Shopping Around?

[never_enough]

I always just pick up random sticks at B&M's and online. I still try things that people like on here, but we are all different so someone else's review only goes so far for you.

[ZachF88]

I like cigarsAtYourPrice.com.....

As for which smokes, just be venturius and buy/smoke. The great thing about cigars is that you can't try them all!!

Smoke what you like and like what you smoke.

[maninblack]

Welcome to the nuthouse. This place has helped me in so many ways discover cigars that I love. As far as sites go, I use cigar monster alot. Some of my favorite vendors are New Havana Cigars (The owner Dan is a great guy), Atlantic Cigars, Smoke Inn, and Outlaw Cigar. Enjoy the slippery slope. It's a fun ride!

[HumanAsh]

Well, of course there is only one place I think anyone should ever shop online, but we do have some cool features in place for aspiring cigar-nerds who are trying to develop their palate. For starters, we sell single sticks of everything that we carry, so you can mix and match to your heart's content, like the biggest B&M ever is sitting right on your laptop.

Additionally we have a Build Your Own Sampler item where you can make your own custom 7-pack sampler. I picked out 60 or so different cigars to be options, and you can pick any 7 for $34.95. They're all in the mid-level premium range, or ones that go for $7-9 individually on the site. http://www.pipesandcigars.com/mayoownsaro.html

With the plug for the company I work for out of the way, I'll just echo what everyone else said about finding what you like - try everything! Do some reading, and give a try to what you think sounds good. Don't get yourself tied down early to one or two brands with a big buy, start with variety and then narrow it down. Samplers are good too, but be careful and make sure you're getting a good one. If you're spending say $40 on a 10 or 12 cigar sampler, but you could spend, say $50 or $55 to pick out 10 or 12 cigars that you REALLY want to try as singles, it'll probably be worth the extra dough in the long run to be sampling exactly what you're most interested in, and hopefully find what you want to buy in bulk for savings faster.

Another suggestion I'd make is to find a frequent online reviewer who you can identify with. Once you've smoked a few cigars that you really enjoyed, look for reviews on those smokes. If you find one that seems to agree with your impression of said cigar, keep following his/her reviews of stuff you haven't tried. Next time s/he falls head-over-heels for a cigar, chances are you'll enjoy it as well.

[tsolomon]

Read the reviews and stop by a local B&M and pick up a couple of cigars to try. It really is a matter of personal preference and you need to figure out what you like. Once you have that down you can move on to looking at cigar internet sites and buying online. Based on my own experience, buy 1-2 of anything you have never had to see if you like them and then get a fiver of the ones you like. I would avoid buying boxes until you really know what you like as your tastes will change. People have already mentioned some good places, New Havana and Smoke Inn are great to deal with. I always call Atlantic because their prices can be cheaper over the phone than the posted prices on their website.

[irratebass]

Additionally we have a Build Your Own Sampler item where you can make your own custom 7-pack sampler. I picked out 60 or so different cigars to be options, and you can pick any 7 for $34.95. They're all in the mid-level premium range, or ones that go for $7-9 individually on the site. http://www.pipesandcigars.com/mayoownsaro.html

Thanks for reminding me about this feature.

All sound advice from everyone, now get to it.

[Silound]

I avoid the bidding, daily deals, and fire sales now like a plague. Too many people, too much temptation to spend money I don't have. Truth be told, I don't smoke as much as I did 4 years ago, so I don't buy much, I just smoke my stash in an attempt to reduce it.


When I do buy, I know the MSRP, the local cigar taxes, approximately what % of MSRP the major online dealers are selling cigars for, and what I'll pay for a cigar. Mostly, I shop locally to support the local B&M, and if I can't find it there and they can't order it, I'll go online if I want it bad enough (very rarely does this happen).

I guess I've lost that "deal-hunting" attitude as I get older. I'm less concerned about paying 10-30 more for a box of cigars when I hardly buy a fraction of what I used to.

[TJtorpedo]

Just keep picking up singles and smoking anything that looks interesting to you. I did the same thing with cigars as well as beer. You'll find your wheelhouse soon enough!

[Crownedone]

I belive that most of us were in the same boat at one time. I broke out of that problem by starting at one end of my local B&M's humidor and smoking everything they had. I started at the bottom with the cheap stuff and worked my way up. I always kept track of the smokes. Todate I have smoked everything up to the 8.00 range. I am now confident in what I like . Along the way I also amply sampled the boutiques and many of the high end stuff as my quoriosity would send me down the Lfd line or the padron anniversary line. No better way then to just jump in and start smoking. Enjoy!

Great thing 'bout our hobby is the "Homework." There will be hits and misses but the ride is a blast!