How did you get started?

[Wilzc]

One of my summer flings was a really classy lady who was into her cigars. Got me hooked! Never turned back


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[multi-useless]

Groupon deal of the day in my inbox was 12 cigars for like $25.  I thought "that's the weirdest groupon I've ever seen" and deleted the email but couldn't stop thinking about it - by the end of the day I decided what the hell, for 25 bucks let's give cigars a try.  They were all NC (and really crappy ones at that) but I've been smoking cigars ever since.  5-6 years later, here I am sliding down the CC slope.

[Bords]

Started with Thompson’s and El Credito back in mid 90s, progressed to LGC and then had a RJ ex#4 in Prague, that was it for me. Got hooked up with a good source (“the ladies”) which at the time had insanely good prices. Good old days of $250 cohiba robustos!


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[joshhooper7]

First and foremost, I'm an insanely impulsive person. Once I set my mind to something, it's happening. I smoked my first cigar back in 2013 at my going away party for bootcamp. It was a Fuente something, can't exactly remember. After that party, I went on a vacation to Aruba and brought back a box of D4's with me and started my first little glass top humidor. Didn't keep much in it, mostly just the D4's and some Fuente's from the local BM and a few Opus that I of course had to have because the owner of the BM had explained to me that they were an exclusive limited release and the collector in me wouldn't be able to pass by. After bootcamp I didn't really smoke many cigars for about a year and a half. Fast forward to Feb. 5th 2015 when the Patriots won the super bowl, I dipped back into my humidor and celebrated with a D4. After that, another slump. I began to start to obsess over the idea of having a beautiful cigar collection, and then I found the reddit cigars forum. I went to the B&M here in San Diego, stocked  up on cigars for my verification trade and the rest is history. Two weeks after being verified I went from a 30 count glass top humidor to a 600 count wineador. Another three weeks go by and I got myself macassar ebony drawer inserts from John's Woodworks. It was full of NC aside from the remainder of my D4's (Liga, Fuente, Opus) and then my good friend Dan Schmidt (And also my wifes worst enemy) recommended that we do a box split of strictly Cubans. I was thrilled at the idea and committed, we decided on about 10 boxes to split. After we worked out what we were going to get, he told me, "good thing is, I already have all 10 boxes so there's no need to wait weeks for them to get to the U.S.) I asked how, and he explained to me 24:24. That split gave me my first full drawer of Cubans, (Edmundo, D4's, Punch Punch, HDM Epi 2, RASS, Siglo II, BRC, HUPC, Fonseca 1). After I learned the magic of 24:24 I've never looked back and never entertained another box split again, a full wineador of CC's and a coolerdor full of boxes for aging and my hobby is in full swing! I explained the equity in cigars to my wife and that as a box ages it becomes more valuable than what I paid so she cringes a little less when she sees packages from Australia at our doorstep.

 

Josh

[Derboesekoenig]

4 minutes ago, joshhooper7 said:

explained the equity in cigars to my wife and that as a box ages it becomes more valuable than what I paid so she cringes a little less when she sees packages from Australia at our doorstep.

 

Josh

This is how I justify everything I've purchased....to myself....as If I'd start selling them hahahaha

[joshhooper7]

3 minutes ago, Derboesekoenig said:

This is how I justify everything I've purchased....to myself....as If I'd start selling them hahahaha

Exactly! Well if I need the $300..... I'll just start driving for uber. My stash is sacred!

[ElJefeDeNada]

My grandfather in Denver smoked cigars when I was a kid in the '60s. After dinner, he'd light up, turn on the St. Louis Cardinals game on radio and he'd teach me cribbage, gin and poker. Think he was smoking NC Anthony & Cleopatra at the time, but I found an empty box of H. Upmanns from the '40s with photos of my father in Italy in WWII so I know he was smoking Cubans before the embargo. Regardless, cigars held a wonderful connection for me. My father smoked cigarettes when I was young and pipes as I was older, but a cigar always transported me. 

 

By junior high, my buddies and I would buy Roi-Tan cigars for our "campouts" at each others ranches. Most dropped cigars by college, but I still enjoyed them on hunting weekends by the campfire even if sometimes years apart.

 

It wasn't until another friend returned from Europe with some Romeo y Julieta cedars of some sort that I had my first Cuban in 2012 or so. That was when the lightbulb went off and I realized what a difference there was. I now buy them with a goal of holding them for 3-5 years aging at least. I still have that connection with my grandfather, but there's also the optimism that I'll enjoy these in 5 years, kind of like the old joke about an optimist buying green bananas when you're old. I like the promise of a cigar, of what it should be and what it can be. Life slows down for a good cigar and that's no simple thing.

 

[DeskSmkr]

I wish I could remember more, the pieces I can cobble together: with one of my best friends from high school, we picked up sugar tipped machine roll “swisher sweets” maybe during a day trip to a fishing spot.  We must have seen the cigars at the bait shop and on a whim decided to purchase.  That led to a small cigar box in a resealable plastic bag and floral foam and water/pg for humidity control, stuffed with a handful of mail order long filler hand rolls with an electronic thermometer hygrometer.  Been in and out of the hobby a couple few times over the years, back into it now.  Looking back, sure have come a long way since that first cigar

[RupertPupkin]

I recently posted about this exact topic in an unrelated post.. I remember as a kid always being intrigued by my old man who would smoke a cigar nearly every night after dinner to read the news and unwind. The whole process was intriguing, methodically picking his smoke from the humidor, cutting, lighting.. He used to take us to the cigar shops to stock up and I’ll never forget the first time he opened the walk in humidor and that incredible, sweet smell of tobacco and cedar hit me. You know that smell.. The first time I knew it was going to be a hobby that I would adapt myself was when he offered me a puff of his freshly lit Arturo Fuente (it wasn’t a particularly amazing cigar, but the whole experience was so new and exciting). I relate it to the first time your dad offers you that first beer. As soon as I was of age I began my journey. 

[BeerPimp]

I got started after I went to an alcohol tasting where they hired someone that would roll cigars.   They were actually really good.   It was many years ago and they are still in business.  After that I would buy the occasional cigar.   Then later ran into some friend that were into cigars so I started smoking more and got a humidor.   The last couple of years I have not smoked as much but this year an old friend got into cigars and have been smoking a bunch and finally ordered some CC.

[BellevilleMXZ]

Vacation to Cuba years ago, and here I am!

[amberleaf]

8 minutes ago, BellevilleMXZ said:

Vacation to Cuba years ago, and here I am!

Same. I was a very occasional NC smoker until my missus booked two weeks in Varadero five years ago. Started with an RyJ Mille Fleur and went from there.

[Stogiepuffer]

My JOURNEY began in 1973 in the 8th grade.........with Tiparillos under the Whitestone Bridge in Queens, New York!

I smoked those and some other cherry cigars Highs was selling for 10c a stick back in 79 when I was 12. Is 96 is when I got hooked on the good stuff. H.Upman was my first NC gar.

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