Newbie looking for some recommendations

[Rhinoww]

As I wait for delivery (and then acclimation) of a psp box of the Bolivar PC that were on 24:24 a few weeks ago, I have been sorting through my humidors and preparing my Coolidor. I have also had the opportunity to smoke a few old friends in the humidor that I had not seen you for sometime.

 I am currently smoking an RyJ no2  and am quite enjoying it. I expect to the Bolivars will also hit the spot.

Wondering what else I should be looking for that size/taste  profile in the upcoming weeks  

Looking for the wise suggestions of this group.

What should I be looking for in the coming weeks?

thanks from a newbie

 

 

[SmokyFontaine]

Fellow newb here. I've had a GREAT Ramon Allones Special Select and an OK experience, but the flavor profile is very much in a place I enjoy. I have also enjoyed Cohiba Siglos for a more affordable version of an otherwise spendy brand. Then lastly, every H.Upmann I've tried I have enjoyed, from the Conny A to the Royal Robusto (enjoying the latter the most). 

Cigars that to date have underwhelmed me - Punch Punch, Montecristo No 2 (and to a lesser degree No 4), and RyJ short churchill. 

My biggest problem is that none of my stuff has real age to it, so I feel like I'm hopefully just getting the worst of it now, and it will improve with time. 

[BuzzArd]

As a vet, I’ll say I HATED ramon allones specially selected when young. They do better with age IMO.   If you buy some and try some and don’t like them, put them away and forget they’re there.  Revisit in a few years. 

In the PC size Monte 4 is always high on the list as is PLPC.  Adore both and have multiple boxes of both in various stages of age.  HDM Epi 2 is a pretty safe bet as well. 

Get some sampler packs or 1/4 boxes and see what fits your likes.  

[MigsG]

Hello! 

I'm very familiar with the RyJ Tubos no. 2. Great budget smoke.

I'd look into trying the Rafael Gonzalez Petit Corona. Same format. Great price. See if you enjoy it before spending a bunch on more expensive marcas. Great bang for the buck.

H.Upmann Regalias, same size, also tasty. 

Might as well get a bunch of singles to try. Monte 4, another Petit Corona, must try, see if you like the profile.

 

[rcarlson]

Budget?

Size/Shape preference?

Strength/Body?

Smoking young (under 1-2 years)?

[eldude]

Get a handful of singles and see what all you like. I recommend you try a Partagas, Montecristo, Ramon Allones, and an HdM or two. 

[Rhinoww]

I also have some Monte 4 on the way. 

PC or perhaps Robustos are my size preference. Have a stash of Monte 2 for when time allows which is not often. 

As for budget I’d like to stay in the 150-200/box range for nkw

[rcarlson]

JLS 1, HU Connie 1, Mag 46

[thirty1z]

I'm a newbie, too, so thanks for starting this thread. For what it's worth, Monte 4s have been really enjoyable for me (especially when you don't have hours to spare). I also recently had a RyJ Short, which was fantastic and really different. I've been grabbing 1/4 boxes that look interesting off 24:24. I'd be curious to hear thoughts about cigars that smoke well young in the PC range. 

[rcarlson]

12 minutes ago, thirty1z said:

I'm a newbie, too, so thanks for starting this thread. For what it's worth, Monte 4s have been really enjoyable for me (especially when you don't have hours to spare). I also recently had a RyJ Short, which was fantastic and really different. I've been grabbing 1/4 boxes that look interesting off 24:24. I'd be curious to hear thoughts about cigars that smoke well young in the PC range. 

 

HU HC.

[Rhinoww]

Just got the email from USPS with expected delivery of my first order by Saturday. w

Whooo Hooo. 

It will be hard to wait before I smoke the first Bolivar, especially since my wife will be out of town Fri and Saturday. 

[Rhinoww]

1 hour ago, thirty1z said:

I'm a newbie, too, so thanks for starting this thread. For what it's worth, Monte 4s have been really enjoyable for me (especially when you don't have hours to spare). I also recently had a RyJ Short, which was fantastic and really different. I've been grabbing 1/4 boxes that look interesting off 24:24. I'd be curious to hear thoughts about cigars that smoke well young in the PC range. 

I’ve been looking at the quarter box options as well. It’s been tricky to get to the $100 minimum with my target size unless I’m sitting online right at 8:30 ET. I’ve had success once so far. Ultimately though I do need to take the ordering a bit slowly though so I have been pacing myself by not ordering until I receive and try some of what I have purchased. But I fear that rule will soon have some exceptions as I’m trying to look daily to get a better understanding of what shows up, what sells quickly and what I might be interested in getting in the future. 

And oh, I only have three boxes in the Coolidor so I have quite a bit of room but don’t plan on intentionally aging past a year or maybe two. 

[Viva Vegas]

4 hours ago, SmokyFontaine said:

Fellow newb here. I've had a GREAT Ramon Allones Special Select and an OK experience, but the flavor profile is very much in a place I enjoy. I have also enjoyed Cohiba Siglos for a more affordable version of an otherwise spendy brand. Then lastly, every H.Upmann I've tried I have enjoyed, from the Conny A to the Royal Robusto (enjoying the latter the most). 

Cigars that to date have underwhelmed me - Punch Punch, Montecristo No 2 (and to a lesser degree No 4), and RyJ short churchill. 

My biggest problem is that none of my stuff has real age to it, so I feel like I'm hopefully just getting the worst of it now, and it will improve with time. 

A good cigar can be smoked today, tomorrow or three years from tomorrow. If your smoking good ones they will be good anytime you light them up. 

[Thirds]

Fellow newb but have acquired a nice stockpile in the short time I’ve been smoking CCs.

1st piece of advice: time all your incoming deliveries for when your wife is out of town.  This alone will save your marriage.  

Serious advice and this isn’t something I figured out on my own: smoke CCs dry, dry, dry.  Absolutely zero harm and tremendous upside approaching that 58-60rh level when smoking.  I wouldn’t store all of them at that RH but the ones you are preparing to smoke, go low for show. 

Get to the store and try singles of each marca/vitola that you think you might like.  I bought a wide variety of singles from the store and the quality has been there each time. So you don’t know the box code, who cares?  You’re new and will have plenty of time to collect box codes.  I recommend a few of each so you can gauge more than one sample.  I was underwhelmed by a few singles selected on  the first sample but after rest and lowering RH, it totally changed the experience for me on the exact same cigar.  Cigars have gone from blah to wow factor and I wouldn’t have known that had I not bought 2-3 singles.  

I don’t want to make suggestions on specific cigars because your tastes are likely not my tastes but expose yourself to a variety and dial in what you like.  Don’t be afraid of cheapies and don’t assume expensive always means quality.  You’ll find some cheap sticks that blow you away...chalk those up to value points for doing your due diligence.  

And remember to have fun.  Smoke them slow and take note of what you like and don’t like.  And in the words of @slowsmoke -Collect Them All.  

Another final parting piece of advice, from a guy that bought a desktop humi and then another and then a 3rd, just buy a big humi to start with because you’re going to need it!  

[CaptainQuintero]

Samplers, samplers, samplers

[JLinz]

11 hours ago, Thirds said:

Serious advice and this isn’t something I figured out on my own: smoke CCs dry, dry, dry.  Absolutely zero harm and tremendous upside approaching that 58-60rh level when smoking.  I wouldn’t store all of them at that RH but the ones you are preparing to smoke, go low for show. 

 

This is good advice.  I would just add that I've broken my collection into two part.  The boxes that I'm storing long term (3+ years) are stored at 65rh and the boxes I am storing for short term (<3 years) are stored at 62rh.  The 62rh humidor is also where I keep boxes that are in active rotation.  The idea is that the higher rh level improves the long term aging process, while the lower rh level improves the smoking experience. 

Final tip - I only smoke 2 - 3 sticks on the weekend.  Because of that, around Wednesday or so, I have a little ritual of what I call "setting my lineup."  This basically consists of looking through my stock and deciding what I want to smoke for the upcoming weekend.  I'll grab 3 or 4 cigars of different types (even though I may not smoke them all) from my 62rh humidor and dry box them for the weekend.  Those that I think need less time in the dry box based on prior experience get smoked first (e.g., Friday night), and those that I think need a bit more time in the dry box get smoked last (e.g., Sunday).  This approach seems to work (at least for me) since not all cigars require equal dry boxing due to their age, marca, size, etc.  In addition to having my cigars at a nice low humidity level at the time I smoke them, it's also fun because I get to look forward to my weekend smoking time a bit earlier in the week by planning out what my lineup with be.   ?

[Thirds]

5 minutes ago, JLinz said:

This is good advice.  I would just add that I've broken my collection into two part.  The boxes that I'm storing long term (3+ years) are stored at 65rh and the boxes I am storing for short term (<3 years) are stored at 62rh.  The 62rh humidor is also where I keep boxes that are in active rotation.  The idea is that the higher rh level improves the long term aging process, while the lower rh level improves the smoking experience. 

Final tip - I only smoke 2 - 3 sticks on the weekend.  Because of that, around Wednesday or so, I have a little ritual of what I call "setting my lineup."  This basically consists of looking through my stock and deciding what I want to smoke for the upcoming weekend.  I'll grab 3 or 4 cigars of different types (even though I may not smoke them all) from my 62rh humidor and dry box them for the weekend.  Those that I think need less time in the dry box based on prior experience get smoked first (e.g., Friday night), and those that I think need a bit more time in the dry box get smoked last (e.g., Sunday).  This approach seems to work (at least for me) since not all cigars require equal dry boxing due to their age, marca, size, etc.  In addition to having my cigars at a nice low humidity level at the time I smoke them, it's also fun because I get to look forward to my weekend smoking time a bit earlier in the week by planning out what my lineup with be.   ?

I like that system and do something similar although I’m sometimes leaving the dry boxed cigars much longer than that (not intentionally but I smoke about the same as you and sometimes I just don’t get to smoke them). I’ve tested individual cigars and I’ve been down to ambient humidity (this time of year for me is low 50s) and even those sticks were surprisingly delicious.  I’m just curious if those would’ve been better had I not let them sink that low!  I’m definitely lazy when it comes to dry box monitoring but it sure is fun to experiment. 

[JLinz]

12 hours ago, JLinz said:

This is good advice.  I would just add that I've broken my collection into two part.  The boxes that I'm storing long term (3+ years) are stored at 65rh and the boxes I am storing for short term (<3 years) are stored at 62rh.  The 62rh humidor is also where I keep boxes that are in active rotation.  The idea is that the higher rh level improves the long term aging process, while the lower rh level improves the smoking experience. 

Final tip - I only smoke 2 - 3 sticks on the weekend.  Because of that, around Wednesday or so, I have a little ritual of what I call "setting my lineup."  This basically consists of looking through my stock and deciding what I want to smoke for the upcoming weekend.  I'll grab 3 or 4 cigars of different types (even though I may not smoke them all) from my 62rh humidor and dry box them for the weekend.  Those that I think need less time in the dry box based on prior experience get smoked first (e.g., Friday night), and those that I think need a bit more time in the dry box get smoked last (e.g., Sunday).  This approach seems to work (at least for me) since not all cigars require equal dry boxing due to their age, marca, size, etc.  In addition to having my cigars at a nice low humidity level at the time I smoke them, it's also fun because I get to look forward to my weekend smoking time a bit earlier in the week by planning out what my lineup with be.   ?

So for example, being Wednesday night for me, I just went through my favorite little ritual of setting my line up for the weekend.  After rummaging through a few boxes that are in rotation and reviewing my spreadsheet of boxes not in rotation, I settled on the following lineup for the weekend:  Party E2 '16; HURR '14; QDO 50 '18; RAS '15.

I probably won't get to them all, but this way I have some options still.  The QDO 50's came out of long term storage at 65rh just recently since I've been reading that they may not need as much down time, so those I'll wait until Sunday to smoke.  The others are fair game on any night!  

[Thirds]

@jlinz nice lineup ??

[earthson]

12 hours ago, crking3 said:

Find Rg Perlas on sale and get 3 boxes of those and you’re set


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Uff da.  Buy one and try before going deep.  I love the PC, but find the Perlas acrid and funky (have tried 3 diff vintages - all to the same effect).

Now the PLMC or any remaining Marevas, those you can safely buy as many as you can store.

[Rhinoww]

3 hours ago, crking3 said:

i wouldnt take my own advice if i were a newbie......realistically, id probably say try some samplers, or find a vet that is willing to help you try some stuff (which is whats great about this forum!)..............BUT all 3+ year old perlas have been good to me....especially the 13s and original release 11s

Indeed a friend been incredibly gracious and will be helping me w some singles. I’ve got a few hobbies. It’s a real pleasure to find a forum like this where folks want to share their knowledge and encourage others to take a few more steps down the path. Thank you To the member for reaching out. Looking forward to the day I can pay it forward. 

[joey rockets]

Looked to note that it has only been 16 months since realizing Cubans could be mailed to the USA and over the past 10 months that is all that I purchased.  My wife still works and I am supposed to be retired but that will never entirely happen as long as I still spend.  I have been extremely lucky the past 6 months as well and adopted at least one of everything approach and surprised to find I had already purchased 49 different boxes including as many as 4 boxes thus far of certain varieties on down to one of some still resting.  I will never be much of a collector simply because of the too many I smoke.  I should be ashamed of myself?

My good fortune and accompanying economics are bound to change and I will return to Earth or my wife may catch wind of my free spending ways but it will all end too soon for my tastes?  I want to advise some of you younger newbs that sooner or later this dolt in the White House will get the boot and the market will again begin to open.  If the USA market is fully free to enter the fray, prices could soar.

[JLinz]

13 hours ago, joey rockets said:

Looked to note that it has only been 16 months since realizing Cubans could be mailed to the USA and over the past 10 months that is all that I purchased.  My wife still works and I am supposed to be retired but that will never entirely happen as long as I still spend.  I have been extremely lucky the past 6 months as well and adopted at least one of everything approach and surprised to find I had already purchased 49 different boxes including as many as 4 boxes thus far of certain varieties on down to one of some still resting.  I will never be much of a collector simply because of the too many I smoke.  I should be ashamed of myself?

My good fortune and accompanying economics are bound to change and I will return to Earth or my wife may catch wind of my free spending ways but it will all end too soon for my tastes?  I want to advise some of you younger newbs that sooner or later this dolt in the White House will get the boot and the market will again begin to open.  If the USA market is fully free to enter the fray, prices could soar.

Right, because the US market was so open before the dolt. ?  

[eastburn84]

10 hours ago, JLinz said:

USA market is fully free to enter the fray, prices could soar.

Not to steer this thread in a diffrent direction, but how much has the China boom in the last decade affected pricing?

I would think quality would be the main concern.

Part of me would find it nice to go to a BM for a nice CC, but then that thought is squashed when I visit a BM and pay NC prices.

Careful what you wish for I guess.