Anybody quit cigarettes, wait a while, then start cigars?

[zathan]

Smoked cigarettes for 23 years, quit for 3 years and I strarted smoking cigars a year ago. I smoke about 2 cigars a week during summer and about 1 a month in the winter.

I have to admit that the nicotine felt really good during my first cigars but it's completely different from cigarettes. I don't crave cigars. In fact I spent 10 weeks in between two cigars last winter. It allows me to enjoy nicotine without being addicted to it. Something that was impossible for me with cigarettes.

I do know someone though that stopped smoking cigarettes 3 times. The 2 times he started again, was after trying a cigar. So if your GF is affraid of getting hooked, I think she's better off without trying it.

My $0.02

 

[treatneggy]

My personal story:

I smoked cigarettes for almost 15 years, then a couple years after quitting I got into cigars and haven't looked back. Actually, I can't even stand the smell of cigarettes anymore.

 

[gibbleguts]

I smoked cigarettes for 15 years. I quit because even though I still loved to smoke I only really enjoyed 4 cigarettes a Day and smoked the rest of the pack out of habit. I quit cigars as well for 3 years but as I said before I loved to smoke so cigars were able to fill that void. I love that I can control cigars vs the other way around with cigarettes. I try to get one cigar in every day but some time there just isn't time other days I may get a lot of cigars in when I have lots of time. For a few years I still enjoyed the smell of cigarettes but now they smell horrible and only have interest in cigars. I sometimes wish I still smoked cigarettes just for the money side as even 2 packs a day is way cheaper then what I spend on cigars. In the end tho there is no comparison I love cigars and that helps me dislike cigarettes. Other thing is I hate what cigarettes have done to the tobacco industry. All smoking is lumped together cigars, cigarettes and pipe tobacco. Cigars and pipes are less addictive and usually done in less quantity then cigarettes and not inhales like cigarettes so less damaging but get lumped together with the anti smoking hatred. Because of cigarettes there is more government control over what we as adults can choose to do.

Needless to say very little chance of me going back to cigarettes.

 

[hawaiian]

I smoked cigarettes for 20 years before finally quitting thanks to electronic cigarettes. I didn't smoke a cigarette for almost 2 years before getting heavy into cigars.

I don't crave cigarettes anymore but when I'm out drinking with the buddies and they light up I'll grab one off them because I still love the feeling I get in my lungs but the taste and smell are horrible. I'll take few puffs then put it out. I don't think I'll ever go back to smoking cigarettes.

 

[Doug B]

I, like many others, smoked cigarettes for about 20 years. I rarely enjoyed them and primarily smoked out of habit and addiction. Quitting was one of the best things I have ever done for myself. I replaced that habit with running and working out which transformed my health and well being.
When I started 'seriously' smoking cigars my fear was that going back to cigarettes was going to be an inevitability that I was not quite able to face honestly- like I was fooling myself thinking that I would not return to cigarettes....happily, cigarettes smell God-awful and all I can think about is the terrible, terrible quality of 'tobacco' that goes in their manufacture. The tobacco saved for high-quality cigars is the finest money can buy, and the proof is in the pudding when smoking one. When I see people suffering with cigarette addiction I actually feel bad that they are smoking such poor-quality tobacco. Having said all of that I find that I do crave cigars, which concerns me. I plan on doing a little 'fast' to clean myself out and rid myself of the craving, but then again I whole-heartedly enjoy the time I spend smoking with myself, with friends, with guys at the b and m, and the fantastic cigar culture...I am starting to think that yes, I do crave some nicotine to some extent, but mostly I crave the opportunity to make time stand still and to be with myself, my thoughts, and my ideas and creativity- without anyone needing anything from me or expecting anything of me. Going back to cigarettes is not an option, and not something I would even remotely want to do.
This does not address your issue with her, but that is my own little story.

 

[CigarSaint]

I will say that cigar's do help with certain fixation's for me. Cigar's have helped me to not smoke cig's especially when I'm barbequing/hanging with friends... I'll smoke two cigars in a sitting and not even think about a cig. Cig's have no taste and for the life of me I can't come up with a reason why I used to smoke them.

 

[Seasick Sailor]

I quit smoking cigarettes when I got into cigars.

Cigarettes were purely a nicotine delivery system for me. I hated them. Once I had my first good cigar, I never went back.

 

[DanLW]

Lots of great and interesting responses!

I think I will be happy just sitting outside with a smoke while she drinks a glass of wine, me with perhaps a scotch. (does wine go good with cigars? I would think not...) It would be more for me, and less money to spend. And she says she likes the smoke. I guess the time being together is what is important.

An update for me, when I started, I had a BrickHouse robusto, of which I got a pretty good buzz, the next day I tried a Black & Mild, and then a little flavored cigarletto which had been in the freezer in the shop. Then a day or so after I had a Cuesta Rey Centenario Pyramid #9. Then I waited a week for my next cigar to see if I had anything I would call a craving. I did not. Since this Saturday I've had a thoroughly mediocre Rigoletto Dominican Light, a La Unica 400 and a Centenario Robusto #7. In the next couple days I'll likely have two or three more. Then I'll be waiting for several weeks before my next smoke. So I nice long stretch to gauge whether or not I get a craving.

Then once I get home I may wait a couple months before my next smoke. A month after I get home, we'll be taking our baby Isaac out of my wife's "humidor", and I figure after several weeks once she's all healed up, we can enjoy a smoke and a wine at some point between diaper changes, feedings, and all that wonderful stuff. That will also give the Arturo Fuentes I plan to order a couple months to mellow in the new Humidor!

 

[ciggy]

I smoked in my teens till I was 31...quit cold turkey and haven't looked back.
I was a casual cigar smoker durring all that time. I started smoking cigars (1 a day) about two years ago and have never had the erdge to smoke a cigerette. In fact I find it gross and very glad I quit.

 

[KiloWhiskey]

I quit smoking cigarettes 3 years ago. I started smoking cigars regularly about 6 months after quitting smoking cigarettes. I have not had one cigarette nor one drag from a cigarette since quitting. And more importantly, I have not had the urge or desire to smoke a cigarette. Cigars do not make me crave cigarettes. They really are dead to me.

 

[Paneotto]

Quit my 1 1/2 pack a day Malboro habit when my son was born in 1993. A year later, my father in law introduced me to cigars. I have been smoking on and off ever since.

 

[Thegreekone]

Wow, very interesting indeed! Since my wife said she wasn't sure (as opposed to being flat out opposed), I showed her this thread, and she says she will try one, but if she gets an urge to go back she won't do any more.

That said, she touches your top shelf stash, and it's over, right? :thumbsup:


I kid, I kid. :tiphat:

I find it interesting how diverse the specifics are but, in the end, cigarettes (talking long-term here) are more addictive and less satisfying than cigars. Moreover, cigars are typically not a gateway back to cigs. matter of fact, I would be curious to know what was going on with people who went back to smoking cigs. Not being an armchair shrink, just wondering. :scratchhe

 

[E.J.]

I use to smoke cigarettes and chew tobacco(Copenhagen LC) for years and years. Was a 3-4 pack a week smoker, 2-4 cans a week chewer simultaneously. I usually smoked at work and chewed at home, though that was not exclusive. I just could chew inside the house, so that made it easy.

Anyway, I quit chewing completely and then quit smoking about 6-8 months later. I was about 2 years(?) off all tobacco products when I started smoking cigars. I have no desire to chew, but from time to time I do get a pull to smoke. I have had a cigarette here and there, maybe a couple times a year. They just don't taste the same anymore. I will never be a cigarette smoker again, it just doesn’t appeal to me.