[Hot Stuff x]

Used to sneak around as a teen and would occaisionally smoke a swisher sweets or middleton's cherry blend cigar. Didn't particularly enjoy it though. Hell, I recall I could just walk into a store at 14 years old and openly buy them (in the late 70's).

When I was in around 30, a friend of mine was sharing White Owl "it's a girl!" cigars to celebrate the birth of his daughter. I tried it to be sociable, but only got about 1/2 way through the churchill sized dog-rocket. Yecch.

Fast forward about 15 years, and I have several friends who enjoy cigars. One of my friends is 1/2 French, 1/2 Cuban, and is a retired executive chef, trained in France. Was at his home for an excellent dinner one night with a few friends, and after dinner we retired to the patio for cigars and cognac. At first I declined the cigar offer, and related to them my White Owl experience. They assured me that there is a world of difference between a White Owl and a quality handmade cigar, so I tried one and enjoyed it. It was a CFO churchill (from Cigar Factory Outlet), which my friend tells me are made by Oliva. Don't know if that part is true, but the cigar was pretty good.

I started smoking 2-3 cigars a month, just when gathered with friends, and would go to a B&M and buy 1/2 dozen or so at a time so I could share and wasn't just mooching.

After I found a few cigars I really enjoyed a lot, I started buying them regularly and smoking them more often. I still don't smoke much compared to some people (2-3 cigars a week), I have started collecting cigars and have over 500 in my collection, which is continuing to grow. I am a mild-medium smoker, as the stronger blends make me a little light headed--but I'm stocking some full-bodied smokes in my humidors to let them age, and expecting that I will enjoy the stronger sticks once I can handle the hit.