First Order from FOH

[Spurgeon]

Getting ready to place my first order with FOH. Have never ordered CC’s before, so I decided to go by the “What’s Hot and What’s Not” thread.  This is what I have in my cart:

Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure #2- 3 sticks.

Saint Luis Rey- Regios- 3 sticks

Por Larranaga- Petit Coronas- 3 sticks

Robusto Sampler

 

Would love to hear opinions from the board. Anything You think I should add? Subtract?

 

[TBird55]

Change the sticks to boxes..?

[Hadroxity]

You’d be better off buying a whole box versus different singles, imagine you love one, and then you only have 2 more chances to enjoy that specific box code.

[CaptainQuintero]

  Looks like good stuff, I wholeheartedly go in for the singles/samplers school of thought. There's so many to explore when you start that you don't need to be weighed down by boxes and boxes of stuff, you're far better tasting a little of everything and finding out where your tastes and preferences lie

 Have you smoked cigars before? If so what's your style that you lean towards? Strong, mild, spicy, mild etc. If not how do you usually like your coffee/dark chocolate etc

[PigFish]

I would guess that you have picked what you picked based on some notion of sizes that you like and a budget. There is nothing wrong with what you have chosen.

You may find that vitola has a larger impact on what you might or might not like in CC. Based on that, I would vary a little more and try different sizes. You certainly don't need to do that today.

Welcome to the forum, enjoy your first smokes.

If you can keep you fingers off the last ones, see if you can notice a difference if you let them rest a climatize a bit, in comparison to the first ones you smoke.

Your adventure is just starting. Share your thoughts and enjoy the ride.

Cheers! -Piggy

[99call]

I think if I was starting out, i would be more inclined to buy singles of singles,  if you know what I mean.  If I were starting out again, with the knowledge I still have, I would order

1x  Upmann Connie 1

1x  Por Larranage Montecarlo

1x  Partagas Short

1x  Romeo Y Julieta Cazadores

1x  Montecristo Especial no 2

1x RASS

1x Rafael Gonzales Petit Coronas

1x Bolivar Petit Coronas

1x Cohiba Medio Siglo

1x Trinidad Coloniales

1x Fonseca No 1

1x Juan Lopez no 2

1x Punch Punch

Like CaptainQunitero said.   If you can put up a flavour profile of the kind of thing you like, the forum maybe able to advise you more accurately.  Enjoy the journey

[Bri Fi]

Those are good sticks. One piece of advice I have for you is RH storage. It is much different than non Cubans (65-70%ish). It took me a while to understand that Cubans tend to smoke a lot better around 62 and lower. It will eliminate a lot of the harshness. Read into dry boxing if storage separate from your non Cubans is inconvenient. Enjoy. 

[Thirds]

I’m pretty new to CCs as well and based on reviews from Veteran members and my own personal experience thus far, I’d throw 3 Ramon Allones Specially Select in the mix (good value to flavor stick and they are good young and aged).  I don’t see any Montes on your list so if you want to explore quintessential CCs, you should add some of those fornthe famous cocoa/cream burst.   No. 2 is one of the most recognized but based on what’s available as singles, I’d do the No. 2 Especiales for same price.  Explore the long and skinny vitola of a very recognizable and reputable marcas.  

One final recommendation would be Partagas Series D No 4 - very popular and well liked.  

I don’t know what comes in the robusto sampler.  It’s very likely that the recommended RASS and PSD4 are included.  If so, you won’t need 2 of my 3 recommendations.  

Good luck!  It’s a fun journey and there’s many of us here that will be on the same journey with you.  Welcome. 

[Stump89]

Welcome to a brave new world.  Your choices look good. The only thing I can say is that most think PLPCs take a few years to really come around. I like them either way. Getting a variety is the best thing to do to start out, and looks like you e done a good job. 

[Fuzz]

Personally, I'd buy 2-3 samples of each cigar. One cigar is not enough to form an opinion. Try one, wait a few weeks, and try it again. Take your time, rotate through your samplers, and try not to smoke more than one a day.

And always give them at least 30 days rest in your humidor, before smoking.

[Spurgeon]

I was told the advice on this forum would be on point, and I see that it’s true!

I’ve smoked for 25 years on and off. Lately, I’ve been smoking anywhere from 1-3 a week. I’m pretty tightly wound, if you know what I mean, and I find the time smoking by myself, and with friends calms me down immensely!

I’ve only had 2 CC’s in my life,, and I’m sure they were both fake( picked up at Caribbean cruise stops by friends) I dint know about places like FOH until a friend at the cigar lounge told me about it, so I thought I’d take the plunge and see what it’s all about! 

I generally like a medium smoke. Not crazy about tons of pepper... I’ve been smoking Oliva Melanios a lot lately if that makes any difference. 

I keep all my cigars in a tupperdore Spanish cedar trays at between 62 and 65 RH. 

[CaptainQuintero]

 For anyone getting into Cubans I'd say explore the Petit Coronas and similar sizes en mass and work on/up from there. Cuba does smaller ring gauge cigars better than anyone else and the intensity of flavours in those thinner sticks give your a great direction in which to head of your like a certain profile 

Bolivar PC

Cohiba Corona Especial

H.Upmann Mag 46

Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No.1

Juan Lopez PC/Selection No.1

La Gloria Cubana mdo #4

Montecristo No.3

Montecristo Especial

Por Larranaga Petit Corona

Partagas 898

Quai d'Orsay Corona

Quintero Pantetelas

Ramon Allones Superiores

Romeo y Julieta Cazadores

Romeo y Julieta Exhibition No.4

San Cristobal El Principe

Trinidad Reyes

Sancho Panza Non Plus

---

It's a big list but that's where I would explore from if I could start again to give me an idea of the flavours of most of the brands and see where I would like to explore next. Generally most larger gauged cigars will have a tad less intensity of flavours than the thinner counterparts so they give you a decent focal point to move out from.

2/3 of each would give a great starting point and rule out any dodgy smoking experiences

[cigaraholic]

Say goodbye to pepper and wood and hello to flavor town!

Try everything ? if you like medium bodied NC’s no CC will be too strong for you.

[El Hoze]

I would buy a bunch of different stuff and not overthink it. Everyone falls into patterns with brands/formats they like and that tends to evolve over time. Best way to figure out what you like is smoke ‘em, buy a few of a bunch of different stuff. A comment I would make is if you’re smoking 1-3 cigars a week, or on average 8-10 cigars a month, I would make sure to have 30-40 cigars on hand that way over time you’ll be sure that your cigars are spending a few months in your humidor at home to get settled. If you fall down the slippery slope like many of us your inventory will grow, evolve and mature over time based on what you like and you’ll eventually end up with a small room full of cigars. But it all starts with not overthinking it. Plenty of time for that later! Cheers, enjoy! 

[Spurgeon]

Order placed. I removed the robusto sampler, reduced the number to 2 sticks each and added:

Ramone Allones- Specially Selected. 

Montecristo- Petit Edmundo

Partagas- Série D #4

El Rey Mundo- Choix Supreme 

Romeo Y Julieta- Petit Churchills 

Looking forward to getting started! I’ll order more with the next paycheck!

 

 

[PigFish]

Looking forward to you commenting on the sticks and your forum participation.

Welcome to the fight!

Cheers! -Piggy

[Kaptain Karl]

On 6/30/2019 at 10:30 AM, 99call said:

I think if I was starting out, i would be more inclined to buy singles of singles,  if you know what I mean.  If I were starting out again, with the knowledge I still have, I would order

1x  Upmann Connie 1

1x  Por Larranage Montecarlo

1x  Partagas Short

1x  Romeo Y Julieta Cazadores

1x  Montecristo Especial no 2

1x RASS

1x Rafael Gonzales Petit Coronas

1x Bolivar Petit Coronas

1x Cohiba Medio Siglo

1x Trinidad Coloniales

1x Fonseca No 1

1x Juan Lopez no 2

1x Punch Punch

Like CaptainQunitero said.   If you can put up a flavour profile of the kind of thing you like, the forum maybe able to advise you more accurately.  Enjoy the journey

This is so on! For me, I’ve smoked enough CC’s that I’ve dialed down the vitolas I like (skinny, skinny and skinny) with the Marca’s I like and will buy only certain vitolas from each Marca so I have a well balanced selection from each Marca that doesn’t overlap too much. I’ve been buying for 2 years, here’s my current box inventory. Buying a bunch of singles will help you dial in what you like, you may be the complete opposite of me! 

[Spurgeon]

Y’all are awesome! Can’t wait to get my order! I received my invoice and noticed I ordered 3 RASS. Maybe that will be the first one I smoke.... Gonna be tough to wait, and then let them rest for a month before I get to it... 

[Fuzz]

Enjoy your journey!

[Thirds]

On 7/1/2019 at 7:11 AM, Spurgeon said:

Order placed. I removed the robusto sampler, reduced the number to 2 sticks each and added:

Ramone Allones- Specially Selected. 

Montecristo- Petit Edmundo

Partagas- Série D #4

El Rey Mundo- Choix Supreme 

Romeo Y Julieta- Petit Churchills 

Looking forward to getting started! I’ll order more with the next paycheck!

 

 

Good selections.  I think you’re going to be very happy with them.  Looking forward to hearing back!  

 

On 7/2/2019 at 12:23 PM, Spurgeon said:

Y’all are awesome! Can’t wait to get my order! I received my invoice and noticed I ordered 3 RASS. Maybe that will be the first one I smoke.... Gonna be tough to wait, and then let them rest for a month before I get to it... 

I let the RASS rest one week and then jumped on ‘em.  The goal is to let some age but already enjoying them young.  

[GavLew79]

Awesome stuff. Good on you.

IMO of course...Just remember that there are good and bad sticks and the box code/price you paid/other people's opinions/marketing hype are a zero-reliability indicator of whether the cigar in your hand will be 'good' for you. In my experience the good sticks outrank the bad by about 5:1. The same box can have good and bad sticks, let alone mastercase, marcas, vitolas, factory and vintages. There are people who've paid £100 plus for reservas and gran reservas from hyped marcas and gone 'meh, tastes like a regular stick'. 

Good luck on the journey. It's amazing. Good storage conditions pay dividends. Age softens harsh sticks, but if it's born a turd, a turd it will remain. 

[PigFish]

13 hours ago, GavLew79 said:

Awesome stuff. Good on you.

IMO of course...Just remember that there are good and bad sticks and the box code/price you paid/other people's opinions/marketing hype are a zero-reliability indicator of whether the cigar in your hand will be 'good' for you. In my experience the good sticks outrank the bad by about 5:1. The same box can have good and bad sticks, let alone mastercase, marcas, vitolas, factory and vintages. There are people who've paid £100 plus for reservas and gran reservas from hyped marcas and gone 'meh, tastes like a regular stick'. 

Good luck on the journey. It's amazing. Good storage conditions pay dividends. Age softens harsh sticks, but if it's born a turd, a turd it will remain. 

Good post. Good points! -tP

[mashayafai]

This is an excellent app for tracking parcels. Whenever I order something from Aliexpress, I use this app. Most of all, I like that it is an international package tracking system, so it literally works with any tracking code. The only tracking codes it is not working with are the codes from DHL Delivery. I once ordered a pair of shoes from SportsDirect, and they are using DHL for delivery. I tried multiple times to introduce the tracking code they gave to me, but there was always an error until I understood that it is;t working with such codes.

[Wetduck79]

Going through the same thing.  I picked up some sixers from the 24:24 to get me started, oh and that box of cohiba maduros cause I’m a sucker for nc maduros I had to see what they are like.  Hoping to pick up some more sixers for variety so I can see what I like.  You near Richmond?  
 

edit just realized this is an old ass post, lol!

[Kaptain Karl]

On 7/1/2019 at 6:21 PM, Kaptain Karl said:

This is so on! For me, I’ve smoked enough CC’s that I’ve dialed down the vitolas I like (skinny, skinny and skinny) with the Marca’s I like and will buy only certain vitolas from each Marca so I have a well balanced selection from each Marca that doesn’t overlap too much. I’ve been buying for 2 years, here’s my current box inventory. Buying a bunch of singles will help you dial in what you like, you may be the complete opposite of me! 

Oh god I've gone so far the rabbit hole since this post!