Your First Stick

[bigpoppapuff]

though my dad was a cigar smoker (and owned a cigar store),i never started 'til i was 21 or 22.....a&c dark grenadiers and once in a while garcia y vega....it was a few years later that i moved on to hand rolled.....

[sprangalang]

I had my first cigar when I was 12 or 13. My friend lifted a pack from the local mini-mart. It was some cheap-assed sweet cherry dimestore rocket, I don't remember. Made me green like pea soup, I remember that. Then 8 or 9 years later, I worked at a liquor store, and got to try some "nice" cigars. A&C Grenadiers, Berings, stuff like that. I thought those Berings were it! After all they had a cool aluminum tube!
Then another 15yrs later, I had a neighbor, who introduced me to the real world of cigars. He turned me on to some decent smokes. We moved a few years later, and with no smoking buddy, I laid off em again for another 10 yrs. Then went fishing with a buddy on Lake Michigan. Got a little green from the chop. My buddy's cousin brought some A&Cs (cheapies). I figured what the hell, what do I have to loose, 'cept my cookies, and the damn thing actually settled my stomach. That experience of total misery transformed to bliss, set me onto them again.

[Dru Lee Parsec]

I don't remember the exact stick. But I remember the friend I had it with. Rick and I started noticing the wonders of single malt scotch whiskey at about the same time. Rick was going through a really tough divorce and I think he needed something refined in his life. Good whiskey and an occasional cigar were his answer. Heck, it beats buying a little red car and growing a pony tail.

OK, he did buy a fast little car and *I* had the pony tail at the time, but I'm digressing.

So he'd come over to my place and we'd work in my woodshop for a while. My wife would make us a good dinner to make sure that Rick was eating well at least once a week or so. Then, after dinner we'd sit on the patio and smoke a cigar and sip some whiskey. I probably only did this 4 or 5 times but it opened up my mind to the world of cigars. Before, I'd probably never even think of trying one since I wasn't a smoker.

Then my wife and I went on a vacation to La Paz Mexico with our friends Susan and David. David and I bought what were alledgedly Cuban cigars (I still don't know how to tell a real one from a fake) But I know they did cost us about $10 US per stick which is expensive in Mexico.

They may have been fake or they may have been real. But whatever it was the term "Creamy" finally made sense to me. There were flavors of dark chocolate and cream and something darker. Almost like leather but not quite that taste. It did seem that this cigar was very different from anything I'd had before. It was much better.

So honestly, I have no idea if what I was smoking were decent cigars or just expensive dog rockets.

In any case, Rick moved on and we lost touch with each other. I havn't smoked a cigar in probably 6 or 7 years.

A friend of mine just gave me a cigar as a gift last month and I couldn't stand it. I thought it was just aweful. Oddly enough, that bad experience made me start thinking about the good experiences I had before. I remember sitting on the deck with friends smoking and drinking and having great conversations and I want to do that again.

So that's why I'm slowly getting back into cigars. I have a Cuban Crafters humidifier and 15 cigar sample pack that's suppose to be arriving on Monday. Once I stabilize the humidor and let the smokes settle for a bit I'm looking forward to trying the different cigars to see how they taste vary from one to the next.

[chefchris]

I remember the first premium I had was a Don Diego, and i hated it. It was just awful. I don't remember what it was about it, seeing how I was brand new, but man i hated it. i'm glad i didn't decide to stop there, cause I'd be missing out.

[ashauler]

I smoked my first "real" cigar on July 3 of this year. I had a horrible cig habit that I desperately wanted to get rid of and I saw somewhere that some people had used cigars to help them, so I thought I would give it a shot. Besides, chewing wasn't for me and I couldn't sleep worth a shit on the patch or gum.

The only other person that I knew who smoked cigars with any regularity was my bro-in-law, and since a grape Philly blunt is his idea of a fine smoke, I decided to forgo any advice and just pick a couple and give it a shot. The local b/m had a 40% off table so that is where I started. I picked up a Quorum corona and a Flor de Oliva maduro toro. As my luck would hold (bad) I tried the Quorum first......and hated it. Very harsh and somewhat bitter. Put it out about 1/2 way through. Still wasn't smoking cigs so by the next morning, I was Jonsing pretty good for some nicotine, so I fired up the FdO.......yum,yum,yummy. I definitely have the bug now and look forward to the next new experience with cigars. Since then I have purchased a humidor and a sampler from Thompson cigars and gone to a cigar auction so I have tried quite a few different smokes and am finding out what I like and don't like.

BTW, I have scored a major victory in my war against nicotine dependence.....I smoked NOTHING yesterday, and delayed my smoke today until my lunch hour when I could relax and enjoy the entire smoke.......no hurried puffing just to get some nic in the system.

I'm really "gettin' it" I think. I don't have any smoking buddies locally yet, so I have developed a solitary routine to help ensure that I am smoking for the PLEASURE and not the need. I appreciate all the fine BOTL that hang out here as this is kind of a support for me and really points out and reinforces that smoking cigars is a social/relaxation/enjoyment thing, with its own lingo, etiquette, ect. One day, I hope to feel a part of this brotherhood and contribute to others enjoyment, as much as this board has helped me.

[jiaguy]

Hmm it was after drinking in High School we were on a lake when my friend pulled out some "cubans" he got from a girl for his birthday...They turned out to be Gloria Cubana if I recall correctly, I managed to accidentally put mine out on my arm, the scar is still there .

[Loudpipes78]

Awesome stories so far... I think this is a topic that always comes up the first time I smoke with somebody so I figured why not kick it around here.


Jiaguy... I had somebody bump into me at a club about a month ago and it looks like I'm going to have a nice cigar scar from my cherry on the side of my middle finger on my left hand. Good thing I was slightly tipsy at the time or it would have hurt like fawk.

[Evillepaintball]

My first was in June. I had just turned 18 and wanted to do something that my new age allowed me to do. So I went to google and began researching. I eneded up ordering a Romeo y Julieta Vintage #3, an AF Don Carlos, and an H. Upmann Monarch tubo. I went out onto the roof of my garage one night with the RyJ and lit up. I liked it so I smoked the other 2. I've been loving it ever since.