Reclaiming My Fondness For the Best Way to Relax, A Cigar

Lasabar

I have posted in other threads that I once spent a ton of money at first and frankly smoked cigars wrong, didn't appreciate their individual flavors, then left them to dry out over a period of 1.5 years. Here's my question as I try to reclaim my fondness for cigars (and try to reclaim those dried out cigars!) I have a 150 Count Humidor coming in the mail. It's came with activator solution (50/50) and the Humi-Gel for humidification, I bought a digital Hygrometer and calibration kit and I currently have some cigars waiting for it. (Ashton VSG, Corojo 97, CAO Sopranos, Cusano 18 conn, Cusano corojo 97, Camacho Maduro, Vencgeance, Montecristo White, A Fuente Gran Reserva, Rocky Patel Vintage 1999 Connecticut etc.) Now my question is I have only until now bought singles of premium cigars, and frankly with a 150 count 1) I can't afford to buy ALL premiums right away and 2) HATE seeing an empty humidor. 3) I have none to share the same cigar with, So with the intent of from now on every premium I buy, I will buy TWO or three so I can share or rest them, what is a good brand to get a BOX of, cheap but really rest/ages well so that I can fill 'er up and after a few months will actually have a decent cigar! (I'm looking to spend NO MORE than $100 and the Girlfriend would like to keep it around $50) I basically want to build up a FANTASTIC collection over the years (through the cigar of the month club and buying on recommendations of these forums) but I also want to get to aging some lower priced brands NOW so when I buy the Great cigars, I can keep my hands off of them for awhile. I am still newer to the cigar world, so when you give suggestions please not if they are Full-bodied or milder etc. ANY suggestions is appreciated for I don't know what I like yet, the ONLY cigar I HAVE bought more than once was "The Edge" THANKS!

j0z3r

I would look into trying out the Oliva Serie G and Serie O ( medium and full bodied, respectively). They are a rather inexpensive premium that has good, solid ratings. Its hard to go wrong with the 5 Vegas lines as well

I think the way you are doing it is good though, I like to buy singles or fivers to determine if I like something without going all out on a box purchase, and it has led me to some good cigars that I would not have tried if I had to make a box purchase only. I'm a fan of sampler packs as well, they are usually a really good way to get a wide sampling at a cheaper price.

Basically, what it boils down to is that there is no wrong way to go about this really, just find what works well for you and make sure you take care of those cigars this time around .

By the way, welcome to the forum.

Joe

kuzi16

if i was gunna buy a box of inexpensive cigars, i would buy a box of sancho panza -either the extra fuerte or the double maduro. either one is good, and well under $100

madurofan

Lasabar, don't worry about smoking them wrong or letting them dry out. Everyone on here can tell you how bad they screwed up when they first got into it. First let me say you have a nice sampler going on so far. Second ANY hand rolled, long filler cigar is considered a "premium". Most people even consider hand rolled short filler cigars to be premiums, though there are debates on this. Either way, my point is you will be buying all premiums, don't buy anything from your local pharmacy . You just want to find some affordable every day smokes. Finally I'm with jozer here I buy samplers, I've never bought a box of anything and don't know that I will. I like variety and by buying a box I would be committing to smoking a lot of that cigar. Hope all this is helpful and good luck reclaiming! I'd recommend picking up a couple more samplers. But if you do want a straight up recommendation my fall-back everyday cigar has always been the CAO MX-2. P.S. if you really enjoyed Rocky Patel's The Edge. I'd say you liked medium - full bodied cigars. Let us know how you feel about the Cusano 18 and RP Conneticuts though because they will be lighter bodied. P.P.S. what are you using for humidification in that humidor?

Markbb

I buy singles and five packes to see if I like em, but to be honest the only box set that I've bought are the Vegas 5 series, Red, Gold, and Black which to me is reasonable priced for a everyday smoke...

jlzimmerman

First, be sure you season/break in the humidor before you add any cigars, but you probably already know that.

IMHO, I'd get a few Cigar.com Super Samplers. The Cigar.com brands are very good, inexpensive, and contains everything from mild to full-bodied cigars. That will fit the bill perfectly if you want to fill the humidor and not break the bank at the same time.

madurofan

I bought two samplers of all 7 house blends. I'm smoking them and reviewing them on the reviews section if you want one mans opinion of the ccom house blends.

kuzi16

i would love to see cigar.com do more samplers over all. Id like to see a few samplers where they take three or four cigars that are simaler and place them in a sampler. Id also like to see a sampler that embodies the essence of each wrapper. as in get a classic connecticut shade tasting cigar, a classic corojo, cameroon, and so on all in one sampler so that people can taste the difference. A sampler that goes from mild to full body would be great as well.

madurofan

kuzi16:

i would love to see cigar.com do more samplers over all. Id like to see a few samplers where they take three or four cigars that are simaler and place them in a sampler. Id also like to see a sampler that embodies the essence of each wrapper. as in get a classic connecticut shade tasting cigar, a classic corojo, cameroon, and so on all in one sampler so that people can taste the difference. A sampler that goes from mild to full body would be great as well.

ccom take notes! and someone pay this man a consulting fee! Damn good idea!

kaspera79

I love cigar.com's create your own sampler. It is a great way to pick up the cigars you have not tried yet. But why stop there ? Create your own super premiums for the smokers with more expensive tastes.

Lasabar

As far as reclaiming goes I have my 15 count Humi I bought at a nice shop that has had about a 40-60 Rh level over the past 1.5 years (I leave it around for six months and then fill it then leave it again all the while it just sits there, that's MY definition of letting them dry out) and recently I've had it at about 65 Rh for about 3 months and this last month at about 75-80 and now back to 70 and now I have added another 10 cigars to it. As far as what's in my Humi I have just the plastic green sponge and Tap water and when it was about 80 I had a damp paper towel in there seperated by my cigar cutter from the gars. First, the ones that are the oldest are the Monte cristo white, the CAO Sopranos, Arturo Gran Reserva, Rocky Patel Vintage 1999, and A Cusano 18 and those are the ones left in the humidor. Can I assume that if left for 4 months in a humidor and brought a little high and now stabilized if I smoked them in a month would they be realistic to my pallate? or would they have lost something forever since I'm an idiot and I shouldn't take them at what they are right now? Second, In my humidor that is on it's way I will be using a digital Hygrometer and some Humi-Care Crystal Gel that came with the Humi for free, it says it has crystals (similar to beads I'd assume) that you just add water too and can refill for up to a year. I want beads, but with 10 premiums just bought at local store, and cigar of the month club, and brand new 150 count humi the gel will have to do for now!!! Third, I just got my C.com Cigar of the month First package of the Double... HOLY COW!!! I've always wanted to try Gurkha and this baby came with both guns ablazin'!!! Fourthly, My new Humi I have bought a seasoning kit to get it stable for the first few days (by Boveda), activater solution (also free 50/50 but I'd assume with the crystals all I need is distilled NOT 50/50), the Humi-Care Crystal thing, and Digi readout with calibration kit... any thoughts on why NOT to use the Humi-Care Crystal gel? sounds like same things as beads just in a little container and not a permanent solution Thanks! and p.s. CIGAR OF THE MONTH CLUB ROCKS!!!!

j0z3r

I have a humi-care jar in one of my humidors, and it does a great job at adding that little extra bit to get my RH right around where I want it, which is holding pretty steady around 68% since I made the move to all heartfelt beads. And yes, you'll want to just use distilled water with that. Just don't rely on the gel alone, as it will likely not be enough for a 150 ct. If you are getting a sponge humidifier with your new humi, then use the 50/50 on the first charge as it will help to stabilize your humidity.

As far as the cigars that were not cared for properly, 40-60% Rh in a humidor is a lot better than them sitting in open air where they would be dried out even worse, so I would imagine that they will reclaim alright. If it were me, I'd let them rest for another month at a stable RH so that they will hopefully balance out a little better, aside from that I don't see why they wouldn't be fine.

Sounds like your addiction is progressing well

Joe

madurofan

Everything joe said is on the money. Definetly don't put anything but distilled water in your humidor no more tap water! My understanding now is that the 50/50 solution should only be used with the sponge type humidifiers not gels or beads. I have never used the gel so I can't speak to it but I have used the beads and was not fond of them. But most of the people on here love the beads so ... I use the cigar oasis, its pricey(about $90) but if you can swing it its well worth it. Finally the cigars you let partially dry out. They'll never taste exactly how they were supposed to so don't make your final verdict based on that one stick but they should be just fine after they rest for a while. I'm surprised they didn't crack the wrappers on you going from 40% - 80 like that.

kuzi16

yeah, the cigars wont be lost but they wont exactly be "right" either. Ive heard of people leaving a cigar or two in the car over the entire summer (accidentally of course) and then reclaiming them. they said it wasnt all that bad.

tripledeadheat

j0z3r:

I would look into trying out the Oliva Serie G and Serie O ( medium and full bodied, respectively). They are a rather inexpensive premium that has good, solid ratings. Its hard to go wrong with the 5 Vegas lines as well

Joe

Let me second that recommendation-both Olivas are very good. Let me also suggest the Rocky Patel Segundos(seconds) are a steal. Since you like The Edge go with the vintage 92 segundo.