laficion Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Putting my last cigar band in my Cigar Dossier, I asked myself if this was not going a bit too far, but so enjoyable. Am I one of the few who likes to keep a trace of certain cigars that are a little exceptional and that I'm sure that I will not smoke anymore or never? Cigars that , for me, will not be available that often. Since the year 2000, with my childhood friend in New Jersey, we have the same book and we put down our impressions on some special smokes that we send each other from time to time. He sends me NC that I cannot get here in Europe and I send him certain Cubans that I get when I'm in Cuba. In this book,I mark down all my special smokes such as the custom rolled I had made in Havana or others that are exceptional such as cigars that I smoked in the 70's or 80's and that I still had the band. ( see photos). I would like to know If any of you guys at FOH keep a cigar dossier and If so, to tell us a little about your story and maybe a photo or two. You never know, maybe this would interest some members on the forum. Thanks to all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Hemingway Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 very nice man! i would LOVE to sit back and read your book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatshotbud Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Nicely done - Worked for quite sometime with a computer version that included scanned images of each cigar prior to smoking. Uuuuhh - and did not make a backup copy before my PC crashed. Never felt like starting over....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miami101 Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 I don't I have a table with all the labels under a glass that I have smoke, but looking at what you have created it looks great. I happy you posted this information....it is a great idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sounddust Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Siboney! Wow. I keep a collection of the cigars I have smoked, with the bands on and a 1 page review. It's not in a book form, but a compilation of review sheets I keep in a folder. I pen my thoughts on all cigars which I have tried after tasting 2 sticks, as well as updates every 6 months or so for boxes. It has been a wonderful journey, with about 50 entries so far. Doing this has indeed helped myself to better appreciate these handmade wonders of the world, as I am able pin the complex flavor profiles down with greater ease compared to when I first started smoking. Not to mention gaining the joys of gaining insight on the various personalities each marque and vitola may have with regards to construction, burn rate etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeHoncho3133 Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 very nice man! i would LOVE to sit back and read your book. X2. Sounds like it would be a fun read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrody Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 I love the Dossier laficion. I too keep a cigar journal. Sometimes it turns into a journal for special life events that coincide with the smoke I choose for that day. My choice was really plain and simple. A Marble notebook! I like to glue the bands (when I have the time). Fun to re-read tasting notes and recall memories... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anacostiakat Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 That looks great! I wish I had the discipline. Sadly I do not. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Twain Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 It is really great what you are doing with this... it will be priceless to your family. I have my cigar stock computerized and post reviews of exceptional cigars online but it lacks the grace of what you have done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanuna Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Wow, didn't realize the world of smoke could go this far. I am impresed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokem Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Very nice!!! Must be interesting looking back and reading your impressions from years ago. I don't write anything down, just go by memory, which at times appears to be failing me. What was I saying? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colt45 Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Guy, that's a wondeful book I don't keep one myself. Come to think of it, I keep few mementos of anything - I may regret it..... P.S. I notice you've written it in english? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rob Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 I'd love to keep a journal of what I smoke.... but I'm afraid it would read like this 5 nights a week: "Ramon Allones Small Club Corona..." But I should definitely consider documenting the better moments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginseng Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Very classy! In time, it will become an heirloom to cherish. Wilkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laficion Posted February 22, 2009 Author Share Posted February 22, 2009 P.S. I notice you've written it in english? The reason why I have written the book In English is so that no one ,around me, can read my soul Now, the real reason is because my friend and I have the same book and every two years we conpare notes. I send him my 2 or 3 pages and he does the same. The problem is, he only reads English. Next year we will be celebrating our 50 years of friendship and we plan to meet somewhere , with our wives, to spend a good week of cigar smoking, wine drinking and all around party. at that time we will both be bring our books. Now don't get me wrong, I am not a collector of anything, no band collection or cigar labels, etc etc I only have this cigar dossier because I can share it with my buddy, not to leave something behind me when I'm no longer here. It's always good to have something that reminds you of great moments you shared with friends.I think I'll stop there. Did I answer your question Colt ? I can't be the only one, lets hear from some others. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xapa97 Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 That's a great idea! I currently just save the labels, write a little something on the back and throw them in an old cigar box. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colt45 Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Now don't get me wrong, I am not a collector of anything, no band collection or cigar labels, etc etcI only have this cigar dossier because I can share it with my buddy, not to leave something behind me when I'm no longer here. It's always good to have something that reminds you of great moments you shared with friends. Beautiful, Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmokinAl Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Beautiful, Guy I try to disagree with Colt purely out of principle but when he's right, he's right. Beautiful. Guy, the Trini Robusto A was quite a score. I'm very impressed. I appreciate the pleasure you'd get out sharing this with a mate but I think Colt has a point, this'd be quite an heirloom. All the best mate, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colt45 Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 I try to disagree with Colt purely out of principle love ya, man.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolismoker Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Wow!!!! I'm an idiot is all I can say. I should have been doing this for the last decade. I'm going to start one as soon as i find a suitable journal to keep.....Thanks for the inspiration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeHoncho3133 Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 I do occasionally use a "cigar passport" I was gifted. It's nice, on the back page I can check ring gauge and it has a ruler. Cigar Passport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanuckSARTech Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Well, I was going to open a new thread, but in the interest of forum tidiness, I'll just re-awaken laficion's thread here... I was wondering a bit of the same thing as Guy. How many people keep some sort of documentation of their cigar experiences? From the multitude of reviews and such on here, it is something that really has a tendency to help each other better understand the various marcas and then the individual vitolas. So, how many of you bother to do a detailed self-analysis, to better guide your own cigar experiences? I also have a Cigar Dossier - I can't applaud it enough. It's a nice, black, hardcovered book, with nice quality, almost parchment paper pages. The one I have is by Jostens Printing/Arango Cigar Company, edited by Shawn M. Preston (ISBN: 0-9647874-3-1, for those who want to find a copy, usually right around $30 or so). It is very well organized, with about 200 pages or so, and then spots for 4 reviews on each page. It's just an awesome item - it's right up there on my prime bookshelf, with my MRN Encyclopaedia, my "Great Habanos Factories" Rius book, and my "The Complete Guide for Habanos Enthusiasts" by Habanos S.A. I started mine on June 2nd, 2008 (so it says), after already smoking a couple hundred cigars to this point. A friend of mine in LCDH in Canada recommended starting one of these, and it really was firmed up for me when a LCDH staffer in Cuba made a similar recommendation to me in April of that spring. Also, I actually noticed on that trip a few other aficionados who were actually travelling with their dossiers or journals and whatnots, and filling them out poolside in Cuba while they were enjoying their wares. When I started my dossier, I was only regularly smoking cigars since early 2005 or so, after getting back into it after an absence of a few years. I found that my tastes had evolved since I first got into cigars in the 90's, especially considering that my palate was more neutral since I had quit smoking cigarettes, as my taste buds were no longer being affected negatively by the cigarette smoke. In a conversation I had with this LCDH friend, and a few others about our cigars, I mentioned at how the taste profiles were much more discernable to me - I was able to pick out black cherries or raisins or plums, for example, rather than just noticing something "fruity" but not being able to pinpoint it down any further than that. So, it was recommended to me that I start a dossier, a "cigar diary" so to speak, and use an old trick for connoisseurs of fine items (wine, cheese, cigars, etc.) - create a journal/log/diary/dossier, and use it to track your tastes, to track the progression and improvement of your aged stogies, and to make note of any special items for future reference. It's helped me refine and focus my experiences tremendously over the last few years. I have a handy little reference to let me go back through the pages, and look up what I thought of a particular cigar from a year or two before or longer, to compare the same vitola but from different box codes and/or years of harvest. It's a hugely valuable resource. For all of those on here who are newer to cigars (or even for those who are old hats at this), I can't recommend highly enough about how you should start one of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Gargett Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 i did keep thorough records on computer for a while but it all got a bit out of hand and now i have piles of pages of notes that i promise myself i will detail at some time. but i'm not hopeful. i have enough trouble keeping track of what i have and what i've smoked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habanakane21 Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 I kept one from 1995-1999. It was for me too figure out what cigars I liked, since I was just starting out. Once I figured that part out I tossed it in the trash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laficion Posted August 20, 2010 Author Share Posted August 20, 2010 Keith, thanks for re-lighting the thread, LOL LOL I see that we have the same Cigar Dossier, but I gave mine a little personal touch Anyway, I do enjoy going back to see how that or that cigar did at the time, it's fun. I got mine in 2000 and at that time it only cost me 10 bucks, I see that now it's 3 times more I never meant to mark down EVERY cigar, only the special one's that I'm sure I'll never try or smoke again, like the 1492 and others or, ones that have really changed in there blend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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