So, the girlfriend gave me a belated birthday present: Totally surprised me, since I don’t normally smoke cigars, but I do like to. I’ve only had a few cigars in my life, so I know nothing about humidors, different types of cigars, etc. Thought this might be a good thread to post up what everyone’s favorites/least favorites/ good bargain cigars/etc. are to help a newb like me, or anyone else wanting to try out some good smokes. With this cheapo humidor, I’ve only started by “seasoning” it. I read about it this morning. Supposed to wipe the interior with a damp cloth, fill the humidor puck with distilled water, and place a damp towel at the bottom of the case (on a piece of plastic wrap), and keep it damp for 24 hours. Does this sound right? It kind of makes sense, just don’t know if it’s necessary.
Oh, almost forgot. I went to pick up a cutter from the tobacco store here, and picked up one of these too: CAO Gold Robusto.
Don't use water!! Use Propylene Glycol instead for the humidifier. On the Cigar side, I would go with the Hemingway Short Story from Aruto Fuente, great smoke, and it doens't require 3 hrs to smoke!
Don't use PG! Use distilled water and something that's MEANT to humidify your cigars using ONLY distilled water. Those PG foams are good until they get loaded with PG solution. PG doesn't evaporate like water does, so you'll find eventually the foam is full of PG and not humidifying right. Also make sure to season that humidor real well before you buy any super nice/premium cigars to put in there. If you plan to use that creedo humidifier distilled water *SHOULD* work fine. Get yourself a digital hygrometer to check what the RH is, though.
Thanks mindflux. I've already wiped the lining twice with an MF dampened with distilled water. I have a paper towel wetted with water in there right now, sitting on top of a ziplock bag. Just popped the cover to seee what the hygrometer said. 73 degrees and 77% humidity. But the sides are still damp, so no worries. From what I was reading, 70/70 is ideal. I think before I buy any real nice cigars, I will get a better humidor. This one came free with the 8 sample cigars.
Sounds like you're on the right track. I prefer my RH at 65%, too many burn problems at 70% RH. Come on over to if you feel like talking cigars.
Yep. Spanish cedar shelving in a wine fridge. I have it temperature controlled to 65 degrees and RH controlled to 65% RH. Those black pantie hose are full of silica beads that regulate the humidity. P.S Cigar Buying Addiction (CBA) is as bad, if not worse than detailing product purchasing.
I'll check it out! So if someone were to say to you "I want to get into cigars, but dont' know where to start. I have $50 to try out some budget stuff", what would you recommend? I don't want to start getting into $10 cigars until I get a better humidor.
Get over on CA and introduce yourself and go into the inmate processing area over there and ask to be added to a newbie sampler trade and read the directions. The gist of it: You send a veteran of the board 5 cigars of your picking, in return he sends you 5 (or more) cigars of his choosing. It's a good way to try some other stuff. Granted you don't have very much right now you can hold off on doing the "NST" (newbie sampler trade) until later. As for cigars to try now: Arturo Fuente Curlyhead Deluxe (fantastic $3 dollar cigar) Tatuaje Angeles CAO L'Anniversario Camaroon (I'm not a maduro cigar fan, so I recommend camaroon) Rocky Patel Blue Label (spicy, peppery) You might find the Tatuaje and the RP to be approaching the $10/cigar territory.
Yeah, I definitely don't have enough to send out anything really. I'm gonna be registering over there in the next couple days. Same username. I'll have to check out those Arturo Fuente Curly Head Deluxe. The first real cigar I smoked was a genuine Cuban Cohiba. If I had to guess which one from pictures, I would say it was a robusto. DAMN it was smooth with just a hint of sweet. I remember taking it out on my deck with a glass of Jameson, thinking "why did he get me a cigar? I dont' smoke cigars..." Then about halfway through, I thought, "why DON'T I smoke cigars???"
CoRo's (What we call Cuban Cohiba Robusto's on Asylum) would knock you on your ass if you smoked the whole thing. That's one STRONG stick. Lots of tobacco there. Lots of Ligero (most potent part of the tobacco plant leaf/top of plant leafs). My friend in Jersey smoked a CoRo a couple years back, he got so sick from it he actually vomited. Then he proceeded to say it was the best cigar he'd had in a LONG time. HA HA
Looks like I was wrong on both counts. It wasn't a robusto, and it was courvoisier I was drinking. Here's a pic I had taken with my phone and sent it to a buddy of mine.
Piramides are nice... however, judging by the spacing on the dots on that band I would find the cigar highly suspect of it's authenticity. Granted I didn't smoke it, can't feel it or see anything else out of the ordinary I will say the #1 most counterfeited Cuban cigar in the world is Cohiba, and they always managed to really screw up the band. See how even the spacing is here? And how there's a black "border" over the top most row of dots? And how even the dots are spaced vertically? Compare the dots/border to yours. The gold box around the word "Cohiba" is too thick too. I'm not trying to be a buzzkill, and I can only hope it was legitimate. I just hate to see people get excited about smoking Cubans.. only to discover they aren't. Granted.. one of the sayings on CA is "well, it's cuba.." meaning their QC isn't the greatest, but the one thing they try to keep consistent is bands/warranty seals.
Yeah, I hate to say it, but after about half of the cigar, I put it out, and threw it away. It was my first cigar, and I didn't really have the time when I started smoking it. I'll take a better photo of the band if you wish. Most everything I saw about it screamed legitimate. But, I can't really be sure. I'm no expert.
Don't worry about it. It's what we do over on CA, scrutinize. I think nearly everyone I know has ended up with a fake at some point.
