Your Non Cuban to Cuban Journey

[El Presidente]

We have a ton of members who grew up on non Cuban cigars and found their way to Cuban cigars. Some of those members now smoke almost exclusively Cuban, some a mix of Cuban and non Cuban, some have even gone back to non Cuban cigars full time. 

If you are in this category (started with  NC)  can you give us a tale of your journey?  What motivated you to try, what were your first experiences/thoughts of CC, the first CC that blew you away (assuming there was one), where are you at today and what advice would you give to newcomers.

I will put up an FOH ashtray and a couple of samplers to all detailed posts. Drawn Wednesday.  Again, this is for those who have come from the direction of NC to CC. 

Post on this thread 

 

 

[SenorPerfecto]

In the 1990s, I visited Europe several times and brought back boxes of forbidden RyJ, Monte and Cohiba (because those were the only brands I knew the names of; I literally remember seeing Ramon Allones in Duty Free cases back then, and thinking "What the hell is that junk doing with the Cubans?"). I had no idea what I was smoking, but I did enjoy smoking.

Then for about 15 years I smoked maybe 1-2 cigars a year. Still liked it, but... didn't quite "get it." I think I really wanted to get it but had no guidance.

I started a new job in 2011. In 2013, I had to stop by another employee's desk for work, and he had a bunch of Cuban cigar boxes (empties) and Opus X on his desk. We struck up a conversation, and he told me to check out Puff.com and BOTL.org and Reddit r/cigars. And a weird monkey site called Friends of Habanos. He offered to put together a 10-cigar sampler of Cubans for me for a good price, and I took him up on it. We also split a box of Opus Double Coronas.

As with all things, I got into the forums heavy and fast. I learned everything I could about NCs. Didn't bother too much with Cubans, because... I didn't quite get it. I hadn't developed a palate yet, and NCs are just easier to get into if you live in the US. I started meeting up with smokers in LA, found a great local lounge, and smoked every different line I could get my hands on. Eventually I started writing for a magazine, and attending the big IPCPR industry show each year.

And smoked maybe 20% Cuban, 80% NC for about 2-3 years. And then, once I bought a box or two of Cubans, switched that ratio to 80% Cuban, 20% NC over the course of about 18 months. I still smoke every new NC I can find, particularly in the brands I know that I like. I feel well-versed in both CCs and NCs.

Eventually, the smoker friends I made who were *really* into cigars and had a palate and could describe flavors and who retrohaled and belonged to forums -- the nerds -- kept gifting me with CCs and discussing them and I finally had a breakthrough where I realized CCs are just different. Not always better, but... usually. A friend gifted me a 10 year old Monte Especial No. 1 and a MdO2 almost as old, and that was it for me. I forced myself to make a forum post where I literally admitted I had been wrong, that CCs were different and usually better than NCs.

I think one barrier to appreciating CCs is that a lot of people smoke fakes without knowing it, and the fakes taste terrible.

Another barrier (in the US) is that it can be hard to find a legit source, when you don't even know who to trust about who the legit sources are!

Another barrier is the history, the language we use, the opinionated old fuddy-duddys who've been smoking for 40 years (well, some of them), the tremendous amount of old wives' tale claptrap ("plume," the 70/70 rule, the "clitoris") that pervades this hobby.

And, lastly, the fact that you can enjoy NCs ROTT. You don't age NCs. And you don't know at first that you do need to age CCs in order for them to be great. When you start out, you think a box of cigars will last you a year. So I'm supposed to buy 20 boxes and not touch them for 4 years?? That sounds like witchcraft to a newb. And what it leads to is the perception that the CC hobby takes a lot more money and storage space, and also that CCs aren't good, because you're probably smoking brand new ones and maybe fakes.

Fortunately, I am here now, and about to go 0-for-5 in the Blind Tasting again, and I couldn't be happier.

 

Paul

[CaptainQuintero]

  There's probably a common theme with mine; my Dad. He only ever smoked cigars on holiday in Spain and they were King Edwards. Looking back, unless things were different, they were quite small, cheap homogeneous tobacco. I would guess Honduran or even Virginian? But as a kid it was like watching John Wayne in real life! They gave off an incredibly rich aroma that I only really smell nowadays if someone has a pipe nearby, I guess the quality was different back then. Maybe the Virginian origin has truth to it if the pipe tobacco smelled so similar to me.

  His excuse was always that Spanish wine cleared his head but gave him ulcers on his tongue so he needed cigars to get rid of them. Some next level white lies going on back in those days! My 5 year old self accepted it without question. It's a line I'm going to use with my kids that's for sure.

  Anyway years passed and I never touched cigarettes, if anything being in pubs etc in the pre-smoking ban days was enough to put out you off smoking for life; you'd come home stinking like an ashtray, your eyes would be red raw, throat on fire and the house would smell from your clothes until the next day. 

  Fast forward a few decades and one year my Dad picked up some generic Gauloises as he used to smoke the Disque Bleu (Discontinued) in his teens but was let down as they didn't match up to the old DBs. I searched online and saw they had been discontinued but found a Cuban PC sampler pack, on a whim I added a Quintero Pantetelas for myself and bought the sampler for him. When it came I was excited even though the cigars weren't for me; I'd never actually had my hands on a cigar before and just the aroma and feel brought back all those memories of Dad smoking King Edwards. I didn't last long before I lit up the Quintero I had ordered for myself and I was instantly taken back to those Spanish holidays and the incredible aroma of those little King Edward cigars. I was hooked. 

  It was never actually any Cuban romanticism or crazy flavours that got me, it was that super rich, sweet and aromatic tobacco that reminded me so much of NC tobacco from my childhood.

  I've occasionally picked up a King Edward if I've passed a tobacconist and the magic isn't there for me anymore; like hairspray and burnt damp leaves.

 But every time I light up a Quintero Pantetelas I'm taken straight back to the little towns and fishing villages in Spain. No dirt or grubby nature, just sweet, rich and honest tobacco. A real gem in the budget lines. I think my recommendation lies there now rather than picking up a King Edward today. 

  It's a point to notice how much cigarettes/super cheap cigars have changed over the years as more and more crap was added to them and the actual tobacco became less important. 

[SmokyFontaine]

This describes me to a T. Started smoking in late 2016 as work stresses were getting out of hand and I needed some mental downtime. Started with (may God forgive me) flavored Drew Estate Acid cigars, then quickly moved on to non-flavored. Smoking once a month maybe, I found myself getting thrown around pretty hard with nicotine bombs like Oliva Serie V's, but as I came to appreciate flavors, I found myself drawn to leather, bit of spice, but especially earth/pasture. Hello Nicaragua. Padron, My Father, Oliva, more Padron, expensive Padron...

Then on a business trip I was flying through Dubai and purchased a 5er of Siglo II's and 3 Partagas Serie D's. Bought them at about $14US per stick which was on par with some of the Padrons I was purchasing. Really enjoyed the Siglo. Got some unique flavors. Found them to be milder than I had grown used to, but for a treat, I enjoyed them. Serie D impressed me less, but I assumed I was done until my next international trip, if for no other reason than a $14 stick is a little rich for a frequent smoke for me. Then the Internet caught me. 

FOH as a community hooked me, and I started purchasing many of the usual suspects that people rave about. Conny A, RASS, PLPC, Monte's at prices waaay better than $14ea. Physical quality, condition of the cigars, nothing but happy. Lovely appearing cigars. FOH cares about quality, and this is clear. But experience with CC has been a very mixed bag. I just can't get past the unpredictable nature of them. I could smoke the same one a week apart and have one burn like a champ, taste terrific, and the next be an absolute turd. Whether plugged, non-flammable, or just not tasting right. I am still in the process of tinkering with rH, temp, dryboxing and other variables, but for now, about half the time I feel like it was a sub-par experience. With a high-end NC, 1/25 might do that to me. If it's something like...you guessed it, a Padron, it's more like 0/50. 

I'm young in the journey, and as it's still a novelty and I have new stuff to try, I probably smoke 70/30 CC:NC right now, but I think once I get settled in, it will be a fairly even blend of the two. The richness of a great Nicaraguan, with that strong pasture flavor just gets me feeling cozy. The, sweetness, hay, vegetal notes, so uniquely Cuban. I hold them as equals. It's that damn consistency problem that makes me (so far) prefer the NC experience. Having said that, I've got a cab of PLPC in the air from FOH, and a HUHC waiting to join it. I fully plan on continuing the journey. 

[kalibratecuba]

Wait, the clitoris?

I guess I was wrong thinking I knew where it was.

Does the seaman in the boat analogy still apply?

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[kalibratecuba]

I grew up in the States, smoking NC since I was a little kid. I was gifted Cubans, occasionally. Nothing that would be offered on the 24/24.


When I could travel I would smoke Cubans because they were what was available. I still hold the belief that a person, me, should not put limits on himself. My credit card company does that.


FOH has always been a resource for answers to questions I have. Google FOH and the question you have on Google, not Bing - suck it, Bill. You will see your answer pop right up. Most members on here I know will appreciate if you try that first. It wasn't until Tapatalk that I learned about the 24/24s.


It was at a cigar shop in Knoxville, Tennessee, that my money was redirected to Swiss Banks for evermore. The shop owner told me about reliable sites to buy Cubans. He also suggested I buy lesser known brands like RASS because it lessoned the risk of counterfeits. I think that's the best advice I can give that won't be repeated here.


The first boxes I received were young and smelt like ammonia. There were chlorophyll spots on the wrappers. Thankfully, I knew good Cubans existed. I had smoked them. Also, I used the internet to see what was up with these issues, and likely got my answer from an old post here. 


The FOH sampler selections that are organized by size are great offerings for the newcomer. 


There wasn't the white whale cigar that brought me over and now I pursue it til this day. It's the salty twang and the thoughts it puts in my head, and the feeling it can put to my soul

I can't see myself abandoning Cubans, unless the SA Habanos geniuses discontinue RGs less than 50 or choose to infuse all their cigars. 


Hopefully, I'll remember to attach a pic of my dad and I smoking in Earl's Court, London. I'm sure I would have chosen something else, if I could go back in time. I would also tell my young self that nothing was working in the hair department. 


Lastly, don't fear the beetle. 

Embrace the beetle and smoke her eggs.



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[Rhinoww]

So I smoked NC for some time, usually 1-2 a month. Three years ago a buddy of mine who lives a block away says for his birthday present he wants me to smoke a cigar a week w him for a year. Needless to say we dig deeper into NC cigars and find some high quality sticks. We are spending $5-10/stick from internet retailers and happy with what we are putting flames to. 

We vacation in places where one can get CC so we dabble in and out. A box of Monte 2, some RyJ Tubos. Taste great but we had not figured out a good supplier at a reasonable price (you see where I’m heading)  so not yet a regular thing  

a few months ago I’m at another buddy’s house whom I also smoke cigars with. He asks if I want to try a RyJ PC. I say yes, but does he have enough. A Box he says. Smoking that PC I learned about this site and forum. Placed an order. Was fortunate enough to get an offer from a friend here willing to help me through an excellent singles lesson which I am still on. 

I’m still very much a newbie but have to say that the CC I have smoked to date are all interesting, distinctive and as long as they don’t break my bank, I will likely continue with the CC for some time. Will be interesting to see what I’m doing at this time next year

[Bords]

I started on Thompson’s samplers, then found el credito and dom la Gloria. They were great cigars, I smoked those two brands and some bundled version I can’t remember the name. Then went to Prague and stopped in to Lcdh and had my first Romeo E4. Game over, I was having that lcdh ship me bandless cigars... more E4 (1998 was a great year for these), epi 2 and bolivar rc. Next thing you know I was hooked up with a rock solid source with too good to be true prices (back then) and had 40 boxes within 2 years. Glad to have found FOH eventually.


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[Bri Fi]

My venture into the cigar world was not long ago. September 2, 2016 to be exact. My wife and I decided to have a cigar bar at our wedding venue which was a remodeled 100 year old barn. Not sure why I insisted on having a cigar bar as I wasn’t into cigars at the time, but I thought it would be fun for people to sit outside and have a drink/cigar. It turned out to be a huge hit. Well, with me and a few others. Like expected, most people took a few puffs and left the rest of the cigar in the ashtray to die a slow painful death. 

I’m not even sure what I smoked. I think it was a 1926 Anniversary Padron, but I can’t say for sure. The rest of the group had their pick of 1000 series Padron, Arturo Fuente, Macanudo, and Perdomo. 

That night instilled in me the essence of pleasure and happiness that will forever be considered nostalgia whenever I put a flame to foot... That same nostalgia most people get when they smell cigar smoke from the distance and think, “Grandpa.”

I made my way through non Cuban cigars pretty quickly. My wife got me a desktop humidor with high end cigars to put in it. Davidoff, diamond crown, etc. I filled the 150 cigar humidor to the brim. Just as I was finding my taste for non cuban cigars, I was gifted a Hoyo de Monterrey epicure no 2 by my father in law (he got it from a friend who found out I was into cigars). I tucked it into my humidor for a few weeks for a special occasion. 

Then, my best friend’s dad gifted me a box of Partagas Serie D4 (my friend had a near fatal motorcycle accident and recovered. His dad wanted to say thanks for helping him along the way). I tried my first cuban cigar in a D4, and was blown away. The excitement leading up to the cigar was as amazing as the cigar itself. Being American, it definitely had a fruit of the poisonous tree connotation on top of being wonderful. Well, it was so good three days later I decided to light up that Epicure no 2 I was gifted for my first year anniversary with my wife as we sat in front of the house drinking red wine (my second favorite hobby). It was another amazing cigar. Exactly one year after my adventure started with cigars, Cuban cigars completely took over. 

I purchased my first box of Cuban cigars from a reputable site without doing any research on Cuban cigars. Guess what I bought... montecristo open regatta. Lol! Live and learn. Next purchase was a box of Epicure no 2s. I brought a few sticks with me to a work related training day for my two buddies. The first cigar out of that box was the best cigar I’ve ever had in my life even to this day. I’ve been chasing that dragon since. Toasted nuts and cream cream cream. It was so good, I got my two buddies hooked onto cigars that day as well. 

That’s pretty much it, I still smoke an occasional non Cuban (padron or Tatuaje are the top of my list), but they have taken a back seat to my cuban collection. Another year has passed and $10k later in cuban purchases has brought me into an amazing community. It’s been a fun filled short adventure the past few years and the best part is knowing I have a bunch of “best cigar ever” sticks ahead of me. 

My only advise is to listen to what the experienced members have to say. There’s literally hundreds if not thousands of years experience combined on the forum. It took me a while to figure out 70RH is too high for Cubans. Dry boxing changed the game for me. 

Thanks to Rob, his team, and all those who contribute to this forum.

Cheers! 

Brian 

[Fuzz]

I actually started with Cubans, moved on to NCs, and then back to Cubans. So on this day, we reach back to hallowed antiquity, to bring you this tale of my journey from Cuban cigars to NCs and back again.

In a time of ancient gods, warlords and kings, a land in turmoil cried out for a hero. She was Xena, a mighty princess, forged in the..... oh wait, that's the opening narration to Xena. But the timing is not too far off. 'Twas a simpler time.... across the land the macarena had yet to rule the dance floor, the incessant beeping of dying tamagotchis haunted our dreams, "Snake" wasn't even on your mobile phone, boy bands ruled the airwaves, we learned they do move in herds, everyone found Ross annoying, boob tubes and plaid pleated mini skirts were the rage, and girls were kicking it with platform sneakers. I had been hanging around a group of people that "fractured" the occasional law. As is the norm, we thought we were badasses (some actually were), ballers in the old vernacular. Being asians, the way to celebrate was with cognacs and cigars. I'm fairly certain my very first Cuban was a Cohiba Esplendido. A friend kept gifting me Cohibas and Montecristos, starting me down the slippery slope. I didn't know much about cigars back then (what teenager does?), just that I really enjoyed them.

Fast forward a few years. Gone are those friends, and I had moved on to my first real job... a purveyor of adult paraphernalia. It wasn't a big industry in Aus back then, and most of the sales reps I hung out with were Americans. When a few of them heard I smoked cigars (also smoked Gudang Garam kreteks), they introduced me to NCs. Much like they were impressed with our big, bold and brash Aussie shiraz, I enjoyed their full-bodied, punchy, peppery NCs. I can't recall a lot of the NCs I smoked back then; only ones I do remember were Zino Davidoff No.1 & No.8, and Zino Platinum Scepter Low Riders (pretty sure I have 2 or 3 of these left). And those were mild by comparison to the others. During this time, I introduced @jay8354 to cigars, he caught the bug and went off racing... leading to the next chapter.

Winter 2006. Jase calls me and tell me I have to come to this cigar party. His supplier is coming down to Sydney and has organised a meet & greet. That was the first time I met Rob, Lisa, Smithy and Jose. And what a night it was! Good food, plenty of booze, a trip to a nudie bar, Rob losing his phone and wallet (Lisa actually took it for safe keeping, knowing Rob would eventually lose them), and lifelong friendships made... not to mention fantastic Cuban cigars! Took me a few months later to finally sign up to the forum, after a helluva lot of nagging from Jase, and I haven't looked back. Cuban cigars offered me more nuanced flavours compared to the over the top NCs. As I got older and my palate developed, I found I  preferred the journey that CCs provided instead of just getting to the end destination as it was for NCs.

 

[prodigy]

A little background of where I'm at now before I go into the origin story. I'm 29 years old and started my cigar journey roughly 3 years ago. It really took off fast, but I'm at like 95-5 % cuban to nc currently.

 

I had tried cigars 3 separate times as singles before I actually got started. First I was on vacation in the Bahamas, fresh out of getting discharged from the marines. Bought a "cohiba" from a guy on the beach. Second time was a family beach trip. Third time was at a meet up with friends. None of them made any sort of lasting impression. I didn't hate them, but I definitely didn't see what there was to enjoy about a cigar.

 

My wife's friend gave her an old cheap desktop humidor, and she gave it to me for my birthday. I thought it was cool, but never got around to getting it set up. The task of maintaining it seemed so daunting at the time. I didn't even have experience enjoying a cigar, I just wasn't ready to start.

 

Then one summer day I got off class early, and had some money burning a hole in my pocket. I wanted to go buy a .22 rifle. I had been wanting one for a while and today was the day, so I thought... I dont want to dwell on that aspect very much so let's just say I had just moved, so none of my identification or bills had matching addresses that proved my residency, so I was not eligible to purchase. I was pretty mad about that, so I went home and decided I was going to take that humidor to the cigar shop, get it set up and put some cigars in it.

 

The local cigar shop owner was really friendly and knowledgable. That humidor was pretty cheap, so he sold me a new one with a better seal. I thought I was splurging by buying $5 cigars to fill it up! The shop was right on the main road of campus, Virginia Tech in Blacksburg for those curious. So I would stop in pretty much every day and try new smokes.

 

That lasted a few weeks, then I discovered online sites. Huge savings, deals of the day, closeouts, I started buying all kinds of stuff. I quickly realised I had no way of storing all the stuff I was buying. I found some nice Dunhill desktops on ebay for a steal as well as a seconds Daniel Marshall. They filled up fast too, and I was on the lookout for something larger. Browsing craigslist I found a guy selling a huge vino temp climate controlled humidor. He was about 4 hours away, I was the first one to contact him so he would hold it for the day. I dropped everything, skipped all my classes and headed to get it. Best $150 I've ever spent...

 

So, the journey was going good. I was buying so many new things to try and had infinite room to store it all. I started buying on Ebay. I bought a box of opus x love affair, and when I went to throw the box away I heard an odd rattle in the box. I dug through the packing peanuts and there was a yellow tube. Cohiba siglo 6. The guy said he's a huge cigar hobbyist and threw it in for free.

 

I was in awe, couldn't believe it. A real cuban? For free? Wow! I started asking him questions and he said he had a lot of things for sale. I had no clue, but this was my first glimpse of what was to come. He sent me a spreadsheet of all the boxes he had for sale. It was so crazy to me, that one person would have tens of thousands of dollars in cigars. I maybe had a couple boxes at this point and a ton of singles.

 

I smoked that siglo 6 and was blown away. I started researching and found some reputable vendors and bought a 10 ct of monte 4 and cohiba secretos. Then I was reading some forum results and someone said they only buy from FoH. I had no clue what that meant, and did some searching and found out pretty quick. I read the rules on 2424 and gave a stab at it. My first purchase was psp/hq ryj short churchill's. I luckily on made 2 purchases prior to foh, and they weren't bad boxes.

 

In the early stages it was daunting. Aging recommendations made it seem like I would have to buy Cubans for 3 years before i could even smoke them! Then i had a spell of plugged boxes and was second guessing my decision to spend so much on potentially useless cigars. That issue has mostly faded. I have enough stuff to pick from that I let the new boxes rest for a few months before I sample. I know now that if a cigar isn't good, letting them sit for a year before sampling again can yield a completely different experience.

 

It's been a fun journey. I've met some awesome people and my wife still loves me. Luckily she doesn't know what these boxes actually cost!

 

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[BoliDan]

5 hours ago, CaptainQuintero said:

 But every time I light up a Quintero Pantetelas I'm taken straight back to the little towns and fishing villages in Spain. No dirt or grubby nature, just sweet, rich and honest tobacco.

Had a QP today, myself. This box is particularly strong. I'm convinced they are using some RyJ ligero crop scraps. That greasiness and sweetness is just always there. And they get my head spinning unlike a lot of my long fillers. I been calling the B@!$% Cazzies... 

[JoeyBones777]

I started smoking cigars about 16 years ago when I went golfing with my best friend and he suggested we have a cigar while we play. We each grabbed a Baccarat Dolce Far Niente...try not to vomit a little in your mouth. The sweetened tip masked the flavor of sub quality tobacco in a uninspired blend but it made a positive enough impression on a young ignoramus as myself...probably because I thought it was the epitome of cool to smoke cigars and so I desperately wanted to like it.

I would smoke with my buddy whenever we hung out after that, maybe a couple cigars a month, mostly cheap sticks like Helix and Baccarat. The first Padron 1964 torpedo natural I had was the first time a cigar genuinely impressed me and I was hooked. My best friend soon after brought back some Cuban Cohibas he got while on honeymoon in the Bahamas that were likely fake but we smoked them thinking they were real and we were unimpressed. 

My cigar journey brought to Acids which intrigued me and I enjoyed the smell. I then moved through most Drew Estates before diving back into traditional smokes with Rocky Patel. The Vintage 1990 impressed me and I enjoyed the Java maduro which is his joint venture with Drew Estate. The Decade torpedo was the first box purchase I made and at this time I was weaning myself off of flavored cigars completely. 

Around this time I discovered a reputable Cuban cigar website and ordered some 3 packs of coro, hdmdc, monte 2 and Mag 46. I was unimpressed with all. In hindsight, they were likely young, not rested properly after shipment and stored at a NC cozy 70% humidity. Aside from the tight draws and lack of interesting flavor they were way too pricey from this particular vendor.

I continued smoking strictly NC, about 2 a week, sticking to strong sticks by Padron, Patel, Don Pepin and trying anything that CA gave a good review. Once I learned to retrohale my tastes shifted. I went from smoking strong sticks to more in the medium range. I began ignoring CA and found that I really liked Illusione, L'Atelier and some Fuente. Around this time I found cheaper legit Cuban cigar websites and purchased a 15 count Monte 2 and a box of RASS.

I saw a video of Ajay Patel on CA where he talked about aging Cubans and proper humidity/temp levels which I adhered to. I picked up a box of Upmann 2 as well. I was unimpressed by all...again! It wasn't until about 3 years ago when I smoked one of the RASS now with 3 years of age that I had my aha moment. It was smooth, flavorful, elegant and just over $6 a piece. No NC came close to that experience for that price. Two years ago I had a Monte 2 now with 5 years of age on my 5th wedding anniversary. It was the best cigar I've smoked to date and at a little over $9. The Upmann 2's after a couple years of age were all very impressive! These experiences at these price points caused me to want to go all in with Cubans.

I joined this forum shortly thereafter and I've been building my stock but on a budget. One problem...I like aged Cubans! So, I'm being strategic on how I buy but I don't want to smoke too many while they are in a period that I'm not really fully enjoying them. So I still smoke Ilusione, Warped, L'Atelier,  Fuente with Cubans mixed in. My stock is growing and since I insist on only smoking 2 - 3 cigars a week I expect within another year, maybe 2, I'll be smoking mostly Cuban from my rotating stock with some old favorite NC mixed in.?

That's my story.

[La_Tigre]

My cigar world started just a short time ago. We took a cruise that stopped in Havana. I bought a box of Monte 2 and it is still sealed. We also bought a sample of Cohibas. Our drivers did everything possible to keep us from buying a box and pushing the single sampler on us. We even had to go back twice to finally get a box. This was at the R&J factory and the main stop for tourists. My better half had a Cohiba at the Tropicana show that night.   I had never smoked so I declined. We met so many fun people there and had a terrific time ( I’m sure the HC 7 bottles helped everyone tremendously). We staggered back aboard the ship at 3am. I was thrilled to have my forbidden box of Monte 2’s.

We took a trip to NYC and I had my first cigar on the rooftop of our hotel in SoHo. It was a NC R&J Reserva Real minutos petite. It was pretty good. We also tried a custom roll from a Cuban restaurant. It was terrible in so many ways. We also tried a NC Churchill 1875 which was also incredibly harsh and terrible.

Our next trip was to Dublin and we bought a Siglo VI tubo. It was crazy expensive with all the taxes. We went downstairs in the store’s humidor (Petersen’s) and were shown around by a wonderful salesman. He even let us have one of the empty partagas havana boxes. We also wandered into James Fox close to the river with all the old and rare cigars but had no idea with as new to it all as we were.

Our next trip was to San Antonio and we picked up a bunch of other NC singles and had a Macanudo Maduro and a Sweet Alice. The Macanudo was smooth and mild. The Sweet Alice was good: spicy and sweet. We also tried a bourbon dipped Ted’s bourbon on the river walk. It was god awful, harsh, strong just terrible.

We came home after that and gave in to breaking into the Cohiba singles. It was unlike any of the previous smokes. A couple Siglo II’s and revelation, NC is not what we are looking for at all. Granted these were well rested at 65 Boveda, but they were really good.

We went on a Caribbean cruise that stopped in Cozumel. We visited the LCDH there and picked a bunch of overpriced Cuban singles. We had a RACA on the ship with a nice bottle of champagne and were really impressed and digging in deeper to the CC space.

We took another cruise to Havana and we were hooked. Siglo I and QdO at night on the Malecon.... 

Collecting is a bad habit or weakness for me so it was open season on Cuban cigars. I’m now working on filling the SECOND 150 qt coolidor.

Recently tried another Macanudo from the box. Nope. Just Nope. There’s just not enough time to smoke NC cigars....?

[BoliDan]

My dad was a biker from houston. He always was smoking unbanded gas station cigars with a Budweiser. To this day, I admire his ability to find things that he enjoyed with very little investment. I just cant live that simple man life with my consumption. Once I try something i like, I need to have more. I want to explore options, see what I like, understand it on deeper level. 

So, I started smoking cigars pretty young. Never really understood them, It was more of a thing I grew up seeing my pops do for enjoyment, so I also did it, even though I didn't have the palete for it. Fast forward to my late 20s in graduate school. I needed a getaway so started frequenting a cigar lounge. The patrons were friendly and did not want to have cerebral conversations, which is exactly what I needed after being surrounded by ambitious economists all week long. Just unwind, and shoot the poop. 

Well, I worked full time through grad school so I used any excess to buy cigars. When you're only buying 2 cigars per week, anything is on the table. I started off buying budget cigars. If they were good enough for my father, they have to be food enough for me! Nope, sorry pop. So many dog rockets, so many disappointments. I still liked them though. So I moved to premiums and boutiques. Opusx, tatuaje, illusione, warped, foundation, davidoff, padron. I thought, OK this is what I will smoke. At a minimum of $14 for a robusto I found myself to be a cigar snob and proud. My father would have rolled his eyes at me.

One day, a patron and I hung out and played trivial pursuit(genus edition #1). He only smoked NCs at the lounge, but his stash... all cubans. He offered me a week kept 05 BBF, and that was it! Over! No more $30 NCs for me. I started exploring how to get cubans and was blown away at the prices. The enjoyment to cost ratio is through the roof. 

I started buying boxes. And have been blown away. I can find boxes of cubans for $100 that I enjoy more than NCs that cost $250+ a box. I have not been blown away by construction, and throw away some cigars with every box. None-the-less, minutos go for $4 per stick and blow away any NC I have. I classify minutos as, RASCC, BCJ, PartyShorts and El principes. I can drag these out to almost 50 minute smoke. They make you wonder if any NC is better (I think not) I'll even take mille fluers (partagas or RyJ) over a box of premium ncs.

My father died of brain cancer two weeks after I got accepted to graduate school. I wish he was alive today so that I could share some experiences with him. They would have been new to him and, something to bond over, which was rare for us. Alas. 

[anacostiakat]

Had my first major surgery and while recovering one of my wife's coworkers gave her a bundle of unbanded cigars.  He later told me they were Upmann #2's but at the time I never had smoked so it made no difference.    After my recovery and slowly going through the bundle I found my way to a cigar site and started a long devotion to Fuente cigars along with experimenting with as many as I could afford.    Padron, Davidoff and many others.  When Pete's Tatuaje were released I was an avid smoker of that brand.  I bought a lot of samplers and five and ten packs to try stuff out.  Many of these were Cubans and my taste just evolved over time to more and more Cubans and less and less non-Cubans.  I will say that the prices of non-Cubans vs Cubans pushed me in the Cuban direction.  As I was able to find what I considered better value.  Bought a end table humidor from Bob in TX about a year into my journey.    Then found that I needed more room so purchased an Avallo chilled unit.  Those are what I have in the house to this day.  Both have worked dependably with some replacement parts over the years. 

These days I smoke almost exclusively Cuban cigars.  With the occasional non-Cuban.  Mostly a Fuente OpusX or something like that if I come across them.  Don't really have access to them here much so it is either from my aged singles trays or if I stumble into them.    After a second major surgery and recovery my wife and I found a routine of evening relaxing with cocktails and cigars.  Since retirement it is a way of winding down and we look forward to it.

I am a simple man.  Of course the wife calls me a simpleton! 

 

[Deeg]

The first cigar I ever smoked was a Macanudo, from back when Macs were still made from Jamaican tobacco.  It was given to me by a friend and veteran cigar smoker and while I didn't realize it at the time, he knew exactly what he was doing.  It was mild, sweet and uncomplicated - a perfect training wheels introduction to handmade, long-filler cigars.

From there I branched out - as so many American smokers do - into Fuentes.  I had love affairs with several over time, starting with the Cameroon-wrapped Hemingways and going through stuff like the sungrown Chateau and Cuban Corona.  The consistency and construction was what impressed me (and still does) about AF products, and it was the sungrown wrappers - spicy, cedary, leathery - that really got me into stronger cigars.  Eventually I jumped to Padrons, LFDs and the like - and the Ashton VSG became my holy grail of NC cigars.  But so expensive I rarely smoked them.

As for Cubans, as an American in America there was a certain forbidden fruit quality that made them exotic at the time, especially before I learned how easy it was to actually get them.  The first CCs I ever bought were from Yitz' Deli in Toronto on one of many weekend trips up there - I honestly can't remember what they were, maybe a LFdC and a Boli PC?  As I smoked a few more Cubans I began to crave the earthiness, barnyard funk and citrus twang I just couldn't seem to find from NCs.  Eventually I bought a box of Vegas Robaina Famosos online, lucked into a good box and the rest is history.

I still smoke some NCs - Tatauje, LFD, the odd Fuente, Illusione - but it's like 90% Cuban now.  I crave the complexity and depth more often than I crave a really spicy and peppery Nic or smooth and easy Dominican.  If I could afford to I have no doubt I'd smoke a lot of VSGs, but I can't - and the cigars in that profile that aren't of the same quality tend to deliver a pretty one-dimensional experience.  In terms of bang for buck, CCs actually tend to deliver more, in my experience.

[JY0]

I smoked cigarettes in college. Walking through my college town one day I walked past a cigar store and thought...one doesn’t inhale, must be healthier. I bought a macanudo and couldn’t taste a thing. That was my first. The years passed, got married, bought a house and quit smoking, preparing to start a family. 

We had the kids and I consciously stayed away from cigars, thinking I’d pick up cigarettes again.

The kids grew up and moved on and we bought a weekend house in the mountains.  At our fire pit one night my neighbor fired up a Rocky Patel something and I was tempted. Smoking cigarettes was 25 years behind me at this point. My friend offered me one and I decided to try it. That was it, I was hooked.

I was not good at sitting still and relaxing. Smoking a cigar made me do both of those things, and... I fell down the rabbit hole. I started with 100% NC. I tried a bunch and was really never satisfied. I did lots of research, found a website and started experimenting with CC. I totally preferred the nuance of these cigars over the one note flavors my palette found with NC cigars.

I bought a desktop humidor and filled it. Bigger coolers and wine coolers followed, all eventually filled. I found FOH and Bob Staebel and ordered a big cooled humidor. I’ve made the pilgrimage to Cuba twice so far.

i now smoke 100% Cc’s and FOH gets a big chunk of my cigar dollars  

 

[joeypots]

   I'm not even gonna say when I started smoking cigarettes. I stoped in 1987. In the mid nineties there was a cigar boom. Cigars became popular and B&Ms advertised on the radio. So I thought, "Hey, why not a occasional cigar?" The first ones were Avo #3s.  Soon after a woman in the real estate office next to my old shop said her husband liked cigars. My new friend Bob and I smoked loads of NCs together and then started a card game on Tuesday nights. Avos, Fuentes, and NC Partagas were common for years. Dominican cigars with Connecticut wrappers were the most frequent choices. I still have the habit I started back then.  A mid week and Sunday cigar is the most common scenario, occasionally I'll smoke a third somewhere in there. I've had a lot of friends who couldn't moderate   smoking, cigarette smokers who start to inhale cigars and some who start to smoke too many  and have to quit. I haven't had that experience and don't have strong cravings for cigar nicotine.

  A friend who lives in Toronto with a seasonal home here  started to bring me the occasional Cuban cigar. It took me a while to catch on but eventually I "got it". In the early 2000s there was an internet sales boom accompanied or caused by online cigar forums. It took a few years but eventually I made the switch to exclusively smoking Cuban Cigars.. Cheap desktops and a really bad small cabinet humidor gave way to quality storage and over about ten years I accumulated an inventory of about 40 boxes. I've been exclusively a Cuban cigar smoker for something like 18 years. It took a while to figure out what I like and now I generally stick to the best regular production sticks I can get. I find  that most Cuban cigars are best for me after I've held then for something like five years.  I find there is a aging sweet spot for Cuban cigars and when they get to the place where I like them I smoke them. I probably made the switch to smoke Cuban exclusively because the cigars I was smoking were one dimensional. 

[Kaptain Karl]

I grew up playing baseball and played Division 1 baseball and never touched tobacco. No dip, no cigarettes, and obviously not cigars. When my baseball career blew up, I moved to Charlotte, NC to work for an industry guru. When I realized who he was, I decided to spend as much time with him as possible. He smoked a Diamond Crown #4, and I began having cigars with him twice a week. Shortly after, I realized how much I loved cigars and began smoking more regularly. I didnt have an idea of what I was smoking and took suggestions from the local staff at the B&M. 

I moved back home a year later, and began growing my own collection off cigarbid $3 cigars. I then found a local cigar shop here in Santa Rosa, and began smoking more boutique cigars that blew me away. I was happy smoking my NC's, and then met a now friend who has an insane cuban collection. We smoked some together and I bought some off of him. It took a few CC's for me to get it, as CC's are just different than NC's. When I got it, I became hooked on CC's intensely rich, unique flavors in a mild-medium strength format that NCs just cannot match. I began researching CC's, and began reading more and more reviews of cigars on FOH. I signed up, and soon discovered the financial black hole that is 24:24. I purchased about 8 boxes last year, and another 25 so far this year, and am now a fully devoted CC head. I'm hoping to purchase a few aged boxes now to let some of my stock get a year or two more under it's belt before I devour them all! 

[Bri Fi]

@Kaptain Karl where did you play ball and when? 

[dobbs]

great topic, thanks! i've enjoyed the responses so far.

my dad enjoyed smoking the occasional cigar and i would sometimes join him. i enjoyed our time together, but being a cigarette smoker, failed to see the point. we would buy "cubans" in cabo while fishing for dorado, but i was never really impressed (probably because they were fakes). after quitting cigarettes some years earlier (both of us), he got a box of henry clay corona gordas and we had one after thanksgiving dinner that i really enjoyed (i still like them and feel they're underrated). after he passed, we found that box and with the help of a cigar-smoking friend, i rehabilitated the cigars, but they had been ruined by neglect.

that cigar-smoking friend would bring a few when we went drinking, and i vaguely enjoyed them. but it wasn't until i went camping and decided to go buy a few that everything changed. i bought a tatuaje reserva sw which showed me just how good cigars can be, and kept buying. i turned to the internet for more information about this new hobby and found various online cuban cigar vendors.

my first purchase was a "what's smoking good now" sampler from foh, and while i enjoyed a few, i am now sure that storage conditions were crap and that probably affected the experience. i tentatively bought a few boxes and struck out on a box or r&j ex4 and hupc (all terrible, even the few i've had lately, c'est la vie...), but that first plpc and hdm ep1 from the sampler kept me coming back. i went to costa rica and bought a few cigars from the lcdh there, and the two plpc blew my mind with caramel. those plpc are what hooked me completely on cuban cigars. the psd4 and an unknown (to me) r&j that i bought were differently amazing and i knew i was on a different path.

i've bought many boxes since then, found my tastes changing, learned a lot from this forum as a many-year lurker, and know there's still a lot to learn. i am experimenting with rh and smoking new stuff all the time. i finally feel i have a tiny bit to offer and have started replying more to the forum.

thanks to the foh team, and thanks to all the members here for making my journey into cuban cigars informed, enjoyable, and entertaining.

-dobbs

 

[dobbs]

15 hours ago, BoliDan said:

My dad was a biker from houston. He always was smoking unbanded gas station cigars with a Budweiser. To this day, I admire his ability to find things that he enjoyed with very little investment.

i love this. in some ways my dad was similar and i take inspiration from this attitude toward life. i try to remember that the point is to live appreciatively as much as possible.

-dobbs

[Kaptain Karl]

4 hours ago, Bri Fi said:

@Kaptain Karl where did you play ball and when? 

I (unfortunately...god awful program) played at UC Davis from 2009-2011. Sometimes failure is the greatest teacher! 

 

 

[Bri Fi]

@Kaptain Karl played at sac state from 08-09!