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Cigar Snob: An Introduction.

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Hello guys new around here and thought I would post a intro in here.

I've been smoking now for 19 years and love cigars, all kinds of cigars from rich deep dark powerful La Flor Dominicana to a Rocky Patel Connecticut. As long are they are TRULY a premium cigar I will give it a fair and equal shake. I've toured manufacturers, rolled cigars and blended cigars and sold cigars...I'm a nut for cigars.

I am however an unapologetic cigar snob. I truly believe in the motto "Life is too short for cheap/bad cigars"

I will not purchase anything from General Cigar, Swedish Match, Wintermen/STG or anything from the Internet (I've seen the difference in what gets shipped brick and mortar and what goes to the Internet retailers)

I also put no stock into Cigar Aficionado, I know how much advertising affects the score of a cigar and the internal politics between manufactures and the editors.

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My Humidor, a friend from the shop I frequent built it.

Some of my favorite cigars.

Aging Room (great mild cigar with alot of flavor)
La Flor Dominicana - Chisel, Digger, DL-700, El Jocko (Power sticks)
San Lotano - Habano in Churchill (Full Bodied with great flavor)
Rocky Patel - Edge Maduro (Old Reliable, Amazing consistency year in and year out, good flavor)
Tatuaje Cigars - The Fausto (Spicy, Full Bodied)
601 - La Bomba (Nice Medium-Full Bodied Stick)
601 - Green (Great Spice and Pepper)

I enjoy some Cubans but only if they have enough age on them, nothing coming out of cuba now has enough age.

Look forward to some of the cigar conversation around here. :)
 
Hi and welcome to the forum from another newbie here. I'm also a cigar aficionado and pictured below are some of my desktop humidors and a couple of boxes of cigars. I'm mainly into Cuban cigars, the only NC's I have are a couple of boxes of Fuente Canones, one natural and one maduro.

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WOW thats a fantastic collection, wish I could really enjoy Cohiba but just not a fan though I do have a few Behikes aging, but those Hoyo's and Bolivars oh hell yeah. Love me some cubans, just hate having to age them out, but I guess anything good is worth waiting for.
 

The Count of Merkur Cristo

B&B's Emperor of Emojis
Duncan:
OMG...:a47: look at all those Cuban 'beauties' and me just drooling with envy (I love you Man!!!!). :drool:

Mmm-hmm...now you're tempting me with your Habanos. Awesome!!!

Watch out my Cuban cigar friend...I might try (while purring like a Cheshire Cat), to reach through cyber-space (and your PC), and try to 'cabbage' a box or two of your Cubans while you're not looking. :lol1:

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"Those who Smoke Havana’s will never die of Cancer...but those who don't...will die of Envy". Cuban Cigar Slogan


Hi and welcome to the forum from another newbie here. I'm also a cigar aficionado and pictured below are some of my desktop humidors and a couple of boxes of cigars. I'm mainly into Cuban cigars, the only NC's I have are a couple of boxes of Fuente Canones, one natural and one maduro.

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You have some very interesting opinions, and I am sure that you that many of us tend to disagree, but dissent often fosters the most interesting discussions.

At any rate, welcome aboard! :thumbup1:
 

The Count of Merkur Cristo

B&B's Emperor of Emojis
Hello guys new around here and thought I would post a intro in here.

I've been smoking now for 19 years and love cigars, all kinds of cigars from rich deep dark powerful La Flor Dominicana to a Rocky Patel Connecticut. As long are they are TRULY a premium cigar I will give it a fair and equal shake. I've toured manufacturers, rolled cigars and blended cigars and sold cigars...I'm a nut for cigars.

I am however an unapologetic cigar snob. I truly believe in the motto "Life is too short for cheap/bad cigars". I agree...I'm a Cuban cigar snob!!!


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My Humidor, a friend from the shop I frequent built it. Very nice humidor!!!

I enjoy some Cubans but only if they have enough age on them, nothing coming out of cuba now has enough age. Sorry, but I can't agree with this statement because the Cubans I get have at least 2yrs age on them.
Swagger:
Not to sound 'crass', but I was 'hooked' on Cuban cigars so many, many years ago I can't remember when it happened. :lol1:

Cuban tobacco is like no other...and I too have smoked cigars from Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua (very rarely and only when my Cubans are in transit),...so I smoke the Rocky Patel Edge [Toro-6 x 52], because of it's full-bodied and full-flavored aroma...'faintly' simular to a Cuban), but nothing compares to Cuban tobacco. The taste, aroma, appearance is only home to Cuba and in my opinion the quality of the Cuban cigar is the result of the mystical
union of five (5) elements;

1) The soil

2) The various Cuban cigar tobacco regions

3) The climate

4) The wisdom of it's agricultural workers/cigar rollers

5) And most of all the experience...since the 1700's ......it's in the Cuban blood & Soul.
:yesnod:

Since I'm a sort of snob, I was and am never the one to wholly 'conform' to the so called 'cigar etiquette'. I'm firmly beleive what Bernard Le Roy and Maurice Szafran stated in their book "The Illuistarted History of Cigars" [pg 109], "Where pleasure is concernded, rules are meaningless" and "Smoking [cigars], can be considered an art but above all it is a delight which neither perconceptions [or conventions], nor principles should be allowed to spoil" and lastly, "If rules are a must, there should only be one - to please yourself".

That be it as it may, enclosed below is just a sampling of my 'do's & don'ts' of cigar etiquette;

I do;
* Use a gold penknife to cut a hole in the end of the cigar (thus preserving the cap).
* Warm the foot of the cigar slightly before starting to puff on it.
* Take [my] time in smoking it; a puff a minute is about right.
* Hold a cigar between my, index and middle finger.
* Dispose of the dead cigar discreetly and quickly (after it has died a dignified death).
* Relight my cigar if less than one quarter.
* Smoke more than half the cigar (in Roy Howells book "Churchill's Last Years" [pg 35], he stated that Churchill not only saved relit his cigars but regarded the last inch as the best part of a cigar).
* Smoke in the house.
* Smoke when I'm walking.
* Wait at least fifteen minutes between cigars.
* Ocassionally use a Meerschaum cigar holder when I work at home on my PC.

I don't;
* Smoke...before, during or after dinner in a restaurant / dining room. I retire to the bar, smoking lounge or cigar parlor establishment to 'light-up'.
* Smoke cigars in a vechicle.
* Smoke cigarettes or cigars especially if it affends the company I keep.

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"My tastes are simple: I am easily satisfied with the best". Sir Winston S. Churchill
 
I think many of you would be shocked by how much Nicaraguan tobacco is used in the making of your favorite Cuban blends.

And I have more reasons than just flavor for what I don't like. I'm a fan of brick and mortar cigar retailers, the giant companies and internet cigars would be more than happy if all the brick and mortar shops closed tomorrow...and I cant hold with that. I personally don't want to be part of the reason why classic tobacconists are having to close up shop.


A pen knife...never heard of that one. I cut away the cap because it was designed to do so and would rather not be sucking on the vegetable glue.
 
I think many of you would be shocked by how much Nicaraguan tobacco is used in the making of your favorite Cuban blends.

And I have more reasons than just flavor for what I don't like. I'm a fan of brick and mortar cigar retailers, the giant companies and internet cigars would be more than happy if all the brick and mortar shops closed tomorrow...and I cant hold with that. I personally don't want to be part of the reason why classic tobacconists are having to close up shop.

A pen knife...never heard of that one. I cut away the cap because it was designed to do so and would rather not be sucking on the vegetable glue.

Well, by all means do share the percentages with us so we can be better informed. :confused1

I'm sure that the B&M shops would be more than happy to see all of the online retailers shut down as well. After all, who wants to be bothered with that nasty thing called competition? Of course, they might not be too keen on seeing the giant cigar companies also shut down, since it would be terribly inconvenient to have racks and racks of empty humidor shelves when the boutique cigar makers couldn't keep up with the demand for consistent, high-quality, high-volume cigar production. Of course the boutique brands would then have to expand through acquisition of their smaller competitors, which would eventually lead to them becoming giant cigar companies and we'd have to start all over again. :wink2: But what of the classic tobacconists that also sell online for a competitive price, such as Iwan Ries? :ohmy:

Cut your cigars whichever way works best for you as there is no one "right" way, hence the abundance of different methods and tools for opening up the head of the cigar. :thumbup1:
 
I wish I was at liberty to share, but nda's suck. And b&m would have.zero issues with stock, sitting at a.lounge right now with the largest humidor in northern California, they don't carry any of the general stuff. And competition is one thing and unfair advantage is another, with most states the tax issues prevent fair competition.
 
I wish I was at liberty to share, but nda's suck. And b&m would have.zero issues with stock, sitting at a.lounge right now with the largest humidor in northern California, they don't carry any of the general stuff. And competition is one thing and unfair advantage is another, with most states the tax issues prevent fair competition.

You have a non-disclosure agreement with the Cuban Government?

Sure, with one lounge in one state, no problem, but what about all of the other lounges across the country? Nope, I still don't see any way that small cigar companies could keep up with nationwide demand. If they could, they would be the very industry giants that you seek to avoid.

As for the tax issue, there is nothing stopping those shops from opening up an online store as well. It seems to work very well for the B&M-based online retailers that I purchase from.
 
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Kentos

B&B's Dr. Doolittle.
Staff member
There are a few Cubans with age on them if you can afford them. If not, just buy a bunch, hold em, then smoke em. If Cubans use so much Nic. tobacco why do they taste and smell so different? The wrapper? The very fragrance of a good Monte or an 898 is instantly recognizable to me.
 
The only difference I can tell from the box of Hemingways in my humidor purchased online and the ones at my B&M is the $100.00 a box price difference.:001_smile
 
No with a grower from Nicaragua, companies kinda take it seriously when you start talking about how much of what is getting shipped.

I couldn't tell you off the top of my head of any lounges that sell cigars from General, Swedish Match or STG...Ive seen them collecting dust in many shops. The reason those cigar companies are so big is because of convenient store and grocery store sales they amount for the largest percentage of cigar sales.

And yeah whats still stopping those shops are taxes...Not many states are tobacco friendly and so the state tax they have to pay just to have those cigars in the store prevents competition online. But purchasing from b&m at least helps the cause...unless its the b&m arm of places like ci,jr,thompson,famous.
 
I didnt say they use so much, just a surprising amount...I was surprised that it was any at all.
 
Can't fault Fuente, they roll a great stick. I doubt they have lvls of quality and just ship. A friend of mine was one of the first rollers of Hemmingways and OpusX, Don Felix Martinez de la Fuente.
 

captp

Pretty Pink Fairy Princess.
I think many of you would be shocked by how much Nicaraguan tobacco is used in the making of your favorite Cuban blends.

Don't know where you get your info from, but to my knowledge all Cuban cigars are Puros, i.e. they are all Cuban tobacco.
 
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