In general
FNA
Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 55
Do you like cigars in general? I do.
I ask because at various discussion forums, I read a lot of comments about cigars that folks find "disgusting", 'awful", "trash" and advise that no one smoke any cigars made by manufacturers that produce dozens of brands..
And these are not comments about Repo Man, Raji's Untimely demise, Dark Shark etc., these are comments about national brands. Gurkha, Victor Sinclair, Macanudo and others - heck I read once that Henry Clay, my "go to" for 20 years, was the worst cigar someone ever smoked.
And prices. I've read and heard from various smokers that they can't finds any smokes under $3, 4 even $6 that they can enjoy.
Now I've been smoking cigars for 40 years, premium hand-made for 20 years and have been a "hobbyist" for more than 5.
I haven't smoked them all, but I smoke as many different brands as I can. i've paid from .10 to $30 for a cigar.
Got to tell you, I enjoy almost every single cigar I smoke. By that I mean like 99.9%. I've found none that disgust me, none that taste "like donkey's ass" ('tho I personally wouldn't be able to quantify that flavor), none that I toss an inch in because they are so awful.
No I haven't liked them all - a Mr. Hyde's Monstrous Flavors corona comes to mind, but that's a cigar I smoked a half-dozen years ago that I paid .20 for.
And I read guys don't like the smell of cigar smoke. Me, I like to go into a room where I can tell somebody has smoked cigars in the last couple of days. Some people won't smoke in the car for just this reason.
So is it a advantage to have such a discerning palate that you can only enjoy a realtively limited number of smokes? To not be able to enjoy a $1 cigar or heaven forbid a "mechanizido"? (Oh yeah, I smoke and enjoy a variety of machine-made smokes.)
Instead of developing this fine-tuned palate, I think folks should work on developing a tolerance (for lack of a better word), so you don't end up lighting up cigars that you "hate".
I ask because at various discussion forums, I read a lot of comments about cigars that folks find "disgusting", 'awful", "trash" and advise that no one smoke any cigars made by manufacturers that produce dozens of brands..
And these are not comments about Repo Man, Raji's Untimely demise, Dark Shark etc., these are comments about national brands. Gurkha, Victor Sinclair, Macanudo and others - heck I read once that Henry Clay, my "go to" for 20 years, was the worst cigar someone ever smoked.
And prices. I've read and heard from various smokers that they can't finds any smokes under $3, 4 even $6 that they can enjoy.
Now I've been smoking cigars for 40 years, premium hand-made for 20 years and have been a "hobbyist" for more than 5.
I haven't smoked them all, but I smoke as many different brands as I can. i've paid from .10 to $30 for a cigar.
Got to tell you, I enjoy almost every single cigar I smoke. By that I mean like 99.9%. I've found none that disgust me, none that taste "like donkey's ass" ('tho I personally wouldn't be able to quantify that flavor), none that I toss an inch in because they are so awful.
No I haven't liked them all - a Mr. Hyde's Monstrous Flavors corona comes to mind, but that's a cigar I smoked a half-dozen years ago that I paid .20 for.
And I read guys don't like the smell of cigar smoke. Me, I like to go into a room where I can tell somebody has smoked cigars in the last couple of days. Some people won't smoke in the car for just this reason.
So is it a advantage to have such a discerning palate that you can only enjoy a realtively limited number of smokes? To not be able to enjoy a $1 cigar or heaven forbid a "mechanizido"? (Oh yeah, I smoke and enjoy a variety of machine-made smokes.)
Instead of developing this fine-tuned palate, I think folks should work on developing a tolerance (for lack of a better word), so you don't end up lighting up cigars that you "hate".
Comments
BUT
the motto i have heard around here is smoke what you like and like what you smoke. Most around here aren't going to call you out for smoking a cigar or call what you smoke disgusting. They might make a comment on how they really don't like that one or something like that. It won't get personal though......unless you are smoking flavored cigars. This place has issues with that apparently.
Seems to me folks do it a lot - that's what made me think to write this post.
Flavored cigars are a good example - I don't particularly care for flavored cigars, but I decided to give an ACID a try (cos' I could get one for a buck and a half the other week).
pulled the cello on a Mantra in the morning and took a whiff. Whoa, not smoking that first thing in the morning. I did light it up later in the day. Not my thing, didn't like it that much, especially the first inch. But it got a bit better for me. Bottom line, didn't really like it, but I did find it tolerable, even interesting a couple of times - I didn't hate it, didn't think it was disgusting. have no plans to ever smoke another, but WTF, it was a smoke.
Certainly there are cigars that I enjoy more or less than other cigars. heck, I like 99.9% of all dinners I eat, but sure I like some more than others.
Can I ask what didn'y you like about the Hyde Park?
For me it's a mildish, innocuous smoke, not something I would seek out, but a cigar I would take over many others (but behind many others too)..
I'll send you a PM. I do a deal of motorcycle travelling. If we come within a reachable radius, we ought to sit under a tree and compare affordable favorites.
there are cigars that i dont like. I am unapologetic about that. i dont tell people that like those cigars that they are wrong, but i do say why I dont like them.
i like cigars in general but not every cigar is my cup of tea. and there is nothing wrong with that.
i will put down any brand that i think is garbage. i will tell people why i dont like them. i do have a developed palate and i like to think i did before i smoked cigars when it came to things like food or beer. so if i dont like a cigar, i am not going to try and tolerate it. i am going to say i dont like it and why. being discerning is not a bad quality. it shows that i have some standards. if i dont like a cigar i wont try and "tolerate it"
i just wont buy it. i dont have to. cigars are a luxury item. i can be as picky as i want to be about them. i have an obligation to myself, my time, and my pocketbook to be picky about what i smoke. i work hard for my money and i want to smoke what i like. Manufacturers know that people will buy what they like. this presses them to make better cigars. having a discerning palate helps the cigar market improve.
if i say i cant find a cigar under $3.00 that i like, its not because i look down on the price. it is because i honestly cant find one. i know what i like. they all happen to have a price over $3.00.
if you have found cigars that you like under $3.00, good for you. i have not. i should not and will not feel bad about this situation or be made to feel like some sort of cigar snob.
there are still very few brands that i will truly bash but there are several that i will not ever buy. with the ever changing cigar market i hardly think that i am limiting myself. even after almost a decade of smoking cigars on a regular basis, i would venture to say that i have only smoked 10% of what is on the market now. i dont see this intolerance of garbage as "limiting" to my smoking hobby.
my time, money, and enjoyment is no place for "tolerance" of sub standard product.
I think kuzi hit on it when he said they are a luxury item. Some people pound down bud light because its cheap and its beer. I pick up a 6 pack of Victory for 16 bucks because of quality and subtle nuances.... I think it may come down to a quanty over quality and vice versa for some people.
the only other smoke i can think of that people get mean about is Gurkha and that has more to do with high sticker prices vs. quality of the smoke.
have you been to other forums? Other forums make this place look like candy land when it comes to this topic. they tear cigars like 5 vegas and other cheaper smokes a new ass hole just on the fact they are $3 smokes. i haven't seen anyone on here do something like that.
on teh hyde parks.......when i smoked them they tasted like burnt paper to me. Not appealing at all. Honestly tasted like a .40 grenadier. just no flavor what so ever. Now they were one of the first cigars i had of my own in my humidor, but after smoking my 3rd one i gave the other 2 away because i didn't like them. I would never bust anyone's chops if they liked them, but not my cup of tea.
but disagree about tolerating cigars one does not like
kuzi summed it up pretty well for me
SWAG is the one I just can't stand, at all, and Victor Sinclair, well, if you gave me one at your house after supper I'd probably smoke it so as not to be rude.
on the other hand
I completely understand if folks have the desire to not smoke a cigar unless it's special. I don't consider them "snobby" for this, it's just their taste.
that's not what I said at all. i in fact noted that I prefer certain cigars over others.
What I noted was people finding cigars quality cigars to be "garbage", "crap".
I've certainly read on this board people saying that every cigar Victor Sinclair makes is "crap". Company makes like 25 brands, maybe I've smoked a dozen. they are not a favorite, but they sure taste like cigars to me. I wouldn't say to anybody "Never smoke these"
Kuzi says he's mayge tried 10% of available cigars, then goes on to say "I don't see this intolerance of garbage as limiting"
This is not exattly what I'm talking about but it's a part of it. Kuzi does not in general like cigar smoking becuase he thinks 90% of cigars are gabage - without even smoking them.
Even on a level below that, cigars he doesn't like are deemed to be "sub-standard product" and this is what I'm talking about.
If you don't like a cigar, don't like the cigar, but why is it garbage or sub-standard? people may not like caviar - is that because caviar isn't fit to eat?
Me, I think and have found most cigars to be smokes, not garbage.
Having said that, I don't really see anyone here bashing someone for enjoying something that someone else thinks sucks. I do think just calling a cigar 'garbage' or saying it 'sucks' is somewhat lame and appreciate someone like Kuzi or Catfish or a myriad of other brothers here saying why they don't like a cigar. We all have different tastes and appreciate different qualities in cigars and i think everyone here understands and appreciates that. I like plenty of cigars that I've seen people on here say they don't like but I don't take that personally at all.
Gurkha is clearly the main brand that gets bashed here, but even amidst the bashing there are always a few sticks singled out that people like, even if they are bashing Gukhas themselves i.e. "Gurkha is a terrible company becuase of well documented x,y & z, but I still really enjoy the Symphony / Park Ave / Blue Steel whatever". My thing with Gurkha is that they have so many blends that come and go, I just don't have time to mess with them to figure out what I like. Like I said before, I'm a pretty sporadic smoker so I just won't seek them out but am always willing to try something new and never turn something down that is generously offered to me. If you like it but I don't, so be it. That just gives us something to converse about and I bet during that conversation we'll find something we do agree on. That's the beauty of cigars and this community IMO.
I think the way we enjoy things is highly personal, and very subjective. For instance, I could never enjoy cigars the way my Dad does. He always smokes the same brand, never really tries anything new, and never retrohales. It would drive me nuts, but it makes him happy, so I keep quiet. When we get together we each enjoy cigars in our own way, and I don't push him to do it my way. I spend the time enjoying his company.
I don't know if that helps, or really has any bearing. I'm kind of tired right now. I should stay outta these kinds of threads.
I really haven't been around too many people who are "snobs" with cigars. Sure many say they like or dislike a cigar but to the point of giving some one crap about liking a cigar they do not, I have not seen that many times. I do get the occasional look or weird noise from people when I say I am not a fan of the my father line. One incident came at a local cigar shop (cascade) where a younger guy (one that I don't recall seeing there too long) was talking a bit of crap because I said I didn't like the my father line all too much. That sort of, for what ever reason made him challenge me on my "cigar" ness (if that makes sense). I was put off by it especially since he was working there and when I do go there I usually drop more money on cigars than my fathers. But his attitude in general is what made me mad.
I will say that there is a general feeling around many boards that some manufactures have really turned bad. Many do not like general cigars or gurkha because of how they do business and how they turn out a lot of crap cigars. Though I tend to agree I won't bash anyone who likes them. Same with flavored cigars. I do not like them, however I do like some of the gurkha infused cigars. Personally I feel that if you like cigars, cool, but really tastes are all subjective as well as how much one has to spend on a cigar. Just because I'm smoking a expensive cigar and a person next to me is smoking a cheaper one makes no difference.
Like what was mentioned above, some like coors or bud light. I do not and I really wish those were the beers I loved because it would save me a boat load of money!
... you are saying i said something i didnt. thats fair. but if a brand consistently tastes bad to me i will still continue to say that the brand is crap. "quality" and "crap" are apparently subjective. you are finding that people find quality cigars (to you) to be crap (to them)
just because they are a national brand does not make them good. popularity, sales, and opinion are not necessarily indicators of quality.
burn, draw, and construction are indicators of quality.
flavor is not. that is way too subjective. if i smoked 50% of the blends any company had and every one of them had serious issues i would NOT be wasting my money and time to continue smoking them.
i would also be doing my brothers here a huge disservice by not telling them about how awful they are. i would gladly help my friends save time and money via friendly suggestion to not smoke a brand. exactly. with me having only smoked, at best, 10% of blends out there that leaves me 90% of all blends yet to try. there will always be something new for me to try. i smoke a lot of cigars. the number of blends that are on the market and constantly coming on to the market ensure that i always will have more options. that is not at all what i have said.
what i am saying is that i have sampled 10% of cigars out there.
of that 10% that i have tried i will never smoke many of them again. and will go even further and say of that 10% tha i have tried and didntl like 10% are so bad that i will tell others just how bad they are so that others dont waste their time and money on them.
90% of the cigars i have smoked i have been good with. and that is only 10% of what is available on the market. given the sampling of what i have had, i would say that 90% of all cigars on the market are good enough to smoke.
haha... me... not liking smoking cigars. thats a good one. again, that is not what i said.
there are brands out there that dont have quality control and that makes the brand crap regardless of what the blend is. this is a huge problem. i wont spend my money on sub standard product.
there are plenty of cigars that i dont like that i dont deem "sub standard product" such as the Oliva O. its just not for me... but i dont have hate for it.
Gurkha on the other hand has done me wrong on too many occasions with construction issues, blend issues, identity issues, and customer service issues that i cannot in good faith tell people that they are good cigars or drop a single dime more on them.
why is it garbage? because they waste my time and money when they produce a cigar that tastes like burning cardboard and falls apart half way through, wont draw, wont burn even close to correctly, or contain things that are not tobacco (plastic, sticks, etc...). that IS substandard. good for you.
...now dont look down on me for being a bit more discriminating.
one of my best smoking buddies hates what i like, and I hate what he likes. At first, it took some time to get used to telling each what we liked was terrible. Everything is subjective with taste, it just is... People take too much *** personal these days... Life is to short to worry abotu what other people worry about IMO.
I also don't give a rats A** what anyone thinks about what I smoke. If I like it then it's good if I don't I won't buy anymore.
I like to see/here what others enjoy or don't and WHY. I try to keep an open mind and make informed decisions as to what I spend my money on.