Newb from Texas (Long 1st cigar story inside)
Hello all!
My name is Robert & I live in Cedar Park, TX (just outside of Austin). I started reading early last week & was approved to post today, so I figured I'd post my newb intro.
I'm REALLY new to all this, but have jumped in full-speed. I've only ever smoked one cigar & it was a horribly attempted fake cohiba (picked it up in Cozumel - more on that below)... even though it was a bad attempt at a fake, I really enjoyed the cigar & the experience. As such, I've made a few purchases :smiley41:...
What I've ordered (all before heading over for the newbie sampler & most for the freebies/bonuses):
Battle of the brands from JR (4x cohiba robuston fina & 4x astral cameroon beso, bonus colibri lighter) - for the lighter
Cohiba 3-Cigar sampler & xikar cutter combo from JR (1x xv652, 1x toro (E), 1x black supremo (m) + cutter) - for the cutter
5 Vegas Tradicion Humidor Combo from CBid (10 each Classic Churchill, Gold Series Churchill, Series ’A’ Apostle, 100ct humidor & crystal humidification jar)
La Invicta Corona from CBid (5 pack) - because they were CHEAP
Brown Bag Special from CI (dunno what I'll get aside from 10 sticks) - for the mystery :smiley17:
In all, I've got 56 sticks on the way before setting up a newbie sampler trade with ashauler... Better than having a big empty humidor, right? :D
My JR & CI orders should be here thursday & friday respectively... my CBid order (with the humi) should be here monday, and I've asked ashauler (VERY helpful - seems to be a great guy) to hold my newbie sampler sticks until monday so I've got time to get the humi up & running.
How long till I need a bigger box? :smiley17:
Here's the story - sorry if it's a bit long:
On 4/20, my wife & I left on our first cruise - we left out of Galveston & hit Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. When we got to Cozumel (our last stop), our shore excursion was an all-inclusive beach resort. All you can drink = more apt to buy stuff I normally wouldn't. A buddy of mine has always tried to get me to smoke a cigar - I've always loved the smell, but assumed they'd be something like cigarettes (I HATE cigarettes, but my wife smokes 'em), so I stayed away... until now.
We left the beach slightly inebriated & headed into town to do some shopping. While in town, we found all sorts of bargains including cuban cigars (a guy at the entrance to a shop was luring all the tourists in for 'the best cigars in the world'). $9 for an authentic Cohibo (yes, Cohibo). I bought two expecting to smoke one with my dad - my parents were on this cruise with us & I remember my dad smoking a cigar whenever he had the chance (he was in the Army & money was tight when I was a kid).
After returning to the boat & sobering up a bit, I remembered that Dad (a lifelong cigarette smoker - a habit my mom has always despised) had quit smoking about 5 months ago when his best friend had a massive heart attack. I decided that getting my dad smoking again wasn't something I wanted to do & that I'd smoke one and try to find someone in the cigar-bar to take the other (if I couldn't give it away, it'd end up in the garbage - I was a bit paranoid about customs).
The last night on the boat, my wife & I headed down to the cigar bar. It was some time after midnight and the bar was closed (no booze :smiley6:). There were two guys who walked in right behind us - all four of us made our way to the bar; my wife & I to find a cutter (I had no idea how to cut, light, or smoke a cigar, but I had a Cohibo & I was gonna smoke it dammit) & them to pick up a cigar. The older of the two had a mostly smoked, but put-out cigar with him, the younger was looking to buy himself a stick.
I offered my free 'cuban cigar' & explained that I know nothing about them (cutting, lighting, smoking, brands, etc). He took one look at the label & freaked 'OMG A COHIBO!' (appearently he knew about as much as I did). His buddy - father inlaw as it would turn out - cut the cigars for us & we sat down to enjoy our cigars & conversation. The man who smoked my extra Cohibo explained how & why cubans are the best, and that this cohibo was the cadillac (later the mercedes) of cigars.
I thoroughly enjoyed the cigar and the company & would do it again in a heartbeat... wannabe cohiba & all. When we were finished, the father inlaw mentioned keeping the label (looking back, he seemed a bit skeptical - maybe he knew the secret of the cohibo). I saved mine and when I got back home/settled in, I found it in my camera bag - the search for more was on. In a very short time, I discovered a little of the truth about my purchase. I can't find much online about cohibo's, but I did find a picture on someone elses flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bemelod...90100/sizes/o/
In the end, my paranoia about customs & bringing something back with me was for not - customs was a joke, we chatted about how much I hated Jamaica & he told us to have a nice day... he didn't even look at our customs form :smiley3:. Even if I had brought back one or both of the sticks I bought, they probably would've laughed at me had they actually looked and found them.
