An occasional smoker, but really enjoyed sitting out at night with a cigar and a bourbon on a recent vacation in Florida.
Couple of questions - I really enjoyed an H. Upmann Banker - any other suggestions for similar mild flavor profile cigars? Second, any suggestions for a good “starter” humidor and where to buy one?
Jud
Not familiar with that cigar, is that a Cuban upmann or a Dominican ?
For a nice mild cigar look for a conneticut wrapper, good examples would be Ashton Cabinet, E J carillo, Romeo and Juliet etc
When you say starter humidor, how many sticks ? you looking for basic or something fancy ?
Smoking one my favourites today, the Davidoff Diadema, a wonderful full bodied cigar
Alan - I assume it must be a Dominican as I bought it in a retail store in Florida. Basic humidor is fine, probably not more than a couple dozen cigars at max at a time. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
It’s with some trepidation I am getting into cigars. No. 1 I don’t have the money to spend on another habit right now. And No. 2, even if they’re not as bad as cigarettes, they’re still not good for you. It started with the Undercrown pictured above. I had a minor victory over bureaucracy and decided to celebrate for some reason with a cigar. I don’t know why. I went to a smokeshop and was looking through the case. One of the employees came up and offered to help. I said I wanted the best cigar under $10. He recommended the Undercrown. He said it was rated 97 points by the Cigar Advocate (Robert Parker’s reach!). So I’m a points chaser and I decided to try it. It was the first cigar I actually enjoyed. It was also so big I smoked it in two different periods.
It inspired me to try some more. I stopped by a local place that handrolls them. I told the guy about the Undercrown but he wasn’t familar with them. He helped me pick out three and then tossed in this torpedo as a bonus.
I smoked this today. It was just okay. Nothing to get me excited. But I’ve got three more to try. I ran into a reitred police lieutenant today and he and his buddies were stocking up for a fishing trip tomorrow. They bought dozens. I don’t have a humidor and given the fragility of the cigars I will buy as needed.
Is wine storage a decent substitute for a humidor?
Steve
Firstly, dont know about flavour but those cigars are rolled like crap. The filler is nowhere near packed tightly enough and the wrapper is loose, the end result is they will burn hot and fast with a loose draw.
With regards to wine storage being used for cigars, it is not ideal cigars want temp and humidity around 65 degrees and 65-70% lower temp would not be that bad but humidity outside of 62-72 % for more than a few days will hurt the cigars
Are you criticizing the roll of both cigars? The top one was smoked, extinguished and stored for several days and then smoked again.
Funny I stumble across this thread. Was a devoted cigar smoker from the mid 90s till 2010. Attended the Cigar Aficionado Big Smoke events in Las Vegas for a good number of those years, as well as did my best to “accidentally” pack Cuban cigars when returning from foreign locations. Still have tubos of Montecristo #4s that I brought back from a business trip to South Korea in 1998, and they’ve been smoking better and better as they’ve aged.
Then I slowed down considerably with the birth of my second son in 2010. Weird thing is that my opportunities to smoke in ideal situations (rounds of golf and in poker games) have only increased during that time, but for whatever reason the desire to smoke decreased dramatically. My 3 humidors have seen little action since then, other than recharging.
Fast forward to today, and it’s been 24 hours since I’ve returned from a week long trip to Curaçao. While there, a buddy in Arizona texted me asking if I’d get him some Cubans for a trip we’re taking in September to Key West. While I was planning to bring him some of mine that I already own, I spied a couple of stores in downtown Willemstad sporting the Habanos logo and of course walk in. Man oh man, I’d forgotten how wonderful a shop full of legit Cuban cigars can smell, even with no one actually smoking in there.
End result - I was able to bring a full box of Partagas Lusitanias back with me. My buddy will get 5 of them, while the rest are going to age for a good long time. But now the desire to smoke has returned, and I’ll be hitting the course this week with a stogie in hand. Hopefully, my GHIN won’t take a hit for doing so… ![[whistle.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/87d24eb81ec6dc01d84f3d6c19fa9a357e90218e.gif "whistle"){kind=small}
TL;DR - devoted cigar smoker goes into hibernation for 5 years, but now plans to emerge
Steve let’s plan a dinner and gars soon.
I just ordered a cigar torch and cutter. Is there something other than a cigar box people use to carry cigars and accessories? For instance, I want to take Glenn up on the dinner offer. What’s the best way to get stoogies and lighter and cutter there?
I just ordered a cigar torch and cutter. Is there something other than a cigar box people use to carry cigars and accessories? For instance, I want to take Glenn up on the dinner offer. What’s the best way to get stoogies and lighter and cutter there?
Cuban Partagas. Delicious.
A golf bag is good, but there are a number of travel humidors that have pockets and pouches for the accessories. You can also buy a torch that has a cutter or punch, (one more thing to break). For a short trip, I find a zip lock baggie is ideal. Holds cigars, cutter, lighter and if necessary, a humi-pack or soaked cedar stick.
If you are flying, don’t take the torch. Cutter in the suitcase and cigars in the ziplock baggie with wood matches or cedar strips and book matches.
Steve
They both look very loose, I would not be happy with either
In terms of starting a cigar and then coming back to it, this is not generally recommended the first smoking causes the whole cigar to have smoke passed through it and then stopping cause this smoke to affect the remainder of the cigar causing an unpleasant experience. If you know your not going to finish a cigar then the best thing is to cut in half before lighting and just smoke half.
Alan
Steve it is your lucky day. I just remembered I have an extra starter humidor you are welcome to have. Maybe Wednesday as I will be working from home.
A ziplock with a drop or 2 of water is fine for transportation. For a short trip to my house a dry ziplock is fine.
That Undercrown so far has been my epiphany cigar. I enjoyed it when I lit it up and I enjoyed it when I came back to it several days later.
On the other hand, I’ve smoked three of the four cigars I bought at the handroll place locally and haven’t liked one of them. Part of the problem is that I didn’t give the shop owner much direction of what I wanted. I think he gave me all mild cigars. That Undercrown is medium full, I guess.
http://www.cigarsinternational.com/cigars/11553/drew-estate-undercrown/
I bought La Aroma de Cuba today at Total Wine. Cigar Aficionado rated it 93 points. It’s okay, better than the three from the local shop, but nothing to get me excited.
Maybe I’m at the stage like learning to like wine. I like the big, over-the-top cigars to start and I will develop a taste for the more restrained later.
Total Wine also carries the Undercrown. I bought one I will split with Glenn. Oddly enough, they’re about a buck cheaper than the Indian smoke shop. The smoke shop pays no taxes, so you’d think they’d be cheaper there.
By the way, those Djeep lighters throw out a serious flame. I probably would not have ordered the cigar torch if I had bought one of these first. It was only $2 at Total Wine.
Picked up a few of these cigars for $3 a pop. They were made for the store in Westin called, Smoke on the Water. I should have bought more.
What is the best way to “revive” a cigar ?
I enjoy a cigar very occasionally and have accumulated 20 or 30 various cigars over the years. Most are kept in cigar boxes in my wine room where both the temp and humidity are lower than ideal for the cigars, and I found a few in a drawer in the pantry. Any suggestions on how to bring them back to good condition ? Is there any way to tell if they’re past the “point of no return” ? Thanks !
Get them in some humidors with proper temp and humidity, and check the humidity levels frequently for the first couple weeks. Since they’re dried out, they’ll be pulling in moisture faster from the beads and/or distilled water sources than cigars that are properly conditioned. Expect a minimum of several months before they’re back to proper smoking condition.
Bear in mind that the oils in the tobacco will have been reduced and/or lost, so the flavors won’t be as robust. But they still should be more than smokable after you’ve resuscitated them.
If they do not have the proper amount of “give” when you gently squeeze the cigar after an extended period to try and revive them, those are probably DOA. You’ll know if the wrapper (or the cigar itself) falls apart…
Glenn and I got together last night for dinner of roasted pork, wine and then some cigars. That’s Glenn lighting up the fourth and final of the cigars I got from a local place using my new cigar torch. I actually liked this one. It wasn’t an epiphany cigar but it was nice enough. I think I’ve figured out I like medium to full flavors. I think the guy sold me four mild cigars. This is me holding my half of the cigar.
I also brought another Undercrown. Glenn liked it, but not near as much as I did. I need to focus on the medium to full cigars to see which ones I like best.