Beginner's Mistakes: If you could start again

[CaptainQuintero]

 There's been a fair few newer members popping up so thought it might be useful to share what you did in your early days of getting into the hobby that you think worked out on the long run, and what you wish you hadn't done.

 Personally I wish I'd avoided big box purchases initially and really dumped that money into singles. I made the familiar mistake of buying a wooden desktop humi as well.

  I'm glad I got into keeping tasting notes for each new cigar very early on though, that's been an invaluable tool that I keep up with to this day.

[griller]

I can second your recommendation to keep tasting notes. Unfortunately, I did not do this & the older I get, the more difficult it is to remember flavor evolutions over time, etc. Also stinks as I'd love to be able to revisit some early experiences from the late 90s on some marques that have been discontinued, etc. 

[BrightonCorgi]

Vacuum sealing. I ran out of space in the Aristocrat a long time ago and stopped buying cigars due to lack of space. Vacuum sealing works great for long term storage at room temperature or cooler. Missed out on another 100+ boxes I could've bought. 😒

[99call]

I was very lucky to get into the passion at a time where things were a great deal more straight forward with purchasing, shipping and technicalities of delivery etc. (that’s all I'll say on that). If I was fresh to cigars now, I think I would try and contact an old timer privately and work out the lay of the land, with suppliers, who’s good? pitfalls? technicalities etc. The quicker someone can get up to speed, the better the quality of their early collection and experiences, will be. 

Being in the UK, I only had a very brief window, when I had access to CC merchants (outside of the UK) that would do mixed singles at good prices. I wish I had taken more advantage of that. 

I wish I had taken more advantage of family and friends travelling and picking up duty free. I hate asking things of people, and have still never have to this day asked. But the reality is offering someone a finders fee etc, they are more than happy to do it. 

I wish I’d gone to Andorra in its heyday. 

[Blazer]

10 hours ago, CaptainQuintero said:

 There's been a fair few newer members popping up so thought it might be useful to share what you did in your early days of getting into the hobby that you think worked out on the long run, and what you wish you hadn't done.

 Personally I wish I'd avoided big box purchases initially and really dumped that money into singles. I made the familiar mistake of buying a wooden desktop humi as well.

  I'm glad I got into keeping tasting notes for each new cigar very early on though, that's been an invaluable tool that I keep up with to this day.

I would second all of those, but like most, I wish I had bought a lot more CCs when they were reasonably priced!

[Chibearsv]

15 minutes ago, Blazer said:

I wish I had bought a lot more CCs when they were reasonably priced!

The newer members very likely will be saying the same thing one day. 

Have a plan for long term storage that works based on your climate.  

Use that wooden desktop to dry box if needed, not for storage.

Sample everything you can to develop your own opinions regarding taste and vitola. 

Taste a wide variety and stock up on the cigars you really enjoy when you can afford to.  

[Ford2112]

No regrets. Every mistake I made taught me a lot.

[Lfhard]

One of my biggest regrets was not finding this website sooner. Caught the tail end of the carts. Like mentioned above, I wish I would have bought more boxes before prices went up. Still buy if you can since prices will just continue to go up. I wish I would have just bought/built a large humidor to start with as I put a lot of money into smaller humidors or storage just to not use them anymore. 

[GP012]

Pick a budget and stick to it. When I started in 2005, boxes of the staples were ~$150-$175. Obviously much has changed since then, but it's easier to over extend yourself when spending $600+ for a box today.

 

 

[MagicalBikeRide]

Within reason - buy more storage than you think you will need. I’m yet to hear someone complain that they have too much humidor space. 

[Havanaaddict]

When I stared backing the late 90's I followed the ratings in Cigars Aficionado and on my lunch break I would go to different local cigar shops and try to find the top ones listed!

I ran an auto body shop so I could walk around smoking a cigar it was fun the hunt and sampling to see If I could test the same thing that CA reviews said! I eventually settled on AF Hemingways, Opus x, Padron Anniversary, Ashton VSG. Then I met a few friends and one knew a guy that sold Cubans out of his trunk😎 and he also sold to local cigar shop. Back then they were $15 to $20+ I also bought a few a month from a guy the work at the Dunhill store on his lunch break! (side gig selling Cubans). I would smoke a Cuban once a month and regular cigars the rest of the time. Then we found a source and started buying a few boxes at a time and splitting them. I, like most, started with a large desktop, then an igloo cooler! I started getting more Cubans and I started smoking more Cubans and less and less others, till I was smoking 100% Cubans! I never thought I would be buying whole boxes, then I fell off the edge of the cliff and stared buying boxes! I built a cigar lounge in my house with a ventilation system and bought a 6 foot vinotemp humidor! I worked nights in a cigar lounge and had the pick of any cigar I wanted, but I brought my own and was smoking 4 a night! As for as the flavor, I equate smoking Cuban cigars to if you drank cabernet wine, and then found Napa cabs and you only drank Napas as they hit your palate perfectly! I have always said to smoke what you like, just don't tell me what I should like 😝

Sample all you can!

Split boxes with friends!

Start with an igloo 120qt will hold tons and are easy to maintain!

#1 HAVE FUN!!!    

[wjs]

Avoid the ‘Cuban farm roll’ thing. 

[ha_banos]

I went through looooads of singles. Bought from merchants but mostly from local forum splits. Hundreds of cigars. Great journey through loads of CCs.

Regret not buying more boxes earlier. Leaving even things like BBF and PLPC mañana. Now look. 

And just do it. Stack up a load of scubadors if you need to. Don't use the space restriction to stop. Because later it's too late! Like now!

[TacoSauce]

9 minutes ago, ha_banos said:

Stack up a load of scubadors if you need to

Hmmm.. what is a scubador? An image search suggests this is a scubador:

[ha_banos]

2 hours ago, TacoSauce said:

Hmmm.. what is a scubador? An image search suggests this is a scubador:

Sealed scuba boxes repurposed as a humidor!

[Tunkat92]

3 hours ago, MagicalBikeRide said:

I’m yet to hear someone complain that they have too much humidor space.

I’ll let you have a conversation with my girlfriend 

[unaslob]

Investing in proper storage. For the cost of a couple of decent boxes you can buy a nice regulated humidor. I used to buy smaller humidors desktop style and ran out of space and would get another. This was pre-govee days and I would manage like 7-10 humidors. Inevitably one would get away from you and you’d ruin some sticks. Go bigger. Get monitors that link to your phone. Bovedas and tupperdors make that easier too. Don’t assume everything will age well. Do your research. 

[99call]

2 hours ago, ha_banos said:

Sealed scuba boxes repurposed as a humidor!

Got 4 of the 110ltr versions of this exact brand. They are awesome. 

[HenryMartin]

The mistakes definitely made the journey. So much satisfaction from learning the ropes through self-experience. Given the chance to start all over again, I would have done the exact same (except for an inclination of being more of a hoarder of course). Smoking Cubans fresh out the box was an obvious mistake early-on but teaching myself that lesson made those cigars memorable. And I feel fortunate to have found this hobby because its not easy to find one with such longevity, adventure and memories.

I didn’t keep a journal but I did take pictures of all of them and they've proven valuable to me especially the ones during travels. I still remember vividly smoking a cigar at a shop on Melrose Avenue when I visited LA in 2017. Almost ten years ago, I forgot the cigar and the photo reminded me that it was a Tatuaje Cojonu 2006. One that to my pleasant surprise, I could smoke at the shop's lounge while watching English Premier League on live broadcast. It means little to an American but for a traveller it was priceless and so is the photograph.

[zeedubbya]

As others have mentioned, if you plan to keep a large stock of cigars, invest in the best climate control money can buy. Keep those cigars dry. Use active humidification, not just beads and or Boveda packs. Temperature plays a crucial role. Build a small walk in if you can afford it. Better yet, just get in touch with @PigFish and pay whatever he asks. I can tell a clear difference in my cigars stored in my humidor with CigarClimatology hardware vs. the others. 

[BlueWS]

I wish I knew how to smoke and enjoy a cigar properly sooner. That smoking too fast can be a bad experience. How you light it isn't as important as how you store it and how you smoke it. A few bad NC's turned me off cigars completely several times. I wish I new about getting Cuban cigars shipped to my door years earlier. I thought they had to be physically purchased and snuck into the states. I remember my Dad shoving sticks of Cubans in all our inside jacket pockets the one time we went to Canada lol. "Dad what's the big deal they're just cigars?" "I'LL TELL YOU LATER."

[BrightonCorgi]

Couple of other things:

• Rinse cigar under faucet before throwing into the trash bin. Only takes one fire to never hear the end of it.
• Rinse ashtray with soap and water. Holds a lot of smell after smoking.
• Don't be afraid to write notes on bottom of cigar boxes. Where and when you bought it, how much...

[joeypots]

Buy regular production Cuban cigars. While there are very good Regional, Limited, and all sorts of double banded dollar gobblers, even triples, it can be very expensive to pursue these cigars looking for a gem. The price benefit correlation is dismal in the Cuban cigar world. 

The PSD#4, Connie 1, or Punch Punch are, for example, tremendous cigars and well kept and acclimated, they will smoke better than most of the NW cigars by a mile.

 

[teamrandr]

I regret not buying a freight load of Reyes.

 

[GVan]

Good habits: 

• Keep a spreadsheet of everything you buy. Where, when, how much -- it's amazing how much you can spend when you don't keep track. It's also really nice to track rest times and the age of your cigars - you will see and taste trends that will guide your future purchases.
• Buy Regular Production. Really wish I had more PD4's, PSdPs, PPs, PLPCs, DIP2's....Can never get enough of favorites. Also, better bang for the buck!
• Same comments on storage above. When I started I would have never guessed I'd be up to a "Ready Now humidor" that holds 1750 cigars and 6 large coolidors for long-term.
• Buy cigars that fit your normal smoking time and palate. Keep a log of flavors you taste. Pretty soon you'll target in on your favorite marcas and vitolas. 
• Remember - it's just a cigar! It's supposed to be a fun hobby that calms you and provides pleasurable smoking experiences with friends -- not something that spins you up.

Bad Habits:

• Buying everything without a plan. Or just as bad, buying something just because it's on "Special". (Although I really wish we'd someday see those two-box deals again!)