Hello all. I'm new here... be gentle

Joking about the gentle thing, I'm thick skinned.

My name is Jay. I'm from the Bay Area. I acquired a taste for Cubanos during my tour in Iraq around 2006. The locals there were capitalizing on the military presence and the tobacco trade. Mostly you'll find them smoking hookah in the evenings, but the shop owners carry about every trinket and knock off good you could ever find, including fake Cubans. The trick was to befriend the shop owners. They smoked the real ones, while they sold the fakes to the unsuspecting military. It was this way that I learned to tell the difference.

Having smoked cigarettes since a teen, and a few cigars along the way, I was no noob to the tobacco thing. I developed a taste for their double apple hookah tobacco, which is apparently the preferred hookah tobacco in most of the country, though the merchants carry almost every flavor you could imagine. I would spend a good amount of my evenings playing dominoes with the locals in their little cafe.

One evening, we were gambling and I destroyed these guys. They would always try to barter goods to pay their debt, so I said I'd take a few Cubans, the real ones they were smoking. They looked at me funny and then started laughing. They asked me how I knew that the others were fake. It was obvious to me, because I had watched their business for many hours while sitting at their cafe. I explained that I watched them give out dry, unboxed Cubans to their customers, while they would smoke the ones they kept in an old fridge in the back. I guess they were shocked that I was so perceptive, while they could pull the wool over every one else's eyes. Long story short, they hooked me up with a few Guantanamera Cristales.

The next day, I was off on an errand for some other unit's command. I had shown up to the little dilapidated command building about 15 minutes early. It was hot out. I picked a shady spot and decided to partake in my spoils from the night before. I fired that bad boy up. After puffing away for a few minutes, the officer showed up. I stood to greet the sir and practically fell over. He chuckled at me, noticing what I'd been smoking. He told me that he'd got his hands on a few different Cubans since he'd been there and that they definitely had a kick, but that I should try some different ones, cause those were horrible. I agreed.

That night, I went back to my Iraqi friends and exchanged the other cigars out for a Romeo y Juliet, a Corona, a Montecristo and a Cohiba Edicion Limitada 2006. I quickly found out that the Guantanamera Cristales I was given were crap, though they were strong. I much prefer the Cohibas.

Back Stateside, I developed my newfound taste, trading most of the Cubans i'd sent home to different dealers for some of their best stuff. I found that the Padron 1926 series was the best I'd traded into and the Ashton Cabinet VSG's were my new fix. Unfortunately, finding a box of Cabinet VSG's isn't easy.

I tried the whole spectrum, from the cheapest, like acid brand, all the way to the top, like the 1926 Padron, and everything in the middle, Rocky Patel 1992's CAO's etc. Right now my humidor is a mixed bunch of odds and ends from the previous boxes I've purchased. Few Rocky's, Ashton's, CAO 65's and reserves, one last Pardon 1926 and some miscellaneous gifted that I haven't got to quite yet. I was working my way through a box of CAO Vision Epiphany's when I took a break a while back.

So, now that you've got my life's story, I've got a few questions for those who've made it this far without abandoning me.

1) Is this Padron 1926 Box worth anything? I don't collect the boxes, so I don't know.
2) Why aren't these CAO Visions as good as I thought they were when I bought them?
3) I'm using the Boveda 72's for storage since taking a break a year back. Is the 72 right for storage?

Thanks Gents

Welcome from north of you in the Mid-Willamette Valley of Oregon.

1) Personally, no.

2) Maybe it's the subliminal marketing from the blue light.

3) I prefer my cigars to be in the low to mid 60s % RH when I smoke them. This is where I keep my desktop humidors where I pull cigars from to smoke.

Any higher and they can feel plugged, not burn as well, and taste acidic. That said, my coolidor seems to want to stay at 75% RH, but I don't pull cigars here to smoke, rather to stock the desktop humidors.

There's a general range, but ultimately you decide what you prefer. Also, some cigars tend to do better at different RHs.

Welcome to the board, thanks for your service.

Welcome to the forums. Great intro post by the way. :smiley20:

I keep my cigars stored in my humidor around 65%. I haven't tried a lot of the cigars you mentioned although I do have some of them in my humidor. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

Mark

Hi and welcome from Western Canada.

Welcome from Ottawa, Canada, where Black Dragon wrappers smell like they have been coated with some spices.

1. I don't think so.
2. Some cigars don't age in a linear manner. For example, some Cuban brands are known to go into "sick periods." I don't know anything about Visions, perhaps smoke one every few months and see what happens?

3. There is no one "right" value for measured RH - and it would be temperature-dependent in any case.

Welcome from AZ. Thanks for serving!

1. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...adron+1926+box
2. You were probably wearing glasses when you bought them. My vision sucks at night...
3. I like 65% for smoking, I've heard/read somewhere that 70% is better for long-term storage.

-Buzz

Welcome to the board!

Welcome to the forum.

The box is worth nothing but keep a few around in case you ever want to do a coolerdor.

I never smoked a CAO Vision, when i saw them in the local shop the guy said they were on the milder side and thats not for me.

I personally would not go with 72% thats a little high, I prefer between 65 and 68% for cigars im smoking that day.

Thanks all for the warm welcome.

@JiveTurkey lol, the blue light got me. I did smoke one before I bought the box though. You're right about the cigars feeling plugged at the higher humidity. I've noticed that before. I'll probably let the humidity drop a bit if I plan to burn them

@Craig I had pondered the idea of "sick periods" because of my familiarity with wine aging. The period of time that the wine is maturing from adolescence to a teen is regarded the "dumb phase" and is essentially the same concept. Thanks for the tip

@Buzz Those boxes are different than mine. Mines a box of #6, which leads me to believe it's worth at least a half mil, but I'd settle for a refill

@Mangyrat I may have been wearing my goggles. I was fresh off a flight into San Diego. There is a tiny hole in the wall cigar shop called Little Italy I'd patronize on my way out of San Diego. Funny thing is that the shop is owned by Iraqis. Coolerdor? hmmm like a frigidor but in a cooler? Never thought of that before. Thanks!

Well, after all this cigar talk, I'm pulling a few out for Saturday night. The great thing about South Lake Tahoe California is that it's a five minute drive over the state line to the casinos in Nevada, where they don't have stupid liberal Californian's to tell me not to smoke anywhere near a standing structure. And if someone does, I can blow smoke in their face without the badge wearing tax collectors issuing me a citation.

Now the hard part, which to pick?

Welcome from Conn.

Welcome from Ma.

Welcome from central Oregon.

Like the others have mentioned, that Padron box might help if you're building a coolerdor. I don't know anything about CAO cigars. I also don't 'store' or 'age' cigars - I smoke them.

I enjoy shisha/hookas as well. I smoke much less frequently than I do cigars, though. Though I have not tried the sour apple, I do enjoy peach, watermelon and banana. What brand do you like the most? For me, I enjoy Starbuzz.

A coolerdor is just a cooler used for storing cigars. All you need inside are humidifying devices, Spanish cedar to help regulate RH (such as cigar boxes, which double as trays), and cigars.

Welcome from eastern Oregon nice intro.