This should be the golden rule.

Lower all your credit card limits once you start the hobby :-)
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Quality above quantity.
Never...ever... cut a Lusi in half.
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:-) I bought boxes of stuff I didnt end up wanting.
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My personal 5- In order of importance to me:
1. Share my thoughts on cigars in the form of reviews. I personally find it helpful when others review cigars I am looking at, so I do the same for other BOTL.
2. Don't fondle cigars in a B&M too much, and NEVER smell them.
3. If you have something a BOTL is looking for, don't be afraid to ship it to em, and let them enjoy it.
4. A good cutter and reliable lighter are a NECESSITY!
5. Anyone that tells you a bic lighter is bad for your cigars is a liar. In my experience, it works fine, in a pinch.
Scott
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Great thread.... I think all of the ones I would've mentioned were already said.

1. Humidor....go bigger than you think you need...much bigger.

2. Snorking....or nose exhale. You'll never know your cigar unless you do.

3. Herf often. Wherever, whenever, with whomever.

4. Think about how great it feels to take a break from your everyday life with a cigar. Now think about the troops. Send them some. :-)

5. Share with your fellow BOTL, but sample the cigars you gift before you give them all away. Sometimes you'll miss out on fantastic smokes, sometimes you'll regret passing off crap.
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Curious about this one..... Why? I think a lot can be said by the feel and smell of a cigar before you even clip it. Why buy something that may smell moldy or feel like a tent-peg?
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If you plan on buying it, no problem. As you know Patrick, you can't really tell if the cigar is plugged just by feel and alot of people sqeeze too much and crack the wrapper. And everybody and their brother putting the cigar close under their nose is just unsanitary. I see it everyday and we have signs posted everywhere. The worst is when somebody who is obviously sick does it. Alot of them try to smell cigars with cello and I even saw one guy smell a tubo. :-)

I good shop will do you right if the cigar ends up being plugged.
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Thanks for the explanation Greg. Its nice to hear it from the other side of the fence. Makes total sense now.
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Echoing a few earlier posts here.

1. Don't be afraid to ask questions.
2. Smoke everything and anything, you never know what you might like.
3. Heartfelt Humidity beads
4. Don't be afraid to spend $30-$50 on a good cutter, it's worth it in the long run.
5. Heavy drinking and heavy cigar smoking never go together.:-)
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1. Relax on humidity, was WAY too worried about it to start.
2. A good deal on crappy sticks is a bad deal.
3. When a deal of the century comes along on a certain region of cigars do whatever necessary to procure large quantities and deal with the aftermath later.
4. Small RG, Small RG, Small RG.
5. Don't ever contact Thompsons. They are harder to shake than herpes.
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This thread should be edited for stupid responses.....including mine.
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A ton of good info compressed here!
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1. Always keep an extra cutter/punch and lighter in your car (just in case)

2. Never put a partially smoked cigar back in your humi in hopes of smoking later. (you'll never get the smell out)

3. If someone thinks it's funny to send you infused/flavored cigars...Don't ever put them in your humi with your "good" sticks (They'll elope in no time and you'll never get the smell out).

4. Snorking/Retro-haling/nose exhale, whatever you want to call it, is an absolute must if want to really taste your stogie.

5. Always fill your lighters before going out, herfing, camping...you get the idea.

6. Purging sound's like an awful thing, but with cigars it's always a good thing

By the way, great thread idea. :-)
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1) Your pooch makes for an excellent herf buddy.
2) Dont know what to drink with a cigar, grab a coke.
3) Some CC are great, and some NC are great too. Great cigars can come from anywhere.
4) Have patients when buying, deals will come up.
5) Resist the desire to buy the biggest thickest cigars, they are not better.
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Unless you're at the Shack Herf. :-) :-)
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On a Sunday morning, a cigar, a cup of coffee and the newspaper, is possibly one of the best ways to start your day.
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-Take the time it takes to seasoned your humi properly...if not it will take forever to get it stabilised.
-Build inventory of small sticks for winter if you live up north because a churchill size cigar at -30c will never be a good cigar:-)

Great thread BTW:-)
Frenchie
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This is a good thread. One thing I am finding is that I have not yet had a $10+ cigar that has been any better that a few of the $3-5 cigars that I like.

More expensive is not necessarily better, which is probably holding me back from trying some good sticks that gets mentioned.
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:-) There are a lot of good, cheap sticks out there. For the more expensive sticks, I usually watch for deals on samplers, 5ers, or singles.
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This helps too!!!:-)
Image
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