Any Cigar Smokers In Here?

[Alflives]

3 minutes ago, Bocivus said:

Yeah, definitely, thanks for sharing.  I'm quite jealous!   

I'm sitting in my garage right now with the door open looking at my neighbor's house with Christmas lights, smoking an Oliva Serie V with a glass of honey whiskey.  Nothing more relaxing.  I'm going to sleep good tonight!

Unless you're puking your guts up.

[Alflives]

When I first came to this planet I could not believe humans burned fossil fuels inside their atmospher.  Then I noticed they inhaled toxic gases on purpose, even knowing these gases are eating their lives away, and most certainly leading to a horrible death of painful, degenerating cancers.  Then I came to CDC, and understood the why.

[Bocivus]

3 minutes ago, Alflives said:

When I first came to this planet I could not believe humans burned fossil fuels inside their atmospher.  Then I noticed they inhaled toxic gases on purpose, even knowing these gases are eating their lives away, and most certainly leading to a horrible death of painful, degenerating cancers.  Then I came to CDC, and understood the why.

Not quite sure how to take your post.....  

Most of the foods you eat probably cause more cancers than a 4-5 cigars a week but that's another topic.

 

[Jägermeister]

Absolutely love cigars (don't smoke other forms of tobacco), but can't say I have the money or the knowledge to really consider myself a connoisseur.

Have a few Romeo y Julieta No. 2's that I need to get to work on sometime.

[Alflives]

Just now, Bocivus said:

Not quite sure how to take your post.....  

Most of the foods you eat probably cause more cancers than a 4-5 cigars a week but that's another topic.

 

My post is open to interpretation.  We pay serious SIN taxes here, so those who endulge will have contributed enough to the government to cover the necessary medical costs associated with the most horrific effects of diseases.  We are all free to endulge, but we all do pay - twice

[TheAce]

The best cigar i have in my collection right now is the Feral Flying Pig. . . . Very nice cigar and was lucky enough to get a box of them when they first came out. 

The Trinidad Reyes are a nice affordable cigar for your everyday/once a week cigar

[King Heffy]

1 hour ago, TheAce said:

The best cigar i have in my collection right now is the Feral Flying Pig. . . . Very nice cigar and was lucky enough to get a box of them when they first came out. 

The Trinidad Reyes are a nice affordable cigar for your everyday/once a week cigar

The Reyes is the first I've tried and really appreciated.  Any suggestions as to what to try next?   I'm smoking outdoors so I'm not looking for a giant sick this time of year.

[Bocivus]

10 hours ago, TheAce said:

The best cigar i have in my collection right now is the Feral Flying Pig. . . . Very nice cigar and was lucky enough to get a box of them when they first came out. 

The Trinidad Reyes are a nice affordable cigar for your everyday/once a week cigar

I've never had any Liga Privada sticks yet.  I've heard they are good though.

 

9 hours ago, King Heffy said:

The Reyes is the first I've tried and really appreciated.  Any suggestions as to what to try next?   I'm smoking outdoors so I'm not looking for a giant sick this time of year.

I'm quite partial to the Obsidian White Noise.  It's a great stick at a med-full body.  They come in all types of sizes, all the way down to a mini-corona size so you won't be outside in the cold too long.  They're pretty easy on the wallet too.

A more full bodied, you can't go wrong with the Oliva Serie V.  They cost a little more, but they are a great smoke.

Med bodied, again, Oliva Serie O or G.  The G has the Cameroon wrapper if you're a fan of that.  I like it.

La Gloria Cuban Serie R is another full bodied, excellent stick.

The Ave Maria's are pretty good too.  They're a bit more of a "wood" taste with a nutty flavor in it.  Not a bad smoke either.

I've never had a bad CAO stick either.  The CAO L'Anniversaire Cameroon is probably my favorite by CAO.  I haven't had the CAO Brazilia one yet, but I've heard they are really good.

 

Those are a few of the ones I tend to keep in stock in my humidor.  I'm still learning a lot about what I like and don't like as I'm still kinda new at this myself, relatively speaking to the ciger lifers out there.

[Bocivus]

10 hours ago, Jägermeister said:

Absolutely love cigars (don't smoke other forms of tobacco), but can't say I have the money or the knowledge to really consider myself a connoisseur.

Have a few Romeo y Julieta No. 2's that I need to get to work on sometime.

Yeah, I'm not a connoisseur either.  Maybe in about 10 years. 

I had a Romeo Y Julieta 1875 Reserva a few weeks ago that was REALLY good.  I've hear you can't really go wrong with R&J.

[TheAce]

18 hours ago, King Heffy said:

The Reyes is the first I've tried and really appreciated.  Any suggestions as to what to try next?   I'm smoking outdoors so I'm not looking for a giant sick this time of year.

If you can find one for a reasonable price, try the Cohiba Secretos. Its not as strong as a regular Cohiba but its a nice little cigar.

 

not to sound cliche, but the Monte #2 is a nice cigar ( the #4's are smaller if you are by yourself or dont have as much time )

If you like a mild cigar try an Upmann #2

[TheAce]

8 hours ago, Bocivus said:

I've never had any Liga Privada sticks yet.  I've heard they are good though.

 

 

They are some of the best...... If you can get something from Drew Estate, you wont be disappointed

[Bocivus]

3 hours ago, TheAce said:

They are some of the best...... If you can get something from Drew Estate, you wont be disappointed

Thanks, man.  I'll definitely try it.  They do aother of flavor infused stiff which I'm not a fan of but I have heard they make great sticks.  I'll let you know when I try one.   Maybe I'll go to my local cigar shop and buy 1 to see.

[Twilight Sparkle]

an old friend of mine handed me a nice big stogie one time. i asked if i can hold his penis instead

[Bocivus]

On ‎12‎/‎6‎/‎2015‎ ‎8‎:‎36‎:‎12‎, Twilight Sparkle said:

an old friend of mine handed me a nice big stogie one time. i asked if i can hold his penis instead

Don't hold out on me...  Did you smoke it? 

[Green Building]

On 11/29/2015 at 6:14 AM, Bocivus said:

I was just curious to see if their were any cigar connoisseurs/smokers in here.  Maybe discuss favorites, every-days, and terrible sticks you've come across. 

I'm good for 1 or 2 cigars a year these days. Up until about 2 weeks ago every single one (probably only 15 total) has been one of the Cuban main 3 brands. I've yet to find an online source to corroborate something a tobacco shop owner told me down in the US. He claims that the reason Cuban cigars taste so similar to one another is that the growing areas are similar, and all cigar manufacturers are using the same tobacco in their brands. So Romeo, Monte Cristo, etc all taste more or less the same.

Now I enjoy the bold Cuban flavour, but it recently picked up 2 Perdomo cigars to try something different. Perdomo 20th Anniversary Sun Grown is a blend of 3 tobaccos grown in 3 different volcanic soils in Nicaragua. The other is a Perdomo Habano Bourbon Barrel Aged. The wrapper is aged in bourbon barrels for the last 14 months of its' 6 year aging process.

I drink fairly regularly and have no wish to add any additional vices to my regular diet, but I really do enjoy a premium cigar with about 6+ oz of rum, cognac, or sweet scotch. I doubt I'll ever have more than 3 per year. How long will a cigar last in a humidor? The tobacco must continue to age somewhat detrimentally right?   

Damn. I might just pour a glass of Woodford and fire up the barrel aged Perdomo right now. I haven't justified making/buying a humidor yet so my 2 I brought back from the States are just getting old. 

[bigbadcanucks]

2 hours ago, Green Building said:

I'm good for 1 or 2 cigars a year these days. Up until about 2 weeks ago every single one (probably only 15 total) has been one of the Cuban main 3 brands. I've yet to find an online source to corroborate something a tobacco shop owner told me down in the US. He claims that the reason Cuban cigars taste so similar to one another is that the growing areas are similar, and all cigar manufacturers are using the same tobacco in their brands. So Romeo, Monte Cristo, etc all taste more or less the same.

Now I enjoy the bold Cuban flavour, but it recently picked up 2 Perdomo cigars to try something different. Perdomo 20th Anniversary Sun Grown is a blend of 3 tobaccos grown in 3 different volcanic soils in Nicaragua. The other is a Perdomo Habano Bourbon Barrel Aged. The wrapper is aged in bourbon barrels for the last 14 months of its' 6 year aging process.

I drink fairly regularly and have no wish to add any additional vices to my regular diet, but I really do enjoy a premium cigar with about 6+ oz of rum, cognac, or sweet scotch. I doubt I'll ever have more than 3 per year. How long will a cigar last in a humidor? The tobacco must continue to age somewhat detrimentally right?   

Damn. I might just pour a glass of Woodford and fire up the barrel aged Perdomo right now. I haven't justified making/buying a humidor yet so my 2 I brought back from the States are just getting old. 

I'm just some schlep on the internet, so take what I say with a grain of salt...

I used to work in the tobacco industry (sales management, brand and trade channels management, and some corporate affairs) in Canada and the US, so I have a little bit of knowledge when it comes to tobacco.

What you were told by the tobacconist is indeed true.  Most of the Cuban cigars come from farms that have similar soil characteristics and atmospheric conditions, so the leaves that get cured and processed before they are rolled into cigars will typically come from the same or similar type farms.  The tobacco leaves are bought by the cigar makers in an open auction and each "manufacturer" will have apply their knowledge/craftmanship to how they cure/age/process the leaves. 

As well, different parts of the tobacco plant will have different amounts of sugars in the leaf (i.e., leaves near the top will be sweeter because they get more exposure to sun...it's the photosynthesis process that we all learned in grade 10 biology).  Each cigar will have leaves from different part of the tobacco plant, and so you can alter/differentiate taste by having different amount of leaves from different parts of the plant.

Even though I have smoked a lot of cigars in my lifetime, I'm not a connoisseur, so I'm not able to distinguish the fine nuances and differences in the taste of a cigar...I was the same way with red wine when I used to drink (my wife says my taste buds are fried because I have a hard time distinguishing the taste of certain spices in food).  However, the real experts will be able to tell you where the leaves were grown and how much mix of different leaves there are in the cigar they are smoking.

If you're ever in Victoria, you should check out EA Morris Tobacconist on Government Street.  The guys there know a ton about cigars.

[Bocivus]

7 hours ago, Green Building said:

I'm good for 1 or 2 cigars a year these days. Up until about 2 weeks ago every single one (probably only 15 total) has been one of the Cuban main 3 brands. I've yet to find an online source to corroborate something a tobacco shop owner told me down in the US. He claims that the reason Cuban cigars taste so similar to one another is that the growing areas are similar, and all cigar manufacturers are using the same tobacco in their brands. So Romeo, Monte Cristo, etc all taste more or less the same.

Now I enjoy the bold Cuban flavour, but it recently picked up 2 Perdomo cigars to try something different. Perdomo 20th Anniversary Sun Grown is a blend of 3 tobaccos grown in 3 different volcanic soils in Nicaragua. The other is a Perdomo Habano Bourbon Barrel Aged. The wrapper is aged in bourbon barrels for the last 14 months of its' 6 year aging process.

I drink fairly regularly and have no wish to add any additional vices to my regular diet, but I really do enjoy a premium cigar with about 6+ oz of rum, cognac, or sweet scotch. I doubt I'll ever have more than 3 per year. How long will a cigar last in a humidor? The tobacco must continue to age somewhat detrimentally right?   

Damn. I might just pour a glass of Woodford and fire up the barrel aged Perdomo right now. I haven't justified making/buying a humidor yet so my 2 I brought back from the States are just getting old. 

I see BBC already answered your questions, and better than I could have.   I'm not really an expert either.  I used to smoke more often about a 7-8 years ago but I just got back into it. 

I have heard the same thing about the Cuban brands.  Even a lot of the other companies used what they call "Cuban seed".  I have also read/heard that the reason why Cubans have a distinct taste is, in fact, because of the soil.  I had a Bolivar a few weeks back and it was pretty good.  My favorites (at least at the moment because they tend to change) are the Oliva Serie V Melanio Maduro and the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial. 

I've had the Perdomo cigars you mentioned.  I liked them both.  I tend to like the fuller flavors better so I like the Perdomo 20th Anniversary Sun Grown better personally. 

I'm not sure exactly how lona a cigar will last in a humidor.  I know that people like to age them in their personal humidors for sometimes a few years depending on how young the tobacco is.  You can buy them aged already but you'll pay a lot more for it.  My buddy in Pennsylvania just got one of those big cabinet humidors and put a few boxes of Cubans in there and he's going to do his best to not touch them for at least a year so we'll see how that goes.

You can buy a decent humidor pretty cheap nowadays.  I just bought a 250 count and an electric humidifier and it's great.  Plug it in, throw it in the humidor after you season it and you don't even have to think about it for a few months. 

 

[Bocivus]

5 hours ago, bigbadcanucks said:

I'm just some schlep on the internet, so take what I say with a grain of salt...

I used to work in the tobacco industry (sales management, brand and trade channels management, and some corporate affairs) in Canada and the US, so I have a little bit of knowledge when it comes to tobacco.

What you were told by the tobacconist is indeed true.  Most of the Cuban cigars come from farms that have similar soil characteristics and atmospheric conditions, so the leaves that get cured and processed before they are rolled into cigars will typically come from the same or similar type farms.  The tobacco leaves are bought by the cigar makers in an open auction and each "manufacturer" will have apply their knowledge/craftmanship to how they cure/age/process the leaves. 

As well, different parts of the tobacco plant will have different amounts of sugars in the leaf (i.e., leaves near the top will be sweeter because they get more exposure to sun...it's the photosynthesis process that we all learned in grade 10 biology).  Each cigar will have leaves from different part of the tobacco plant, and so you can alter/differentiate taste by having different amount of leaves from different parts of the plant.

Even though I have smoked a lot of cigars in my lifetime, I'm not a connoisseur, so I'm not able to distinguish the fine nuances and differences in the taste of a cigar...I was the same way with red wine when I used to drink (my wife says my taste buds are fried because I have a hard time distinguishing the taste of certain spices in food).  However, the real experts will be able to tell you where the leaves were grown and how much mix of different leaves there are in the cigar they are smoking.

If you're ever in Victoria, you should check out EA Morris Tobacconist on Government Street.  The guys there know a ton about cigars.

For a mere schlep on the interweb, you sure seem to know your stuff. 

I have trouble tasting the different spices, woods, sugars, leathers, etc myself.  I just know if I like it or not and I smoke the ones I like.  I can tell the flavor changes in most as you get from the 1st, 2nd and last 3rd of the cigar but I couldn't tell you what exactly I'm tasting except maybe in general.  Some of the guys I see that review cigars talk all kinds of details they can pick up.