How did you get into cigars?

[Sadden]

Well , some friends and I all got into the hobby together. Back in highschool we all started out on the gas station crap (you name it we tried it). Then a good friend and BOTL went to cuba for vacation and brought back some fauxhibas. I still remember standing out on my deck , trying to work on a faux RYJ Churchill , it burned like crap , made me sick (wonder why) , it was windy and cold.

After we came to our senses we all realized we enjoyed the camaraderie , and started going to the local place. It was a small gift shop that sold cigars out of a "humidor". We were paying $35/stick for stuff like Rocky Patel 1992s etc. The cigars were always dry but we enjoyed the experience of having real cigars nonetheless.

I bought a small desktop from there (needless to say it leaked like a sieve). Filled it with mostly overpriced CC's and some also overpriced NC's (this is Canada). Found out about online vendors , and bought an aristocrat.

Now a BOTL from a cigar club I am in based out of Calgary , opened up a franchise up here. They have a nice big walk in humidor , and even humidified cabinets for the gas station crap.

I frequent there. But buy most of my collection online nowadays for about 1/7th the cost. Those two BOTL's and I still get together for a smoke at least once a week when we can. And they are coming to North Carolina with me in April to be my groomsmen.

[CdnStogie]

Originally Posted by Sadden

Well , some friends and I all got into the hobby together. Back in highschool we all started out on the gas station crap (you name it we tried it). Then a good friend and BOTL went to cuba for vacation and brought back some fauxhibas. I still remember standing out on my deck , trying to work on a faux RYJ Churchill , it burned like crap , made me sick (wonder why) , it was windy and cold.

After we came to our senses we all realized we enjoyed the camaraderie , and started going to the local place. It was a small gift shop that sold cigars out of a "humidor". We were paying $35/stick for stuff like Rocky Patel 1992s etc. The cigars were always dry but we enjoyed the experience of having real cigars nonetheless.

I bought a small desktop from there (needless to say it leaked like a sieve). Filled it with mostly overpriced CC's and some also overpriced NC's (this is Canada). Found out about online vendors , and bought an aristocrat.

Now a BOTL from a cigar club I am in based out of Calgary , opened up a franchise up here. They have a nice big walk in humidor , and even humidified cabinets for the gas station crap.

I frequent there. But buy most of my collection online nowadays for about 1/7th the cost. Those two BOTL's and I still get together for a smoke at least once a week when we can. And they are coming to North Carolina with me in April to be my groomsmen.

The prices are awesome here in Canada - couple weeks ago I wanted to try a couple cigars before I dive in (BFF and a PLPC) and it was just shy of $60.00.

[WhiteMamba]

So two summers ago I was a groomsman in my buddies wedding. The best man got a box of H. Upmann toros. It was the first thing I ever smoked in my life. I gave in since most guys at the seminary I go to smoke any way. It was quite enjoyable. After that I started the cheap route and got a bundle of Bahia B-line Connecticut's and stored them in a tupradoor with a damp paper towel. I finally got wise and got a small glass top 20ct from CI with some RyJ's and Macanudos. From there I found the devil site and this place and it was all down hill from there. Now I have a cooler and keep the desk top for show in the living room. I haven't smoked a Bahia in forever and probably never will. I still like Upmann's and this place has certainly gotten me more into maduros and DE stuff. Never cared for Acids or flavored stuff though. Also, recently have gotten into pipes over the past few months. It is just as slippery a slope as cigars.

[8zeros]

My Dad and Grandpa were pipe smokers. I was a cigarette smoker in my teens. I quit cigs but I used to puff cigars still. I don't even remember what kind, except one was Swishers. In the 80s I used to grab cigars from a local liquor store, Macanudo, Punch, RyJ, Partagas, that kind of stock. Nicely kept humidor. I smoked about one or two a week, handed some out to buddies. Then I occasioned to travel overseas on business. I brought back a box or two of CCs now and again and passed them around. Then in the late 90s I met a neighbor who was more into the different brands and flavors and we would sit around and exchange smokes. Then I found the internet in the 2000s and ended up with more than I can smoke for the next 15 years. Now I'm just working that pile down and trying not to impulse buy everything I read about here.

[Ashcan Bill]

When I was a senior in high school, (or maybe a junior - that was a while back ) a bunch of us would drive down to the Huntington Beach pier and spend the night pier fishing and screwing around on the beach. We'd stop at a liquor store and grab whatever consumables we'd need, and one time I grabbed a pack of the old wooden tipped Tiparillos. That must have been around '69 or '70. Had no idea at the time it was the beginning of a long term affair.

[Remo]

Smoked backwoods back in the day when I would fish, then had a nice cigar off and on over the years, was in Orlando in 2008 and me and some guys grabbed some Macanudo's and sat out by the pool drinking and smoking, just got me hooked, kicked around until I found this place and it was all she wrote

[Porch Dweller]

Originally Posted by Remo

Smoked backwoods back in the day when I would fish, then had a nice cigar off and on over the years, was in Orlando in 2008 and me and some guys grabbed some Macanudo's and sat out by the pool drinking and smoking, just got me hooked, kicked around until I found this place and it was all she wrote

Some people criticize Macanudos, but there's a large amount of smokers that cut their teeth on them.

[hammondc]

Had them on and off for years. WHen I bought my first house, a co-worker gave me a small humidor filled with a Thompsons Sampler (complete with the green iguana cigar).

[noxumbra]

For me it was a mix between a job change and new coworkers who loved cigars, and trying to cozy up to my future father-in-law who was a daily cigar smoker.

I wish I could remember what my first stick was, I remember walking into a local B&M and asking for a recommendation for my first stick. I went home and smoked it, it was beyond wonderful and great introduction to the hobby.

[kingcobradude]

Buddy in college gave me a factory seconds my freshman year of college. Down the slope I went

[Buckeye Jack]

In 1997, when I was 19, I was going to be the best man at my best friend (since we were 5)'s wedding. I got the stripper (which was terrible! Never let a 19 year old get a stripper, no experience in what to order at all!!!) and another of our friends got a box of machine made Tinder Box brand cigars (same as above, NEVER let a 19 year old pick out a box of cigars! lol). But, I actually liked it. I think I probably liked just the fact that it was an adult type of thing to do....smoke a cigar.

Week later, he asked me what I wanted as a gift for being his best man. I told him to go buy us a couple of decent cigars and we would enjoy them together......he bought two Ashton Magnums. That was it, the cigar that hooked me. Loved that cigar.....and still enjoyed them for many years after....until my tastes started changing.

Back in the late 90's I found the usenet newsgroup cigar board ASC. Read and tried everything I could get my hands on. Opus were the huge thing and the BOOM cigar were everywhere!! Worked my way thru about 4 other boards here and there. Was a Fuente whore for a long time. Went full on habanos about 2004/05 and have been there ever since. I do still smoke occasional Fuente stuff. Hemingway Maduro's and Anejo when I do. But my experimental days are over....I know what I like now.

And as a side note, my wife has a cigar with me damn near every night after the kids go to bed. She likes the Fuente green band stuff......but...she did just ask me to find her a box of Party shorts this week.....

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Jack

but...she did just ask me to find her a box of Party shorts this week.....

Ruh roh.

[shark]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Jack

In 1997, when I was 19, I was going to be the best man at my best friend (since we were 5)'s wedding. I got the stripper (which was terrible! Never let a 19 year old get a stripper, no experience in what to order at all!!!) and another of our friends got a box of machine made Tinder Box brand cigars (same as above, NEVER let a 19 year old pick out a box of cigars! lol). But, I actually liked it. I think I probably liked just the fact that it was an adult type of thing to do....smoke a cigar.

Week later, he asked me what I wanted as a gift for being his best man. I told him to go buy us a couple of decent cigars and we would enjoy them together......he bought two Ashton Magnums. That was it, the cigar that hooked me. Loved that cigar.....and still enjoyed them for many years after....until my tastes started changing.

Back in the late 90's I found the usenet newsgroup cigar board ASC. Read and tried everything I could get my hands on. Opus were the huge thing and the BOOM cigar were everywhere!! Worked my way thru about 4 other boards here and there. Was a Fuente whore for a long time. Went full on habanos about 2004/05 and have been there ever since. I do still smoke occasional Fuente stuff. Hemingway Maduro's and Anejo when I do. But my experimental days are over....I know what I like now.

And as a side note, my wife has a cigar with me damn near every night after the kids go to bed. She likes the Fuente green band stuff......but...she did just ask me to find her a box of Party shorts this week.....

LOL! Ashton Magnums were my very first full box purchase. I might still have the empty box lying around somewhere

[ripper]

A Marsh Wheeling Stogie at my grandpa's drugstore in Homestead PA. He had a constant gas flame at the cigar counter for steelworkers coming in from US Steelworks No. 1 mill across the street. I was 12. That was 1962. Marsh Wheeling cigars, started in 1840, are still around, made by National Cigar Corp. in Frankfort IN.
Have a photo of me and high school girlfriend heading to the prom. I've just lit a House of Windsor Palma with a candela wrapper.

[shark]

I didn't really get serious about cigars until the mid-1990's. I was in Key West one evening in 1996 when I came across a small cigar shop on Duval St. that had an open air area outside with bins of cigars. The owner hooked me up with a nice handmade Dominican house blend cigar. That was my first hand-made, and it was excellent! After that, I was hooked....

[pattersong]

A life changing and enlightening experience at Casa Fuente in Vegas. Stumbled on the place while in Vegas by complete chance. Walked in completely clueless, walked out feeling like I had just found God.

[omahaorange]

Been a long time cigarette smoker. Only got serious about cigars a couple months ago, though I always kept a pack of convenience store cigars in my tackle box (the smoke seemed to keep the bugs at bay) and would have an occasional one at a wedding or on the porch in the summer time. In December I discovered a local tobacco shop. They mostly cater to the make-your-own cigarette crowd, but has a large humidor with a nice selection of higher end cigars. Bought a couple just to try. Then for Christmas my daughter bought me a Maker's Mark. I enjoyed it, then went back to the local shop to try a few more. Last month the wife brought home a Thompson catalog. I leafed through it, then went to their Web site, explored some more, and made a couple orders. She is okay with it, so I'm good to go. I will continue to visit the B&M, owners are nice and very helpful.

[afranco]

After graduation 2003 smoked a cohiba red dot enjoyed.. Smoked a few here and there, dropped it. Last 2 yrs picked it up seriously. Wife surprised me with a wineador been filling it up since she supports it !!. Now my wife smokes cigars ! Its just enjoying relaxing..

[idrankwhat]

I smoked cigarettes many years ago when I was in the Air Force then quit cold turkey. Later smoked a pipe for a while and eventually gave that up. About a year ago my local beer shop and brewery installed humidors and started selling cigars. The brewer who was a friend of mine and had got me started home brewing said how much he enjoyed a cigar with a beer so I tried it. That got me into Cigars. Still a newbie and trying to figure out what I like. Just got some Rocky Patel Ligero to try out today. Not sure when I'm going to smoke them but looking forward to it.

[cjhalbrooks]

I was deployed and a buddy gave me a few cigars. He was the cigar guy that deployment. Anyway I enjoyed them, I bought a box soon after. Then when I came home I took a 3 year brea. It wasn't till I came home from my 2nd deployment that I really started to smoke Cigars. Rockey Patel edge