Newb and his first collection

[ashauler]

Hi All,

Newbie here from Oregon, trying to start on this hobby. I have a start up budget of maybe $50 to $60. I smoked my first cigar (first tobacco product) a few weekends ago and I enjoy the smell and the mood I got into when I lit one up. I also like the history of cigars and the personality associated w/ cigars.

Welcome to the board. What kind of "personality" do you find associated with cigars?

That said, I've been trolling this site for a few days and decided to make my first post. I saw this deal from Thompson Cigar and wanted to know if you have any feedback:
http://www.thompsoncigar.com/catalog...ategoryId=8424

How is the humidor? Is this junk?

If you use the search thingy at the top of the page and type in Thompsons......I think you'll find plenty of opinions. Perhaps not on your specific humidor, but valid opinions you should evaluate regarding this retailer.

I will only smoke on occasions, so 25 cigars is at most I'll have in there. Secondly, does anyone know if this humi comes w/ those humidity "crystal pellets" that stabilizes the humidity level?

Yeah, ok, good luck with that.

My first cigars were "mild," as I was told, and enjoyed that, so I'm not sure if this batch of 25 are more full bodied?

A lighter is also included, but is that even usable?

They are all Thompson house brand crap......see suggestion for search above. The lighter most likely is a cheaply made piece of crap that won't work very well.

[QUOTE=cigar547;131245]Regarding the cut, I've read that the "v" cuts will limit how much tar touches the mouth versus the guillotine straight cut, so the "V" cut experience is more enjoyable. Is that true? If so, I'd like to get a "v" cutter, and any recommendations would be great.[?QUOTE]
I don't normally use a V-cut unless I'm at the b/m and use theirs. I'm too cheap to buy one, I just bite the cap off.

Lastly, I think this forum is great for newbies like me. I even read \someone from this board can assemble and sell a "newbie cigar variety pack." Who was it?

Thank You
Frank

This forum is great. What you are looking for is here: http://www.cigarsmokers.com/t10150-n...hread-iii.html
and given your stated budget, the newb sampler would most likely be your best bang for the buck, imho.

[MarineOne]

I have a friend that's waiting on his shipment from Thompson. I think he's in his 6th week now, so that tells you how good they are.

For a decent humidor, Cheap Humidors (www.cheaphumidors.com), JR Cigars (www.jrcigars.com), and Cigar International (www.cigarintl.com) all have medium sized humidors in the $50 USD through $90 USD range. They all sell the crystals and the humidification fluid so you can do one stop shopping.

If you want a mild cigar, I would recommend the 5 Vegas Gold. This is one of my favorite mild smokes for those days that are especially hot but I need to relax.


Kris

[DeeDubya]

It definately pays to do a lot of browsing for humidors. Strangely enough I got a good deal on this humidor from none other than Thompsons. Can't say that about their cigar deals. That's a few years ago and it has been great. You might not want one that big but carefully consider the size before you buy. Saving a few bucks now only to soon run out of room. Personally, I like the coolerdor concept and then using a small humi to semi-drybox them and have them handy before smoking.