Would you like a Cigar?

VSG is an exquisite smoke!

So I am in the electrical business so swapped out some swank lighting fixtures for store credit with my local cigar shop owner. Got about about a grand to shop with. How about a couple of “gotta have” recommendations from the “stogie committee”. I will tell you the shop has pretty much everything, and I already have a couple of boxes of MF Bijou and AVO Syncro, so those are spoken for. I will try to get at least a handful of each one, then give an honest assessment of each one using the following for simplicity:

Superb - A true must have

Great Smoke - Can’t go wrong with this one

Average - Good for the smoker who won’t know any better

Give it to a Friend - not worth taking up space in one of my five humidors

If you are prone to get butt hurt by criticism, please do not play.

If you intentionally recommend some piece of sh#% cigar, I will know, and I will buy you a membership in PETA.

Let the games begin.

I'll have to think about this one. I'm a Po boy, and don't have the luxury of smoking many "Superb cigars", or thousand dollar cigar shopping sprees.

Just received this deilivery from CI.

Decent Connecticut.

O.k Mort. Here is my list. Enjoy the shopping. It sounds fun!

None of my Cigar choices will earn a PETA membership. God forbid.

The top list I smoke occasionally, many of the rest are my "Go to cigars" that I smoke regularly. I am picky about taste & quality, but most of my regulars range from $8 - $12 a stick ( singles price), not including my cigar shop good guy discounts.



Davidoff Nicauragua.
Davidoff The Late Hour
Ashton ESG
Ashton VSG
Fuente Fuente Opus X
LIiga Privada no 9
Arturo Fuente Don Carlos No.2
AVO Unexpected Passion

Drew Estate Liga Undercrown Maduro
Drew Estate Herrera Estelli Brazilian mata fino
Oliva Serie V
Oliva Serie V Melanio
Padron 5000
Padron 7000
Don Pepin Garcia Original " Blue"
Jaime Garcia by My Father
My Father La Promesa
My Father La Flor de las Antillas
My Father Opulencia
My Father Connecticut
La Aroma de Cuba series
Crowned Heads Le Careme
Arturo Fuente Rosado
Caldwell Blind Mans Bluff
Caldwell The King is dead
Caldwell Eastern Standard
CAO Brazilia
CAO V660 Carb
Roma Craft Cro Magnon series
Camacho Triple Maduro
Camacho Barrel aged
Brickhouse Maduro
Romeo y Julieta 1875
La Gloria Cubana Serie R
Rocky Patel Vintage 1999
Rocky Patel Vintage 2003
Tatuajes (can't remember the names)

Hard to beat a Padron 1926 40th Anniversary if youre willing to drop $25-$30 a stick on a cigar (maybe you want to put a couple of "special" sticks in your humidor to save for a special occasion?)..

I like a lot of what @Brent in Az offers on his list as well.. The Drew Estate Undercrown is one of my favorite "affordable" smokes.. If youre willing to drop the cash, the Drew Estate Liga Privada #9 and the Liga Privada T52's are both outstanding (but both substantially more expensive than the undercrown.. For me, I could smoke a UC every day.. but Im not going to drop the $15 per stick price to smoke a #9 more than once in a great while.. (although I think they are exquisite...)...

I have never smoked a Crowned Heads cigar that I didnt like.. They are always a safe bet for me.. if you can get your hands on some CH Mule Kicks they are far and away my all time favorite CH cigar.. theyre generally pretty hard to come by though.. they release them in limited numbers each year, and not all CH dealers get them..

I just picked up 10 more Undercrown Maduros in Robusto from CI. $44.99. They are the budget mans Liga Privada.....sort of.

I've been contemplating on getting a climate controlled humidor, such as the ones made by Newair. It provides temp control, but you have to add a humidification device.

how much space do you need?

I had a "wineador" for a long time.. I went a cheaper route though..

I bought s amall wine-cooler off of Craigslist for $25.. it was literally brand new and still in the box.. a lady got it for Christmas and didnt want it..

It wasnt huge.. it was a simple 12 bottle cooler.. but that was more than enough to hold 200+ sticks..

I then had these guys make me some custom drawers and trays for about $125: https://wineadors.com/index.html

This was almost 15 years ago.. before NewAir was making readymade wine-adors..

It was an AWESOME humidor.. I just outgrew it pretty quickly and ended up graduating to my first cabinet humidor in less than a year.. I kept the wineador for several more years though.. It wasnt "pretty" like the cabinet.. and it didnt hold as much.. but from a temp and humidity control point of view, it was the best humidor I've ever owned.. so I used it to keep my stash of "good stuff".. and my "daily smokes" went into the cabinet for several years (ultimately I graduated into a much larger cabinet.. the one I have now holds about 2,000 sticks.. and I just put everything in there)..

The biggest advantage for me wasnt the temp control (although Im guessing temp control would be a huge attractant for you in AZ).. my house pretty much stays 70 - 71 degrees year round..

What the wine coolers are incredibly good at is retaining humidity.. The doors seal exceptionally well, and the inside is basically sealed plastic box.. Throw in all the spanish cedar for the shelves and drawers.. and you have about as perfect of a stabilized humidity environment as you could ever find..

I was considering the Newair cc300. It holds up to 400, but the reviews I saw said 250 is more realistic,were it is not being overstuffed for better air flow. Not sure if I want to go with the heating option which adds $200 to the price tag.?

Being able to keep the cigars at a constant 68-70 degrees,is a big plus out here in the hot months. It's not affordable to keep the AC at 70 degrees 24/7 in the desert.

As a woodworker by trade, I could probably find a cheap Wineador, and modify it with some spanish cedar drawers.?

If you’ve got woodworking skills, I’d definitely recommend building your own..

Small to mid sized wine coolers are always available on Craigslist and other places super cheap..

All you have to do is get some silicon caulk and seal up the back around the plugs and wires.. and insert shelves and drawers made of Spanish cedar.. and you have EXACTLY the same thing that New Air is selling you for 2-3x the cost...

The key is you have to make sure the cooler uses a thermo-electric system for cooling (most newer coolers are thermo electric)

Coolers that use a compressor (similar to most refrigerators) actually pull humidity out of the air inside the sealed area as part of the cooling process.. thermo electrics don’t do that.. and are much better for your sticks..

Brent in Az said:

O.k Mort. Here is my list. Enjoy the shopping. It sounds fun!

None of my Cigar choices will earn a PETA membership. God forbid.

The top list I smoke occasionally, many of the rest are my "Go to cigars" that I smoke regularly. I am picky about taste & quality, but most of my regulars range from $8 - $12 a stick ( singles price), not including my cigar shop good guy discounts.



Davidoff Nicauragua.
Davidoff The Late Hour
Ashton ESG
Ashton VSG
Fuente Fuente Opus X
LIiga Privada no 9
Arturo Fuente Don Carlos No.2
AVO Unexpected Passion

Drew Estate Liga Undercrown Maduro
Drew Estate Herrera Estelli Brazilian mata fino
Oliva Serie V
Oliva Serie V Melanio
Padron 5000
Padron 7000
Don Pepin Garcia Original " Blue"
Jaime Garcia by My Father
My Father La Promesa
My Father La Flor de las Antillas
My Father Opulencia
My Father Connecticut
La Aroma de Cuba series
Crowned Heads Le Careme
Arturo Fuente Rosado
Caldwell Blind Mans Bluff
Caldwell The King is dead
Caldwell Eastern Standard
CAO Brazilia
CAO V660 Carb
Roma Craft Cro Magnon series
Camacho Triple Maduro
Camacho Barrel aged
Brickhouse Maduro
Romeo y Julieta 1875
La Gloria Cubana Serie R
Rocky Patel Vintage 1999
Rocky Patel Vintage 2003
Tatuajes (can't remember the names)

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Super great list Brent! I recognize some while others are new to the pallet.

Will be pleased to take your list with me this week to load the wagon so to speak.

Also enjoying the humidor discussion. I too have thought long and hard about this. Keeping 4 or 5 200 cigar humidors spot on is worse than changing smoke alarm batteries. I have just grown to live with it. May see what is out there on the market. Thanks gentlemen.

For the serious Cigar enthusiast, the Reagan 4000 cigar dual zone humidor. Saw some reviews on this. It is certainly out of my league, but interesting nonetheless. $3600 plus shipping

if youre going to go the high end fully temperature and RH controlled cabinet humidor route.. these guys make AWESOME products:

http://aristocrathumidors.com/?gcli...qdo8bHp4whKbuTNDeHtUAnIWQlbkvvpRoCdOUQAvD_BwE

If you have wood working skills.. I'd recommend making your own though.. you'd be surprised how affordably you can make something yourself that is just as nice..

My cabinet humidor started life as a nice french walnut china cabinet. I removed all of the glass shelving and installed spanish cedar shelves.. I purchased pre-made spanish cedar trays.. etc..

I used weather stripping to seal all the glass windows, and food grade silicon caulk to seal all the joints.... creating a nice stable environment that will hold temperature and RH well..

an active humidity device like an OASIS XL maintains your RH for you (this is what I originally used.. and then just decided the KL and Boveda option was more than enough for my needs.. so I ditched the OASIS)..

https://www.1stclasshumidors.com/ci...lXljZIzkaMHRAIJ5Y7rsRQVm_SulmeDRoCKu0QAvD_BwE

and a DIY thermo-electric cooling device with built in fans that circulate your RH and temp is actually very easy to make, and very inexpensive.. lots of youtube videos on how to do this..


I think I have about $1K in mine all in.... to include the cost of the china cabinet (I picked up a "scratched" piece from a high end furniture store for a steal of a price)..

I checked the local Craigslist, and found only 1 wine chiller for sale. They wanted $350. I can buy a brand new Newair for that. I might go snoop around some of the pawn shops.

Brent in Az said:

Decent Connecticut.View attachment 306156

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I'm impressed with these 5 Vegas Gold Conneticuts. Purchased a 10 pack of them in my CI order for $27.50. For the price point, IMO, just as good as Conneticuts I've had for 3 times the price.

Brent in Az said:

I'm impressed with these 5 Vegas Gold Conneticuts. Purchased a 10 pack of them in my CI order for $27.50. For the price point, IMO, just as good as Conneticuts I've had for 3 times the price.

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Its been several years since I bought any 5 Vegas stuff.. but I used to really enjoy their "gold" sticks for an early morning with coffee type cigar.. I used to go through probably a box a year...

Their "red" (classic) sticks arent too bad either for a daily smoker, inexpensive cigar.. For a while they were my go-to stick for walking the dog, sitting by the pool, etc.. (doing something where I'd like to relax and enjoy a smoke.. but really not paying any attention to the cigar, or might have to leave it after only getting 1/2 way through, etc..)..

I might think about picking up a handful of the connecticuts again.. I agree with you @Brent in Az .. they arent anything "amazing" or anything.. but they are definitely a $3 stick that will hang with most other $6-$9 connecticuts I have tried over the years..

I've wanted to sample the 5 Vegas line. CI sends daily emails on sales specials, and I picked up the 5 Vegas, along with some other good deals.