Originally Posted by ktblunden

It was awful. Really, really awful. I did not enjoy that experience one single bit. The only flavor I got out of the cigar was ash. Looking back, there were a few reasons for this: Thompson managed to dry the thing out more than any cigar I've seen since, I scorched the hell out of the tobacco while lighting, and Gurkha failed to make a good cigar with the Legend (in my opinion). I tried another Legend (from another retailer) 6 months after the first one and still found it to be a seriously sub-par cigar.

Luckily for me a week after that first experience I had my second cigar (RYJ Bully, not from that Thompson sampler) in an experience I look back extremely fondly on and that is what shaped my future of cigar smoking. Had I not had that second experience I probably would not be smoking cigars today. On reflection, my first cigar makes for a good story and it's funny in hindsight, but it didn't do much to help me along.