New to cigar smoking

[gazbot]

Although I have occasionally smoked cigars in the past I am now the proud owner of a humidor and accesories and a modest starter collection of cigars.

Firstly words such as Romeo y Jullieta etc...these are brand names correct?

How do I tell the different types of cigars. I know some are more distinctive than others but whats the difference between a petit corona, corona gorda, churchills, lonsdales the coronas all have a similar shape and from what I can make out it seems are they just different in length.

Also torpedo and belicoso look similar to a new boy?

I like nice smoth sweet flavours so what would you suggest I go for (shape, size etc) I like a larger gauge and 6 Inches + length


My current collection consists of:

Luis Martinez Silver selection from what I can tell this looks to be a petit corona?

Quorum Nicaragua hand made looks like a corona?

Te Amo Vintage 99 I would guess a torpedo?

and a couple of Swishers sweets! (figurado?) back from USA. Are the likes of swisher sweets frowned upon by certain people generally?

I really look forward to learning a lot more from those in the know.

Kindest regards


Gareth

[James811]

Yes Romeo is a brand as is Bolivar etc. I suggest just having a browse on cgars (there is a link at the top ) and you'll get a feel for brands and what different sizes there are available, corona is a medium size so a petit corona is one down, a double corona is one up and so on. As far as I know as I'm still quite new myself a Belicoso is the same thing as a torpedo (please correct me if I'm wrong). There was a link put up here a few days back to a good website, that may also be worth a bit of your time. And other questions please ask

[James811]

The link I was talking about is called "good cuban cigar info site" and can be found on the cuban cigar discussion part of the forum. Just have a look around here at some different theads and you'll soon learn a lot. When I first started I watched a guy called Kel on youtube, his channel is called smoke rings pipe dreams. If you search him on youtube and go to his channel he has a playlist called how to smoke a cigar and I found his videos priceless when I started. He's based is America so a lot of brands you won't of heard of just to warn you. Let me know if you check him out, he would be where I go first but the choice is yours. Good luck on your journey

[Agricola]

Size (vitola) is dependant on (for the most part) 3 things,

1: Length

2: Ring gauge (diameter at widest point)

3: Shape

Take this cigar for instance Partagas short,

Length 4.3 inches + Ringauge 42 + shape Parejo = a vitola called minutos or demi corona or tres petit corona.

Now look at this Montecristo no.4,

Length 5.1 inches + Ringauge 42 + shape Parejo = a Vitola called Petit coronas.

It's a little confusing but generally petit corona is used as an umbrella term for cigars that are around 4.3- below 5.5 inches long and 40-42 ring gauge with a Parejo shape. The same cigar but 5.5 inches long would be a Corona. It may seem a little confusing at first but have a butchers at the C.gars site and you'll figure it out.

I would suggest for the guy that likes smooth sweet flavours with larger ring gauge and 6 inches or more in length (that's what she said!) one of these HDM Churchill. Remember the Churchill is a Vitola also that varies in length from manufacturer to manufacturer by small amounts but is generally 6.9 inches in length and a ringauge of 47, have fun!

Agricola

[Andy W]

Hi Gareth welcome to the forum, you will get lots of advice and tips on here, have a look at the Cgars web site as there is lots of good info on there.

[CaptainQuintero]

Everything you'll ever need:

http://cubancigarwebsite.com/

[spirit_of_will]

Everything you'll ever need:

http://cubancigarwebsite.com/

...and cue many hours of idle surfing! It's a great site for info, Trevor does a sterling job keeping it updated.

[monkey66]

Hi and welcome.