What encouraged you to start your journey with Cuban cigars?

[screamingpope]

For myself it was whilst working at my first job in a slaughterhouse.

The days work was finished and I was cleaning up and the owner came in to pay me (£5 for the day).  He was smoking a cigar. The smell was amazing. "what cigar is that then gov". "that my son is a Punch-punch and if you work hard enough tomorrow I'll give you one"

That was 42 years ago. 

[Nico]

I love that! “If you work hard enough I’ll give you one”. How old were you at the time?

 

My story goes like this. It was summer, no school and all play. Me and my friend were 16 at the time and was curious about smoking in general. We smoked some cigarettes, ****** and a 5pack of Vasco da gama cigars. The cigars weren’t that good but we couldn’t compare it to anything, obviously. We bought a couple of more reitmeister-ish cigars and felt like Kramer or some mafia boss and had our fun. Then my friend had a older friend of legal age who bought some RyJ MF in a real cigar shop and when I smoked it it was a like opening a new door. I remember to this day (10 years ago) the aroma. It was intoxicating. Like some sort of epifani fell upon me.

Next summer when I was 17 me and my friend smoked another handful of cigars and although some tasted better then others I knew this was something I wanted to do from time to time. I mean, It tasted good and made me happy.

The day after I turned 18 I went into a cigar shop and bought my first humidor, a monte2 and a RyJ Churchill, and the rest is history. I kept stacking up on different cubans when I had some money to spend and do to this day. The only thing I regret is wasting 1 day before buying the humidor . But hey, some get into this hobby when they’re 30 or 40+ of age so I count myself lucky I found this hobby so young.

 

Okaaay, one word there got censored for some reason. Wired if you ask me but I respect it. All I can say is that it wasn’t weed or anything illegal. Just another form of tobacco.

 

 

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[SignalJoe]

The aroma of quality tobacco burning was always intoxicating to me.  It was something I always meant to try and of course by try I meant dive in to head first.  However other hobbies had my income tied up.  When I got orders from my doting Uncle Sam to deploy with a month of training in Hohenfels Germany first I figured it was an opportunity to start I couldn't pass up.  I would have access to authentic Cubans and better still I could actually walk through habanos laden humidors at multiple cigar stores.  My first stop the moment I got off post was a cigar store in Nuremburg where I purchased an RyJ No. 2 at the recommendation of the owner.  I have been gleefully watching my disposable income go up in aromatic blueish gray smoke since that day in November 2005.  

[zeedubbya]

My Aunt bought me and my cousin swisher sweets when we’re probably 10 or so and I recall smoking them under the table at Fort Wilderness Campground in Walt Disney World. Sucking the juice out of oranges and smoking swisher sweets. When we were 12 years old my cousin used to call cigar manufacturers in Miami and pretend to be an angry older man. Those companies would send us cigars. I recall getting packages addressed to Mr. Ainwep and Mr. Treebore. We smoked those and got a throw up buzz. How times have changed...possibly for the better of our youth, or maybe not...

 

Anyway fast forward 10 years or so and I bought my first “Cubans” in Windsor and got really green from them. Might have been fakes. Then I worked around a few well off cigar smokers as an Intern in a lobbying firm in College. There was a small cigar shop near our firm and people would get us Cubans from time to time. The D4s they would get were marvelous cigars. Early 90s if I recall right. We would get Bolivars which were too powerful. I really despised most Punch cigars until I split a Cabinet of Ninfas with a friend who went to France. I think they were about $250 or so. After that I discovered RG Lonsdales, which were very inexpensive, and really enjoyed them. I built a small collection but never took it seriously. I loved those Ninfas, RG Lonsdales, D4s and the occasional Lusitania. These were the cigars that put their hooks into me.

 

My cousin owns a shop now (his dream!) and although I really like some NC offerings Cubans are my passion. I attribute it mostly to getting those cigars in College.

 

 

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[HabanosNJGuy]

My first premium cigar was in 1996 after the New York Yankees won the World Series.  It was a Leon Jimenes and it was fantastic.  My interest in cigars waxed and waned over the next 20 years, almost all NCs.  Last year I visited a cigar shop in Cozumel where I bought a few Cuban singles.  I didn't know what I was buying, how overpriced they were, etc. I knew nothing about box dates, factory codes, aging. (I kicked myself when I later learned there was a LCDH on the island.) I left the shop with a HdM E2, RASS, Siglo III, RyJ Short Chruchills, Choix Supreme, Monty No. 3, Open Junior.  They were all fantastic and unlike anything I had tried in the past (except for the open). 

This peaked my interest and I started doing some research.  I found the Dr. Joe Show, which became my foundation.  This lead to other online vendors and CCW.  Eventually I found my way over here, made my first 24:24 and CUNTINT purchases.  The rest as they say ....

[Goose]

Dec 31 2014 - Partagas P2. 

Wife was visting her folk in Pakistan and I couldn't be bothered to head out for any NYE celebrations. I decided i'll buy a nice cigar on a whim (had Phillies before then) and sit out on the balcony and kill time. Absolutely hooked since then and the NYE cigar has now become a tradition. 

[screamingpope]

Great posts guys

Nicole I was 16 when I started in the slaughterhouse. No strict employment law then. After that it was the Army for me. Then you could smoke in the mess. So many good night's with mates in Germany and around the world.

What a shock when back in the UK to discover the price of Cuban cigars. Outrageous!

Edited December 10, 2017 by screamingpope
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[kalibratecuba]

I have bought Cubans for years whenever I had time to shop and buy them in duty free shops. I was by no means a convert. Then one day at a cigar shop in the States, the owner recommended a few online sites and how best to avoid fakes. I wish I had jumped to the end of his list, which was FOH, but in my defense he made this sound like a gentlemen's society.

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[ErikB]

I’d been smoking dutch cigars and when I visited Curacao in ‘95 I smoked my first cuban cigar. I got and still get a thrill from reading the words Havana, Cuba on bands and tubes.


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[Colt45]

I'd smoked cigars for quite some time prior to taking an interest in Havanas. My interest in Cubans was gradual, and I spent much time researching. I received a fiver of Montecristo No.5 as a gift, and when I finally started smoking them, could sense there was something about them. More time and research brought me here.

[SOFLO88]

I've been smoking cigars since I was old enough to. A couple years back, my friends handed me a Party D4 and said here try this. He didnt tell me it was cuban and I didnt know. Another day I sat on my balcony and lit that stick up and the rest is history. I have loved cubans since. 

[Connoisseur Kim]

What an interesting topic! Here goes my story about how did I become a Cuban cigar aficionado.

 

To be honest, I myself have not interested in any tobacco product when I saw Cuban cigars at the age of 18. The facts that Cuban cigars have unique history, each special brand history and classiness (e.g. no inhaling, smoke slowly and enjoy your cigars unlike cigarettes, I have not smoked cigarettes and never would be as they are fast food of tobaccos and not match with mighty CCs) made me fascinated to Cuban cigars getting deeper and deeper. I also found that cigar smoking is almost similar with perfume and single malt whisky review (analysing and reviewing aroma/strength, ageing) that I really love.

 

During that time, I registered Cigar Aficionafo forum for studying about cigars at first but I found it was not enough to satisfy my needs. Then, I found the FOH from mycigarblog and decided to register FOH as a member after smoking Cohiba Siglo ii (below). After that, I never turned back and enjoy new life in this website with friendly members (and Cuban Cigar Website too, thanks to Trevor who is one of our member!).

 

Two years later, I finally smoked Cohiba Siglo II as a first time cigar and I really liked it a lot since it had a lot of character in a small format! After that, I smoked Cohiba Robustos and guess what, not only it really smoked like a dream but also it made me a diehard fan of Cohiba and Cuban cigars overall . Since then, I made my Cuban cigar blog, a plan for cigar tools (Wineador/coolidor, thanks to all members of this forum include John_S, Pigfish, it took a year to complete planning) so that I can share my experiences with others and prepare long term cigar storage for future .

 

Note. I also have an Instagram account (House of Habanos) and feel free to add me if you want.

 

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[zepp69]

I really can't remember my first Cuban. I started out on vegas 5's and the like. I quickly discovered Liga Privada when they were still hard to find and jumped on that wagon. I then discovered Tatuaje and smoked those for a while. The first Cuban I tried was either a gift or I obtained it in a trade. I like cc's and non Cubans alike. Love the HDM DC's and Parti lusis. PSD4's, PLPC's, SLR's. Not a huge fan of LE or RE's I guess because haven't smoked many.

I will be a life long lover of the cc!

[jfire]

I was gifted one on a cigar Forum back in 2008. Ordered a box of Monte 2s the next day.


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[JJlavine4]

I was gifted a CORO from a friend and I was immediately hooked. 

[dominattorney]

My buddy has literally a human sized coffin converted into a humidor, literally filled with Habanos he bought from an online source.  He gifted me one on the 4th of July roughly 5 years ago and I was hooked. We dove through his collection and I took his recommendations, and have never looked back.  The funniest part about being a CC smoker, is that whenever I go into a cigar shop in the states and they ask what I like, I tell them I only smoke Cubans so I have literally no idea (if pressed, Leaf by Oscar, especially the maduro lancero, but frankly the general lot of NCs are daunting and all taste like white pepper to me).  The looks they give are my favorite, and then the lecture about how CCs are terrible cigars, followed by the inevitable recommendation of what "taste the same as a Cuban" are getting to be tedious. 

[Guest Nekhyludov]

36 minutes ago, dominattorney said:

The looks they give are my favorite, and then the lecture about how CCs are terrible cigars, followed by the inevitable recommendation of what "taste the same as a Cuban" are getting to be tedious. 

That's my favorite reaction, too. "CCs are the worst. Here's an $18 NC that tastes like the thing I just said was awful." 

Luckily, there are quite a few NCs that I like, too. So I don't even bother mentioning CCs anymore. 

[earthson]

I was working through different NC, trying to find something I liked a lot, and then someone handed me a recently-released Cohiba Maduro Genios as an extra in a trade.  The flavors were unlike ANYTHING I had ever come across.  Since I was already falling in love with cigars, I was intrigued.  Part forbidden fruit, part epiphany, I traded for 3 Upmann Mag 50s a week or 3 later.  Those were magical - they started the first inch fairly bland (a little salty and a little sweet), and then slowly ramped up in flavor, aroma and strength to a crescendo.  I have never had a Mag 50 like those again.  From there, I hazarded an order of my first Havana box - a 2005 dress box of RASS.  I smoked one of those and I've been hooked ever since.

[dominattorney]

33 minutes ago, Nekhyludov said:

That's my favorite reaction, too. "CCs are the worst. Here's an $18 NC that tastes like the thing I just said was awful." 

Luckily, there are quite a few NCs that I like, too. So I don't even bother mentioning CCs anymore. 

I just left a spot on Colorado springs where they told me that a liga pravada l40 was just like a Cuban cigar. That was a laugh. Just bought my standard padron and enjoyed the ambiance. 

[Connoisseur Kim]

I just left a spot on Colorado springs where they told me that a liga pravada l40 was just like a Cuban cigar. That was a laugh. Just bought my standard padron and enjoyed the ambiance. 

Surprisingly, there are quite large number of people who say CCs are overrated and NC is masterace of cigars as you said (e.g. using magazine like Cigar Aficionado rating as an reference, this NC tastes like Cubans). I am almost laughing when I see someone says that LOL!!

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[Frozen North]

Sadly, the death of my son in 2014. I was looking for some way to try and relax and take my mind of my heartache. The solitude does help. As I almost always smoke alone.

[ElPuro]

So incredibly sorry to hear about your son - that is heartbreaking to hear. 

 

My story is fairly simple. I had been smoking NCs with buddies on special occasions for years. Had a few bad ones in a row, and one of my friends said he was probably done - why smoke if there’s no enjoyment? I agreed, but thought I’d try to understand the differences in cigars, etc. more so that I could make more educated decisions on what to buy. Down the rabbit hole I went...

[cigcars]

        I suppose the quickest most concise way to describe my pursuit of, collection of, and real enjoyment of Habanos was due to the number of times I'd been told "No" in my innocent searching of them here and there. Set me on a mission to collect and acquire massive numbers of them. I'd been a Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibre maduro smoker - all churchill sizes for the longest before my Cuban search mission. After finally getting and enjoying those large collections of them, the Hoyo Excalibres just didn't do it for me anymore. I'm a devoted sharer of my stash with my fellow aficionados and they gave me the same response (if not complaint!) and that was how hard it was to go back to what we were smoking before since being truly spoiled by all that rich and wonderful, tasty Cuban tobacco!

[GotaCohiba]

My entry was due to my Mentor at work, early 2000’s

We were on a business trip to Lyon France and arrived a couple of days early due to flight costs

He says, let’s go have a drink.  That’s the night I was introduced to CC’s and red wine

Still probably the best cigar I’ve ever smoked

Monte 2, house wine overlooking the river

 

 

 

[anton]

while on vacation in turks and   caicos smoked a cohiba  siglo 2 and loved it... came back to the states tried some NC didnt like them and then i started ordering online ....thas how it started