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Really enjoying the Sisuman gear for cutter & lighter at the moment. Been through many, many lighters and cutters as I know a lot have. My other favourite is a St dupont mini flat flame lighter - perfect for touch ups! A gift from my very good friend Miner. I prefer a simple single cigar procelain stand as pictured. I also have a stinky for company. I don't go too crazy with accessories as pretty hard on my stuff (ie clumsily drop things) and dont see the ROI as opposed to say wine glassware which I think makes a huge difference. Humidor wise I have a couple of unplugged vintec wine fridges with 320g boveda packs (love Boveda!). A few carry cases I use as dryboxes or for herfs. Recently picked up a grey-blue Sotelo which looks amazing but havent used it yet. Bonus accessory would have to be perfec draw and vegetable glue. Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

Welcome to FoH!

Opus X Forbidden X. Bready, woody and a little marshmallow sweetness. Construction? Only long cigar I’ve only ash once.

Who needs the FK cigars? I'm excited for the Fuzzy Ken Action Figure!

^^^nail on the head! 65/65 KISS

Let's not forget Temperature folks If there's one thing we've all learned from @PigFish it's that RH by itself ain't meaningful. Thanks to his extensive writing (and thanks to many others' on these pages) -- and by golly there's a lot if you search the history -- I firmly believe in 60-62% for CCs and 68-70% for nearly all NCs -- but only when those are measured/kept at 61-65 degrees F. All those Ranges? IMO yes. Let's not sweat the small stuff. Exceptions? IMO just these: (a) long & skinnies (to me) taste best btw 58-60 (talking 898s and Dalias and the skinnier like); and (b) like others, Nudies and BR are the only NC cigars I keep like CCs. To me those storage conditions help make possible the best experiences, both for full flavor and draw. I also agree with Ray that most -- (not all but most -- bad draw experiences are likely caused by storage. And I think it's easy to agree that, if you can't smoke it, the taste experience is lost. Hope that's helpful, but I'm only repeating wisdom learned from others here

I've been organizing my humidor by age, thinking that I need to smoke through the oldest stuff at the top, while the youngest stuff that needs more time gets stuffed into the bottom shelves. The humidor sits at a solid 65% on the bottom and an even 62% at the top, but I pull smokes from all over. Maybe what I should do is throw all the stuff I'm most likely to smoke up into the top two shelves.

Currently on my 6th porsche. Dream car (of the modern era) is Porsche 918 Spyder, and vintage 911's just make me drool (especially the G Series). Dont get me started on Singers (not technically Porsche, but you know). Can't wait for the day I have both a 918 and a 964 or older. Or one of each era. I really need a bigger garage🤣 Hairiest experience I ever had was driving a CGT at age 17, that car was truly scary. Not to mentioned I stalled multiple times even though I was fully proficient (or so I thought) at driving a manual haha. Used to like Ferrari more and have driven a number of them from 80s models to the Enzo and so on but they dont really do it for me as much as they used to. Only one maybe on my radar is the 458, being the last naturally aspirated mid engine ferrari V8. There is something just so special about naturally aspirated power delivery and sound, which is why I'll probably never get rid of my huracan perf V10. The ferrari V12s sure sound great though😅 For now I'm happy with Lamborghini and Porsche. Hoping my GT3 Touring allocation comes soon. Side note, I urge anyone that doesnt "get" Porsche to go drive a 911. Was a life changing experience for me many years back that really shaped the trajectory of where I headed in life. The looks took time to grow on me and they may not be as objectively sexy as Ferraris, but once you drive one there really is no substitute

Energy - Cuba has been highly dependent on Venezuela which now under a regime change won't be supporting the country. Mexico has become a key supplier, but shipments have not increased amid external pressures and economic limits from important neighbouring countries. As we know the infrastructure is in dire straits over all. We will see an energy collapse this year. Weather - The expected storm counts in the region for 2026 is roughly 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes, 3–4 major hurricanes (Category 3+). There's about a 40 to 60% chance that a hurricane makes landfall which will cause serious damage. My prediction I hope is wrong but a hurricane hits which will batter already weakened energy system. In the first 6 months of the year. Which will lead to a financial collapse similar to Haiti. I don't think Cuba will be overthrown by a foreign government. For the simple fact that there isn't anything of value for them in the natural resources. They would be inheriting a deeply troubled economy and would need to feed starving people and run at a massive cost. Cigars - with a collapsing economy and the need for foreign aid to avoid massive loss of life cigar production will plummet for the second half of the year. With limited inventories abroad the price will rise sadly in the medium term. i.e. 1-2 years. In other Cigar related news Ken Gargett joins @Fuzz AI to create their own rival cigar brand to BR called FK or Fuzzy Ken with cigars infused with different alcohol. Every cigar will cost 67 AUD.

I pretty much agree here, I'm holding out hope that they will become awesome with some good age on them.

I'll get the ball rolling... Cutter: Habanos S.A gift cutter Yes, even though I cherish my Xikar XO cutter and my Colibri V-Cutter (as well as my Credo 3-in-1 Punch Cutter), this is the cigar cutter I regularly use. It was gifted to me by @Fuzz AI after a trip to Cuban in 2016. It's cheap, but the reason I think it's still going is because the blades were crafted by Solingen Knives from Germany. Lighter: Firebird Single Flame Torch Lighter Another economical product here. I've used this so long that the plastic has has fallen off. I have other better lighters of course, and I used to have a FoH jet lighter (or two) in the past, but this does the job, especially on touch-ups. Humidor: Plastic EzyStorage 160 L Container + Bovedas Trust me, this is all I need for my boxes. I have a cool, dark place downstairs and so the temperature and relative humidity is quite stable year round. Ashtray: 1960s/70s Vintage Retro Glass Ashtray Again, I have better ashtrays (including a FoH one, of course), but this does the job on a regular basis. I broke one of these ages ago, and my wife asked me to replace it, so I did via eBay. It reminded her of all the Europeans that migrated to Australia in the 1960s and 70s who had similar items in their homes when she was a kid. Bonus Accesory: FoH Cigar Stand Where would I be without this? The patina that has developed over the years is now priceless. My son borrowed it for a week recently and I had to use my backup FoH Cigar Stand. It felt weird as it was so clean and shiny!

PCC had a stake in Havana House (the Canadian distributor) so they had access to Canadian REs which meant Rob/FOH had access to them for 24:24. That partnership ended some time ago, unfortunately.

Things were bad the last time I visited the island 4 years ago. I can't imagine how awful it must be now for people of Cuba. However, as resilient as Cubans are I do believe that this is the year that the regime will finally collapse. The accumulation of bad luck (hurricanes, refinery fire), public health issues, bad decisions leaving the economy/infrastructure in shambles, massive exodus...I mean what else can go wrong? That said I've been thinking that an uprising would occur for 3-4 years. 😶 The people has to revolt and I really believe that Cubans will rise sooner rather than later (before the end of Summer). The pressure applied by Washington might have an impact - although I wish for the Cuban people to maintain its independence and that change happens in an orderly fashion (I'm an optimist but that won't happen 🥺). Once the regime falls it will hit the fan. Spain could take the lead in the transition and reconstruction but who knows! As for cigars: I share Rob's take...not looking good. Perhaps that "Cuban" blends produced in Nic/DM/Hon/Miami with some Cuban tobacco might actually be a thing in the months to come if/when whatever will be left of Habanos S.A. starts exporting tobacco. It'll be another tough year for the people. That's the only certainty, unfortunately.

This thread is inspired by the team at Halfwheel posting up the accessories they use regularly when smoking a cigar. Brooks Whittington, Patrick Lagreid and Charlie Minato all had different accessories, but on the whole, there were some run-of-the-mill stuff there, especially when it came to storage. For further reference, in regard to what members have used in the past on our forum, you can access the threads below... So what do you use on a regular basis when you smoke a cigar? Is it a run-of-the-mill solution, or do you use high-end gear? Post up your pics, or if you don't have them, your replies will suffice!

I think a fella could pull more with a Ferrari. I wanna be James Bond with the Aston Martin. Never been a fan or Porsche.

Now I’m really intrigued because I said the opposite for flavor - the drier they’ve been, the less flavor I’ve noticed. But now that both of you have mentioned it, and I’m sure plenty of others in this came, I’m now curious…it’s entirely possibly that the dry flavorless cigars I’ve had were just duds all around. Maybe I’ll experiment with my next several to see if my observations hold or not.

I smoked 2 sticks from a young box. They were good but a little harsh. So far, I prefer H. Upmann Regalias and Half Coronas.

I still have PTSD from seeing some of those rhino hooves a few years ago.

Same with me for both CC and NC. I do try to drybox a few days before smoking to get the humidity down another few points, especially with Cubans. 62% humidity is a sweet spot it seems for CCs and going even down to 60% has been good for me in the past, too. I definitely believe in the correlation between Cubans drawing well and lowering the humidity. Less so with NCs.

Interesting topic…I’ll give it a go… tl:dr By December 2026, Cuba is poorer and more unstable but still standing; cigars are scarcer, more expensive, and surrounded by more controversy. US/Cuba relations are louder, harsher, and more transactional, not normalized. ———————— Specifics: - The regime survives (2026; not sure about beyond), but it’s a *brutal* year. Similar to the “special period” after the USSR fell, the food and medicine shortage will get worse, blackouts become longer and longer. In general everything just sucks…even more than today. - Some narrow, transactional contacts happen behind the scenes (migration, prisoners, specific sanctions licensing, maybe energy/financial carve-outs) but no headline deal with the US. - Cigar supply constraints get worse. Every part of the supply chain is hammered by the energy issue and macro instability - Habanos PR problems linger, and force “changes”. The recent prison labor admission is the kind of reputational issue that doesn’t just disappear, especially in Western markets. I think Habanos responds with “process” not “transformation”. Meaning possible shifts of certain production away from the most controversial arrangements (or at least claims of doing so), but without transparency that satisfies critics. - Ownership/finance drama at Habanos continues. If the investor side is under legal/sanctions pressure (e.g., Chen Zhi-related), expect uncertainty and rumor cycles all year with knock-on effects: distributor anxiety, more middleman margin-taking, more weirdness in allocations. - Counterfeit/traceability gets louder. As prices stay high and supply stays tight, the incentive for counterfeits stays strong. Expect more authentication theater (new seals, market-specific identifiers, enforcement announcements) and more collector paranoia. ———————— What we’ll feel in the CC community: - Bigger gap between MSRP and street, more “who can actually get what.” - More volatility around marquee names (Cohiba/Trinidad/Edición Limitada type stuff). - More forum noise: provenance obsession, “is this legit?”, pricing anger, and a bigger split between “buy now, it’s only getting worse” vs. “I’m tapping out.” ———————— Additional thoughts: - External bailouts will be partial and transactional (Russia, China, Mexico) but none are likely to fully replace what was lost with Venezuelan oil unless there’s a major geopolitical shift. - It feels untenable politically and socially, but historically Cuba has survived drastic economic shocks by rationing, internal adaptation, and limited external help. Especially when the alternative is regime-ending.

Respect to Porsche but the styling Ferrari puts into their vehicles is both functional and artistic. I'll never own one but love seeing them on the road.

This wasn't his pick. Oops. Too many cigars, hahaha.

For me the HU Majestic is my safe cigar. Ignoring some construction issues, I know I’m getting a cheap, easy smoke time and again. I love them on the golf course.

It is the start of 2026 .....and what a start Rubio on the warpath. Cuba on one (?) knee Habanos the worst PR 6 months in History. Venezuela removed (likely) from financial support. Pull out your crystal ball. Picture December 2026 for Cuba and the Cuban cigar world. Much of the same?. Cataclysmic changes? Somehwere in between? Call it. Closest (and first) gets the win. The more detailed the better. Cuba generally and Cuban Cigars impact. I will run this until February 12...my birthday. Closest (and first) wins a cab (50) of BR Fenomenos. Superb by the way (54 x 7 3/4). Drawn the the week before Christmas December 2026. Votes in by February 12. This should get me in so much trouble. God I love this forum

Awesome, and THANK YOU. So grateful for the generosity of FOH and crew. Only need one hand to count the # of times I've won a random drawing so thanks for that, too!