An education in cigars

[JohnS]

The common practice in gifting a cigar to smoke to a person new to cigars is to give them a cigar like the Montecristo No.4, as this cigar is considered a good introductory cigar. Last weekend, my son George caught up with a friend from his undergraduate university course, Ignacio. Ignacio was born in Argentina, was raised in Australia and has family in France so the afternoon proved to be quite fruitful in regard to the topics discussed. Personally, I was surprised with how much Spanish I knew when we were talking about the historical reputation of Habanos cigars from Cuba.

So, did we start with a Montecristo No.4? Of course not! My EOT Sep 2015 Cohiba Siglo IV has been my favourite go-to box in the last month so why not start with that? As Ignacio wasn't familiar with an aged Cohiba cigar he just enjoyed the smoke. Afterwards, my son wanted a Montecristo No.4 so I opened a UEB Mar 2018 box. Thankfully, the three of us has Monte 4s that were 'on'. Ignacio said that he could taste the distinct flavours in his Monte 4.

I happened to have some Fernet-Branca in my bar, so we enjoyed all this with some Fernet con Cola (the national drink of Argentina). It was quite an afternoon and I enjoyed passing on some knowledge of our shared hobby.

[Goldeneye]

On 4/13/2025 at 11:19 PM, JohnS said:

The common practice in gifting a cigar to smoke to a person new to cigars is to give them a cigar like the Montecristo No.4, as this cigar is considered a good introductory cigar. Last weekend, my son George caught up with a friend from his undergraduate university course, Ignacio. Ignacio was born in Argentina, was raised in Australia and has family in France so the afternoon proved to be quite fruitful in regard to the topics discussed. Personally, I was surprised with how much Spanish I knew when we were talking about the historical reputation of Habanos cigars from Cuba.

So, did we start with a Montecristo No.4? Of course not! My EOT Sep 2015 Cohiba Siglo IV has been my favourite go-to box in the last month so why not start with that? As Ignacio wasn't familiar with an aged Cohiba cigar he just enjoyed the smoke. Afterwards, my son wanted a Montecristo No.4 so I opened a UEB Mar 2018 box. Thankfully, the three of us has Monte 4s that were 'on'. Ignacio said that he could taste the distinct flavours in his Monte 4.

I happened to have some Fernet-Branca in my bar, so we enjoyed all this with some Fernet con Cola (the national drink of Argentina). It was quite an afternoon and I enjoyed passing on some knowledge of our shared hobby.

Sounds like a great introduction to cigars and wonderful afternoon.

[Lucas Buck]

Always love reading stuff like this. Cheers!

[JohnS]

16 hours ago, Goldeneye said:

Sounds like a great introduction to cigars and wonderful afternoon.

It was indeed!

16 hours ago, Lucas Buck said:

Always love reading stuff like this. Cheers!

It's good to give to others what others have given us in the past, for sure!