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How'd you get into cigars?

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i started when i would pilfer one of my uncles dutch masters when he came to visit. i believe i was 12. later, in my teens, i started on antonio y cleopatras. the rest is just a smoky hazy memory.
I played poker with friends in high school every Wed. (about 15 years old) They all smoked Swisher Sweets, which I thought were disgusting so I starting smoking the AyC Grenidiers to be different. Been smoking better quality cigars since.
 

andysc83

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Some really awesome guys I use to work with got me started. Once or twice a month we would hang out at the local cigar bar for a smoke and drink. Eventually I started buying a few sticks for myself and then a humidor. It's all down hill from there!
 
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My descent into cigar madness began when I got my first motorcycle when I was 16. I loved the long rides and after seeing some other guys riding and smoking I thought man that looks cool haha so I picked up a couple of cao golds and rode from my native north shore MA to the beautiful mountains of NH. I didn't really enjoy my first experience because all the ash would fly in my face haha but then I sat down in a rest stop somewhere sat on a bench admiring the view and finished that cigar it was a great experience and it all snowballed from there found my self picking up a 3 finger case then a 20 count then a 40 count then my current humi and couldn't be any happier


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StogieNinja

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Let's see... IIRC, it was when I was in high school hanging out at a buddy's house. His dad brought out a couple of Fuentes and told us to light up. I enjoyed every single puff of that delicious cigar, and then promptly lost my lunch.

After I finished being sick, I decided it had been worth it. That's how I knew I was in love! Through college I smoked just the very occasional cigar, and then on my first anniversary, I smoked my first legit CC, a Partegas Mille Fleurs, on a balcony overlooking the Victoria BC harbor watching the fireworks go off overhead for the July 1st holiday.

Over the next couple years I smoked a few cigars on Sunday nights with friends after church. Eventually it made sense to buy fivers online, so I got on Famous or CI, can't remember which and signed up for a humidor deal. Went through the usual frustrations with the cheapo humidors (really wish back them someone had clued me in to tupperdors or coolidors), and also began working my way to better cigars. Started with RPs and other inexpensive maduros, and then I tried the Oliva V and it blew my socks off. That was the cigar that made me fall in love with smoking cigars. I started buying better cigars that were recommended by guys who knew what they were talking about, and teetered closer and closer to the edge of the slope.

Fast forward a year or so and I signed up over at another forum, and through contact with guys like Gary, found better cigars. Eventually got involved in the online cigar community, and got to know some really great guys who literally shoved me off the edge and down the slope. And the rest, as they say, is history!
 
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Hmm well let's see. I quit smoking Cigarettes in 98 which is right around the time I got serious with my now wife. As I started to attend her family functions her father and uncle would always be out smoking cigars so I tried one (Macanudo something) and I loved it. I would then smoke a cigar with them at every family function and then I started playing golf and would bring a cigar with me. And that went on for years. Not a huge interest in cigars just the occasional cigar. Then my wife bought me my first humidor in 2006 and my interest grew even more to the point of my friends and I would go to the local B&M every couple weeks or so, and then Jared told me at the beginning of this year to check out BOTL. I thought to myself - I have tried multiple forums for many different things and could never get into it. But he convinced me and I joined in May. From that day I have been hooked. And it's because of you guys! You make the cigar hobby a blast!! I love reading through the threads of this site laughing my ass off or taking notes as to what cigars to try next. And that's it in a nutshell.

Oh and CigarMonster doesn't help!


Heath
 

BrittS88

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My grandfather smoked them. Once I turned 18 I would smoke with him here and there and on holidays. It was never really my thing. Then when he passed he left me his cigar collection since I was the only one who ever smoked with him. I started smoking them to remember him and it was all down hill from there. I'm actually pretty bummed about that though I had his collection in a medium sized coolidor and while my girlfriend was having a garage sale last week she left the garage (aka my smoke spot) open, and someone stole it along with some tools without her seeing. But I guess now its time to build my own collection. And I know my grandfather would say material things come and go its the memories that count.

-Britt
 
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I'm actually pretty bummed about that though I had his collection in a medium sized coolidor and while my girlfriend was having a garage sale last week she left the garage (aka my smoke spot) open, and someone stole it along with some tools without her seeing.

-Britt[/QUOTE)

That just down right stinkin sucks... People can just flat out ignorant at times.... Your grandpa was right, it is about the memories but still... Damn.
 

BrittS88

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I'm actually pretty bummed about that though I had his collection in a medium sized coolidor and while my girlfriend was having a garage sale last week she left the garage (aka my smoke spot) open, and someone stole it along with some tools without her seeing.

-Britt[/QUOTE)

That just down right stinkin sucks... People can just flat out ignorant at times.... Your grandpa was right, it is about the memories but still... Damn.
Yeah. I was furious for the first few days, then I kinda just realized there's nothing I can do about it now and he wouldn't have wanted me to sit there angry, or be mad at my girlfriend. There will always be more cigars, it not like they took something irreplaceable. Plus on the upside the girlfriend felt so bad about it I basically have a free pass! She can't be mad about my smoking for a long time! Lol.

-Britt
 
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I started in 2007 I think. Quite smoking cigarettes, but missed the act of smoking. Went to a local and was drawn to a Partagas Black Label. Loved it. Been hooked ever sense, and love getting others on the line.
 
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At several company functions with my wife's company, there was a guy that smoked cigars, one of the owner big whigs, a really nice guy. Over the course of a few years when I saw him he always had a good stick to share. Don't remember what any of them were, but I enjoyed them, mostly because I found I could drink more without getting tired while I was smoking. Early in 2012 I was listening to a well know conservative talk radio host that is known for liking cigars. He said, "Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Number Two" one day on the show....I was like. What did he say? And I wrote it down...I knew it was a cigar but it sounded interesting...I had a week long camping trip coming up in April that I thought would be more enjoyable with some cigars to smoke around the campfire, so I went to the cigar shop on the way home from work one day, and asked for the "Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Number Two" and the answer was that they didn't have those...and I would have to go someplace else to find them. Ended up going to a different B&M and did find many Fuentes but only the don Carlos robusto, not the number two. Ended up buying an assortment of many different Fuente smokes, including one don Carlos robusto, and i smoked them all while I was on the camping trip. All seemed about the same to me other than the don Carlos. It was different. Started reading like crazy on the web, and learned as much as I could about Fuente, and other cigars. Now hooked on Opus, and the rest is history. I really still like Opus, Anejo, Padron, and Tatuaje. Been about a year and a half, and have a winador,a couple of coolidors, and a desktop humi. Nice big stash,and lots of smoking to do. Would like to get some locals to smoke with at the house instead of the B&M. The local shop is fantastic, but would prefer to have some buddies closer to the house.
 
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Never had a family member that smoked cigars but a lot of people in my profession, politicians/journalists/lobbyists are big into scotch and cigars.

I quite smoking cigarettes over a year ago and I never intended to smoke cigars, I thought I would give scotch a try. I had only ever tried blended scotch, Johnny Walker, etc.

Couldn't see what people saw in scotch until someone informed me that I needed to drink Single Malt Scotch, not the blended and that "anything that has been aged around 12 years should be good."

That was what I was missing, after learning about the different regions in Scotland and how the region affected the taste, I saw the light.

From here I heard about "pairings" everywhere I looked so I decided to grab a stick from Total Wine for less than 5 bucks. Don't remember what it was, but it was enjoyable.

After that I quickly jumped to a Liga #9 and was sold. These days I try to separate my Scotch from my good cigars. I don't want anything heavy interfering with my smoke.

I am certainly a newbie, been 4 months since my first cigar. As of now I smoke 1 stick every night. This past weekend I went to the pool and had a daytime smoke, a Liga FFP paired with a Chainbreaker Ale.

So yeah, I started smoking via the world of Scotch, now I spend more time reading about and enjoying cigars than I do the whisky.
 
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Fall 2002, my roommate and I were both freshmen in college. So we wanted to go and eat real food. We decided since they have barbecues outside of our dorms (the cast iron ones you see at parks) we would just go get some steaks and grill them. As we walked into town, we stopped into a wine and cheese shop and they had a humidor. We figured we would pick some up and try to "class up" our evening. I think we got Helix tubos. The steak sucked. But after then, I've always had a cigars around me. As of the last 4 years I've really gotten into it a lot deeper.


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CWS

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Horses. A buddy and I decided to do a trail back country ride in the 1970's that cover the four corners area; Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. The idea was to live off the land as much as possible and write about the trip. We looked for sponsors to supplement our meager savings and ended up with a case of Thompson cigars. That was the beginnings.
 
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Horses. A buddy and I decided to do a trail back country ride in the 1970's that cover the four corners area; Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. The idea was to live off the land as much as possible and write about the trip. We looked for sponsors to supplement our meager savings and ended up with a case of Thompson cigars. That was the beginnings.
I think you just won the thread:ccool:

Would it be asking too much for a writeup of the trip?
 
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