Suggestions for increasing experience

[EarwaxUK]

Hi all

My journey into the world of cigars is still pretty new but I've tried a few different sticks now and I'm looking for suggestions for new ones.
At the moment, and for the foreseeable future, I tend to buy individual cigars, or no more than 2 or 3. The main reason is money - as much as I'd love to have one of those lovely boxes of 10 or 25 cigars, my budget really doesn't stretch that far.

I'm looking to broaden my palette and develop my knowledge a bit, hence asking for some recommendations. I'm after pretty much anything so long as it's available in singles or small quantities, and is not painfully expensive. Cubans and non-Cubans please, light, full bodied... anything you think that a relatively new cigar smoker should try to increase their experience and train their palette. To give you somewhere to start my recent smokes (listed in order of preference) have been:

• Punch Coronation
• Monetcristo Petit Tubos
• Don Ramos No 3 (Honduran)
• RyJ No 2

Cheers!

[Horsebox]

Bolivar no 3. I've tried the Don Ramos you mentions and enjoyed it, though preferred the Boli 3. A good flavour (stronger than Don Ramos) but not as hefty as say a Blackmarket Punk, which looking back was too strong for my current tastes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[EarwaxUK]

Thanks Horsebox, I'll definitely give one a whirl.
Sure I had one in a sampler a few years ago when I first tried a few cigars.

I have to say I enjoyed the Don Ramos. Quite light overall, but it had lots of flavour and was good value too.
I've had various Cubans before but I've almost no non-Cuban experience.

[ValeTudoGuy]

Trinidad Reyes, Montecristo 4 & 2, ERdM Demi Tasse, Boli PC (Careful can be strong), H Upmann Half Corona, Hoyo Petit Robusto, Jose L Piedro (Any), Partagas Shorts, Por Larranaga Montecarlos, Punch Margaritas, RASS or RASCC, RyJ Petit Princess.

Enjoy

[Simon G]

Expensive, but you should try a Behike 52 at some point. I tried one about 6months+ after starting cigars and it hit the nail right on the head for me. As a noob it's good to try a few different cigar profiles out, see what takes your fancy: mild, strong, Spicey, peppery, sweet, espresso, coffee bean, toasted caramel. There are so many cigars with different profiles. It takes a bit if focus to realise what flavours come from certain cigars. Try not to get into reviews too much, they're a good guide, but I was disappointed more often than not after reading reviews, buying and trying. It's all so v personal, your likes/dislikes. Also, take cigars slowly, two puffs or so every minute. Let the cigar burn at it's own rate. When forced they'll burn hot, destroying flavour and becoming harsh.
atb

[EarwaxUK]

Thanks guys - this is a great list to get started with.

Any recommendations for non-Cubans?

[Horsebox]

Arturo Fuente Short Story is another one I really enjoyed over last weekend.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ValeTudoGuy]

NC's to some degree, get a list of some big names put them on a piece of paper on a wall and then throw a dart at it.

Once you hit a brand, do the same again with their sub brands / vitolas/ wrapper differentials...... Etc.

Once you narrow it down like this, burn all the paper and go smoke a cuban. Lol

[Matt Wall]

You're very much on the path that I was on about 4 months Earwax (sorry I don't know your name) and we're all still learning so it's good you're asking questions. I found that there's no shortcut to finding the right cigar for you, as everyone experiences different flavours from a stick, however cigar brands can certainly be classified by a distinct background flavour, it's then about finding the vitola in that brand that you like and that all comes down to trying them. I still haven't found the perfect stick but you just have to keep trying all the time haha

I do however recommend Por Larranaga and Montecristo if you like sweeter cigars, the Petit Corona by Por Larranaga is very good imo and you can't go wrong with a Monte No. 4. Bolivar are nice if you like strong cigars and Punch are good if you like spicy, dark fruited cigar. One of my favourite brands is H Upmann, very consistent and they have that sweeter/nutty profile that I really enjoy.
One thing however I have found (in admittedly my very short experience with cigars) is that you get what you pay for. I have had some many cheap NC sticks that just haven't done it for me and then left me thinking "why did I buy that?!". If I had to give one piece of advice it's that just that extra bit of cash does go a long way. I mean there are some very good cheaper sticks out there such as the Oliva Serie V range but the "cheap but decent" cigar line doesn't come around very often.
As expensive as they are I would buy just two Cohiba's (perhaps a Robusto, a BHK 52 or Siglo IV) put them in your humidor to give them a little bit of age and then go around trying different quality brands until you find the flavours you like, then try one of the Cohiba's later on in your cigar journey and see what you think; that way you have something to compare them to. If you don't like the Cohiba's then great, it's less money you have to spend but unfortunately I think most of us on here do enjoy a nice Cohiba, haha

For NC brands I would say Fuente, Oliva and Padron are the ones to go with, I've had so many crappy other NC cigars that you end up kicking yourself for buying just because it was cheap.

Hope that helps and hope you enjoy you cigar experience pal!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Matt Wall]

Sorry for the long message but I felt as I had some of the same questions as you when I started out only a little ago, I thought I would try and share some of my limited experience to help you manage your budget. Being a student I too have such budget problems and so I know what it feels like to begrudgingly splash out ?30 on a cigar, it pains me to do it but I think in the long run it'll be worth it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ValeTudoGuy]

Certainly try some expensive sticks, but please dont put all your faith in expensive brands and sticks. For example I have only had a couple great Cohiba but loads of great Monte and Partagas so for me the premium for Cohiba is rarely worth it.

My most consitently excellent sticks have been PL Montecarlos which is about as cheap as CC's get and Dip 3's which are sadly no longer available but they were hardly premium either.

[EarwaxUK]

NC's to some degree, get a list of some big names put them on a piece of paper on a wall and then throw a dart at it.
Once you hit a brand, do the same again with their sub brands / vitolas/ wrapper differentials...... Etc.
Once you narrow it down like this, burn all the paper and go smoke a cuban. Lol

Lol!

Thanks for all the advice guys. It's a bit of a minefield really but I think it's relatively hard to go wrong so long (so long as you stick with trusted retailers etc).

I keep looking at photos and videos on peoples humidors to see what they've got and it's amazing when you see people with large 100+ capacity humidors chock full of cigars - it makes me wonder how they afford it! The day my 25 capacity humi is full I think I'll feel like I've won!

And thanks for the long reply Matt, it's very helpful!

[nplymouth]

What Matt said - I would add to this that when you find a brand, the next step is to keep your eyes wide open during every visit abroad... I had samplers and got my favourite newbie feeling from partagas. I saw a box of aristocrates in a duty free for ?80 and bought them on the spot... Then I locked them away, one every 4 months... I figured they got better with age so next time I went back, I got another box to keep for longer... That's how my journey "really" started!

As everyone else has said, try different brands as often as you can... Learn to enjoy them!

But most importantly enjoy!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sheppsea]

Suggestions for increasing experience

I would recommend trying the Petit Coronas-ish sizes in the various brands - that will give you an idea of the profiles and what you like/don't like - and they won't break the bank - my personal recommendations would be:

Montecristo No. 4 (not exactly my favourite cigar but a true classic)
Por Larranaga Petit Corona
Sancho Panza Non Plus
Trinidad Reyes
Cohiba Siglo II
Ramon Allones Small Club Coronas
Bolivar Petit Corona (surprisingly to myself I haven't actually smoked one of these, but they are well thought of and Bolivar is possibly my favourite brand)

Not necessarily my favourite cigars but I think these would be a good starting point - most brands have cigars in roughly this size so you might want to think about trying as many as you can:

http://www.cubancigarwebsite.com/list.aspx?&specialtype=Current_Production;&commonname=;Petit_Corona;&includeimages=True&sortorder=noorder

(hopefully the link works!)

[ACMCC]

I agree with sheppsea above, and would add a couple more you could add to the list...
Jaun Lopez PC
H.Upmann PC
Hoyo Petit Robusto
San Cristobal el Principe
El Rey del Mundo PC

These with the above should be enough to allow you to form an opinion on your preferred brands, then move on to others in the brands..