Your First Stick

[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.

[ScoopKW]

I was writing a newspaper article about the "cigar boom" in the late 1990s. The owners of Caribbean Cigar Company gave me a Santiago Cabana -- I never looked back.

[slcraiders]

I prolly smoked the first stick at age 11 or 12- dutch master I am pretty sure. la la

Then again at 13-15- same thing

Lots of weed and cigarettes between, I smoked several low-grade cigars.

Two summers ago, I thought Makers Mark, Kahlua and Cojimar were the shit. I bought a 50 ct humidor and would show off my Cojimar sugar dipped collection. Impressive.

Then I started in on Hemingways and such. Local TinderBox owners were accross the street from my in-laws.

Then I joined this board late-late last year.

Since then. I have bought on one box after the next. I still like hemingways and the like, but even more, I like something richer and stronger:
Ashton VSGs, JDNs, Tatuajes, Padron and Opus.

[Brewdude]

I remember it well.

I was working graveyard at A.O. Smith running punch press in Mil, WI where I lived at the time. I was like 21 or so. Never liked cigs, but the vending machine sold 5 pks of small coronas. Regular, Cherry, and Blueberry. I tried them all but liked Blueberry the best. Hell, what did I know back then! Never smoked them often, and gave it up altogether for 10 yrs or so.

Sometime later in the mid-80s, I was travelling to the UK frequenty on annual vacations. My good friend was really into cigars and asked me to bring him back some Cubans. So I'd return with 4 or 5 and always kept one for myself. So each year I'd smoke 1 cigar, but never understood why anyone would like them. They just didn't taste very good to me then.

Then about 10 yrs later in the early days of the boom I was at a gathering of fellow brewers. After the supper we adjourned to the garage and one guy produced a big bag of cigars and everyone took one. Wanting to be socialable, I did as well.

All I remember is mine was a churchill, and tasted sooooo good! I now understood what the big deal was and started buying samplers from a magazine ad. Soon after I found JR, and later Mikes. My stash started growing and started my first cooler.

It wasn't until about '02 or so that I learned of the on-line thing and eventually joined the JRBB 6 mo before it shut down. That sure expanded my horizens! I migrated to HP and continued to learn more and found many e-tailers.

And the rest is history.

[lrharry29]

I had my first stick when I was 19 or 20. I bought it from a B & M in southern California. I just walked into the store and asked the person behind the counter what would be a good cigar to start out with. He walked into the humidor with me and pointed out good starters. I picked up 3 or 4 sticks. I remember a Punch, H. Upmann and a couple of others (I have forgotten what they were). At the time I really didn't know what I was looking for.

The first stick I smoked was one of the nameless ones. It was an outstanding smoke, it had a nice mellow taste, with what seemed like a nutty flavor. It wasn't a flavored stick but it was aromatic. This was about 11 years ago and since then I have been on a crusade to find this cigar. Eventually one day I will find it.

[cigar no baka]

My very first stick was a machine rolled, as that's what my dad always smoked. My very first premium stick was a CAO L'anniversiare (I know that's spelled wrong!!). Loved it and got into premium sticks right after that.

[Desert Rat]

Had my first stick in '73, an R&J.

I will pause while some of you younger folks do some math......

Liked it alot and have been puffing away ever since.

This thread reminds me of some of the best cigars I ever smoked:

My buddies and I would go down to Ensenada regularly (still do) and I had this ritual:

Right after arriving in Ensenada and shortly before proceeding to blotto land, I would get a Mexican hair cut, a Mexican boot shine and buy a cigar before heading into the bar. All this took place right next to a famous bar in Ensenada called Hussongs, and would cost like $5.

Sitting in that bar, with my amigos, fresh hair cut, shiny boots, the first ice cold cervesa with a wedge of lime and puffing on a stogie was the best feeling in the world. I could be king until the king couldnt stand anymore from tooo many cervesa's .

I still go down there and do the same stuff, but its expensive, I know the cigars are fake, and me and the amigos are all old farts.

Cigars change, life changes, I get something different from my cigars now than in my youth .

[mithril]

a diablo when i was 20 was my first stick. i haven't had one since but i want to find one more.

[dHUTCH]

I guess it was sometime after I turned 18...went into local place to pick up a friend a pack of cigs and I noticed they had a lil humidor in there. So, I picked me up a Helix of some sort. Some what liked it but, it wasnt the greatest thing I'd ever experienced. Later on that month I had a chance to go into a local cigar shop and I picked up a RyJ of some sort and man did I hate it! I have yet to smoke any other RyJ since that day. I've since found 2 cigars that would make any shitty day turn into an awesome one! Of course I'm still exploring and I'll probably find a few more cigars that I like just as much as the Java, and the La Gloria Cubana #4 Maduro, but only time will tell with that.

[SideWinder]

My first stick.... I still have the cigar band. I was 17 years old and my buddy and I were out cruising for girls in his Camaro Rally Sport. This was in the mid 80's, so the car was still cool then. We stopped at Union Station in downtown Indy and we each bought a cigar to smoke while we drove. I don't remember what he had but I had a (dare I say it) Macanudo. I don't remember anything about the cigar, though I did smoke the whole stick. I got better.

[8-5-8]

Hi guys... been a while.

I had lived around the corner from a cigar shop for a few years when I stopped in one day just to have a look around. The place smelled wonderful! I just had to take something home. While browsing the selection, I happened upon the AF 8-5-8 natural. The phone prefix in the little town I grew up in was 858, so it was sort of a novelty choice. Long story short, I smoked it and loved it. That was over five years ago and the 8-5-8 has become a regular choice when restocking my humidor.