Well, as the title indicates I am a rank beginner in the world of cigars. I'll start this review off with a bit of a expo on that. I've had a few (2-4) cigars up till this month when I caught the real bug. This month I've caught the bug bad and finally starting to learn what I'm doing:-) Sorta:-) I started out with a Red Dot Cohiba I picked up at cumbies. Was actually pretty good the first few pulls even though I was torching the thing up like a cigarette. Strong sweet notes. However... not to far into it it became very harsh. Yup I was pulling on it constantly. Subsequently I've done some reading and learned how to properly appreciate a stick.

Anyways, I started writing up my experiences with my smokes a few days ago just for the fun/education of it. Upon finding this site I decided, what the hell, I may as well post them. Take these for what they are. Experiences of someone new trying to refine his palette and put words to flavors. It's more for me then anyone but I hope it might at least at times provide a chuckle:-) Any comments are welcome.

(No photos btw). Right now just after the fact tasting notes. Not ready to interrupt my enjoyment with fiddling with a camera yet:-)

So.... on with it.
The El Baton (Recommended to me by a smoke shop owner as a lower priced nice full body smoke) [ Just gonna cut and paste my little notepad notes].

El Baton "Robusto"

Location: Car in driveway (It's COLD outside!)
Time 2pm
Drink: Starbucks Christmas blend

Cap was quite small. Cut most off on the clip (by accident... I need to learn how to cut properly) and subsequently struggled the whole smoke to keep the wrapper on the cigar. I smoked this cigar on a empty stomach. Hadn't eaten anything all day. With that said, it knocked me down. At the time of writing this (9pm) I'm still feeling it. The burn was quite ragged but I will attribute that to the unraveling wrapper. The cigar tasted good, but I didn't find anything truly spectacular. There was a nice smooth pepper, some coffee (I think) and maybe some leather(maybe:-)). At times I got some strong sweetness that I wasn't able to identify because it was only once or twice. I had a few moments of tasting what I describe as Cinnamon. This might have been a combination of the pepper with a light sweetness. The cigar had to be abandoned with a fair amount left due to the wrapper finally fully disintegrating. Overall, the flavors where nice, and I would be willing to buy this cigar again. Next time I will smoke it on a full stomach however!.
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Good first review. I enjoyed the one El Baton I have smoked. A nice med/full smoke. :-)
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The reason it knocked you down is because the cigar made your blood-sugar level drop and you felt the effects of low blood-sugar. If you start to feel that way again, eat or drink something sweet quickly and you will feel normal in no time. I even know some guys that carry sugar packets with them and down a few when they start to feel it.

Good review. I think the El Baton is rather bland.
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John,
It's gonna be nice having you around to remind us what it was like when we first started out. Feel free to ask any questions you like, this is a friendly bunch here and won't flame you....except maybe "Mean Darrell" ( watch out for him):-):-) j/k.

So glad to have you here---Welcome to the Asylum.

STS:-)
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Is this common? What's the mechanism behind this? Any suggested reading?
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Nicotine is absorbed through the mucous membrane directly into the blood stream. The nausea and light headedness are some of the symptoms. Sugar counteracts those effects. A sugary drink like a coke can also help. But once you start getting that feeling, straight sugar is more effective. :-)
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Very common especially with stronger cigars or multiple cigars or the first cigar. I'm sure you have heard numerous stories of people feeling "green" after smoking too much. Much like strider experienced. Nicotine tolerance, of course, can vary from person to person and can be built up the more you smoke.

When we first start a cigar, the blood-sugar level rises but since it takes a while to smoke a cigar that supply slowly diminishes. Then nicotine circulating in the bloodstream prior to metabolism tends to collect in the pancreas, causing the pancreas to produce more insulin than normal. The excess amount of insulin causes blood-sugar to drop, resulting in nausea, high blood pressure, and other undesireable effects that we sometimes experience with cigars. Consumption of sugar gives the insulin something to break down, causing blood sugar to rise and mitigating the short-term effects of nicotine on the pancreas.

I'm sure there is plenty out there on this subject but this is just something I have learned from the FOG's over the years and experienced for myself.
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Nice Review! I Always Keep Sugary Candies with Me In Case Of "Emergencies" Like This. I Even Have A Few "Hot Tamale" Candies In a Ziplock That I Take With Me To Herfs!:-):-)
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Thanks for the tips on sugar and the blood sugar thing. Wasn't aware that's what it was but makes sense when it's a empty stomach that can bring it on. To be honest it wasn't THAT bad. Just at times unpleasant. Many just had me wanting to sit. Lol. Just came in from the car and a edge maduro. I seem to have a knack for picking sticks that are gonna have burn problems. Grrrr. Atleast my cutting skills are improving though.
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You could have too high humidity John.
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Ya, I thought of that. and my tupperdor did get to high last night. Woke up to it at 75. But, the oliva V I had that had burn problems was smoked pretty much right from the smoke shop. Just a hour or so driving home and walking to town with my pup. The LADC I had burned great. *shrug*. I got beads coming in the mail soon so just a few more days of keeping a eye on it. Stupid gel stick doesn't work very well.
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