Need opinions on my first week of testing...

[DieselEater]

Hello all,

I just started smoking "real" cigars this week. I've smoked crap cigars here and there since I was old enough to buy them. I just quit snuff, after 12 years of daily use!

I ordered a special offer from a Thompson Cigar Co. add in my American Rifleman magazine.

I'm a blue collar oil field automation guy, and figured the best way to get started was to try an assortment of hand made long filler cigars and see what I liked.

I purchased an 8 dollar Macanudo to use as my basis for what a "good" cigar should taste like. Previously, I liked smoking outlaw's from the corner store.......LOL

My assortment package contained 5 of each of the following Thompson favorites in a robusto:

- CHAVON madero
- Belmondo natural
- EROS sumatra
- Miraflor
- Dona Ines

So far, I've tried them in order from the top, up to the EROS.....gonna light up the Miraflor in just a bit..

The Chavon was NASTY, from start to finnish....even smelled bad!?
The Belmondo was BETTER than the Macanudo....light, and flavorful.
The EROS was as good as the Belmondo, but LOTS stronger.

I'll keep you posted, on my progress.....

I would really like to hear any and all input, for a guy in my position. I would like to keep the cigars I smoke in the affordable range, but not opposed to trying the SUPER high rated stuff at least once.

I would like to smoke at least one a day, maybe two, but no more than that.

Thanks for all opinions in advance,

Adrian Flores
Valdez, CO

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[Jonesee]

Diesel, Hello and Welcome!!

You are going to get an endless list of cigars that you "just have to try". I have my favorites like everyone else, but your tastes may not be the same as mine.

My recommendation is look for the major brands in your price range. There isn't any need in buying expensive sticks until you know what you like.

To find out what flavor profile you like grab some well known sticks over time and see if they appeal to you: Possibly these brands in the reasonable priced sticks (say $2.00-$7.00):

Punch
Padron 000 series
Hoyo
Fuente
Oliva
Sancho Panza
and others.... the list could go on and on.

More important than the brand is the flavor profile. For whatever reason, Americans tend to like Maduro wrappers, but absolutely try all the others. I can't tell you what you will like and neither can anyone else. If you bounce around the brands above and try different sticks in their inventory, I doubt you will ever be to disapointed and will learn quickly what you like. If all else fails, try a Punch. They are pretty much enjoyed by everyone. In fact with those six brands you could pretty much find anything you ever want and likely never get a bad stick.

Finally, everyone will tell you what you like, but only you can know for sure. I love broccoli but no matter how great I make it sound, and how much I like it you may hate it. Remember that when you read the reviews. Look for comments that are consistently favorable to a cigar or universally bad about a cigar and you can make a more educated decision. Anytime you want to try a new stick, come here and do a search. You will be amazed at the info. Don't get hung up on descriptions of flavors. I've smoked more years than some here have been alive and still only categorize sticks 3 ways. Ones I like, ones I hate, and ones I haven't tried. That is as far as you need to go now. It has served me for decades.

I wish you luck. You have found a phenomenal resource here representing all levels and expertise on cigars.

And Welcome Again!!!

[Cigar Man Andy]

My brother is right and has some good recommendations. Let me embellish a little.

Punch Rothchilds andd Champions
Padron 3000
Hoyo de Monterrey Double Corona
Fuente 8-5-8
Oliva O & Serie V
Sanch Panza
La Gloria Cubana Corona Gorda

Check out cigars International and check out Joe Cigar for good deals

[wolfmonk]

I'll add the 5 Vegas brand to the list of to-try 'gars. Personally I like their series A. If you like something a little milder the gold ain't bad either.

[KickU2Sleep]

I'm with ya brother, recently quit snuff after 25 years and my first official purchase was from thompson's..and it hasn't slowed down yet....If you're gonna be a daily smoker like I am(4-5 sticks/day) you'll want to find some dollar sticks that you enjoy. I really love the quorum torpedo, cusano cc torpedo. of course I love Rocky Patel's Edge battalion(not a dollar stick) Also order the 21 gun salute from thompson, just got mine in today and it's loaded with premiums(21) for $65....It will give ya a great mix of mild to full cigars....

[DieselEater]

Thanks for all input so far.....

Anyone tried the cigars on my list, so I can get a comparison....gonna light up the Dona Ines now....will have tried them all by end of night. The Miraflor was in between the Belmondo and the EROS...closer to the eros.

Again, I'd like to get a comparison to the smokes on my list if you've tried them. Thompson's site has descriptions if that is an aid?

thanks again,

A.......

[Phantom57]

Thompson puts out an endless supply of no name garbage. Try Famous, Holts, Cigars International, Cigar Biz, and many others. Some name brands that make quality cigars you should try are:

Oliva
Padron
Fuente
Tatuaje
Illusione

There are also some good mass produced brands at relatively inexpensive prices, ie, Punch, Hoyo de Monterrey, Romeo y Julieta, and others.

Try to learn what tobaccos you like, and it will help narrow your search, and try to stick to brands you have heard of before, at least fo now.

[golfermd]

Originally Posted by Jonesee

Diesel, Hello and Welcome!!

You are going to get an endless list of cigars that you "just have to try". I have my favorites like everyone else, but your tastes may not be the same as mine.

My recommendation is look for the major brands in your price range. There isn't any need in buying expensive sticks until you know what you like.

To find out what flavor profile you like grab some well known sticks over time and see if they appeal to you: Possibly these brands in the reasonable priced sticks (say $2.00-$7.00)

Couldn't agree more. You will get tons of recommendations, requiring you to purchase several thousand cigars. Contact a few sellers and let them know what you are looking for in spice and body. Tell them anything in particular you do or don't want in your cigars. Local B&M's are good sources. It won't take you long to figure out if the person is just trying to sell you cigars or trying to help you. I have my trusted source. I am getting back into cigars after a 10 year hiatus and have been very satisfied with my results so far.

Anyway, welcome dude! Very friendly atmosphere and people here...

[DieselEater]

Well.......I'm gonna take KickU2Sleep's advice and order the Thompson's 21 gun salute package.....Looks like it has a bunch of the top names that everyone is telling me to try.

I'll keep you all posted......

Thanks,

A.......

[PerpetualNoob]

The 21-Gun was one of my early online purchases. It was a decent selection, but I think Cigar Int'l "Motherlode" sampler is a slightly better grade of cigars, at a slightly cheaper per-cigar price. It's a larger initial outlay, $99 or so, but I think it's a better deal. I, and most of the other Brothers, would encourage you to avoid the Thompson 'house brands'. Most of them are just not very good. You can get much better cigars for the same general price range. If your budget is generally pretty tight, try this thread: "The official" TXMatt's cheap smokes thread

If your budget has a little more room in it, try this one: Big List of Cigars - Good Newb Starter

There's overlap between the two. Smoke a wide variety of things, and keep a notebook of each one for a few months. Write down what you like and don't like about each one. If your local store is any good, make friends with them, they will be able to point you to things that are similar to the ones you already know you like.

Keep an open mind. Don't fixate on a certain brand, blend, or even size of cigars. Some of my regular favorites are cigars I expected not to like.

Try not to judge a cigar by a single smoke, unless it's truly vile. Anyone can roll a stinker once in a while. If something is just a little wonky, try to score another one from another source, if possible, to see if it's just that one cigar, or that one box. It happens.

Cello on or off doesn't really matter. Buy humidifier beads (Heartfelt, etc.) and a cooler. A big one. You'll thank yourself later.

If you don't already have a good torch lighter, go to WalMart and get 2-3 Ronson JetLites. Some of the best cigar lighters ever made, and they're well under $4. Colibri lighters look nice, but they're generally expensive, and notoriously unreliable, on top of which, the company went out of business a few weeks ago, apparently forever. I have one that I got for free with an order from CI, and it still works great, but I've only had it for a couple of months.

If you haven't already, invest in a good cutter. I have a bullet punch, but I use my Xikar about 95% of the time. Everyone who has the Palio cutter swears by them, but I've never used one so I can't endorse them, personally.

Check out all the big online dealers, and check their daily and weekly specials, but don't ever assume they're actually good deals until you cross-check them with the other dealers. JR's is notorious for having "deals" that are higher than CI's ''regular" price. Sign up for all the catalogs and keep them next to the toilet. Don't believe anything you read in any of them, though. They tend to exaggerate things horribly. Up at the top of this page, click the "Cigar Reviews" link for some relatively objective reviews of cigars you might be curious about, and they're not written by people who are trying to sell them to you.

I only got serious about cigars about six months ago, and it's already one of the most rewarding hobbies I've ever had. The Brothers here with more experience than me will gladly answer all your questions. Good luck, and happy hunting. Go find your 'magic' cigar and set it on fire.

[docruger]

C I has a lot of cheap bundles that are pretty good. but some are garbage so before you buy any ask us about them. thats what i do when i want to try something new. some people will say there junk and some will prise them but the way i decide is the majority rules. it hasn't failed me yet.

[JohnLongIsland]

Go no further than this website:
http://www.puff.com/component/option...k,report_sub6/

[DieselEater]

Well, I found a liquor store in my podunk town that actually has a humidor!


So, I figured I'd swing into town after work and see what they had. I was very suprised to see a lot of 90 plus rated smokes...The problem is, they are priced about where you'd think a small town shop with the monopoly on the market would be....HIGH.

So, I spent just under 6 bucks and bought a PUNCH Gran Puro, robusto. From the reviews I've read, it should knock my **** in the dirt, compared to what I've tried so far......

I'll try it tonight after dinner, and report my results.....


A........

[Mr.Erskine]

+100 on the Oliva suggestions.... Try the V, that would be recommendation for using as a basis of judgement. Although, I feel that you should take each cigar and judge by its own merits rather than trying to compare and remember what you experienced over a period of time.

[DieselEater]

Well, I wasn't like super impressed with the PUNCH.....

It was definitely stronger than say a Macanudo Portofino, but IMO was very monotonous throughout. Just a strong maybe treebark/cinnamin flavor without complexity from start to finnish...

I'll just wait for my 21 gun salute, before I post anymore reviews.....BTW that 25 best list from this site will definitely be used...thanks

So far, here's my list in order from best to worst:

- Thompsons Belmondo
- Macanudo Portofino
- Thompsons Eros
- Thompsons Miraflor
- Thompsons Dona Ines
- Punch Gran Puro
- Thompsons Chavon


I must say....This is a GREAT new hobby. And thanks again for all the good input.