New to Cubans and FOH

[kb_]

Hello, new here from the U.S. east coast.  Found the forum after diving in headfirst after buying a wineador and doing research on how to store and age properly.   Padron 1926 No. 1’s opened my eyes to premium smokes, and I knew I needed a way to keep them well stored vs. wandering into the local shop and buying hit-or-miss, questionably kept smokes which were often inconsistent. 

Navigating Cubans online is a different world, and I have been hesitant to make a purchase, but after finding the forum I decided to give it a go with the Christmas 24:24 sampler.  Smoked a couple genuine cohibas years ago, and haven’t found much else afterward that could compete. Interested in trying some partagas serie d No. 4’s as well as Bolivar Belicosos finos in the near future.  

The forum is great and a helpful resource. I look forward to learning more along the way. 
 

[Jonboy4074]

Welcome from GA!

[Connoisseur Kim]

Greetings! Whoa, what a huge wineador collection!

나의 SM-N950N 의 Tapatalk에서 보냄

[mtd057]

Welcome to FOH!

[JohnS]

Welcome!

[kb_]

2 hours ago, LonesomeHabanoAficionado said:

Greetings! Whoa, what a huge wineador collection!

나의 SM-N950N 의 Tapatalk에서 보냄
 

Only my third week. I’m working on filling it up with new smokes. Learning all I can.  Making some progress. 

[kb_]

12 hours ago, VKUTT said:

Nice wineador! And yes, the Habanos world can be kind of intimidating. Not going to go against the rules and talk about specific vendors on here. Just know that there are tons of CC vendors online, and many of them sell FAKES. So be careful if you go that route. 

I love Boli BFs, they need a LOT of rest IMO. I'm sort of weird w the Habanos, I like em spicy and dont usually put em away for years. As long as the ammonia is gone, I'm good. But those BBFs take FOREVER to lose their ammonia! I have gone thru almost a whole box, checking them every few months to see if theyre ready! Now that they are, I have only five sticks left, lol! 

Anyway, welcome. I just got here myself! CHEERS, Vkutt.

Thanks for the kind words. I plan on purchasing through FOH given the community and great information. I trust I’m in good hands. I was given a fake cohiba out of a slide top box at a barbecue a few weeks back, and frankly I didn’t know enough at the time to tell real from fake. It was from someone who purchased the box himself while in Cuba. It was held together and was constructed well. Frankly, it was a decent smoke, but not quite what I remembered from smoking a legit cohiba years ago. Perhaps a real Cuban but not a real cohiba.
 

Doing some research after the fact and stumbling around on YouTube, I came across the Dr. Joe show and was looking forward to his episode on setting up a wineador as he said that would be next week’s episode. Only then did I look at the date and see it was many year’s old! I wanted to see what happened and stumbled across a thread here. I hope he is doing well and healthy; he was a great resource and I have learned a ton and really enjoyed watching his videos.  Great personality and fun to watch. 
 

ETA: I will say that while I’m eager to try many different marcas, laying them down for years will be difficult for someone new just getting into the game.  I’m hopeful I can land some older boxes from 24:24 sales to kickstart the hobby. 

[Fuzz]

Welcome to FOH.

Best recommendation is to buy samplers, and not just one or two. If you can, buy multiples so you can lay some down after the first taste. Samplers will give you a broad spectrum of taste profiles, so you can decide which one you prefer, before committing to a box. When quarter boxes pop up in 24:24, those are also good buys.

Enjoy the journey.

 

[kb_]

51 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

Welcome to FOH.

Best recommendation is to buy samplers, and not just one or two. If you can, buy multiples so you can lay some down after the first taste. Samplers will give you a broad spectrum of taste profiles, so you can decide which one you prefer, before committing to a box. When quarter boxes pop up in 24:24, those are also good buys.

Enjoy the journey.

 

Sound advice. Will do so. Thanks!

[Jonboy4074]

Recent boxes of Ramon Allones Superiores have been smoking great, especially MSU code. Making my way through a MSU FEB 19 box that is fantastic.

 

 

[Connoisseur Kim]

20 hours ago, kb_ said:

Only my third week. I’m working on filling it up with new smokes. Learning all I can.  Making some progress. 

Yep! CC has wide spectrum of flavour and strength, and they evolve from time to time (ageing). So, like others said, I'd recommend you to get samplers from our host for getting familiar with CCs before committing to buy a CC box ?!

For buying CCs online, there're many shady vendors and FB groups that sell fake CCs (e.g. faux Cohiba, LCDH releases), so look carefully before making a purchase.

[kb_]

Appreciate the feedback and advice.  Thank you.  I just made out with 3.25 boxes from the 24:24, so I think I'm off to filling up the wineador.  I think my next question will be "what do I do when I run out of room?" Will I run into issues pulling the cigars out of the boxes to age?  I don't think the STB cabs will fit easily with the drawer layout on the wineador.

[Connoisseur Kim]

21 minutes ago, kb_ said:

Appreciate the feedback and advice.  Thank you.  I just made out with 3.25 boxes from the 24:24, so I think I'm off to filling up the wineador.  I think my next question will be "what do I do when I run out of room?" Will I run into issues pulling the cigars out of the boxes to age?  I don't think the STB cabs will fit easily with the drawer layout on the wineador.

When your wineador is running out of room, there are two choices for this issue. One is using three shelves only (box storage exclusive), which can provide significant amount of space (for singles, you can use empty large CC cabs to keep them). Other one is using compressor wineadors (they are more stable, and larger than thermoelectric ones) like @PigFish, the compressor wineador guru. You can ask him or watch his tutorial videos on his Youtube channel, CigarClimatology if you decide to get compressor wineadors in someday.

[nKostyan]

Nice to meet you and welcome aboard!

[TheMonk]

Welcome to FOH!

[kb_]

Some progress from our gracious host: 12 days of Christmas sampler and some clearance Connie 1’s  

 

And a gift for my father, who I can credit for my renewed interest in cigars.  He only has experience with NC’s spare the occasional cohiba so I figure this would make for a great early Christmas gift (FOH new to Cuban sampler)  

any recommendations for which he can smoke in the near term vs. those that need more rest?

Thanks again!

[pgwdaddy]

Welcome from Maryland


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Subcomandante]

Nice. Welcome aboard. Only been here a few months myself and I have learned a lot in that time about CC’s. Some very knowledgeable people in here. Nice come up on the Christmas sampler