gradually harsher and less interesting and it also started burning pretty badly and hot too, even though I smoked it slow and with veneration. What a shame.

So what WAS that solvent thing? And how in the world can a cigar go from that good to that bad in the same cigar?

Help a brother out. Thank you.

From what I know and was stated here just a few days ago Monte 4 is one of the most over produced cigars. Now you had a Monte 2 in a 3 pack you purchased. I have a feeling that the Monte 2 is probably up there also. I would purchase a quality box of 25 (PSP or HQ) or 1/4 box (if available) when they come up on FOH’s 24:24. My girlfriend purchased me a 5 pack of Monte 4 while she was away on vacation. They were very blah. 

[GinFizzLove]

As far as dry boxing, is there a preferred RH? I have some 55% and 58% humidity packs that I could use. 

[thirty1z]

Hey gang-- Forum newbie here. Please let me know if this is the wrong spot for this, but I'm still a little confused about the relationship between 24:24 and the FOH int'l store. My understanding is that you'll get PSP, HQ, etc. from 24:24 guaranteed based on your quick-draw typing skills (or lack thereof) and that you'll get a good quality, inspected box from the int'l store, but not necessarily PSP or HQ. I know that the team won't pull specific boxes, but you can get PSP from the store, right? For instance, El Presidente put up PSP Monte No. 4s during 24:24 last week and I'm pretty sure they didn't sell out. Do those boxes get pulled specifically for 24:24 in the future? Or, if I ordered a box today, I could conceivably get one of those PSP boxes? 

[Fuzz]

6 hours ago, thirty1z said:

Hey gang-- Forum newbie here. Please let me know if this is the wrong spot for this, but I'm still a little confused about the relationship between 24:24 and the FOH int'l store. My understanding is that you'll get PSP, HQ, etc. from 24:24 guaranteed based on your quick-draw typing skills (or lack thereof) and that you'll get a good quality, inspected box from the int'l store, but not necessarily PSP or HQ. I know that the team won't pull specific boxes, but you can get PSP from the store, right? For instance, El Presidente put up PSP Monte No. 4s during 24:24 last week and I'm pretty sure they didn't sell out. Do those boxes get pulled specifically for 24:24 in the future? Or, if I ordered a box today, I could conceivably get one of those PSP boxes? 

The store is pot luck. You will never get below PE, and can get HQ and PSP quality, but there are no guarantees. 24:24 is for those looking for specific quality.

[Rhinoww]

Is there a tutorial on how to best use the search function?

[Fuzz]

2 hours ago, Rhinoww said:

Is there a tutorial on how to best use the search function?

Nope. Nothing less than 3 letter search combinations, searching for 24:24 will get you bupkis, try searching in specific subforums to limit returns.

Using Google to to search friendsofhabanos website would be easier.

[Rhinoww]

1 minute ago, Fuzz said:

Nope. Nothing less than 3 letter search combinations, searching for 24:24 will get you bupkis, try searching in specific subforums to limit returns.

Using Google to to search friendsofhabanos website would be easier.

Thanks. When I search more than one word it’s hard to narrow results. Will try google 

[Fuzz]

12 minutes ago, Rhinoww said:

Thanks. When I search more than one word it’s hard to narrow results. Will try google 

You can go into the advanced search by clicking on the magnifying glass in the search bar.

[Euckersw]

Quick newbie question on 24:24.  Apologies if it's already been answered.  When a box is labeled as clearance, what does that mean in terms of grade? Is it safe to assume it's PE or higher?  Every box I have gotten from FOH has been amazing, just curious what that meant in terms of quality.  Thanks!

Following up on this, how come clearance doesn’t receive a specific quality grade? Thanks!

[DolceVita23]

I just got a newair cc100h wineador today. I cleaned it out according to the instructions with baking soda and distilled water. For the humidification I ordered a cigar oasis Excel 3.0 which is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Can I use the cigar oasis to successfully season my new humidor or would I be better of using the distilled water method?

[Puro_Lover83]

When going through the Pipeline thread, El Pres often mentions “14 or 30” etc...is that business days, regular days? Thanks.

[Derboesekoenig]

4 hours ago, Puro_Lover83 said:

When going through the Pipeline thread, El Pres often mentions “14 or 30” etc...is that business days, regular days? Thanks.

Good question. It's an estimate, and based on everything I've seen, I assume: 14 = sometime in the next 14 calendar days, rough estimate.

Interesting, I also live in St. Augustine. Small world....

[Puro_Lover83]

5 hours ago, Derboesekoenig said:

Good question. It's an estimate, and based on everything I've seen, I assume: 14 = sometime in the next 14 calendar days, rough estimate.

Interesting, I also live in St. Augustine. Small world....

Small world indeed! Happy to connect in person sometime.

[thebutcher]

just read the whole thread and had at least 5 newbie questions answered, this is a great way to find information without asking newbie questions that have already been answered 

 

thanks FOH members that took time to answer all these questions 

[The Squiggler]

On 11/11/2019 at 10:54 PM, DolceVita23 said:

I just got a newair cc100h wineador today. I cleaned it out according to the instructions with baking soda and distilled water. For the humidification I ordered a cigar oasis Excel 3.0 which is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Can I use the cigar oasis to successfully season my new humidor or would I be better of using the distilled water method?

You can certainly use a cigar oasis to season your wineador (you wouldn't be the first, anyway).  I think the newair instructions will tell you to fill the reservoir (water dish) with distilled water and leave it until the RH reading on the unit reaches 5 degrees above your desired RH, so you'll probably want to fill the cigar oasis with distilled water and set it 5 degrees higher than your desired RH.  When the newair unit reads 5% higher than your desired RH, turn the cigar oasis off and wait for the RH in the unit to stabilize.  When the resting RH in the unit is satisfactory, adjust the cigar oasis settings to the appropriate level and you should be good to go.  This method will probably require you to pay a bit more attention than using the water dish, but the fans should speed things up a bit.

[Jaesian]

Is there a dedicated "Trading Room" ? I haven't reached the required post count yet, but I see mention of a place to trade but don't see it so I'm wondering if this is a specific subforum that I don't have access to yet, or I'm just an idiot. Thanks.

[Derboesekoenig]

42 minutes ago, Jaesian said:

Is there a dedicated "Trading Room" ? I haven't reached the required post count yet, but I see mention of a place to trade but don't see it so I'm wondering if this is a specific subforum that I don't have access to yet, or I'm just an idiot. Thanks.

A. You need to have 100 posts to post a trade.

B. You need to have 100 posts to respond to a trade.

C. You need to be a member for a period of six months to trade at all.

[Jaesian]

10 minutes ago, Derboesekoenig said:

A. You need to have 100 posts to post a trade.

B. You need to have 100 posts to respond to a trade.

C. You need to be a member for a period of six months to trade at all.

Thank you. I saw that I needed 100 posts, but I just wasn't sure if trades needed to be initiated in a specific place.