[quote]bond james bond wrote:
Thanks for the info Lanky, appreciate it.
While I was doing the dollar bill trick I discovered why the finish inside is smooth. It’s cheap fucking plastic veneer! Jesus wept…
Off to the cigar shop tomorrow for a new humidor and those items you listed. They should be okay till then. Hopefully the ones they sell will be good to go and I don’t have to pre humidize(not sure what the term is) it which from what I’ve read typically takes three days. If that’s the case I can store them at my buddies till then. I’m worried about my babies, er… cigars.
What really sucks is they were cheap as hell in Cuba. I walked by hundreds of em for like forty bucks, really nice ones too. Oh well, it’ll be worth. The price you got to pay to be a refined gentlemen sniff ahem~ Sniff*.
Btw here’s how much I paid for the ceegars in my box:
Box of 5 Cohiba No.5’s = $90
Box of 5 R&J No.2’s = $26
Box of 20 Cohiba Clubs = $15
1 Partakas No.2 = $10
The Partakas had a funky little tapered tip that made me feel extra cool
[/quote]
You can put them in a ziplock bag with a boveda pack while your new humidor is seasoning (pre humidizing, as you so eloquently put it :)). No need to store them at a buddy’s.
And while you’re seasoning, do NOT open the lid on the humidor the entire time! It really slows down the process and there is nothing to see in there!
[quote]bond james bond wrote:
Thanks for the info Lanky, appreciate it.
While I was doing the dollar bill trick I discovered why the finish inside is smooth. It’s cheap fucking plastic veneer! Jesus wept…
Off to the cigar shop tomorrow for a new humidor and those items you listed. They should be okay till then. Hopefully the ones they sell will be good to go and I don’t have to pre humidize(not sure what the term is) it which from what I’ve read typically takes three days. If that’s the case I can store them at my buddies till then. I’m worried about my babies, er… cigars.
What really sucks is they were cheap as hell in Cuba. I walked by hundreds of em for like forty bucks, really nice ones too. Oh well, it’ll be worth. The price you got to pay to be a refined gentlemen sniff ahem~ Sniff*.
Btw here’s how much I paid for the ceegars in my box:
Box of 5 Cohiba No.5’s = $90
Box of 5 R&J No.2’s = $26
Box of 20 Cohiba Clubs = $15
1 Partakas No.2 = $10
The Partakas had a funky little tapered tip that made me feel extra cool
[/quote]
You can put them in a ziplock bag with a boveda pack while your new humidor is seasoning (pre humidizing, as you so eloquently put it :)). No need to store them at a buddy’s.
And while you’re seasoning, do NOT open the lid on the humidor the entire time! It really slows down the process and there is nothing to see in there!
Happy smoking, brother![/quote]
HAHA…that’s why I’m looking at getting a glass top. I just know for the first little while I’ll be peeking at them too much. I’m going to be storing them is a dresser drawer because of the glass top. Fuck listen to me, I’ll be giving them names before long lol.
[quote]crowdhater wrote:a
I ended up with JWB and a Macanudo cafe Hyde park. Although I don’t like hijacking this whisky thread with cigar talk. I wish Push or Lanky would make a cigar thread. I’m not experienced enough to do it. The other cigar threads on here were all people talking about the health hazards instead of the ones they enjoy. [/quote]
I dropped a bit of knowledge on cigar storing in this thread:
Feel free to resurrect if you have any specific questions. [/quote]
That ones labeled Cuban cigars. I was thinking of something like our beloved whiskey thread where we can talk about any kind we want. Also a kind of cigar 101 for beginners. Everybody from beginners to occasional cigar smokers to cigar officinados would be welcome. Just sayin[/quote]
Thx lorez. So this is sorta a new hobbie for me. Truthfully it’s only been a couple of months of smoking premium cigars. I did do swisher sweets in college like everybody else. Started going to a cigar shop and picking one or 2 out and listening to the shop owner. Then Father’s Day came and I pulled the trigger on a humidor, cutter, lighter and 5 Dominicans for about 40 US.
Anyway so far I’ve smoked cohiba red dot, macanudo cafe, montecristo white label. I also smoked a CAO infused cigar moo trance. I enjoyed all of them. I think I liked the montecristo the best. Although, I smoked the macanudo too hot being a rookie. Anyway, please chime in to what you like to smoke or any suggestions
I probably smoke one cigar every couple months, alternated with periods where I smoke several.
Unfortunately, there’s been a lapse recently so I completely forgot the names of a few I like. It’s actually really frustrating since I’m drawing a blank.
Probably my two favorites are the CAO L’Anniversaire Cameroon, and Four Kicks. I don’t really know that much about cigars, except that I like those. They both seem to have a nice depth to them in my mind.
The last few cigars I bought were from some Cuban guy with an outdoor stand when I was in Key West, made with Cuban leaf and rolled by Cubans. Those were some really good cigars.
But on that note, I think I might head home and smoke one tonight.
This is my setup. Hygrometer was a perfect 70 for the 1st 2 weeks, now it reads like 72 or 73. I did calibrate the analog hygrometer with the salt test. Maybe I don’t have enough cigars in there. I do have 10 of different 5 Vegas cigars that are supposed to come today.
[quote]bond james bond wrote:
Forgot the pic dammit. Nice no?
[/quote]
Very nice!
Don’t get too involved in the cigar smoking hobby, you could end up like me!
(only top drawer are cubans, though)[/quote]
Holy shit! My little 50 cap humidor just got stepped on. Awesome. Does it still look like this?[/quote]
Thanks! It does, although some time has passed so the mix is different.
[quote]atypical1 wrote:
[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
Very nice!
Don’t get too involved in the cigar smoking hobby, you could end up like me!
(only top drawer are cubans, though)[/quote]
I can’t explain my level of jealousy. I’ve always wanted a large humidor like that.
I’ve got a buddy with a similar set up that is just a thing of beauty. Mine is more like Bond’s only with a very few Cubans.
Avo’s and The Griffin’s have always been my favorites for the past 15 or so years.
james
[/quote]
Thanks! Mine is actually a 32 (maybe 28, I forget) bottle wine cooler that I converted into a humidor and had spanish cedar shelves custom built. I attached an ETC so the cooling function only kicks on when the temp gets over 70, which after I moved last September isn’t even necessary because my basement never goes above 65.
Here is a thread (this is not me in the thread) that details a similar build that I have:
[quote]crowdhater wrote:
This is my setup. Hygrometer was a perfect 70 for the 1st 2 weeks, now it reads like 72 or 73. I did calibrate the analog hygrometer with the salt test. Maybe I don’t have enough cigars in there. I do have 10 of different 5 Vegas cigars that are supposed to come today. [/quote]
See my post on the previous page, those humidification devices and the analog hygrometers that come with the humidor are notoriously garbage on even the most expensive humidors. Get a Boveda pack for $4 and save yourself the worry.
Also, you’re absolutely right on the more cigars = more stable RH environment. Fill that bad boy up!
That is a solid sampler right there. I’ve never had the Guantanamera or the Fonseca but the other 3 are good.
Just a general note about Cuban cigars for anyone that wants to know more - When buying Cubans, it’s 100% imperative that you trust your source. They are illegal in America, so there are a ton of online (and outside of America, retail shops) places that sell fake Cubans. I’ve never used the site you have listed above so I can’t speak to their authenticity. For me personally, I only have 2 rock solid choices that I can vouch for (that I would not share over a public forum).
A lot of people get burned buying from places that sell fakes. Even going overseas, I’ve had several friends bring me home what they thought was a Cuban cigar that was clearly a fake. People think that just because Cubans are legal in whatever country they are in, there is no reason to fake them and that’s just not the case.
100%, you have to trust your source.
There are a few ways to spot fakes, even though there are some really good looking fakes out there. This is a good site to use:
Mostly fakes will have bands that differ in subtle ways from the real bands. Also, all Cuban cigars have what is called a triple cap - the end of the cigar that gets clipped should have 3 distinct caps on it. A lot of fakes (but not all) have only 1 cap.
A few general cigar notes - again for anyone that is interested.
First - To increase your cigar enjoyment, I would highly recommend learning how to retrohale. Your mouth can only pick up a fraction of what the cigar has to offer without retrohaling, IMO. Here is a decent tutorial:
It may take a couple cigars and the learning experience will probably make you cough a few times…just stick with it. I promise you’ll be getting twice as much value out of your cigars if you learn to do it right.
Second - never let anyone else tell you what you should be smoking. I don’t care if it’s infused or name brand or not or whatever. Cigars are highly subjective and if you like smoking it, you shouldn’t give a shit what anyone else thinks.
Third - someone earlier mentioned red dot cohibas. Cohiba is Cuba’s flagship brand and in general, their priciest cigars all get branded Cohiba. The red dot Cohibas are not at all, in any way, associated with the Cuban brand. The only reason they are allowed to be called Cohiba is because of the trade embargo with Cuba. It’s the same with all of the others with the same name as well (Montecristo, Romeo Y Julieta, etc.). In my opinion, the non Cuban brands with Cuban brand names generally make inoffensive cigars. That is to say, there is nothing bad about them, but there really isn’t anything great about them either. They are marketed towards the cigar smokers that smoke once or twice a year who can’t really pick out a great cigar from a mediocre cigar and since red dot cohibas are priced so high, people generally think they are smoking the cream of the crop and that isn’t the case. (keep in mind this is a general statement, I’ve had cigars with the Cuban names that were pretty good)
Fourth - beginners should probably start with mild or medium bodied cigars, IMO. It’s a good way to get introduced without getting a nicotine rush or feeling like your palate is getting burned out too fast. A great medium bodied smoke is the Arturo Fuente Magnum R series, I personally like the R 50 the best but the 44 and 54 are great as well. Pair this with Woodford Reserve or Elmer T Lee bourbon and you’ll get a great pairing. When you want to try some fuller bodied smokes, a lot of the stuff that comes out of the My Father factory is great. Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial and the My Father cedro deluxe and the Don Pepin Garcia blue label come to mind.
Fifth - a lot of fuller bodied smokes do very well with some additional age on them (as well as just about all Cubans). Generally speaking, they are ready to smoke directly from the store, but additional refinements in the cigar can be had from aging them 1-5 years in the humidor. This is why I have such a large humidor. I have a few cigars as old as 2006 that are still great. I know some people who will buy a box of Cubans and not even open it for 5 years. Or they’ll smoke 1 every 6 months to a year until they are in the sweet spot. After too much time, they will peak and begin to lose a bit of body and flavor. But this is a slow process.
Sixth - temperature. Everyone gets concerned about relative humidity, and rightfully so. Keeping RH between 65 and 70% is right where you want to be to keep cigars fresh. But, particularly if you have a large stash, you’ll want to get temps regulated as well which is why I have my wineador set up. Temps over 70 can cause tobacco beetles to hatch which have been seen to eat through entire boxes or more. See pic above (not my box). Tobacco beetles can’t hatch below 70 degrees. If you have a small stash this isn’t such an issue because you have a lot less to lose, IMO.
I know a good bit about cigars, so any specific questions and I’ll do my best to give you an honest opinion.
1 more post for the time being - I’m currently smoking a Liga Privada T52 - pic attached - this bad boy is from 2011.
Full bodied, but I like this brand so much I named my dog after it - her name is Liga.
And lastly, in my opinion, no country is producing tobacco like Nicaragua these days. Better than Cuba, better than the Dominican Republic, again IMO. The My Father factory that I mentioned earlier is in Nicaragua.
Now that smoking season is in full swing, I’ll try to upload pics of what I’m smoking and I hope all you smokers out there do the same! Let’s keep this thread alive!
