Beginner's "MUST TRY" list of smokes needs some help

[demiurgic]

Aloha ~

Firstly, I have been to a few cigar forums and no one has extended such a warm welcome (Thanks Chuck and David)

In response to this spirit of Aloha and trust, I am writing this post is a request to all of FOH to guide my first purchase of Cuban cigars ever!

A few requests/preferences :

- Please recommend cigars that are smoking fine right now. Aging is another stage of the game and so is buying aged cigars. Ideally, 07-08 cigars that Czar has in their regular stock. Maybe you can recommend a year among the recent ones and smokes that can be enjoyed after a few days rest in the humidor

- Smokes that last 1.5 hours at the most. Been reading great things about smaller ring gauge cigars. If you have big cigars in mind, over 5-6 inches and thicker than 50 RG, please make them ones you really love. Yes, I am a 2 a day smoker of some pretty full bodied cigars, so don’t hesitate to mention whatever you like.

- Drink pairings. Sweet sodas just coat the palate, plain water gets boring, coffee does not go with everything, and I just made 2 years of being sober. Need some advice on keeping the palate fresh and receptive to subtle tastes with something more interesting to drink.

- Please recommend all flavor profiles. I lean towards stronger & fuller flavored cigars. However, let’s try “floral” cigars too!

- I have not considered trying any tubos because I dislike flashy bands/boxes which we have to pay for eventually! I could be perfectly mistaken to think of tubos the same way. However, I have read reviews that claim Siglo II tubos taste better than the box. Please recommend some tubos if you feel I gotta try ‘em.

- The most helpful thing you can do is recommend the ‘Must Try’ vitolas in each Brand Name.

That way, I can try the Brand Profile in depthl; try more vitolas if I like the Brand, or move on to another brand.

A beginners list of cigars that come recommended in many forums and review sites. -

For Brands with many Vitolas, please choose two or three of what you like best.

Rey Del Mundo – Croix Supreme, Lunch Club, Tainos

Por Laranga – Petit Corona , Panatela

San Cristobal - El Principe and…

Quai D Orsay – Coronas Claro

La Gloria – Medaille D OR No. 4 and…

Bolivar – Coronas Junior, Petit Corona, Royal Corona, Belociosos Finos, Imnensas

Hoyo Do Monterry - Epicure #2, Churchill, Du Prince, Des Deiux

MonteCristo #2, #4

Trinidad – Reyes, Colonials, Fundadores.

Cohiba – Siglo II, Siglo VI, Robusto, Lancero

Partagas – Serie D 4, 3, Serie P 2, Shorts, Chicos.

Ramon Allones – Small club coronas, Special Selected, Emenicias.

Punch – Punch, Super Selection

Romeo and Julieta – Mille Fleurs, Coronitas en Cedro, Cedros deluxe #3, Romeo 2, exhibition #4, Cazadores, Churchill, Short Churchill

Vegas Robaina – Unicos and…

Upmann - Magnum 46, and…

Tripa Corta – TC – Value smokes.

Flor Del Cano -

Jose Peidra - Cazadores and…

Quintero –

As you can see I have left quite a few Brands out because they are not talked about as much. Feel free to recommend sleepers in those Brands.

Considering I will get 2-3 of each Vitola per Brand , I'd like to start with 50 or less cigars in total.

Hopefully other Newbies will benefit from months of reading on my part and years of smoking on yours.

Together, we can make a t NEWBIE - 'MUST TRY' LIST

A BIG Mahalo (thanks)

Demi ;-)

[El Presidente]

have to run Demi as I have a family function on but on current production and shooting from the hip I can recomment the followin (others will chime in).

Bolivar

Bolivar Corona Gigantes

Bolivar Corona Extra

Cohiba

Cohiba Siglo VI

Cohiba Siglo IV

Cohiba Maduro 5 Genios

Cuaba

Cuaba Divinos

Diplomatico

Dip No 4

El Rey Del Mundo

Choix Supreme

Fonseca

Fonseca No 1

Hoyo De Monterrey.

HDM Epicure no 1

HDM Epicure No 2

HDM Double Corona

Juan Lopez

Juan Lopez No 1 and 2

La Gloria Cubana

LGC Tainos

Montecristo

Monte No 1

Monte No 2

Partagas

Partagas Serie P No 2

Partagas Serie De Connoisseur No 3

Punch

Punch Royal Selection No 11

Punch Petit Punch

Punch Petit Corona

Romeo y Julieta

R&J Short Churchill

R&J Cazadores

Ramon Allones

Specially Selected

Small Club Corona

St Luis Rey

SLR Serie A

Sancho Panza

Sancho Panza Molinos

San Cristobal

SC La Punta

SC Principe

Trinidad

Reyes

Upmann

Sir Winston

Vegas Robaina

Unicos

[dmuchow]

Definitely recommend the RASS, with the Siglo I and Bolivar Belicosos Finos coming in a close second. Those are all April '06 stock from Czar.

[Tampa1257]

Demi,

I'll post my recommendations a little later as I have to head out right now, but one issue that I really feel IMPORTANT to mention is that while I know you will be excited to sample any Cuban Cigars that you receive shortly after they arrive to you, LET THEM REST. Being stuffed into an airplane after they were resting in a humidor, being pressurized then de-pressurized, stuffed into a mail room for a day or so, then a warm ride in a mail truck heading to your door does not lend itself to making the cigar smoke at its best.

I believe that you will find the VAST MAJORITY of Cuban Cigar smokers wait at least 30 days if not 60 days before smoking new arrivals to allow them proper stablization into your own humidor. If you take 2 cigars, smoke one as soon as it arrives to you and then wait 45 days and smoke them other, the cigar you waited to smoke will smoke and TASTE better. Unfortunately, it just remains a fact. Let them rest!

I know, I know, I am asking you to resist those urges to dig into them, as a newbie it will be difficult, simple, order MORE! :-D

[kilroy]

» I know, I know, I am asking you to resist those urges to dig into them, as

» a newbie it will be difficult, simple, order MORE! :-D

Agreed... they're like little sticks of flavorful crack that call to you from the coolidor besides your desk,

" smmooookkkeee me... sssmMMOOOOKKKEEEE me"

Thats why you really do have to keep ordering different ones. You never know when you'll light up the one.

Oh yeah... recommendations... The prez pretty much covered everything I love and then some. Go with partagas and you can't go wrong.

[Colt45]

» Please recommend cigars that are smoking fine right now.

This might be a difficult part of the plan. But given that criterion, the cigar(s) that stand out for me

would be the Partagas Serie du Connaisseur - any of the three. These will also reward aging.

There are many cigars that could be recommended, but personally, I feel many if not most would

need to be put away and left alone for longer than you'd like to wait. Herein lies what for me has

been a great conundrum:

You acquire a number of singles. Try a few here and there as you let them mature. Time goes by,

and you are finally able to discern which cigars you like. Now you know which you'd like to have

boxes of, and have to go through the process again.

Then again, there are many members who enjoy the characteristics of a young cigar. But to my

taste, I often find them lacking true flavor.

I'd certainly suggest using the reviews here as a general guide, to see what the majority feel

about a particular cigar. I frequently go back and read the reviews here. And by all means, let

the Czar Crew help. Utilizing their knowledge, and having them put together a sampler may be

the best way for someone new to Havanas to get their feet wet.

And as has already be mentioned - try one right away if you must, but it really does help to

leave them for a month or so. Have fun!

[hoyopr]

Demi,

I still think of myself as new and it was only a couple of years back I was asking the same thing. I would really follow Tampas suggestions and the recommended cigars from Prez. I've been enjoying these around 1 1/2 - 3 years of box age.

Diplomatico - Dip No 2

Hoyo De Monterrey - Petit Robusto (short on time smoke)

Partagas - Partagas Serie P No 2 - Lusitanias - Shorts (short on time)

Punch - Punch Royal Selection No 11 - Punch Petit Punch - Punch Petit Corona

Ramon Allones - Small Club Corona

Trinidad - Reyes

Also congrats on your 2 years of sobriety.

[CGB]

First I will start by saying - CONGRATS on your 2 years. I too am sober and know the struggles.

Anyways, I have been a BOTL for a while but I am a newb to the CC world. I am working my way through the list. I like a long smoke , so it has been difficult to make the transition to smaller smokes because of the many great reviews.

For me I had my first Monti #2 in the mid 90's and I still love them. The smokes I have tried recently that I really enjoy are Sig IV (early 07), RASS, Boli CG, and Party 898.

The hardest part has been learning to practice patience. In the NC world, you let them rest for a couple of months and then smoke them. Not so in the CC world, so I just bought my first couple of boxes to stash away and smoke later. In the meantime, I buy from other BOTL (through the forums) that have some good aged CC. They usually sell them in packs of five.

As far as the drink goes, and since I lost the privledge to partake in the spirits, I have had to experiment. I am a coffee drinker and I agree that it does not go with ebverything, but sweeten it up like a turkish or cuban coffee. I have an pretty good espresso machine and make myself cappuccinos and con panas to pair with my smokes. Same goes for some of the teas. I just sweeten them up! This will sound funny, but give it a shot - Orange Soda. I read a blog about a trip to Pepin's estate and that is what they drank until the evening. So, I tried and it goes good with most.

Good Luck and be patient with those sticks!

Brian

[Tampa1257]

Demi,

One thing so certain is when you ask a group of passionate cigar smokers what a "Must Try" is, you will find that everyones personal taste comes into play. My suggested list is the same, as my personal favorites are what I would buy to try. Some people have a palate of a Billy Goat, others have a highly developed palate and can describe the layers of raisins, dates, figs and almonds in the dense think velviety smooth smoke that fills their mouth. Others say, it tastes like good tobacco. So, what I am saying is that whatever list of "Must Have" cigars you go with, 2 things are going to happen.

1. You will always be re-defineing your palate, so what you love today may be replaced with another love tomorrow.

2. Smoking Cuban Cigars should be a relaxing and enjoyable experience. Don't rush through the cigar to get to the next one and have fun!

Here would be my personal "Must Try" cigars, this is only to give you an assortment to sample the flavors within the marcas, not the only cigars in the marca that I feel deserve to be smoked. In my opinion if these example vitolas in these marcas meet your likes, then you will have a base line of what to expect.

Note: (Smaller vitolas typically will have stronger or more intense flavor than larger vitolas In My Opinion)

Bolivar

Bolivar Royal Corona

Bolivar Gold Medal

Bolivar Corona Extra

Cohiba

Cohiba Siglo IV

Cohiba Corona Especiales

Cohiba Lancero

Diplomaticos

Dip No 2

Dip No 4

Dip No 5

El Rey Del Mundo

Lunch Club

Hoyo De Monterrey

HDM Epicure No 1

HDM Epicure No 2

HDM Double Corona

Juan Lopez

Juan Lopez Seleccion No 1

Juan Lopez Seleccion No 2

Montecristo

Monte No 1

Monte No 2

Monte No 5

Partagas

Partagas Culebras

Partagas Serie P No 2

Partagas Serie De Connaisseur No 3

Partagas 898

Partagas Serie du Connaisseur No 1 (My Personal Favorite)

Romeo y Julieta

RyJ Exhibition No 4

RyJ Short Churchill

RyJ Cazadores

Ramon Allones

Belicoso Fino

Specially Selected

Small Club Corona

St Luis Rey

SLR Serie A

SLR DC

San Cristobal

SC La Fuerza

SC La Punta

SC Principe

Trinidad

Fundadores

Reyes

H. Upmann

Mag 46

Upmann No 2

Sir Winston

Vegas Robaina

Famosos

Unicos

Por Larranaga

Monte Carlo

Petit Corona

I would get 2-3 of each of these. The reason is so that you can smoke the first while the other 2 are resting. After the first one, you will have an idea if you like it or not, but the second one is going to really determine that. The third one is for you to smoke while you are waiting on your next order to arrive or to share with a close cigar buddy.

As for pairings, I would recommend either Sprite or Serria Mist or 7-Up. These have a citrus base that will not be overly sweet on the palate and also be refreshing. If soda is not for you, then Lemonade. Citrus cleanzes the palate, so try Lemon with water, Lime with water or Lemonade.

[marco polo]

I can't believe after all this time how many cigars there are that

I have'nt tried! My credit card weeps!:-)

[demiurgic]

Lots of choices, boy oh boy.

Some great advice on this thread on drink pairing and beginner's smokes.

There's some lengthy input from some of you; the effort is appreciated.

Great starter list,

cheers!

Demi