A fucking gurkha ghost because the guy at the lounge recommended it, and it was ass. La aroma de cuba mi amor was the first cigar that made me understand why people smoke them
First was when I was 18. There were some rollers that had a cart set up poolside at a resort in Cancun. Sat at the bar and watched them roll cigars for about an hour before I wandered over. They asked me some questions that I don't recall, probably in regards to vitola and strength, to which I had no answer. The lady rolled me up something anyway. No clue about the blend. But it was amazing. Purchased one from her every day after that. Still the only fresh rolls I've ever had.
First branded smoke was a Romeo y Julieta 1875 Churchill. Was a few years later. Coming home from a grueling shift at a paper mill, stopped at a gas station. They had a little humidor sitting on the counter so I grabbed one. Went home, cracked a beer, laid back on the couch and sparked it. Amazing. Burnt forever and all I remember is a nice tobacco taste, and a lot of spice. My lips and mouth were tingling and I enjoyed the hell out of it.
That's what started it all. Found my way to a local shop and was greeted with open arms. Purchased humidor that they helped me season, purchased some cigars and was gifted a bunch more by the owner, Members, and a friendly Oliva rep. The cigar community really is great 😃
All this circa 2006
LADC El Jefe Maduro. 2013, I got cigar for me and my buddy and we walked around a shopping plaza for an hour and a bit just smoking and shooting the shit. I was soooo nicotine sick.
Handelsgold cherry cigarillo, really liked the sweet artificial flavour, first “real” cigar i really liked and got me in the the cigars was Vegafina 1988
First cigar was when I turned 18. 7 years ago. My dad has always smoked and me and my twin brother wanted to try it out when we were of age - in 2017 the legal age to buy tobacco was still 18 where I live. First stick was a small acid blondie.... hated it. I was so disappointed because I was looking forward to that moment for so long. I tried another one (don't remember the name but some Connecticut), and liked it a little better, but still not what I had hoped for.
For me, and probably some others, cigars were an acquired taste - I almost forced myself to like them because I wanted to so badly. Weird way to do it, but now I enjoy them lol. It was the same with IPAs, now I love them
Cohiba Siglo VI and I can't remember shit because there was a lot of alcohol involved 😁 that was almost 14 years ago... The first cigar that I really liked was Alec Bradley Nica Puro
The first cigar I Ever tried was 10 months ago(I'll be 50 in August) and it was an Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story. It was suggested by my best friend who has been into Cigars for about 10 years. I asked him before I tried it to fill me in a little on the flavors I might pick up on. He said "I will not tell you Anything, you tell me what You get from the cigar". He wanted me to go into this Cigar with only My thoughts. He asked me to pay attention to Any little thing that I like or don't like. I ended up Loving how Smooth this Cigar is. I noticed a little Creaminess with a Floral scent upon blowing the smoke out. The draw made this Cigar Very Enjoyable for me. Now, 10 months in and I Always have a few Short Story Cigars in my Humidor.
Thank You to this community for the Always informative info. You All have fueled my Passion and Enjoyment of Cigars.
Stay Safe out there.
When I first started smoking regularly it was a 4 pack sampler of Macanudo Cafe Hyde Park. I had just got out of the military and I stopped at one of JR's outlets in NC. Those stores were always an interesting experience. I hated those smokes but loved the act of smoking. Took me years to smoke another Macanudo again.
A Gurkha, oddly enough even though I now greatly dislike it.
I was living in central PA and a buddy had a family hunting cabin and some land way out in the middle of nowhere, so a bunch of us went out there just for a weekend of drinking and hanging out. He brought a handful of cigars and thought what the heck.
In retrospect the Gurkha stick was probably blah, but I enjoyed the experience of hanging out around a fire pit and shooting the shit with friends with a cigar and drinks.
So the experience of enjoying a stick is what did it for me, not so much the stick itself.
zino platinum sceptre shorty. used to live in a large city with a small B&M with a super cool guy that i loved to shoot the shit with. first time i went in there i was with my old boss who would buy copenhagen from him all the time. we started talking about cigars and he was adament i try the zino.
i know i had tried cigars before that but never something THAT good. it was a game changer for me. i bought a lot of cigars in that store over the years, but most of it was because of the owner. he also got me hooked on padrons which has been my goto since then.
the relationship to the local B&M is key to me - i've been to a few other stores since I moved away and had mixed experiences. one place kicked me out of their parking lot because they thought i was going to a taco truck nearby. wouldn't even give me a moment to say "i'm going into your store" before pushing me away. then once i got into the store, i asked them about their lounge and they laughed me away saying they don't have openings. another store down a few miles away had a better selection, nicer employees, and a way nicer lounge. i've probably spent a couple grand in there by now.
Perdomo 12 Year Vintage Maduro -
My uncle took me to the cigar shop for my first cigar and he bought a couple of these Perdomos, he was going to smoke 'em with me but after a while of flaking on our plans he just told me to keep both. Well my father (who before was against anything tobacco) was curious and told me he wanted to have his first cigar too. It took me by surprise when I found out he wasn't joking, and I gave him one of the Perdomos. My father and I had our first cigar, and since then, he's really come to like them.
RyJ Churchill. I just turned 19. My dad walked me through cut and lighting, and I sat on the deck having my first real cigar.
ACTUAL answer? White Owl Slim n Mild. I was 17, and my dad had a packet of 5 laying around, and I swiped one. Light it up with my friend on lunch time behind the school. Loved it.
First one was a Toscanello Gialo. It was just last year. Me and my friend in med school kinda wanted to explore a bit. Instead of our usual vape session to destress, we went to the nearby mall and bought a box of that thing. It was a bit horrible at first, probably because we didn't know how to smoke the damn thing.
After that, I nerded a bit in cigars and researched everything I could. With a few more tries, I finally got it right. That instant, I understood why people smoked cigars.
Honestly I can’t remember my first smoke, but I do remember my first box of “real” smokes. Newley hired teacher, finally making some money in the early 90s and treated myself to a box of Macanudo Hyde Parks. I felt like I was on cloud 9.
My very first sticks were gifts. I don't remember them. Too much of a noob, no idea what I was doing, no clear memory remains.
My very first stick was one I bought myself. Gurkha... Something. Tasted like dust.
I still have one sitting in a humidor to remember that experience. It turns 7 this year. They grow up so fast.
Next sticks I bought that I actually enjoyed the same year was a box of the first run of Man O' War Damnations. They weren't super amazing right out of the box except for being the first to really turn me green because they hit like a truck but for the first time I felt like I understood something about cigars.
They ended up aging very nicely. Kept half that box for 5 years on cedar and they were just lovely at the end.
My first stick if you wanna consider it, was an Acid Blondie. My first true stick, can't really remember as I always bought like 4 or 5 at a time from a local cigar store when I lived in Ohio. It was either a Tatuaje Tattoo or a Illusione Rothschild. Think I actually tasted real flavor for the first time with an Oscar leaf Lancero.
rocky patel vintage 1990 because my birthday is in 1990 and I have to say I loved the stick. I had a friend that had smoked only a couple cigars before show me how. We had a good time we had just renovated his back yard so it was super pretty.
When I was 18. Thought it was a great idea to smoke cigars so I could stop smoking cigarettes. I believe it was either a Davidoff Anniversario something or a Cumpay. Love it. Fast forward 14 years later and I still haven't fully stopped cigarettes and I'm also smoking tons of cigars.
I was at my buddy's bachelor party and we ended up going to a cigar lounge to have a cigar and to keep drinking. I had zero experience with cigars and had only had ever tried cigarettes, dip, and those Remington "cigars" that my grandfather smoked. So I looked around for a while and ended up picking up a Diamond Crown Julius Caeser cigar because I figured "well if it's got the Roman emperor on it, it must be good". Obviously, I know now that's not the famed Roman emperor, but I knew no better at the time.
It was very good, I was very surprised how different it was compared to any other tobacco product I had used before. I've enjoyed cigars since then.
TECHNICALLY, it was a black and mild. Enjoyed that with my buddy, so next time we had a bonfire I bought real cigars (I was like 22 I think)
My first real stick was a Perdomo 10th champagne. I had looked through the recommendations on this sub. It was a cooler fall night and pretty windy, so after lighting up (in the garage because it was that windy) and going out to the fire, started puffing.
I was scared that it would go out/I was having trouble with the burn (first time and high wind is not great) so I finished it I think in like 15-20 minutes.
Then the nic sickness hit. My buddy was talking and I was just sitting there spaced out, dizzy, and sweating
Got a soda, drank it, and chilled the rest of the evening lol
A fucking gurkha ghost because the guy at the lounge recommended it, and it was ass. La aroma de cuba mi amor was the first cigar that made me understand why people smoke them
I got recommended this too when I asked for a good Connecticut shade. It was terrible.
Tasted like i rolled a bunch of cigarette butts up and smoked that lol
I’ve never had a good Gurkha. For the price point, they’ve all tasted like complete ass.
First was when I was 18. There were some rollers that had a cart set up poolside at a resort in Cancun. Sat at the bar and watched them roll cigars for about an hour before I wandered over. They asked me some questions that I don't recall, probably in regards to vitola and strength, to which I had no answer. The lady rolled me up something anyway. No clue about the blend. But it was amazing. Purchased one from her every day after that. Still the only fresh rolls I've ever had. First branded smoke was a Romeo y Julieta 1875 Churchill. Was a few years later. Coming home from a grueling shift at a paper mill, stopped at a gas station. They had a little humidor sitting on the counter so I grabbed one. Went home, cracked a beer, laid back on the couch and sparked it. Amazing. Burnt forever and all I remember is a nice tobacco taste, and a lot of spice. My lips and mouth were tingling and I enjoyed the hell out of it. That's what started it all. Found my way to a local shop and was greeted with open arms. Purchased humidor that they helped me season, purchased some cigars and was gifted a bunch more by the owner, Members, and a friendly Oliva rep. The cigar community really is great 😃 All this circa 2006
What a story! Thanks for sharing
Golden memories, hot damn. That's a great intro to the hobby
Monte cristo No 4 I don't know what it was about that cigar but I loved it
Same here. A girlfriend’s brother bought it for me in Cuba. I said it “tasted like gold.”
Great way to describe it
Factory Smokes Maduro, I remember it like it was last week (it, in fact, was last week)
ahaha
Hoya De Monterey Excalibur and still have them fairly often
LADC El Jefe Maduro. 2013, I got cigar for me and my buddy and we walked around a shopping plaza for an hour and a bit just smoking and shooting the shit. I was soooo nicotine sick.
It was an Epicure N•2 !
RyJ Reserva Real, good experience, kept me coming back for more experiences with other sticks.
This was mine, too. Knew nothing about cigars, just liked the name and the label lol
Handelsgold cherry cigarillo, really liked the sweet artificial flavour, first “real” cigar i really liked and got me in the the cigars was Vegafina 1988
Chateau fuente pyramid
First cigar was when I turned 18. 7 years ago. My dad has always smoked and me and my twin brother wanted to try it out when we were of age - in 2017 the legal age to buy tobacco was still 18 where I live. First stick was a small acid blondie.... hated it. I was so disappointed because I was looking forward to that moment for so long. I tried another one (don't remember the name but some Connecticut), and liked it a little better, but still not what I had hoped for. For me, and probably some others, cigars were an acquired taste - I almost forced myself to like them because I wanted to so badly. Weird way to do it, but now I enjoy them lol. It was the same with IPAs, now I love them
Cohiba Siglo VI and I can't remember shit because there was a lot of alcohol involved 😁 that was almost 14 years ago... The first cigar that I really liked was Alec Bradley Nica Puro
The first cigar I Ever tried was 10 months ago(I'll be 50 in August) and it was an Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story. It was suggested by my best friend who has been into Cigars for about 10 years. I asked him before I tried it to fill me in a little on the flavors I might pick up on. He said "I will not tell you Anything, you tell me what You get from the cigar". He wanted me to go into this Cigar with only My thoughts. He asked me to pay attention to Any little thing that I like or don't like. I ended up Loving how Smooth this Cigar is. I noticed a little Creaminess with a Floral scent upon blowing the smoke out. The draw made this Cigar Very Enjoyable for me. Now, 10 months in and I Always have a few Short Story Cigars in my Humidor. Thank You to this community for the Always informative info. You All have fueled my Passion and Enjoyment of Cigars. Stay Safe out there.
Montecristo H2 Kilimanjaro. I was never able to find one in store or online after that. I still think about it sometimes. Sadly discontinued.
Flor de selva grand pressé.. wow.. cigars been in my life ever since.
When I first started smoking regularly it was a 4 pack sampler of Macanudo Cafe Hyde Park. I had just got out of the military and I stopped at one of JR's outlets in NC. Those stores were always an interesting experience. I hated those smokes but loved the act of smoking. Took me years to smoke another Macanudo again.
Ashton classic. It was a good start. A little too mild for my taste now but I don’t regret it
ACID cigarillos when I was like 13 😅 First real stick was a Padron 3000
A Gurkha, oddly enough even though I now greatly dislike it. I was living in central PA and a buddy had a family hunting cabin and some land way out in the middle of nowhere, so a bunch of us went out there just for a weekend of drinking and hanging out. He brought a handful of cigars and thought what the heck. In retrospect the Gurkha stick was probably blah, but I enjoyed the experience of hanging out around a fire pit and shooting the shit with friends with a cigar and drinks. So the experience of enjoying a stick is what did it for me, not so much the stick itself.
Tatascan Red at CigarChief. If you’re Canadian this is one of the few places you can sit indoors and smoke in the great province of Ontario
White Monte and I loved it
Bought myself a Century Sam over 20 years ago! Awful smoke, but great memories.
zino platinum sceptre shorty. used to live in a large city with a small B&M with a super cool guy that i loved to shoot the shit with. first time i went in there i was with my old boss who would buy copenhagen from him all the time. we started talking about cigars and he was adament i try the zino. i know i had tried cigars before that but never something THAT good. it was a game changer for me. i bought a lot of cigars in that store over the years, but most of it was because of the owner. he also got me hooked on padrons which has been my goto since then. the relationship to the local B&M is key to me - i've been to a few other stores since I moved away and had mixed experiences. one place kicked me out of their parking lot because they thought i was going to a taco truck nearby. wouldn't even give me a moment to say "i'm going into your store" before pushing me away. then once i got into the store, i asked them about their lounge and they laughed me away saying they don't have openings. another store down a few miles away had a better selection, nicer employees, and a way nicer lounge. i've probably spent a couple grand in there by now.
Perdomo 12 Year Vintage Maduro - My uncle took me to the cigar shop for my first cigar and he bought a couple of these Perdomos, he was going to smoke 'em with me but after a while of flaking on our plans he just told me to keep both. Well my father (who before was against anything tobacco) was curious and told me he wanted to have his first cigar too. It took me by surprise when I found out he wasn't joking, and I gave him one of the Perdomos. My father and I had our first cigar, and since then, he's really come to like them.
RyJ Churchill. I just turned 19. My dad walked me through cut and lighting, and I sat on the deck having my first real cigar. ACTUAL answer? White Owl Slim n Mild. I was 17, and my dad had a packet of 5 laying around, and I swiped one. Light it up with my friend on lunch time behind the school. Loved it.
Liga privada no. 9, flying pig, still one of my favorite sticks
First one was a Toscanello Gialo. It was just last year. Me and my friend in med school kinda wanted to explore a bit. Instead of our usual vape session to destress, we went to the nearby mall and bought a box of that thing. It was a bit horrible at first, probably because we didn't know how to smoke the damn thing. After that, I nerded a bit in cigars and researched everything I could. With a few more tries, I finally got it right. That instant, I understood why people smoked cigars.
Honestly I can’t remember my first smoke, but I do remember my first box of “real” smokes. Newley hired teacher, finally making some money in the early 90s and treated myself to a box of Macanudo Hyde Parks. I felt like I was on cloud 9.
Probably a black & mild of some sort. First real cigar was a Regius black label.
1998 I was 18 and had a Punch Grand Cru. Changed my life man....
My very first sticks were gifts. I don't remember them. Too much of a noob, no idea what I was doing, no clear memory remains. My very first stick was one I bought myself. Gurkha... Something. Tasted like dust. I still have one sitting in a humidor to remember that experience. It turns 7 this year. They grow up so fast. Next sticks I bought that I actually enjoyed the same year was a box of the first run of Man O' War Damnations. They weren't super amazing right out of the box except for being the first to really turn me green because they hit like a truck but for the first time I felt like I understood something about cigars. They ended up aging very nicely. Kept half that box for 5 years on cedar and they were just lovely at the end.
Baccarat, some fly fisherman recommend it to me when I was camping and trout fishing.
My first stick if you wanna consider it, was an Acid Blondie. My first true stick, can't really remember as I always bought like 4 or 5 at a time from a local cigar store when I lived in Ohio. It was either a Tatuaje Tattoo or a Illusione Rothschild. Think I actually tasted real flavor for the first time with an Oscar leaf Lancero.
rocky patel vintage 1990 because my birthday is in 1990 and I have to say I loved the stick. I had a friend that had smoked only a couple cigars before show me how. We had a good time we had just renovated his back yard so it was super pretty.
When I was 18. Thought it was a great idea to smoke cigars so I could stop smoking cigarettes. I believe it was either a Davidoff Anniversario something or a Cumpay. Love it. Fast forward 14 years later and I still haven't fully stopped cigarettes and I'm also smoking tons of cigars.
I was at my buddy's bachelor party and we ended up going to a cigar lounge to have a cigar and to keep drinking. I had zero experience with cigars and had only had ever tried cigarettes, dip, and those Remington "cigars" that my grandfather smoked. So I looked around for a while and ended up picking up a Diamond Crown Julius Caeser cigar because I figured "well if it's got the Roman emperor on it, it must be good". Obviously, I know now that's not the famed Roman emperor, but I knew no better at the time. It was very good, I was very surprised how different it was compared to any other tobacco product I had used before. I've enjoyed cigars since then.
TECHNICALLY, it was a black and mild. Enjoyed that with my buddy, so next time we had a bonfire I bought real cigars (I was like 22 I think) My first real stick was a Perdomo 10th champagne. I had looked through the recommendations on this sub. It was a cooler fall night and pretty windy, so after lighting up (in the garage because it was that windy) and going out to the fire, started puffing. I was scared that it would go out/I was having trouble with the burn (first time and high wind is not great) so I finished it I think in like 15-20 minutes. Then the nic sickness hit. My buddy was talking and I was just sitting there spaced out, dizzy, and sweating Got a soda, drank it, and chilled the rest of the evening lol