Do you remember when it all started for you?

[68TriShield]

Originally Posted by MiamiE

Joined CS and learned all about CC's. Information was a lot easier to come by back then than now for the new guys.

Boy I feel just the opposite about this.

New Years Eve around the year 2000 with a Partagas Humitube.

[14holestogie]

Been smoking tobacco products since I was 12, so like 1966. The first "cigar" I had was a Swisher that my step dad smoked. Graduated to Thompson's after giving up cigarettes in '86, then CI.

The real cigars started about 4 years ago when I had the good fortune to meet and bowl with the good Rev. Used to be a 100 count humi was plenty.
7 additional desktops and a cooler, all stuffed to the gills later is where you find me today. About 80/20 cc/nc now. No looking back.

Macanudo ascots started me on the slope about a year after I quit cigarettes.... Now I smoke 98% habanos with a few great NC cigars in the mix, like the Oliva V's.... Buying online sure changed everything!

[G G]

My stepson works for Swisher and about 2 1/2 years ago he would smoke a swisher and I finally tried one. Got on the internet and started learning about cigars then joined a board (stogiechat I think) then joined Club Stogie got a 100 desktop and kept that for 3 or 4 months then bought a vino and the rest is history.

[papichulo]

It was 1992 in the jungles of Venezuela after a mission and my Army buddy broke out a box of cigars and I have been hooked since.

[poker]

I cant remember that far back. Hell, I cant remember what I had for lunch on Friday for that matter.

[Jack Straw]

My cousin and I had been smoking backwoods, and one day after a round of golf we decided we would go get "real" cigars. So we went to a B&M and the guy working there named Bruce gave us a 5 minute crash course in cigars. He was very nice, and knew a lot about cigars. In the end we walked out with 2 cigars each, including an Ashton Magnum, and I had a LAdC Robusto as well. Well we got back to the house and smoked the Ashtons, and it was amazing. I hope I never forget that experience, I can still remember how the cigar tasted, vividly.

My uncle is a big CEO of an international real estate company and naturally in his office at home he has what appears to be a trunk sized humidor plopped right on his desk. It is filled with sticks I contemplate of stealing every time I visit his house. After seeing him and my father smoke up at the cottage laughing and having a good time on numerous occasions, my cousin and I were always wanting to have this experience for ourselves. One fine evening the opportunity revealed itself...

It was the end of grade 11 for myself and the end of grade 10 for my cousin. There was a big party going on to celebrate the end of exams. My aunt & uncle were in Europe on a business trip and my parents were busy that night so I was staying over at my cousin's. We sat around plotting our night's festivites drinking some beers (Hey! I live in Canada and I'm a hockey player, it's in my blood!) we realized that "tonight, we can smoke cigars!!! There's no way we can get caught!!!!" At least we figured. I didn't think much of my cousin's foreign nanny being any trouble with regards to this. So we scurried upstairs into my uncle's office and opened his chest of wonders to find the holy grail of cigars (which we mainly left alone! I would notice and Opus X or a Cohiba Siglo V missing, wouldn't you?). We looked up down and across and pulled every tray out so we could examine everything. We spotted what we would later smoke which was in a freshly opened box. We took 2 Macanudo Gold Label Duke of York's. We put everything back the way it was and took the cheap cigar cutter on the desk. We ran back downstairs finished our beers and headed out.

We arrived at the party which also had our rival school's students at which was cool cause we were all friends. However our football and hockey games are legendary in our city and we won every game against them that year. Not to brag but being on of the better players on the hockey team and a safety on the football team, I was greeted by many. A friend handed me a beer but jst as that happened, the hottest girl from both schools walked right in front of me and gave me "the eye". Her name is Anne. She was in grade 12 and clearly just graduated. She was a stone killer. Blonde hair with emerald green eyes, and a body that ****in drove every guy crazy. You know the girl.
"Easy killer," said my friend, "your eyes are bigger than your stomach on that one."
As the night went on my cousin and I were sitting with the hockey crowd talking about one of our games that was televised with the result of us winning 3-0 and me getting the hat-trick. My cousin, two of my team mates, my friend and goalie of the other team, their captain, and I were all seated at a table covered in dixie cups talking. Through our discussion Anne managed to find her way to the opposite side of the table. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. I sought this to be the opportune time to light up the cigars as we knew no one else had them or really knew much about them. So, my cousin took them out from a carrying case, we cut them, lit the foot as we watched our fathers do it many times and enjoyed. Everyone looked in "aww" as we sat there puffing on these sweet sticks. Boy did we look and feel like high society when soon everyone was watching us smoke and making our side of the argument look better and better.

"You're number 27 right?" asked Anne when things became a little quieter.
"Yes." I replied.
"Ryan F right?" (I ain given my full name on this thing)
"You're pretty good. I saw that hatty you had against us this year."
I took a nice long drag on my stogie and looked over at my cousin. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to get her alone.
"I'm nothing special but thanks a lot. God I wanna walk around a bit here, I've been sitting here for an hour. Wanna join me?"
"Sure" she said with a smile.
I was golden. Grade 11 kid wheeling the hottest girl who was older than me? I was feeling pretty good. We walked around this massive backyard until we reached one corner where we were more alone than at any other point. Through the small talk I finally pulled her into me and had probably the sweetest make-out session ever. A beer in one hand which I soon dropped to the ground, a great cigar in other, and a smoke show broad hooking up with me. I even managed to get to 2nd base Surprisingly I managed to not burn her with my stogie and about 20 minutes later her friends found us and snatched her away. They were all "oh my God he's younger than you, what are you doing?" She replied "He's cute". When I heard that I was on cloud nine to say the least. I went back with my cousin and mutual friends to finish our cigars. We then walked home about 45 minutes later at 1 am. We stayed up all night gossiping and giggling like little girls the whole night. We never got caught

I'll never forget that night. Cigars took me to an unconceivable level that night. Setting the tone and atmosphere for a memorable night. I hope you enjoy my story as I have enjoyed yours. Sorry it is quite long. Cheers! Oh to be 17 again hahaha

[M1903A1]

My father had been a cigar smoker, back in the good ol' days before 2/7/1962, and he kept a stash of RyJ Churchill Tubos going for almost eleven years after that. After a couple of Cubans joined his Masonic lodge (and periodically gave him a CC), he started smoking them out on the front porch in the summer. More than once he offered to let me try his cigar, but I always said no. My bedroom window was over the porch, though, and while I would never admit it, I loved the smell of his cigar smoke.

Fast forward to 2005. One guy at the museum I volunteer at was a cigar smoker, and was always bugging me to try a cigar and "fit in". After a long period of resisting, I finally gave in on the grounds of "at least now I can say I tried it and didn't like it". Only...I did like it. It was (of all things) a Fidalo Nero from Thompson Cigar.