Has anyone caught the magical dragon?

[ha_banos]

Sometimes I think @Ford2112 has been smoking the magic dragon. 

 

[Ford2112]

9 hours ago, ha_banos said:

Sometimes I think @Ford2112 has been smoking the magic dragon. 

I won't deny that in my life I have smoked just about whatever one can smoke. Unfortunately for me, this is how I am sober. 😔 ☹️ 

[Chibearsv]

9 hours ago, ha_banos said:

Sometimes I think @Ford2112 has been smoking the magic dragon. 

My glass house is much too fragile to throw that stone. I'm not an active participant anymore but the flashbacks are strong. 😁

[Lamboinee]

I was primarily a NC smoker for the first several years of my cigar life due largely to a lack of availability of CC's where I live. For the past 5 years or so my tendencies have switched. Now, CC's dominate my weekly smoking regimen and I would say that CC's are definitely my preference. I have found that my experience with CC's over the past few years has had a  positive impact on how I select and evaluate the NC's that I continue to smoke. Although your post is directed at those that have transitioned from CC's to NCs, perhaps my perspective can help. 

Do you honestly enjoy NCs as much as Cubans? Some of them, yes.  But the NC's that equal/surpass the CC's are harder to find.

Did you go at it thinking “ok this isn’t steak, it’s chicken, and different is good too”?  I've come to appreciate the journey more than the destination. Now, when I smoke a NC, I look at it from the perspective of "this is a new opportunity to try something that may be the best cigar I've ever had." I find that it helps if I am more deliberate in choosing the NC's that I am going to smoke for some specific reason(s). 

Did you beat your taste buds into submission and made them love the turds you were lighting up? Watching kids eat (or refuse to eat) has taught me that you can't beat your taste buds into submission. My dad desperately wanted me to like cucumbers as a child. It wasn't that I was pretending not to like them, or that I just wouldn't admit to liking them....Rather, I just didn't like cucumbers because they suck...unless they become pickles.   

Are you just a tobacco addict and will do anything for a fix? Not a tobacco addict.

If I may make a recommendation...Finding CC mentors has really helped me explore the world of CC's. Find someone who smokes a lot of NC's who's opinion/taste in cigars you value. Let them select 20-50 NC's for you to try. If you don't like a specific NC, try another sample, to make sure you didn't get a dud. Let your NC mentor guide your NC journey. Like a psychedelic guide to help you catch the magical dragon.  Mannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.

[BG318]

I discovered CC's in the 1990's. I was hooked immediately. I used to visit the local cigar shops in NYC - De la Concha and Davidoff. There I could buy AF's, Davidoff mostly. They were always good, but I always loved the CC's. Once I realized I couldn't find them, I lost interest in smoking. I nursed around 25 sticks for around 20 years, only occasionally jumping in to buy a Davidoff or two. Only the recent discovery of online sales has gotten me back into smoking again.

I have never found an NC that was steak, really not even chicken. I'm not sure if I have tricked myself into believing that CC's are better, but 20 years of relative abstinence suggests that I believe the propaganda that my brain is telling my taste buds.