[darkninja67]

Hey Steve I sent you a PM. I am with Jason (kydsid) in that I purchase a lot of my sticks online be it NC or CC.

We are a small community here but definitely join cigar asylum. They are a great bunch of people over there and have a lot of good information regarding cigars, humidors, cutters, etc.

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask in this thread. Bill

 

[kydsid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BloodSugar00 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I havn't compared cubans to non-cubans really, no. As I say, I am pretty fresh to the whole cigar scene so I'm literally looking for starter recommendations, insight, enlightenment, advice on where to start and, tied into that, where to obtain solid quality cigars at decent prices. Steve

Well lets see. Cigars are like the audio world, it is a slipery slope but oh what a fun ride down the hill it is.

Start out small. Buy a 20-50ct humidor. Get it seasoned (a lot of online tutorials in this) and work on keeping it humidified. A lot of people rush into cigars without having anywhere to put them an waste money that way. And if you find you don't like cigars a small humi can always be used for other things. My first humidor, a black 20ct with nice mahogany center inlay now sits on top of my dresser and is where I keep my man accessories (tie clips, cuff links, watches, extra keys/car remotes, challenge coins, etc.)

Next don't go buying boxes. Buy 5 packs/samplers that include lots of sizes. Most of us find we have a preferred size, some churchills (7-8" long)some robusto (4.5" to 5.5" long) etc. Now that you have a humidor you can buy a couple packs and keep them for a while.

Next buy a small notebook and write down your experiences with the cigars. Things like taste, draw, what you ate before, what you were drinking, did you feel quesy etc.

Next for a place to start maybe try Macanudo. They are kinda like the Sony of Non-Cubans just not as overpriced. Although they may go under a different name in the UK do to the split in Cuban/Non-Cuban names created by the two global tobacco monopolies.

Lastly as for where to buy your gars seek help elsewhere. I'd love to help but couldn't if I wanted too. Well unless you count a stray bomb headed to your way shall I ever get ahold of your address.

 

[Zarathustra19]

Ha ha, be careful Steve, you've angered the bomb gods. I can testify to how merciless these two can be with their strafing.

As for what to try as a beginner, Macanudo, as Jason said is a good place to start if you don't know what you like. After you get a feel for that kind of mild cigar, you could try a few from different styles. Maduro wrappers need to be tried, Camaroon as well, Connecticut Shade leaf wrappers, not to mention all of the internal combinations. Cuban wise, I'd recommend a Montecristo of some sort, maybe an Upmann, definitely a few Cohiba's.

Happy smoking,
Zach

 

[BloodSugar00]

Cheers on the responses guys! Very helpful. I'm not quite sure what the bomb jokes are about but I'll be sure to keep on your good sides, as well as keep my address to myself

.

Looking into humidors, I've spotted a nice little number that can hold up to 100 cigars, is glass-top design, is relatively cheap, looks pretty sharp and has spanish-cedar inlay and cigar tray- The Milano Glass Top - Puroexpress Cuban Cigars. What you reck? Seems ideal but someone more experienced might see something off with it I don't.

I've been looking at the accessories for humidors also and/or for help with regulating the relative humidity of humidors (both in terms of convenience and/or optimal practice). I'd like to be able to able to leave humidor, self-regulated (or maintained rather), as I would a fridge or freezer; it performs it's job and I don't have to think about, worry about it, monitor or adjust it. It's self sustainable, in other words. Would the following ensure me of this:

I get this or a similar humidity kit: Humidity Kit 100

I get one of these to put to use after usin the above to work in tandem with humidifier (relevant to whatever humidity level I wish to provide in my humidor): Bóveda Humidity Pack - 72% - Puroexpress Cuban Cigars

Anything else one needs to help establish and/or sustain relative humidity in a humidor?

Thanks,

Steve

 

[grawk]

you could also use a cooler, and a block of "wet" florist foam soaked in a 50/50 blend of propylene glycol and distilled water (can get PG at your local pharmacist) and kept in a "holy" soap box.

But that's the cheap way to do it

 

[kydsid]

BloodSugar. Nice humidor. That is a very common design, so much that I have one sitting on top of my edgestar. I think it is a little big for a first humidor. But if the cost of it isn't outside of your throw away money zone I say go for it.

As for humidification generally you are never going to get to leave it alone like a fridge. It all depends on the frequency in which you open the humi, the temperature it is stored at, and many other factors. Some people don't have to mess with their humi for months at a time others like me due to many factors have to adjust and add water every 3-4 days.

In terms of humidification sources the one you have is the cheapest for a reason. That is just encased florist foam. It is effective but rH gels, and rH beads are better at regulating humidity. And in general beads and gel will take less work to maintain your rH but do cost more money.

All in all the care of a humidor isn't at all time consuming and I would honestly suggest getting the source you described so that you can learn to care for a humi from the ground up and find what works best for all of your conditions. Not to mention your humidor should be sold with that type of humidification source. That is part of this quest just the same as having cleaner for your interconnects and towels to rest your headphones on at a meet.

 

[grawk]

Trinidad Lonsdale

a VERY nice after dinner smoke with a pappy van winkle bourbon.

 

[Zarathustra19]

My brother just got a box of Montecristo #5 CC's in and we had one after work today. Excellent cigar even as young as they are. It would have been better had I not had a cold, but we do what we can with what we have.

Grawk, I'd say a lonsdale executed correctly is one of the best cigars in the world. With bourbon, its borderline heavenly.

I'm currently enjoying my way through a bundle of Cusano M1 Coronas. Much smaller than the Torpedoes I sent you Bill, but sweet, flavorful, and aromatic.

Cheers all,
Zach

 

[BloodSugar00]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kydsid /img/forum/go_quote.gif BloodSugar. Nice humidor. That is a very common design, so much that I have one sitting on top of my edgestar. I think it is a little big for a first humidor. But if the cost of it isn't outside of your throw away money zone I say go for it. As for humidification generally you are never going to get to leave it alone like a fridge. It all depends on the frequency in which you open the humi, the temperature it is stored at, and many other factors. Some people don't have to mess with their humi for months at a time others like me due to many factors have to adjust and add water every 3-4 days. In terms of humidification sources the one you have is the cheapest for a reason. That is just encased florist foam. It is effective but rH gels, and rH beads are better at regulating humidity. And in general beads and gel will take less work to maintain your rH but do cost more money. All in all the care of a humidor isn't at all time consuming and I would honestly suggest getting the source you described so that you can learn to care for a humi from the ground up and find what works best for all of your conditions. Not to mention your humidor should be sold with that type of humidification source. That is part of this quest just the same as having cleaner for your interconnects and towels to rest your headphones on at a meet.

Thanks grawk and kydsid for response to my last post regarding humidors, humidification/controlling rH! Appreciated. To respond:

I know you recommended a smaller humidor- 20-50 cigar capacity wasn't it?- but the only smaller ones I could see on that site- had looked at one other but the relative cost was far steeper, eve despite the prices on Puroexpress being minus shipping (that other site was Buy Cuban Cigars, Cohiba Cigar, Cheap Flavored Havana Cigar Shop, Cigar Accessories, Ashtray & Cutter, Cigar Cases & Humidifier - Cigar Desire)- were described as 'Travel size'. I presumed these were designed specifically for travel and so didn't even look at them. However, having now viewed them, many of them appear to be like the larger humidors I've seen online, only smaller (and without glass-top, which obviously isn't a necessity by any means, though a cool feature if other boxes are ticked first). Hence, they look like they could be used stationary/ as a regular humidor, their size just making them condusive to travel useage also.. Is this the case? Here's a link to the travel size humidors on puroexpress, Search Results - Puroexpress Cuban Cigars . I'm still interested in the other, aforementioned humidor but, I agree, that a smaller, cheaper one may be more feasible for entry into/trying out this hobby/interest that I may discover I don't like and/or decide against exploring it deeper/more seriously/long term, so if these are purpose fitting, I may opt for one of those instead

.

With regards, monitoring/maintaining/sustaining/controlling/regulating relative humidity in a humidor, I obviously wasn't aware of the different source varieties and/olr methods for doing so, though, logically, I anticipated options of various expense and quality would exist. Thanks for enlightening me to some of those as well as how, irregardless, a humidor will need a degree of hands on monitoring and adjusting with any source of humidification regulation and/or dependent on other factors. Again, I had an incline this might be the case but thanks for taking the time to explain it some.

In light of the above and in the interests of getting a feel for it all, I concur that starting off with the florist foam source as a humidifier would be best. Would the complementary humidity pack linked in my prior post be a worthwhile accessory to aquire at this stage/to start off? As I understand it, it works in tandem with humidifier source to regulate/maintain desired rH, reducing frequency/amount of hands on work required by user in mointoring/adjusting/maintaining humidor. Is that right?


Also, as I'm reaching the point of buying in a humidor/humidor acessories and/or a few starter cigars, any one offer up any online retailers that they believe are good and/or who offer products at good prices? Would be much appreciated so I can weigh up the market before purchase and/or shop around for best deals.

Cheers,

Steve

 

[kydsid]

^Your link didn't work for me but I went to the travel size section at that website. To me only the case and or plastic looking ones are suitable for travel. Sure the others are smaller and you can travel with them with a lot of care. But heck I traveled halfway around the world twice with a pair of 100cts.

Lemme tell you going through the x ray at the airport was fun.

As for the humi source. I would buy the humidor and wait and see what it comes with. Just use that to start. After a while you can move to other sources, digital hygrometers etc. Just remember that keeping cigars is like keeping fine wines. Oh and you know on that note you don't even need to keep a humidor. I know that many shops in London and elsewhere in the UK rent out lockers inside their humidors. That is more expensive and you have limited access but you are guaranteed no hassle with adjusting humidity. But IMO not worth the cost or hassle for someone starting out.

As for sources I really don't know as I have never looked to see if any of my sources ship to the UK. Sorry. But I have happily used; CigarsInternational, Holts, ThompsonCigar in the past and given their size of operation they should ship to the UK. But they may not be the best price since they do not cater to the UK but to the US.

 

[kydsid]

Hey all a vendor with their own line has a special call in sampler going for 49.99 + shipping that includes the following plus three of their own cigars:

Nestor Miranda Special Selection by Pepin Garcia. 5.5x54 Oscuro....
601 Prominente (Toro)
Opus X #5
El Baton Robusto ( New Cigar from JC Newman...makers of the Diamond Crown)
Diamond Crown Maximus #4
Oliva V Dbl Robusto
Rocky Patel Decade Robusto


PM for info if you are interested.

 

[darkninja67]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kydsid /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey all a vendor with their own line has a special call in sampler going for 49.99 + shipping that includes the following plus three of their own cigars: Nestor Miranda Special Selection by Pepin Garcia. 5.5x54 Oscuro.... 601 Prominente (Toro) Opus X #5 El Baton Robusto ( New Cigar from JC Newman...makers of the Diamond Crown) Diamond Crown Maximus #4 Oliva V Dbl Robusto Rocky Patel Decade Robusto PM for info if you are interested.

Taboo? The El Baton is a great smoke too.

 

[kydsid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkninja67 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The El Baton is a great smoke too.

Bill I left the three of their own blend off the list so it wasn't obvious since this is a great sampler for the price and was limited and I didn't want to make it public. And I said PM me for details not that this is a guess who game.

 

[BloodSugar00]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kydsid /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^Your link didn't work for me but I went to the travel size section at that website. To me only the case and or plastic looking ones are suitable for travel. Sure the others are smaller and you can travel with them with a lot of care. But heck I traveled halfway around the world twice with a pair of 100cts. Lemme tell you going through the x ray at the airport was fun. As for the humi source. I would buy the humidor and wait and see what it comes with. Just use that to start. After a while you can move to other sources, digital hygrometers etc. Just remember that keeping cigars is like keeping fine wines. Oh and you know on that note you don't even need to keep a humidor. I know that many shops in London and elsewhere in the UK rent out lockers inside their humidors. That is more expensive and you have limited access but you are guaranteed no hassle with adjusting humidity. But IMO not worth the cost or hassle for someone starting out. As for sources I really don't know as I have never looked to see if any of my sources ship to the UK. Sorry. But I have happily used; CigarsInternational, Holts, ThompsonCigar in the past and given their size of operation they should ship to the UK. But they may not be the best price since they do not cater to the UK but to the US.

Thanks for the further advice and/or info, cheers

. I'll mull it over a little and decide. [The cost of that glass-top isn't too steep, granted minus shipping, and not buying any accessories would make it pretty comfortable buy, financially. If I take a liking to cigar smoking- and I have a strong feeling I will-, then that humidor capacity gives me a nice cushion for stash expandability straight off. If I don't take to it I could just sell the humidor or use it for another purpose, possibly. Still why start bigger than you need to? This on one site's offerings, also. No rush

]

As alluded to above, you're right, why not just wait to see exactly what comes supplied with humidor when I recieve model I choose with regards to humidification source? I've quelled my (over) eagerness now and will take my time with all this.

I agree that using rented humidor space is not the place to start, at least for me (provided I could find anywhere anyway; locally). Thanks for insight though.

Cheers for sites shared also. I understand how you'd have never looked to see if they ship to UK and so don't know if they do provide shipping to there. No worries, I'll give em a gander and see whats what.

 

[grawk]

My recommendation would be get a small-ish desktop humidor (say 50 cigars), and when you want more, get a cooler and do the diy humistat (florist foam and 50/50 pg + distilled water)