Hard to find cigars

[zeedubbya]

Ken nailed it. I would add I have been let down by some of the biggest hyped cigars I've smoked. It's probably the build up more than anything.

I am more amazed at some of my own stock I have had for many years and how they've become awesome. I had some 02 Punch Ninfas from a 50 Cab I split with a friend in mid 2000s which completely blew away anything I have had in recent memory. They're gone now and although I wish I had 200 more I do not regret smoking them one bit.

Buy them, smoke them, enjoy them, talk about them, brag about them, remember them, form an opinion, compare them, write us all up a review, embrace the experience. Enjoy the journey.


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[99call]

7 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

i might be missing something here.

I was never proposing an experience embargo of trying singles, that would be madness. 

my concerns were angled towards collectors of singles who collect as if to put things on a pedestal, slowly but surely boxing themselves in from what they can or cant smoke in their collection. I whole heartedly agree that the marrow should be sucked out of life, and that if given the opportunity, you should try whatever you can. What I think is folly, is to create, and curate a humidor of one hit wonders. 

To use the Springsteen metaphor one step further.  Imagine your Springsteen collection was stored on perishable digital signatures. And you had only bought one play of every track. Every little bit of pleasure of listening, would be filled with a wincing pain of loss. 

 

 

[madandana]

16 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

i might be missing something here.

are you saying you have a chance to try a rare or perhaps discontinued stick or one that is considered to be a terrific smoke and you are thinking of saying no? assume fakes and price not an issue here. people are saying, well, i might not learn enough from smoking just one or i might really like it so that would be bad because i will probably never have the chance again? or am i missing something?

are we insane? of course you try it. there will be plenty of smokes in your life that you might only have one chance to try. why wouldn't you?

you will learn (if that is the intention) infinitely more from smoking one of them than from smoking none.

as for the 'i might like' them argument??? well good. one hopes so. you'd rather not like it because then it does not matter. i honestly can't understand that. surely better to have had the chance to enjoy it once than not?

think of this with wine (or probably any subject you might wish to insert). you would not try a great old bottle of wine because you might like it and be unlikely to get to try it again? crazy talk.

i had one opportunity to try the 78 romanee conti many years ago. now, there was every chance i would never get the chance to try it again and as it turns out, i never have. i should have said no? as it turned out, it was a touch corked so it was an unfortunate experience but i would still not have missed it. a couple of years ago, i did get the chance to try the 1929 romanee conti. there is almost no possibility i will ever see it again. a mindblowingly brilliant, extraordinary wine. i should have said no, because i'd never get the chance again?

be like saying i do not want to go to a springsteen concert because i might not get to another. madness.

 

I guess l missed the part where budget was of no concern. My point is I'm not going to blow my wad on a one off vintage when I could get a box of something else that I could enjoy time and time again. If you're handing out vintage sticks, I'll be glad to smoke them.

[HShep]

I see this a lot with old shotguns.  People go so far down the rabbit hole that they end up spending a fortune on things that they will never use.  Guns were made to be shot and enjoyed.  Cigars were made to be smoked.  If you wind up with a collection that is too rare or valuable to use, what have you done, really, aside from created a personal museum for things that you like to use, but won't, because reasons?

I wouldn't own a shotgun that I wouldn't shoot and I wouldn't own a cigar that I wouldn't smoke.  Sometimes the stars align and you come across something truly special and unique.  Enjoy it for what it was designed to do and don't obsess over the future.

[Akela3rd]

I see this a lot with old shotguns.  People go so far down the rabbit hole that they end up spending a fortune on things that they will never use.  Guns were made to be shot and enjoyed.  Cigars were made to be smoked.  If you wind up with a collection that is too rare or valuable to use, what have you done, really, aside from created a personal museum for things that you like to use, but won't, because reasons?

I wouldn't own a shotgun that I wouldn't shoot and I wouldn't own a cigar that I wouldn't smoke.  Sometimes the stars align and you come across something truly special and unique.  Enjoy it for what it was designed to do and don't obsess over the future.

Agreed. Earlier on this year I bought a Hardy fly reel that I'd been lusting after for ages. The one I wanted so bad came up for sale and I jumped on it, because I had the money there to do so. My wife (and one or two friends) asked me what I was going to do with it now that I had it. Answer: bother some trout with it!
However, a special cigar is a one hit wonder unless you can afford to go deep. I wouldn't have rented that reel for a an hour just to say I'd tried it, nor would I have bought it just to leave in it's box and look at it.

Thunder & Lightening '75-'15

[CrankYanker]

So I recently did this while I was in the Dominican. I bought some singles just to take back with me. Why? Memories and to see how they will store. I will enjoy them back in the states and when they are gone they are gone. I didn't but boxes because I wasn't sure if I would like them and the price was just unreal. I bought some sticks that I couldn't get back in the states. Will I be mad and upset if I like a single and can't get another? Nope I'll just enjoy the memory of the cigar factory with my wife and how we bought these together. 

[LGC]

After spending money on various davidoff and dunhill singles over the decades, I'll never do it again. 10 dollar sticks I've aged myself can bring just as much enjoyment.

I do enjoy some different vintage cigars, but the diminishing returns are a bigger factor these days. Rarity, special packaging, and special commissioning doesn't mean vastly superior tobacco every time. A lot of the cigars wouldn't value the same without the packaging and history. The non-smokable value of these things are subjective and for you to decide on. It's all relative...