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Finding an all-time favorite cigar is no easy task. Actually, it may not ever happen because there are so many great cigars available to smoke and you will end up with several favorites.
For new cigar smokers, you have quite a bit to learn and literally thousands of cigar choices. Thus the famous newbie question, “What cigars should I try?” Anyone new to smoking cigars should initially try a variety of tobacco blends to help narrow down your likes and dislikes in a cigar.
Your journey should begin with some mild bodied cigars and then a few medium bodied. Pay close attention to the tobacco origin for the cigar wrapper, binder and filler. The cigar wrapper (outside leaf), being the least amount of tobacco in a cigar, normally has the most affect on the body and overall taste experience of the cigar.
You will find tobacco blends from all around the world. Primarily you will find the tobacco is from Honduras, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, Indonesia, or Ecuador. Each country having different soil types, growing methods, care and other factors which influence the tobacco flavor and quality.
Some cigar manufactures produce cigars which contain added flavors and/or pipe tobacco. Such cigars can also be a good starting point if you want to mask some of the tobacco flavor with maybe a vanilla or cherry flavor and aroma. Tobacco quality is a big factor in flavored cigar. There are flavored cigars on the market that contain lower quality tobacco and have flavoring to hide the bitterness of the inferior tobacco. Other companies use premium tobacco and premium oils to flavor the cigars, resulting in a very smooth and flavorful cigar. A $1 flavored cigar from the gas station is not a premium by any means! Cojimar, Heavenly, Havana Honey, CAO, Oliveros are just a few of the companies who roll a quality flavored cigar.
There is no wrong or right cigar, it’s all personal choice based on what you like or dislike. You will find some $5 cigars that much better than $8 or $12 cigars you have smoked. Don’t fall to the hype with the brand names and creative advertising. Not every $10 cigar is worth $10. It’s important that whatever type of cigar you end up choosing matches your own preferences and is not totally influenced by external factors like creative advertising or a fancy looking cigar box.
For the most part, new cigar smokers should frequent their local cigar store and take their time looking around and learning about the cigars available.
Cigars are a luxury item and you should always feel welcome to walk into a cigar store and ask questions before you buy. There is also a wealth of information online about cigars, including reviews and personal comments on websites and forums. The main thing to remember is that they are comments from many individuals. Some people drink coffee black, some with cream, others hate coffee and drink tea. That does not mean that coffee is bad. Cigar reviews are a nice guideline for information, but in many cases you will find that your opinion of smoking the same cigar may be much different.
A good tobacconist should have a good quality walk-in humidor room to maintain their cigar inventory. If they are working out of a simple glass showcase, pay close attention to the quality of the cigar. Anyone who has traveled to Niagara Falls (Canada) and decided to “find” a Cuban cigar to smoke can certainly relate to the many shops that sell everything from T-Shirts to souvenirs, and cigars. Many times, they are not properly stored and the cigars are like dried pine cones. You also have to question their authenticity, as selling cigars is not the primary business for the store. If you are going to invest your hard earned money into a cigar, go to a real cigar store. Don’t buy cigars from a quickie mart!
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