Early experiences with Cigars
Returning to Pipes & Cigars after many years of snus. Snus is wonderful, because you can do it all day. It is also horrible because you can do it all day. I found myself taking out a snus before bed, and craving it on waking up.
I did a lot of pipe smoking back in the day. I even had some pipe smoking buddies on tour (Whitney Houston tour in the 90s). I also dabbled in cigars, but I never understood them. I would buy them big and dark and cheap.
I really didn’t know anything about cigars, but I bought a few bundles from JR Cigars and puffed away.
I was on tour in Europe with 4 Non Blondes when I found out what cigars should really taste like. While in the airport in Brussels, I went in on a box of Cuban Montecristos with Joe Crowley. That changed everything. Once I knew what a good cigar tasted like, and how much it cost, I was back to pipes.
Skipping forward to today. I had brought out my pipes, bought some of my favorite pipe tobacco, and started to remember everything I liked about pipes. I also saw the nasty cigars that I never finished. I thought it might be good to try them and then toss them. One of them that I tried was a Punch Lonsdale. It was good, probably the only quality cigar I had bought back in the day.
This sent me on a quest. I learned that a Churchill sized cigar should smoke for an hour, and that the Connecticut Shade wrappers were light and mild for beginners. So…r/cigars on reddit, cigar reviews on YouTube, a trip to Total Wine & More, and a bunch of 5 packs from online vendors.
What Does a Good Cigar Taste Like?
This was where I was beginning. Price is no longer that big of a deal, but I know it would control how often I could have a cigar. I was looking for Churchill size (~7 inches, 50 ring gauge), and a light mild wrapper. Thus it began:
Those were the contenders: Perdomo Champagne, Crowned Heads Mother Church, Oliva Connecticut Reserve and Romeo & Julieta 1875 Reserve. Every morning, with my coffee, I would rotate through these four.
After two weeks, I had a ranking and a winner:
- #5 Oliva Connecticut Reserve – $8.50 – Good, but too mild? Not much taste.
- #4 R & J Reserve Real – $4.70 – Not bad for the price. Still a bit bland.
- #3 Perdomo Champagne – $7.00 – nice, rich, tasted good all the way through.
- #2 Mother Church – $10.00 – Money still talks. Smooth, rich and expensive.
The Winner Is…
…and the #1 cigar in the Churchill Connecticut Challenge is one that wasn’t entered. Last week I went down to Total Wine & More to buy some booze. Dropped by the humidor and came back with:
- #1 Arturo Fuente Double Chateau – $8.10 – wrapped in cedar, lots of taste all the way through.
So I’ll try to find a box of the Fuente’s. I’m smoking two cigars a week, so a box of twenty should last a couple of months. Hopefully, I won’t find something I like more at a higher price. These are perfect.