New Take on Beginner Cigars

[TheBaron]

Having really gotten into cuban cigars only recently - and becoming obsessed with every aspect of them - I wanted to get some more experienced comments on a theory I've developed about what makes a good cigar for the newbie.

Everything I've read about the topic has been the contradiction of my own experience. For one, it seems light bodied and flavored CCs - eg. ERDM Choix Supreme, Hoyo anything - are always put up as great smokes for beginners, while we're instructed to steer away from the Partagas range, for example, until our palette has matured.

But I look at CCs in a similar way to wine. Having grown up (so to speak) on big shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon in Australia, I quickly developed an understanding of what flavours can be found in 'fermented grape juice', giving me an idea what to look for in lesser bodied wines like Pinot Noir. It took time to appreciate the subtleties in PN but now I love the complexity of them.

Same thing with CCs. I followed the recommendations by all the 'experts' and got stuck into the HDM and ERDM marcas at the start only to struggle to pick out the flavours I kept hearing should be in there.

I said 'stuff it' and lit up a Partagas Series D No4. It changed my life. There's the flavours I've been hearing about, I thought to myself. I tried a few other medium to full bodies (Varnished 8-9-8, Monte Edmundo etc) and discovered it was no fluke.

Clearly I needed a punch in the face before I could appreciate a slap.

Since then I've gone back to the formers and can honestly say I now find flavours previously foreign to me. In fact the HDM Epicure 2 is now one of my favourite CCs to have with an afternoon coffee.

Could it be that we should be telling beginners to have a crack at medium to full body CCs early on instead of scaring them off that 'big' is for seasoned smokers? Or have I - as I suspect - got it all wrong?

[Fuzz]

Horses for courses. Some people need to be bludgeoned by a powerhouse to "get it", whilst others prefer to ease into the chair.

For the newbies (never smoked before) that I've introduced to cigars, I tend to give them light to medium bodied cigars as I don't want to scare them off. For people who have smoked before, but not Cubans (cigarette or NC smokers), I'll give them something with a bit more kick. It just depends on the person you're introducing to the world of Cuban cigars.

[Colt45]

I'm one who agrees with the theory that something flavorful is a better attractant than something that is not.

[Styler]

I think the main difference between wine and cigars in this respect is that wine has a fairly standardised alcohol level and you know how drunk a bottle will get you. If we lived in a world where the full bodied wines like Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon had about 3x the amount of alcohol than a Pinot Noir and you had to serve wine to someone who had never consumed alcohol before then the decision becomes harder. As Fuzz says, it depends on if the person has any nicotine tolerance.

[Orion21]

My first Cuban cigar was given to me by an aficionado friend at a wine party about 4 years ago. I honestly don't know what kind it was, and he doesn't remember, but it blew me away. Since then I have heard the same things about certain marcas and have not experienced it at all (other than cazzies). The cigars with the most nicotine that I have smoked have been a Monte 2 and an Upmann 2 (out of the same factory, lol). The cigars out of those boxes would make my head spin towards the final third every time, but it didn't matter because they were so good. Now a couple of years in I wouldn't give the "hoyo" or "EDRM" advice to anyone. I would pick a cigar out of my humidor that I know is good and share it. I have done that often with my Monte PE's and for that reason I need to buy more Cheers and happy smoking.

[brazoseagle]

I started out with Partagas as well and loved it. It too changed my life many years ago.

[cigaraholic]

My advise is always...............smoke everything.

You never know what will turn the light on.

Hopefully they all will.

[PigFish]

I'm one who agrees with the theory that something flavorful is a better attractant than something that is not.

Never give a newbie a good cigar! Within two years the numb skulls at Tabacuba, H SA et al will discontinue it and that person's therapy will be on your hands!!!

On a more sober note, CC smoking is pretty much a popularity contest today. Frankly, you are better served by enjoying what is popular. I wish I had such a preference in taste. Unfortunately I am an alternative cigar smoker. Most of what I enjoy is no longer made so unless things change I will not be smoking too many CC's in the decades ahead.

It is better to run with the crowd! I should know, I run against it almost all the time! -the Pig

[Sutton]

My advise is always...............smoke everything.

You never know what will turn the light on.

Hopefully they all will.

Perfect advise ! I like to get a stick or 2 of everything and try it and go from there. There are only a couple marcas still in production that are still on the to try list. Oh Cuaba you will meet your maker some day

[Jszeto]

My first ever cigar was a Monte 2. It made me sick and I did not even smoke a third of it. For me, I would give a cigar to a beginner on the basis of knowing that the cigar is smoking well and whether it will be appreciated. IMO, there's a difference between just smoking a cigar for the hell of it, and actually appreciating a cigar. That being said, a fuller body cigar is probably something I would not give to a beginner, there are amazing mild/medium cigars out there.

[Wil]

One of my first cigars was a BBF. Loved it.

I see no reason not to give beginners a mix of light, medium and full bodied. Let them work out what they like for themselves.

[TheBaron]

I think the main difference between wine and cigars in this respect is that wine has a fairly standardised alcohol level and you know how drunk a bottle will get you. If we lived in a world where the full bodied wines like Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon had about 3x the amount of alcohol than a Pinot Noir and you had to serve wine to someone who had never consumed alcohol before then the decision becomes harder. As Fuzz says, it depends on if the person has any nicotine tolerance.

For the record, I've never been a smoker at all of cigarettes, so I'm sure my nicotine tolerance is much at all. What I'm searching for in a cigar is 'flavour' and it seems you need to go to medium/full bodied ones to find it. Maybe I'm smoking them too young? That said, my god cellaring is difficult to do, especially when they're sitting there calling me to smoke'em!

[Vortigan]

I started out on 1 or 2 of everything road,first stop on the way was the HdM,ERDM type of thing.The game changer was a Monte 2,I can still to this day only remember it as like taking the finest vanilla ice cream and smoking it! Another curious memory was smoking my first PSD4 and thinking that there would never be any way that I'd ever get used to or like the strength of it....never without them now,of course :-)

Speaking for myself though,I don't think the palette training was as much about building up on the cigar strengths as it was just pushing through and smoking regularly.When I first started,I'd smoke a couple of nights running,then get frustrated because I wasn't tasting all these flavours I'd read about and so I wouldn't bother again for a 2 or three weeks.But after a week or two of a cigar a night I suddenly found I was picking up all sorts.

[Ophidion]

I gave a friend who had never smoked a cigar before 6 different smokes:

Plpc

Hdm pr

Erdm cs

Rg ce

RASS

boli PC

I told him to smoke them in that order and tell me which ones he liked the most. Surprisingly he liked the RASS and rg ce the most.

[MnMWC]

Cigarette and smokeless tobacco user for years... with the occasional cigar for fun... until my neighbor brought home a fake Cohiba from Jamaica. I thought there was no way a Cuban cigar could taste this bad, even if it made it through customs in his socks and undies.

Went to my first BM afterwards to try a few NC's and have been working my way through the strength/ flavor spectrum since.

Really like some of the NC's... but loving the more milder CC's and more complex flavors. There is SO much pepper and power in most NC's, but I have yet to be overpowered or over spiced by any CC. The closest has been a Partagas 898... but I really enjoyed the power and bold flavor.

Long story longer.... go big or go home! You can always chuck it! Or upchuck.... both work.

[beachcougar]

I have given out countless cigars to those who are looking to try a Cuban for the first time. By far, the most well received has been the QDO Coronas.

[Fuzz]

Cigarette and smokeless tobacco user for years... with the occasional cigar for fun... until my neighbor brought home a fake Cohiba from Jamaica. I thought there was no way a Cuban cigar could taste this bad, even if it made it through customs in his socks and undies.

You need to make sure that when your friend is smuggling in the cigars in his socks and underwear, he is not wearing said socks and underwear! I'm positive that a sweaty crotch will impart an unpleasant taste to your cigars.

[MnMWC]

You need to make sure that when your friend is smuggling in the cigars in his socks and underwear, he is not wearing said socks and underwear! I'm positive that a sweaty crotch will impart an unpleasant taste to your cigars.

No doubt that this contributed to the flavor... he could not have been more proud of the banana leaves we smoked that night.

[88keys]

A couple of years ago I invited a friend from work who said that he had smoked cigars a little bit in the past. He was excited to try a Habano.

I asked my son (who doesn't smoke) whether he thought we should have something gentle or something powerful. He smacked his fist into his palm.

So I thought, ok, let's have a PSD4. I made sure that my friend had eaten, warned him not to inhale, and gave him a glass of ice water.

We enjoyed ourselves tremendously and he said that he really liked the cigar. I had just finished and was looking down when I heard a sound like a bullfrog. I looked up one second later just in time to see an incredible stream of the entire contents of his stomach project several feet over my patio. Literally. It shot out so powerfully that he barely even got it on himself. He immediately felt fine. I got the hose and sprayed it all away.

He still talks about it. So if you give a guy a powerhouse you may be giving him a lifelong memory.

[Jszeto]

lol great story man

[Upmann2009]

@ TheBaron, I totally agreed with you, PSD4 is the way to kick start, my recommendation is smoke everything and pick out what you like and stock the one that you don't like for the future.

My favorite:

Psd4, Upmann 50,48 magnum, party p2 and Monte GE 10(best).

Peace

Upmann

[ajgagnon]

I gave my dad a PSD4 once on a dog walk and he ended up laid out on a park bench, green faced. He's been afraid of them ever since (but that was far from his first cigar... just hit him that way).

Every time I am in the situation of offering a cigar to someone who doesn't smoke regularly (or when I have a couple of different kinds on me and want to select a good one for a friend), I tend to ask them what they order when they go to Starbucks, whether they like strong red wine, or what kind of meat dish they prefer. Instead of sounding like a know-it-all, it usually raises an eyebrow, and they appreciate that I try to choose something just for them. Unless I give them a knockoff or a Rocky Patel bunch cigar.