Hi all,
I'm new to the forum, and to cigar smoking in general, so here's my introduction. I'm a graduate student in Madison, WI with a newly discovered taste for cigars. A year or so at a family gathering, my uncle shared a couple of Cohibas (Dominican, I assume) with me. Well, they tasted great, but the prices I saw online were pretty high, so I didn't pursue it further.
A couple of months ago, my wife took me to a local food & wine show. There was a booth representing a local cigar store, and after telling the owner I was a total newbie, he picked out 3 cigars for me to start with: a CAO Cameroon, a Padron Maduro, and a CAO Brazilia. I started with the Cameroon. Wow! Nothing like the cheap drugstore cigars I had tried in the past! The Padron was good (but not amazing), and the Brazilia was delicious.
So I bought a few samplers online and locally (and recently discovered c-bid...), and I found the B&M store for the tobaccanist from the food & wine show. This time, he sold me another CAO Cameroon, a Torano 1916 Cameroon (started off great, but got a bit tarry), a Romeo y Julieta Maduro Reserve (in the tupperdor), a Rocky Patel 1999 Connecticut (nice), and Rocky Patel 1990 (amazing! just received some 1992s from c-bid), and a Fuente Gran Reserva (looks like a Hemingway; haven't smoked it yet).
So now, my tupperdor has a CAO sampler, some RP Vintage 1992s, a Torano Exodus 1959, an AF Hemingway, RyJ Maduro, a Puros Indios (from a sampler; are they really THAT bad?), an RP Sun Grown, and probably a few others I'm forgetting, and I've got a five-pack of CAO Black VRs on the way from c-bid.
My favorites (so far) have been the CAO Cameroon, the CAO Brazilia, and the RP Vintage 1990. Off the top of my head, some others cigars I've tried were an Upmann Cameroon (good, but not as good as the CAO), an Onyx Reserve (yuck!), and a Padron with a natural wrapper (very well-made, tasted good). What should I try next? Any recommendations would be appreciated!
Unfortunately, I discovered cigars at the wrong time of year: I only smoke outside the house, and we've got a foot of snow and single digit temperatures . . .
-Asher
I'm new to the forum, and to cigar smoking in general, so here's my introduction. I'm a graduate student in Madison, WI with a newly discovered taste for cigars. A year or so at a family gathering, my uncle shared a couple of Cohibas (Dominican, I assume) with me. Well, they tasted great, but the prices I saw online were pretty high, so I didn't pursue it further.
A couple of months ago, my wife took me to a local food & wine show. There was a booth representing a local cigar store, and after telling the owner I was a total newbie, he picked out 3 cigars for me to start with: a CAO Cameroon, a Padron Maduro, and a CAO Brazilia. I started with the Cameroon. Wow! Nothing like the cheap drugstore cigars I had tried in the past! The Padron was good (but not amazing), and the Brazilia was delicious.
So I bought a few samplers online and locally (and recently discovered c-bid...), and I found the B&M store for the tobaccanist from the food & wine show. This time, he sold me another CAO Cameroon, a Torano 1916 Cameroon (started off great, but got a bit tarry), a Romeo y Julieta Maduro Reserve (in the tupperdor), a Rocky Patel 1999 Connecticut (nice), and Rocky Patel 1990 (amazing! just received some 1992s from c-bid), and a Fuente Gran Reserva (looks like a Hemingway; haven't smoked it yet).
So now, my tupperdor has a CAO sampler, some RP Vintage 1992s, a Torano Exodus 1959, an AF Hemingway, RyJ Maduro, a Puros Indios (from a sampler; are they really THAT bad?), an RP Sun Grown, and probably a few others I'm forgetting, and I've got a five-pack of CAO Black VRs on the way from c-bid.
My favorites (so far) have been the CAO Cameroon, the CAO Brazilia, and the RP Vintage 1990. Off the top of my head, some others cigars I've tried were an Upmann Cameroon (good, but not as good as the CAO), an Onyx Reserve (yuck!), and a Padron with a natural wrapper (very well-made, tasted good). What should I try next? Any recommendations would be appreciated!
Unfortunately, I discovered cigars at the wrong time of year: I only smoke outside the house, and we've got a foot of snow and single digit temperatures . . .
-Asher
