Background
SoCal kid just moved back after a 10yr stint from a town between Auburn and Montgomery Alabama. No pro teams in Alabama, so I gravitated to college ball. Although Alabama is my team, and I’m not happy about the playoffs, my hat is off to Clemson.
Anyway, I ran across an ad in a magazine in the waiting room at the Doctor’s office. You know- 40 cigars for $50 kinda thing. I quickly realized it’s another case of you get what you pay for.
I have a major character flaw, in that what starts out to be an innocent hobby, quickly turns into an expensive habit. I drank some wine. Next thing you know I’m reading Wine Spectator and I have a wine cellar. Took up golf; that’s self-explanatory. Even took up astronomy to look at Saturn’s rings and craters on the moon. Soon I have 3 telescopes (4 if you count the one I made) and a thousand dollars of eyepieces. You get the picture? I decided that I’m going to drag out my novice status as long as I can.
At this point, I have categorized cigar purchases (not MSRP) as falling into the under $4, $4-6, $7-10, $10-20, and more. Right now, I’m interested in the $4-6 category; hoping to not progress past the $7-10 bracket anytime soon. Having ADHD, my attention span makes it extremely dificult to smoke Churchills. I switched to toros, then robustos, and I’ve just ordered some coronas also. I think an hour or less suits me.
Questions for you veterans
When I put a cigar down halfway through, let it go out, and relight later, it never tastes as good. Is it just my uneducated palate, or is this pretty much a truth? Someone told me, “love is like cigars, you can rekindle it, but it’s never the same”.
What is vitamin N. Is that nicotine?
Years ago I smoked cigarettes. I occasionally find myself absent mindedly inhaling. Which cigars should I avoid if I don’t want to feel like I’ve been sitting a long time and stood up too fast?
My next purchase was a couple of brands that seem to get no love on this forum. (I’m a newbie- remember?) I got a gaggle of Ghurka Legends. Not flavor monsters, but mild and smooth. Actually, pretty nice on the golf course. They threw in a 5pack sampler of Rocky Patels. I’ve smoked a couple of them and really liked the 1990. On another order, I got another sampler that included a cigar I liked. It was called a Cohiba red dot. Any suggestions that are similar to these 2 that are in the $4-6 range? (or anything else you would recommend that you like in this price range?)
Many of the reviews on this forum remind me of wine tasting reviews. “tasted like 8yr old single malt scotch. I prefer 12yr old. Next puff introduced a floral note mixed with blue diamond almonds with just a hint of cassis. Last third did a 180 and I detected nutmeg and not chocolate but cocoa”. I truthfully don’t taste anything much other than tobacco or leather unless I retrohale, and then I pick up more, most of which I can’t identify. Is this something I can learn, or is it just a skill that comes with time?
I realize not many will read a post this long, but I would appreciate any experience anyone may wish to impart to me.
SoCal kid just moved back after a 10yr stint from a town between Auburn and Montgomery Alabama. No pro teams in Alabama, so I gravitated to college ball. Although Alabama is my team, and I’m not happy about the playoffs, my hat is off to Clemson.
Anyway, I ran across an ad in a magazine in the waiting room at the Doctor’s office. You know- 40 cigars for $50 kinda thing. I quickly realized it’s another case of you get what you pay for.
I have a major character flaw, in that what starts out to be an innocent hobby, quickly turns into an expensive habit. I drank some wine. Next thing you know I’m reading Wine Spectator and I have a wine cellar. Took up golf; that’s self-explanatory. Even took up astronomy to look at Saturn’s rings and craters on the moon. Soon I have 3 telescopes (4 if you count the one I made) and a thousand dollars of eyepieces. You get the picture? I decided that I’m going to drag out my novice status as long as I can.
At this point, I have categorized cigar purchases (not MSRP) as falling into the under $4, $4-6, $7-10, $10-20, and more. Right now, I’m interested in the $4-6 category; hoping to not progress past the $7-10 bracket anytime soon. Having ADHD, my attention span makes it extremely dificult to smoke Churchills. I switched to toros, then robustos, and I’ve just ordered some coronas also. I think an hour or less suits me.
Questions for you veterans
When I put a cigar down halfway through, let it go out, and relight later, it never tastes as good. Is it just my uneducated palate, or is this pretty much a truth? Someone told me, “love is like cigars, you can rekindle it, but it’s never the same”.
What is vitamin N. Is that nicotine?
Years ago I smoked cigarettes. I occasionally find myself absent mindedly inhaling. Which cigars should I avoid if I don’t want to feel like I’ve been sitting a long time and stood up too fast?
My next purchase was a couple of brands that seem to get no love on this forum. (I’m a newbie- remember?) I got a gaggle of Ghurka Legends. Not flavor monsters, but mild and smooth. Actually, pretty nice on the golf course. They threw in a 5pack sampler of Rocky Patels. I’ve smoked a couple of them and really liked the 1990. On another order, I got another sampler that included a cigar I liked. It was called a Cohiba red dot. Any suggestions that are similar to these 2 that are in the $4-6 range? (or anything else you would recommend that you like in this price range?)
Many of the reviews on this forum remind me of wine tasting reviews. “tasted like 8yr old single malt scotch. I prefer 12yr old. Next puff introduced a floral note mixed with blue diamond almonds with just a hint of cassis. Last third did a 180 and I detected nutmeg and not chocolate but cocoa”. I truthfully don’t taste anything much other than tobacco or leather unless I retrohale, and then I pick up more, most of which I can’t identify. Is this something I can learn, or is it just a skill that comes with time?
I realize not many will read a post this long, but I would appreciate any experience anyone may wish to impart to me.
