Looks good, just FYI, Casa Fuente is a cigar store in the shops at Caesar's Palace. (I saw you're from Vegas)

oops... my bad. thanks
we have some nice places off strip that offer great deals.

One thing you won't find at Casa Fuente is a great deal; it's only saving grace is that they carry some Fuente cigars you can't find anywhere else and some way overpriced pre-embargo Cubans. It is worth stopping by, if for nothing else, just to check it out.

For a complete beginner who knows absolutely nothing about cigars but wants to learn; where would you suggest he begin?

pretty much "THE" cigar magazine

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/

It's a good place to get info, although a lot of their ratings can be off IMO. That being said, ones taste in cigars can be just as subjective as wines.
If you find a cigar store with a knowledgeable tobacconist you've struck gold.

Edit
Since you're in Canada you'll have access to Cuban cigars and David Savona is real experienced in that area. (one of the mag writers)

• Thicker ring gauges burn better
• Smoke slowly - 1 to 2 puffs a minute only, no more
• The cigar will ash itself when it's ready - long ashes are good
• Buy from a good humidor - avoid mold
• Store all of your unsmoked cigars in a good humidor

For starters try:

Montecristo White Label
Macanudo Hampton Court

Thanks for the link, looks promising. Shouldn't every cigar store have a knowledgeable tobacconist?

They should but often times don't. Even as a newbie you'll get a feel for where they're at pretty quick. For example, the owner of the shop may be very knowledgeable but if the part time student is manning the humidor you're probably not going to be getting the best advice.

All,

Got my first humidor for Christmas. I calibrated the digital hygrometer, and now I'm trying to season the inside. I found some instructions that say to actually wipe the wood with water, but then lots others saying not to do that on your first try, so instead I'm trying the method with a shot glass of distilled water and the humidifier inside. The instructions I found say to let it get up to 70% then take the shot glass out and itll be stabilized.

Unfortunately, when I take the shot glass out the humidity dips back down to ~65% and doesn't rise back up to 70. Do I just need to leave the shot glass in longer (I've left it in for ~24 hours), or is there something else I need to do?

Thanks!

my uncle is going to cuba in February, I'm asking for a box of Cohiba's (i think these are the famous fidel castro ones). I don't know anything about how long cigars last and this is a very new hobby of mine. they should be fine in their packaging for 6-8 months right? (im canadian btw)

Apartment50 - Once you take out the shot glass of water, what are you using as a source of water to keep the water level stabilized? In addition, it normally takes a lot longer than 24 hours with a shot glass to properly season a humidor.

MikeSki - Almost assuredly, the box will dry out by then. Keep the box in a tupperware container with a little bit of silica gel kitty litter spritzed with some distilled water (i.e. tupperdor).

skunkworks,

At first I was just using the standard humidifier that it came with, then I added a tube of the gel beads in as well. I think it really just is a matter of time. I was planning on leaving it shut for 4 days. Think that will suffice?

4 days should be enough. Not sure if your gel beads are something that can be renewed by spritzing more water on them, but if not, you'll want to find a better humidification system. Honestly, price-/performance-wise, nothing touches silica gel kitty litter.

Yeah the gel beads are reusable. Should I not be keeping both the gel beads AND the humidifier in there, or is that ok?

Both are okay. Not sure what exactly is in this humidifier, but my guess would be some sort of propylene glycol type gel that keeps things around 70% humidity. It might be unnecessary to have both, but at worst it just provides more humidity buffering than you need for the size of your humidor. Enjoy, man.

Thanks a lot. Can't wait to stock it up.

Off to the shop in a bit... I will post up what I find for today.

In the mean time, something from a few months back

best cigars ive ever smoked (one in pic), and I've smoked many.

Same padron's are by far the best I've smoked

I had a Padron 1926 80th anniversario double torpedo the other day... my god, what a joy. the draw was perfect.

If there weren't over 30$ a piece, I'd be smoking them more often... saving up for a full box(225$)

mschu, i think the 80ths are awesome, and went through half a box down in new orleans for the superbowl, but for my money nothing can beat the 45s.

Also if you guys get a shot, I am the biggest padron guy out there, but the best non padron by far that I have smoked in the past couple of years is the feral pig by liga privada, really tough to find but well worth the effort

let me take a look for those^

I am investing in two boxes of 80th's...I just love them and can not beat the price versus buying them for $30ea.

this sampler pack just came in yesterday... I just finished one. NOM!

another box came in yesterday... to bad I need to wait to smoke these bad boys.