General cigar questions

[jpalamar]

I've noticed a difference with lighting cigars different ways. Lighting it too hot makes it bitter. I've had really good luck taking my time lighting it.

[Cardinal]

Lots of people don't like Gurkha because of the way they advertise and price. They have a thousand different cigars and each one is more ridiculously hyped than the last, "We make these for the Sultan of Brunei, but we had a few left over and if you act now..."

Plus their pricing is cheesy, with ungodly MSRPs but always on sale for the low low price of 99.2% off!

Anyway, lots of good advice in the thread already, and one more thing worth mentioning is if you do smoke a new cigar and get too much nicotine, like head swimming, sweating, nausea kind of stuff, drink some non-diet soda, juice, or even just dissolve some sugar in your mouth for a quick cure. Nicotine can mess with your sugar levels, and if you're new to cigars then you'll probably get a strong one at some point and feel it.

[Usafvet509]

Another vote for La Gloria Cubana. Start with the regular line, then the Serie lines (N, R). I'm a butane stickler, at least for toasting the foot. Then I go to matches for the light. Whatever cutter and lighter you end up with, I HIGHLY recommend Xikar. Guaranteed for life, they are the Craftsman of cigar tools. I have both a V-cutter and a regular. Try any cigar that strikes your fancy. You will find and change favorites many times over on the journey. I started with mild cigars, now favor full-bodied headknocker cigars. I LOVE Camacho, EP Carrillo, and La Gloria Cubana. All have cigars to cover the range of mild to bold.

[stonecutter2]

Thank you all for the great advice and suggestions! I would love to join the newbie trade, but we'll have to wait until I get my next paycheck.

So far I have just been using a bic lighter and it hasn't been bad, I just want sure if I was missing something obvious about lighting up.

Btw, what is it with some of you and ghurkas? Lol!

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I've had some Gurkhas that were okay, but I prefer to buy from companies that don't mislead their customers by creating trumped up suggested retail prices like $100 per cigar, but buy now because they're only $4 each.

Gurkha was founded to be sold in a duty free shop as an "Ultra premium" cigar. Something different among a sea of cigar manufacturers by going all out with boxes or labels, or hyped up stories. They spend a lot more worrying about the packaging and promoting/hype of a cigar than some of their blends and the quality of their tobacco.

To each their own - if someone loves the taste of a Gurkha, awesome. I've come to think that they're the PT Barnum of cigars, myself. Unless some Beauty bundles are on sale...I had one of those burn for almost 3 hours, i kid you not. Tasted good enough while out on the family land.

[Bruck]

Guys - let's be sure not to tell @Socoemt about the devil site...

[restomod]

I'm hijacking here but I gotta say something. I think this site is the best! I see so many forums where a newbie posts a question and 6 of the first 7 posts are "do a search". Not once in three pages has anyone said that. Everyone answers with something that is from the heart and truly helpful to those posting the question just as if you are answering for the first time. This may be the black IPA and Ramon Bueso talking right now but you guys are the best!

[HabanoMan]

I'm hijacking here but I gotta say something. I think this site is the best! I see so many forums where a newbie posts a question and 6 of the first 7 posts are "do a search". Not once in three pages has anyone said that. Everyone answers with something that is from the heart and truly helpful to those posting the question just as if you are answering for the first time. This may be the black IPA and Ramon Bueso talking right now but you guys are the best!

Kevin, I agree with you here. The thing to remember though is that it seems a large percentage of cigar smokers/collectors are very passionate about the hobby and enjoy sharing knowledge they have learned over the months/years. I mean, who wouldn't want to share such a beautiful thing with other like minded people (unless the beautiful thing is Kate Upton. No sharing then ). I have spent many years on cigar forums and not all, but most of them are people that just want to talk about, learn about, and enjoy sharing in this chosen hobby. Also keep in mind that while pretty active this site is fairly young. Luckily a great group of brothers started/joined the site in it's infancy so the newer members are really only seeing it done the "right way". As it grows larger and the same questions have been answered in the same 1,000 threads you will find some people will resort to the "search" response although I don't think it is said in any type of derogatory way it can still seem a bit off-putting to some. I always try to give an honest, heartfelt answer no matter how many times I have answered the same questions.

I am sure you didn't notice but I can also be just a little bit verbose at times.

[Socoemt]

Guys - let's be sure not to tell @Socoemt about the devil site...

Haha, I've heard about it but haven't checked it out much yet. I don't have a humidor of any kind so I pretty much just buy a stick at a time to smoke.

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[Socoemt]

I'm hijacking here but I gotta say something. I think this site is the best! I see so many forums where a newbie posts a question and 6 of the first 7 posts are "do a search". Not once in three pages has anyone said that. Everyone answers with something that is from the heart and truly helpful to those posting the question just as if you are answering for the first time. This may be the black IPA and Ramon Bueso talking right now but you guys are the best!

Couldn't agree more. I belong to a few other forums, and while all forums have their ups and downs this one has been, by far, the most welcoming. It is clear that there is a wealth of knowledge here, and people genuinely seem excited to share that knowledge.

I look forward to getting to know all you bums!

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[jhedrick83]

Haha, I've heard about it but haven't checked it out much yet. I don't have a humidor of any kind so I pretty much just buy a stick at a time to smoke.

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No worries, they have humidors for sale on CBID...

You should also check out cigarmonster.com