How did you get into cigars?

[Hawke]

When I was in the Navy we would go to the Mall just off base. We all had Meerschaum pipes and would always go to a tobacco store there in the mall. The owner talked me into trying a "real" cigar as I never had. He explained how to smoke it properly. I always thought people inhaled the smoke...LOL. Well....one try of an H. Upman....nothing fancy...it was a second. They sold at that time for a dollar a stick. Nothing wrong with them but little things. Smoked the same and tasted the same. I bought a lot of twenty five stick bundles from him!! Well...when I got back home after the Navy I found another store and now I buy online almost exclusively. Occasionally I go to the Branson Cigar Co. in Branson. Nice shop with a nice lounge to smoke in. Thats the condensed version!! I could tell about smoking in Israel but that is another story for another time.............