How i got into Cigars

I first got into cigars when i was about 22 years old and i was a commodities broker/trader on the trading floor in NYC. I was a coffee broker/trader and my boss and i use to go in the barclay rex shop in the world financial center in the financial district at like 1pm after the market would close...For some reason he knew about Acid Blondies.. We use to smoke one after work before we went to the bar just because it was small and quick to smoke.

As a beginner i loved them because of the initial taste they had. I remember a night we went to sparks steakhouse and spent over 2 grand on food and booze and smoked some acids after it all...knowing what i know now i would never let a customer follow up a meal with an acid.

It was my wedding that brought me back into cigars....I bought all my groomsmen humidors and cigars...Now Im HOOOKED

[jmsremax]

I started when I was 18 (I won't lie, I've had a swisher sweet or two) and about a few years back I started to get into it when I was in the Bahamas on spring break (mid twenties now).

Do you still happen to trade? I would love to chat about it! I live/work in Boston and we implement trades for our funds.....I work specifically with our equity funds.

[LostAbbott]

Nice! my dad is a broker working for wedbush morgan in Portland, OR.

I got into cigars this spring when my daughter was born and people started giving them to me. My first was an it's a girl fuente.

[ckay]

I got into cigars heavily a couple of years ago. The Managing Partner of my firm took my managing associate and I to Grand Havana Room. The occasion was a milestone in assets under management. I received an invite to a night out. Old Homestead or GHR. I chose Old Homestead this time around...let's not kid ourselves, we'll end up at GHR when I pull a couple of Padrons out of my jacket pocket.

[Mr.Erskine]

I got into cigars around the age of 18. My first was a Phillies.

Then, one day, my dad offered me a Cohiba, and I haven't looked back. My number one favorite changed several times through the years, but over the past three or four, I have found that I have settled into a groove as far as my favorites are concerned.

I have learned to approach cigars more with an open mind, and to take each cigar as it comes rather than trying to compare it to something else. I have found that has gone miles to helping me enjoy more sticks that I might have had I continued to compare one to another.

I first started with cigarettes. I smoked them for a year and then I quit. It was all good, I didn't smoke anything for over a year. Then my grandfather who I haven't seen eversince I was a kid came to visit, that's when I was introduced to my first cigar. I loved the smell. I loved the taste and have been hooked to it eversince. Whenever I smoke one, I remember my grandfather. He lived with us for three years and we spent many afternoons on the front porch smoking his favorite, Arturo Fuente Flor Fina.

[Apoco]

When I was 15 (or maybe 16? right around that time) I was on vacation with my family. My father and brother were having cigars on the porch of this cabin on a lake in the Tennessee Mountains. I was sitting out there (I'd assume that I was incessantly whining) and said the smelled so good and that I wanted one. Dad gave me a Double Helix and I loved it. It became a special treat for me at about once or twice a year until I turned 18. Then I turned 18.

[htown]

My best friend used to bring cigars to our weekly poker game. He would give the rest of us some cheap ones, since we never smoked more than half before putting them in the ashtray. One week I finished the one he gave me, so he said he would bring me a good cigar the next week. It was a Padron Aniversario. I bought my first humidor that week.

I got into them because of my dad and grandfather, they smoked them all the time. I just loved the smell of then. My dad worked in the embassy in Scotland, that is where I had my first Cuban ciagr, I was 15 or 16; smoking off and on now for about 32 years. The quality of cigars have only gotten better, and are very relaxing for me.

[nick2021]

Wife got me a humidor and some cigars for my birthday since she said I had everything in the world...now I'm hooked!

[EricF]

I had been smokin' on and off for a couple years. I finally quit smoking cigs last Feb. It was the hardest thing I have ever done!. My wife had bought me, the year before, a 50ct humi so I was occasionally smoking some Macanudos or some Don Diego's I stayed with the milder side. Then one day last May I went into a new B&M and he turned me on to a Padron 3000 Maddy! BAM! Ever since then I am hooked! I now have 3 humi's and all are filled to the brim with delicious smokes of all kinds!

I love this business!!!

Though I smoked an occasional cigar at the yearly golf match, I was hardly a smoker. Tops would be one or two a year. Just before my 70th birthday (now 72), I bought a box of Te Amo's to share with my oldest son. We finished that box pronto and am into my 3rd year of this hobby. Have been hooked ever since!
ylo2na

Awesome..thanks for sharing

I was being influence by my father.

[OHRD]

I've never known my dad to not smoke cigars; when I was about 15 he started letting me smoke Swishers with him in the garage and backyard. I can't imagine what my mom thought, but she never said anything - it was only like once every 2 or 3 weeks. I've smoked ever since, but didn't get into premiums until about 4 years ago when I bought my first humidor - it was one of those Thompson combo specials - 75 ct humi and 50 of their dog-rocket housebrands.

Still try and smoke as often as I can w/ my dad - we live about 5mins from each other.

[enlightenedcigar]

I got started because I worked at a coffee shop beside a cigar shop here in town. Every morning there was this real hot chick that would come over from the store to get coffee and I loved it! Then we became friends and she said that there was an opening at the shop, so I applied not knowing a dang thing about cigars! So I have working in the business for three years now and dating Bethany for almost 2! This business is great for everything!!! Now I have 4 humidors at the house, a huge travel humi full, and two lockers at different locations that are also full. But its still not enough.

I enjoyed hearing how you all started, its a slippery slope isn't it?

[Chemyst]

Five years ago my brother and I attended a charity golf tournament.
When we registered in the Pro Shop, I noticed a humi with RyJ and
Excaliburs in it, so we each bought one for the round. Been enjoying
the hobby ever since, while golfing or reading, usually.

I bought a 150 ct. humi to start, which served me well for almost 3 yrs.
Then I got a Vinotemp. Both are now full, but I have enough smokes
to last several years. It took 3+ yrs. of trying any/all cigars to find my
favorites.

I enjoy the cigar community(s), too. You guys are a trip!

Chemyst

[jsnake]

I was probably 18 and smoking gas station cigars. I thought I was a man of the world. What a world huh!?

Fast forward to about 30 and my father-in-law brings me some Cuban cigars he managed to get. We smoked together and I realized that I had missing out in life. After that I got serious and bought a humidor. I just keep learning and getting more involved in it all.

[Cornrow_Wallis]

Originally Posted by jsnake

I was probably 18 and smoking gas station cigars. I thought I was a man of the world. What a world huh!?

Something like this for me. Me and one of my buddies would take turns buying cigars from walgreens. I think they came in bundles of nine. We would smoke them when we got a hold of some beer on weekends. We thought we were hot **** at the time. We used to leave those things in the glove boxes of our cars for months at a time before we got around to smoking them all.

About two years later I bought a cheap desktop and a Rocky Patel sampler.

I started smoking cigars during my second year of college. We made a tradition that still stands that after a win on Saturday we would reserve time after the game and before the bars to relax and enjoy a cigar. Damn glad we started this! Made for a lot of great memories.