re: Let's talk Cigars

Obligatory response

Edit: Damnit.

...Patio

Just a tip from experience and from my brother who is an aficionado. If you buy your sticks from a shop, unless you know the shop well and can guarantee the storage, age your cigars for a couple weeks before lighting. Nothing will ruin a smoke experience more than getting a cigar that is too wet/dry/ or has plugs. Doesn’t matter what the name brand, a cigar stored improperly, or one made shittily will make for a bad smoke. More times than not, the best cigar has not much to do with price, but in condition of the cigar.

Case in point I bought a stick a couple weeks ago i smoked that night at a buddies house. I kept having to massage the plugs out, relighting, and struggling a decent draw out the thing. After about half way I just tossed the cigar.

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kept having to massage the plugs out, relighting, and struggling a decent draw out the thing. After about half way I just tossed the cigar.

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Perfecdraw is a necessary tool for cigar smokers to have. It will fix any plugged cigar and you can use it to tone the draw to your liking.

Ends up saving you money from throwing a cigar away because it's inevitable you'll run into a tight draw.

Cigars....poo fricking woo!!

Lol I think this thread is it. OP updated the thread title. Probably should mimic the whiskey thread title more, but it works fine.

I think there just isn’t much interest on these boards. Cigars must be a very specific crowd that doesn’t do interwebs.

Hell yeah. I'm always up for cigar discussions and I think this is a natural place for them since drink/cigar pairings are a big part of it.

Since the pandemic, I've been working remotely a lot more, which means I've been smoking a lot more during the day. I've been going a lot more to local boutique rollers versus the big labels because they burn cleaner and leave me with much less of an aftertaste/cigar breath. Even got one who rolls custom blends for people. They're more expensive than the typical namebrand stuff ($15-$40 per stick) but it's been worth it.

For morning sticks, I've really been into candelas lately. I know they are frowned upon by lots of aficionados but I love em with my morning coffee and they are really light. For my after dinner stick, I've got this one with a Mexican San Andreas wrapper and a Cuban + Nicaraguan filler. The wrapper is really dark and strong with this big sexy earthy flavor that's got some spice and cocoa notes. And it really takes the edge off.

As for the label stuff- I'm a total Drew Estates fan. The undercrown series is great for value and the Liga L-40, T-52, 9, and UF-13 are all top notch.

For Christmas I got a box of Cohiba Talisman 2017 limited editions. I've smoked 1 and given away 4. Absolutely legendary stick. Top 5 I have ever smoked in my life:

Starts with wiping the wood down generously with a cloth wet with distilled water.

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Starts with wiping the wood down generously with a cloth wet with distilled water.

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This was my mistake the first time. I read the enclosed instructions as to be conservative with the wiping, so I didn’t really season the wood enough. I watched some vids and saw people using dish sponge and being generous with the water (but not saturating the wood), and it made a difference. Holding a steady 68 now. I expect to maintain in the 65 range once the wood and humidity reach homeostasis.

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This was my mistake the first time. I read the enclosed instructions as to be conservative with the wiping, so I didn’t really season the wood enough.

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Personally speaking, I've always had bad luck with humidors that have display glass. Even with boveda packs, always tough. Also, I see your current humidor has a built in analog hygrometer....that thing is essentially worthless. Looks like your new one has a built-in digital, which is better, but make sure you calibrate it instead of over-humidifying your humidor giving you a bunch of wet, mold infested cigars.