Offline: Cheryl at my B&M. A font of knowledge. She's been to almost all of the major factories, is friends with many of the uppity ups in the business, and I'm always learning new things from her. Not only that, but membership is über reasonable, and the chairs are comfy.

Online: Hard to say. I would say Google. Then Halfwheel. Then CB. Then CI. Here. There. Let my fingers do the walking.
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Online:

The guy that posted this (Angel) and Peter (pnoon), only the names are changed but the herf remains the same. (Larry, Mate, Ricky, Bob, Dennis, Mike and the rest of the S.H.I.T. crew) :-)

California sunlight, sweet Calcutta rain
Honolulu Starbright - the song remains the same.

Offline:

The cigarette girl at the craps table that asked me if I wanted a pack of smokes and when I told her I quit, she asked me if I wanted to try a cigar...
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I was turned into "The Resident Maduro Whore" by Johnny (JK5) and haven't looked back since. I have had a ton of brothers steer me down different roads, but to name one that was the most influential...hands down, Scott (Shilala). Our paletes were so very similar that he was able to provide me the insight on what to try, enjoy, etc. I have taken the info that Scott passed to me and RAN WITH IT. I still love my maduros and would say that 98% of my collection is "dark & yummy" due to his guidance and wisdom.

I use Cigar Asylum every single day to guage reviews, look into new sticks for those with similar palates. I also use Halfwheel a lot for info on new sticks, where to find, etc.
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cigarobsession
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Offline the owner of my local B&M, and online pretty much anybody here at CA.
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Fidel Castro
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Good thread.
Grateful to shilala, tedrodgerscpa, jjirons69, thaplumbr & longknocker for navigating me from Club Stogie to this murky and wonderful haven. Much thanks to my maduro mentor kelmac07 the prince of darkness for his advice & friendship.
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Damn you Ron (neuron), you spoiled me rotten and kicked me right off the slippery slope!
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:-)
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Locally I had a buddy who showed me the way to cigars named scott who without him I would not be here now. Now that I have been shown the magic of the darkside. I need a local CC Obi Wan!

Online My buddy Jack the Greek has shown me the light with many many cc's that I have tried(not on this board) I have been loving the info I have gotten from this side on CC's ...since NC's are dead to me as of late.
Thanks in advance to all who will help me with advice or whatnot in my adventure to the darkside.
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I was kind of starting to smoke some decent cigars when on a sub-forum of a watch collectors forum I got involved in the cigar thread! The five or six regulars on that thread really took my enjoyment of cigars to another level. Some time later I found this forum, the two guys I traded with, Drez, and Chip were great, and introduced me to yet another level of smokes.

Since I live in a rather remote area, and rarely get to a B&M 99% of what I've learned about cigars I've gathered from the two forums, this one as well as the watch forum.

Thanks guys!
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I don't think anyone offline has really contributed to my obsession very much.

Online I would have to say Larry, Kevin and Mac. They all have similar tastes to me, and I would just see what they were enjoying and buy cigars that way. Still do it somewhat to this day.
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Online: Stogie Review

Off line: my Father who still I love sitting with and smoking a cigar while drinking some form of Whiskey or Whisky
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Offline: My BIL, who quit cigars after I started

Online: The CA crew (you know who you all are) and this year alone maninblack (kevin) like Mac said about Scott out palettes are very similar and he has pushed me down the dark path of some amazing sticks, and I'm glad to know him.
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Offline: Good friend of mine by the name of Ryan. Got me back into cigars after a 15 years hiatus

Online: CigarAsylum off course, halfwheel
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Almost everybody on this forum has helped me along the may however the most influential are likely these culprits:


Shilala-
When I was just getting started out in CCs Scott made a lot of great recommendations and blew me up in a trade that provided me the amazing opportunity to smoke tons of good CCs over a short time period. I will never forget that, thank you Scott.

Dball-
Cigar Jesus played a pretty big roll in my CC slide. I have had the pleasure of trying many out of this world vintage cigars thanks to him. Come to think of it, he has ruined many not so vintage cigars for me. Damn you Dan.:-)

Jonumberone-
I like to describe Dom as the nicest a-hole you will ever meet. He has helped me with many box order reccomendations, all that payed off. And he has an eye for fashion. I have herfed with Dom on many occasions and have learned a lot from him. I remember my first herf:-).
Oh and Dom gives the best hugs.

Taki, Digs, SteelCityBoy-
Without these bastads I would have never been introduced to the world of cigars.
Although Taki gave me my first cigar (an Acid Toast, some friend :-)) these guys all pushed me into the life style and I have enjoyed tons of herfs on The Wood over the last few years. We all started offline and I had to drag them all here.

The generosity of so many others here as well has made me appreciate the brotherhood and enrichment of life this hobby has brought me.


I can't forget about Mac, Frank, Remo, DPD Andrew, Kevin STS, Angel, EricF, Keith BigAsh & Larry!
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OnLine.. Stogie Review hands down changed my cigar life.

Offline.... Walt White a great friend, who loves firearms and cigars...
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Was away in my "own little world" for the weekend. Nice to read some of your posts!
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Mine were a mixture of online and offline (herfs and phone calls).

Pnoon got me into this, gave me a parachute (with holes) and kicked me of the cliff.

Mo The Man, SD Beerman, Goatlocker, Poker, markem, and Leo (not active on this forum) to name the others. Of course, there are many more over the years (sorry if I didn't list you).

Thanks to all! I will continue to learn from and appreciate your knowledge and experience.
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Interesting thread.

Online - definitely clubstogie and a member who actually got banned (:-)) for selling too many cigars (the good old cottage industry). He introduced me to Tatuaje's and Padron's. If it was not for his suggestions, I probably would have given up as I could not stand the cigars I was trying from B&Ms (Montecristos, Cohibas, Ashton Cabinets... basically cigars with tobacco from the DR). After he got banned, I was a little confused and Tom (icehog3) really helped me out and answered a lot of my questions.

Offline - Probably another member who is no longer around. I am going to have to go with Jesse (soulskater). I had a free plane ticket I had to use before it expired and talked my wife into letting me go to SoCal 8 (I think it was SoCal 8). I was not the type of person to fly somewhere to hang out with people I really didn't know who I met on the internet. My wife thought I was crazy as well. Go figure, I have now been to six in a row if my count is correct. Jesse answered all of my questions and made me feel welcome when I arrived knowing absolutely nobody.

Good times!
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