An Intro to Cigars

Nick:
As anyone who knows me well can tell you I love cigars, but I have only really been enjoying cigars for about three years. Cigars are amazingly complex little bundles of extremely high quality tobacco leaves, hand rolled, and delivered to your local tobacco emporium with the utmost care. Many people think cigars are out of their reach and can only be enjoyed by the well to do, but this can not be further from the truth. The worst thing anyone who thinks they might be interested in cigars can do is go to their local gas station and pick up a box of cheap cigars such as Phillie's. These extremely low quality, bad tasting, and bad smelling dog turds are so far from a true cigar it would be like comparing a rusted old pinto to a brand new Rolls Royce. Cigars such as these are nothing more than cheap filler tobacco dust rolled by machine in a cheap leaf wrapper. A good cigar can be had for just a few dollars, and if you do not have the luxury of a humidor you should only be buying one or two at a time anyway. Trust me. Put down the dog turd and go to your local tobacco retailer, such as a Strauss Tobacconist or the like, and ask the clerk to point you in the direction of a good low priced starter cigar. A decent choice for a good starter cigar is a CAO Gold, this cigar is extremely mild and won't bowl you over if you are just starting out. If you find yourself still interested in cigars after you actually had a decent one, there are a few tips I can pass on to you to help start you on the road to cigar nirvana:

1: Don't go hog wild on cigar accessories when you are first starting out. There are a lot of premium items that can be had, but at a premium price. Not that these items are not worth their sometimes steep prices, but when first starting out a box of matches and a fairly inexpensive cigar cutter (I prefer a cutter, not a punch) will do the job just fine.

2: If you find yourself truly in love with cigars invest in a humidor. You can find a small humidor for fifty dollars or less and can have it up and running in a few days for a total investment of probably eighty bucks. This may seem steep to some, but it is a great investment for the true cigar lover.

3: Talk to people who are more experienced with cigars than you are. This is the best way to get advice on all things cigar related and best of all it's free. You can also find a great deal of information in publications such as Cigar Aficionado which can be found at any local bookstore.

Once you have decided that you are truly a cigar lover you can start sampling the stronger cigars and saving up for those expensive and shiny new accessories!