SmokyFontaine

Stud: Upmann Royal Robusto (BRE JUN17). Love Upmanns. I like them a lot more than Conny A's even. Honorable mention Stud: Cohiba Siglo I/II. For what they are, they're just nice. Too short to really be anything fascinating, but I've pulled graham cracker out of these more than anything else, and equate it as one of the truly unique cigars around. Dud: RyJ Short Churchill (TOU FEB18). Every single one has been an absolute partial birth abortion of a fatherless dog. 2/3 I've cut 1.5" off to get past a terrible, unsmokeable start, only to watch them unravel, still not burn, or devolve into some other version of a horror movie. Twice now I've gotten so pissed off trying to smoke one that I literally threw it across my yard, while saying very hurtful things about both Romeo AND Julieta's chastity and lineage. I could go on for an hour on how disgusted I have been with this box. Hands down the worst cigars I've ever tried to smoke. I'd take a Swisher from the trunk of a car parked in the desert for 6mos before I'd get another Short Churchill. I didn't buy it from FOH, and will never purchase the cigar blind again (or maybe ever). Rob always points to this one as an example of a bad blind buy and now I couldn't agree more. Honorable mention dud: Monte No 2 (LMB APR18. It's been anywhere between unpleasant and bad. I once heard someone refer to the Monte profile as "wet ashtray" and that description has stuck with me ever since. Just unimpressed with that cigar. Monte 4's have been marginally better, but I think it's safe to say that's just not a marca to my liking.

Here's one that just occurred to me - What would happen if you clipped the head, lit it, and smoked through the foot? I suspect you run the risk of unraveling, and there is the strong potential for dogs and cats to befriend one another, but other than that, would it smoke the same and taste normal?

Everyone talks about drink pairings with cigars - do you ever eat while smoking a cigar? It sounds pretty gross to me, but hell, I've learned all kinds of wacky stuff here.

Just had my first Arturo Fuente Anejo. From description, it's basically an Opus X with a maduro wrapper. My God. Changed my world. Top 5 best cigar I've ever had. Absolute flavor explosion, flawless construction, gorgeous presentation. It was the equivalent of a great steak and lobster meal. I felt full after I smoked it. Just delicious. I've guessed horribly wrong in buying a box without ever trying one first, but with the Anejo, I guessed incredibly well. Great, great cigar.

Another easy one for me. 3 movies from the Matrix, 1.5 were good. 9 core movies from Star Wars, and 4.5 of them were good. Plus the lore, the childhoods they played a roll in. I mean, for me, this should be a 90/10 split in favor of keeping Star Wars.

Definitely Monte for me. The best I've had was mediocre and wouldn't have been smoked to the halfway point if it was a NC. They turn into construction disasters, or as I read by a reviewer here once, taste like "wet ashtray". That was the best description I've ever heard, and nail it precisely. Fortunately I only have two 10-ct boxes (Monte 2 and Monte 4), but I suspect those will be the first and last. My favorite on that list is hands down Upmann. Even a "meh" stick is better than most other good ones to me. Smooth and refined all the way through.

Sounds like it's a real split between "nothing and enjoy every second of it" and consume some sort of media (music, TV, whatever). I've been trying to do a little writing while I smoke, whether it's journal, short story, or the like, or I've also been feeling the itch to go back and start doing stand-up comedy in my little area, so I've been also looking to jot down a few joke ideas, re-visit a dozen times and see if they still strike me as funny while not on the patio smoking a cigar Hands down though, I most enjoy a cigar when I've got some friends over and just BS for a couple of hours. Thanks for the feedback everyone!

This describes me to a T. Started smoking in late 2016 as work stresses were getting out of hand and I needed some mental downtime. Started with (may God forgive me) flavored Drew Estate Acid cigars, then quickly moved on to non-flavored. Smoking once a month maybe, I found myself getting thrown around pretty hard with nicotine bombs like Oliva Serie V's, but as I came to appreciate flavors, I found myself drawn to leather, bit of spice, but especially earth/pasture. Hello Nicaragua. Padron, My Father, Oliva, more Padron, expensive Padron... Then on a business trip I was flying through Dubai and purchased a 5er of Siglo II's and 3 Partagas Serie D's. Bought them at about $14US per stick which was on par with some of the Padrons I was purchasing. Really enjoyed the Siglo. Got some unique flavors. Found them to be milder than I had grown used to, but for a treat, I enjoyed them. Serie D impressed me less, but I assumed I was done until my next international trip, if for no other reason than a $14 stick is a little rich for a frequent smoke for me. Then the Internet caught me. FOH as a community hooked me, and I started purchasing many of the usual suspects that people rave about. Conny A, RASS, PLPC, Monte's at prices waaay better than $14ea. Physical quality, condition of the cigars, nothing but happy. Lovely appearing cigars. FOH cares about quality, and this is clear. But experience with CC has been a very mixed bag. I just can't get past the unpredictable nature of them. I could smoke the same one a week apart and have one burn like a champ, taste terrific, and the next be an absolute turd. Whether plugged, non-flammable, or just not tasting right. I am still in the process of tinkering with rH, temp, dryboxing and other variables, but for now, about half the time I feel like it was a sub-par experience. With a high-end NC, 1/25 might do that to me. If it's something like...you guessed it, a Padron, it's more like 0/50. I'm young in the journey, and as it's still a novelty and I have new stuff to try, I probably smoke 70/30 CC:NC right now, but I think once I get settled in, it will be a fairly even blend of the two. The richness of a great Nicaraguan, with that strong pasture flavor just gets me feeling cozy. The, sweetness, hay, vegetal notes, so uniquely Cuban. I hold them as equals. It's that damn consistency problem that makes me (so far) prefer the NC experience. Having said that, I've got a cab of PLPC in the air from FOH, and a HUHC waiting to join it. I fully plan on continuing the journey.

If for nothing else than the first Iron Man and both Deadpool movies, give me Marvel. James Bond was fun, but I've been a superhero geek for as long as I can remember, and Marvel is just simply the best in the game at this point. Humor, action, heartstring moments. Yah, I'm with Marvel.

As long as the Oregon Ducks fall flat on their faces and are exposed as a poorly coached, hype-driven program, then my entire college football year is made. The rest are just details.

As someone who always feels like time is a premium (yah, I'm one of those weirdos who can't stand the fact that I have to sleep, and would rather just make it on 3-4hrs so I can do other stuff I consider more worthwhile) I have a hard time sitting down for a smoke, and doing absolutely nothing. I'll usually bring a book or the newspaper, I'll light a cigar, then fart around on my phone for the hour+ it takes to smoke. Reading about that particular cigar, reviews, new cigars to try. That's great for the first 1-2 times trying a new one. After that, it devolves into a silly waste of time on the Internet/social media. It takes away the relaxation if I feel like I'm useless while I do it. So to you seasoned veterans, do you have any go-to activities while you smoke, beyond just sitting back and staring at the sky? That has a time and place for me as well, but if I'm smoking 2-3 times a week I have a hard time fully enjoying it if I'm mentally and physically idle!

On the NC side, exactly where I would go (although I'd go a no. 6 or something, I think that's the robusto size). On the CC side, RASS. That fruity yet earthy garden kind of flavor I get would be an interesting twang to offset the richness of the Padron.

Well, if you read the fine print in the restraining orders against me, apparently quite often!

I'm assuming this is one of those instances where it's socially acceptable to say, "send nudes"?

The only reason I even paused was because film and book is combined, but so many of my childhood memories were tied to the Star Wars universe, I've gotta keep Star Wars. Yes, even Jar-Jar Binks.