Are you a collector or are you a smoker?

[CRIMPS]

Sure! You can be both!

I opened the humidor last night and pulled half my cigars out trying to find the right stick for the evening.

There are a couple of thoughts that run through my head each time I open my humidor.

• That is a special stick... for a special occasion.
• I only have one of those. I don't want to smoke it now.
• Holding on to this stick, I want to share it with a friend.
• This cigar needs a little more time.

But, most of all, it seems like I am starting to become a collector as there is a good percentage of cigars I am not smoking just because... Not exactly sure why that is... Maybe I just want to show off my stash. Sounds completely douchey... Ironically, the cigars I think about smoking the most are the cigars I am NOT smoking.

Those of you that purchase Limited Releases... did you make the purchase to smoke them? Or, are you collecting? Maybe you want to show off the box?

Anyway, I wanted to get your thoughts. Are you a collector as much as you are a smoker? If so, why do you collect? What are the common reasons why you pass on a cigar?

[HollywoodQue]

I think that I am more of a collector. I have several different brands,and usually like anything that's TAT. I sometimes force myself to smoke something different, which when I do, I enjoy it. If I am gifted or traded with something that I didn't have in my humi, I usally make an excuse to myself not to smoke it because it's the only one, ie Skull & Bones. Well, that's the truth and I am sticking with it.

[Dukeuni]

I think I have come to the point were I am more of a collector and gifter of cigars then a smoker. With my job, baby at home, etc., I am lucky to smoke 1 cigar a week. I have a huge cooler full of cigars, and who knows when I will smoke them all.

The one thing I do like is that the cigars will last as long as I do. I can keep those cigars in great condition and be fine smoking them in 30 years when I may have more time to smoke ;-)

[N2 GOLD]

Smoke them if you got them. They always have something big & better comming out. Sometimes a $2 sick is better then a $25 sick. Smoke them all the same & enjoy each one.

Thats just me...

[HK3-]

smoker

[guitar4001]

i have a select few cigars that i do not intend to smoke unless a special occasion strikes. One is a cedar wrapped stick from 1935 while 2 others are the original release La Vieja Habana from the late 90's. Other than those, everything else is up for grabs.

[BlindedByScience]

Both. While there are sticks "...I'm saving...." nothing is free from risk of fire damage at some point.....

[Stevez]

I postd this very same question several years ago on another board and the results were very interesting. I don't remember percentages, but it was good research. I smoke everything I buy and I'm not very good about aging things I really like. Usually the ones I keep the longest are the ones that disappointed me for some reason. Everything's smokable in my humi. Steve

[Lucky_Hippo]

I'm a joker
I'm a smoker
I'm a midnight toker
I sure don't want to hurt no one

[MajorCaptSilly]

Both, really. I have some special cigars that will wait for an appropriate time to smoke. All the rest air fair game. I intend to smoke all of them someday.

MCS

Originally Posted by NotFromHere

Both. While there are sticks "...I'm saving...." nothing is free from risk of fire damage at some point.....

[BigCat]

I have a decent sized stash, though perhaps modest by the standards of some around here, but I intend to see every one smoked, either by me or a friend. I get no pleasure out of just having something rare - they are intended to be smoked.

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by CRIMPS

• That is a special stick... for a special occasion.
• I only have one of those. I don't want to smoke it now.
• Holding on to this stick, I want to share it with a friend.
• This cigar needs a little more time.

But, most of all, it seems like I am starting to become a collector as there is a good percentage of cigars I am not smoking just because... Not exactly sure why that is... Maybe I just want to show off my stash. Sounds completely douchey... Ironically, the cigars I think about smoking the most are the cigars I am NOT smoking.

Never, ever save them for the sake of saving them.
Three and four on your list make sense to me. One and two would never apply for me.
Tomorrow may never come and someone else may enjoy them rather than you and who knows if they will be wishing you were still around to enjoy it.

Originally Posted by MajorCaptSilly

Both, really. I have some special cigars that will wait for an appropriate time to smoke. All the rest air fair game. I intend to smoke all of them someday.

MCS

Except I try to make that "appropriate time" hurry up and arrive.

more of a smoker, i feel like i paid good money and there is no point to keep 'em just sittin' around -unless of course my goal is to age them.

[pektel]

Anything is up on the chopping block. Mostly there are no sticks that I intend to save for years. Although, some of the larger sticks (Opus X RDC) are less likely to be smoked, only because I need to have enough time, and I hear those are better with age anyways.

Well, that's mostly true. I have a few cc's that I will age. I will save a few of the 05 PLPC's, an 01 CoLa, a 98 Charlotte, and maybe the one esplendido. In actuality though, I'm waiting for it to be nice enough for me to go outside and spark up that CoLa.

[Da Klugs]

Initially you explore... buying things to try.
You find things you like and buy more.
If this trend continues long enough... buying more than you smoke;
You have become a collector.



I collect them to have the opportunity to smoke them over my forseable life/smoking career.


In the movie Bicentennial man, Andrew was finally granted acknowledgment that he was human and thus the oldest recorded living human being at 200 years old.

My plan also seems to incorporate breaking that record.

[kelmac07]

Both...as Dave stated above, I have bought so much of what I like that I cannot smoke them fast enough. Nice knowing I will have some sticks to last me for awhile. And that means I get to "collect" them until they are torched.

[pektel]

How well do Maduros age?

Seriously though. Honest question.

[Volusianator]

Smoker

I consider myself more of a collector, BUT, because my opportunities to enjoy a cigar are few and far between, not because I hesitate to smoke anything I own. My worst-case scenario would involve laying on the road after being hit by a bus, wondering what any number of my 'special' smokes would have been like. Plus, who will get them if I die? My son? What would he and his buddies do with boxes of ERDM Slenderellas, aside from treat them like cigarettes?
I smoke them all, at every opporunity.