Having never smoked anything before, I was gifted a few cigars recently. They were mainly Olivas, which I gather to be a decent brand.

Just futzing through it myself, my experience ranged from "I don't taste anything, I'm just puffing smoke" to "hey; that was pretty good". Of my extremely limited sample size my favorite were Oliva serie G robustos. I smoked three of them to the nub... the first time resulting in nausea and near vomiting, so I guess I learned a bit about not sucking down cigar smoke.

I purchased a few samplers chiefly featuring Olivas over the past couple of months. Maybe 20 cigars in total, ranging from my still-favorite serie Gs to a few nub varieties and the V melanios. Despite the high acclaim for the V melanio it was one of those where I didn't really feel much from it one way or the other- taste or nicotine or anything else. As a novice I reasoned that my unrefined palate must just prefer the milder side, which makes sense. Maybe I cut it wrong, maybe I burnt it, maybe I'm just an uncultured philistine and maybe all 3. I found the "wrath" line and "hellion"s to be very uninteresting.

Then I discovered Cigarbid. This order was a bit heavy on the flavored type- particularly the drew estate type. It was also heavy on the "I can grab this single for $2 so why the fuck not".

So, here is order #1, which I received today.



I was excited to try the Kuba Kuba, and I just finished it. It was an enjoyable smoke, although I did have to touch up the burn twice. I can't say it was as flavored as I expected (I didn't really know what to expect, although the practically candy flavored tip was a surprise), but I suppose my palate is still unrefined and immature.

The most expensive of these is the Acid sampler box for which I paid $21; I have been rather surprised at the inexpensive prices you can get cigars for. I'm finding cigar magazines and websites to be fairly unhelpful, as practically everything receives exuberant praise, it's like reading gun rags. But I've at least tried to get an idea of what weight class particular manufacturers go for, and tried to stick around the intensity level I know I like. Drew Estate seems to be the king of infusions, everyone seems to poopoo rocky Patel and gurkha as low end starter cigars (I still bought some anyway, as a total neophyte), and I did buy a decent stock of the serie Gs I like because they're a known quantity. I would have preferred robustos or belicosos as I don't really want to burn two hours at a time, but given I paid $1.50 a piece I don't mind.

I have no pretensions or really much in the way of preconceived notions here, I'll try anything with an interesting hook, convincing marketing, or a cool looking band. Not sure where CAO falls. I imagine these flavored "moontrance" things to be somewhere around gas station level, but it looks like their MSRP places them a bit higher than that on non-Cbid sites.

Finding out how fun Cbid is, here's order list #2 (to be delivered saturday).



I ordered the alec Bradley's and cohibas to try lower end non infused cigar types. The Ave Maria's seem well loved so I've got multiple types among different ranges of body between this and the last order. I very nearly ordered the 10 pack of reconquistas that was going for $45 last night, but deferred as I equated them to the serie v melanios that I neither loved nor hated but felt I wasn't enjoying properly; I ordered a divinitas single instead as it seems to be a lighter bodied version somewhat comparable in quality and msrp. I did miss a ten pack of the cu avana "punishers" I wanted to try because of their almost novelty level reputation- the auctions closed at only $12.50 so I should have been paying more attention.  I'll double back to the fuller stuff once I develop a bit more appreciation.

The isla del sol gran Corona is something I think I will like based on feedback I see. I didn't want to buy a box of 20 until I know for sure. I couldn't find a smaller pack of tabak especial at a price I was willing to pay so I ordered some of their cigarillos in the meanwhile, but I'm considering the isla del sols as essentially a lower tier of a similar line from the same manufacturer anyway. Not sure if that's accurate, but that's what I'm taking from reviews.

Anyway, this is turning out to be a fun and relatively inexpensive hobby at this level. My dog loves seeing me get a cigar since he already has learned it means I'll stand outside for 45 minutes to an hour to throw a ball for him while I smoke it. But I've only spent $275 so far on all these and a pack of heartfelt beads for a coolerdor, so if nothing else it has been an interesting experiment, and at my current rate it's enough sticks for half a year. I'm a woodworker and I'm going to build a proper humidor soon, for fun if nothing else. Hopefully I can find some Spanish cedar, but if not it's going to be maple and mahogany or walnut and cherry. My local hardwood store is very well stocked so it is likely they will have it.

My short list for what I plan to try next is to work through the Drew Estate offerings- the "deep dish" seems to be a grande kuba kuba which I consider a good thing- and some of the lighter Ave Marias, in particular the immaculata. I think the RP edge lite will also be in my range of preferences.

My personal limit right now is around the $4 mark for a single- if I knew I would love it I might go higher, but right now I'm just going to screw around on Cigarbid until I find my groove.

I'm not sure if flavored cigars are my thing or not, I don't have the experience to say what I really prefer or will prefer.

After trying the kuba kuba last night, it was alright but I still liked the serie Gs moreso. The serie G is still my litmus for a non-flavored one that I really like, and I guess I'll be comparing everything to it until something supplants it.

I tried an acid cold infusion tonight, a fairly mild flavored cigar, and it was really good. Luckily they're one of the less expensive cigars in the line, but that's up there in my favorites (of my very limited experience) so far. The tabak especial are certainly something I'm interested in but they're a bit higher than I want to pay at present. I'll try and get some singles even if they're outside of my comfort range.

I wouldn't store infused/flavored cigars in the same humidor or container. Just me. To each their own on flavor and what you like, but would assume after a while it kind of spreads around. Maybe not but I wouldn't do it.


Oliva makes some G cigars in a really small size. Like 30 minute smokes or about the same size as Short Stories which are pretty damn hard to get now. I've had them before and they make good smokes when you have 30 minutes for a smoke but not 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

If you move past singles check out the free fall stuff on cbid. Lot of times some nice stuff comes up and the price will fall lower than the normal bid price. I've bought a fair amount of boxes that way. I just bought 2 boxes that way and they shipped wed.

For a little more , you can smoke Room 101 farce maduro in robusto for around 6-7$ a stick.  Easily one of the best 10 values in cigars.  Flavor and construction are second to none.

I went ahead and split up my flavored and non flavored into two different Tupperware humidors.

I don't intend to be an everyday smoker but I've been trying different ones. This is still very novel to me. Those tabak especials are a cut above in flavor level but the draw is so loose on the ones I have that they burn really fast. The isla del sol I had this morning was very appealing as well, it made a good pairing as I froze my balls off watching the eclipse. Being relatively cheap I could see stocking up on them. I will splurge on some larger tabak especial vitolas though.

Working on an ave maria argentum right now. Not really sure what I think of it. I can't say I'm getting a lot of flavor one way or the other, but it definitely isn't objectionable. So far that brand hasn't blown me away but due to low cost and availability I have a lot of their different types on hand. I'm coming into the second third and it is picking up a bit.

ETA: it is much better at the 1/3 mark. I'm not going to pretend to divine what the flavors are like some silly sommelier, but it's much more interesting now. I like the size and burn time of this "perfecto". It suits my attention span.

I've got about 150 sticks of all sorts of brands and types on hand now so I should probably slow the buying for a little while. Between a massive raise at work, a hefty bonus, selling a few project woodwork pieces, and the rittenhouse trial, if there was ever a time to be in a celebratory mood, it is now.