Cigars for the Veteran Smoker – The Journey from Cigar Newbie to Cigar Nut

I am an Old Hat at Smoking Cigars

You’re passed the honeymoon phase, hell you’re passed the 10 year anniversary. You’re an old hat of a cigar smoker that point. You’ve smoked everything under the sun and now you’re circling your back around to all these cigars you’ve had before. Where’s the excitement in that?

Well I tell you what, with every cigar that comes out there is a peak time to smoke it. Typically along the way it hits a new level of complexity that you wouldn’t have dreamed of. Now I’m not saying this happens with every cigar, but it happens with quite a few of them. So you’ve experienced all the “lighter shaded” smokes in Part 1 that we discussed earlier, and you’ve tangled with the darker “stronger” sticks in Part 2. Now where do you go?…

Back to the beginning!

Now that your palate has developed you’ll be able to smoke these cigars that you smoked in the beginning (assuming they’re still around) and you will be able to experience a whole new world of flavor! Luckily I was told about this phenomenon early on in my smoking life and I have already been implementing it. If you buy a box of cigars, make sure and keep track of when you bought them. Let them rest in your humidor and age them, just like a fine wine. Once you’ve hit maturity in your smoking journey go back and revisit some of these earlier smokes and see how they have developed and matured along the way. See if you can pick up any new flavors or complexities thanks to your highly developed palate that is now a taste discovering machine! You never know what you might discover in some of these old smokes.

Back to the Basics

Remember when I said to start off light in color? Go back to some of those Connecticut shade or Cameroon wrappers and see how much different they taste now that your palate has developed. Sure the flavors might not be as pronounced and in your face as the darker “stronger” cigars. You might have to actually focus and really hone in on the flavors and see what’s hidden a few layers under the skin with this tobacco.

There is a reason tobacco and wine are often discussed in similar fashions. The more developed your palate, the more you’re able to find hidden gems and enjoy subtle nuances the newbie or budding aficionado can’t!

Back to Cheap

There’s one thing that I love about smoking cigars and that’s finding the hidden gems in my humidor. You know when you find those deals that you can’t pass up? With all the cigars that are produced every year there are literally tons that never get smoked. You can usually find these on sale online through wholesalers and you can buy them by the boxes.This is a great place to get a cigar that you enjoyed for really cheap and then you can age them to circle back around to. It doesn’t get any better than that.

So make sure to keep an eye out and look for some great deals on boxes of cigars that you have enjoyed in the past. When you see them at price that seems like a deal, snatch them up and keep them to age them. Then circle back around a year or two later and see if the investment paid off! I’m in the middle of that right now.

I’m constantly on the hunt for cigars that I love and want to sit and age. Then I’ll smoke them next year to see if they’ve gotten better or worse with age! Now that’s exciting.

These three simple steps will get you off on the right foot and on your way to smoking some great cigars without breaking the bank. Here are a few of my suggestions for some cigars for the Veteran smoker:

1) Oliva Serie V Lancero

2) Four Kicks

3) EP Carrillo

4) Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne

5) Flor de Las Antillas (#1 cigar of 2012 according to Cigar Aficionado)

All 5 of these cigars have some great commonalities between them. They are very mild-medium bodied cigars, with light wrappers, and have varying degrees of complexity. They all are great smokes and each one offers differences compared to the others. I think once you get to this point you wil able to pick out subtleties from each one that really hits yours palate and makes you enjoy each and every one of them.

Continue on your journey of discovery and exploration!