Hi All,

I have only been seriously smoking cigars for a short period of time but am very interested instating my collection and learning alot about it. I just bought an Aristocrat MXT humodor and it arrived today. I only have one box of Padron cigars and about 75 singles. This humidor holds about 100 boxes and 300 singles so I am looking for advice on what to order for the first 10 boxes and where to order from.

I bought a box of Padron 1964 torpedo which I really like from Thompson Cigar as well as some Rocky Patel samplers.

I am looking for suggestions on what else to buy for myself and to offer company when they come over. So, some inexpensive boxes and some nice ones too is my plan.

Here is the humidor I bought... I can't wait for it to stabilize to 71% after a few days.

Any help is greatly appreciated to get my collection going.

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Thanks, Mitch
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Nice box. Enjoy filling it up.

If your taste and budget leans towards the Padron 1964, a poor boy like me can give you scant advise. Still, in that range, I might suggest you consider some Ashton products (Heritage, VSG, ESG) and some Arturo Fuente (Hemingway, Don Carlos, OpusX). As for vendors, most people here would tell you to stay away from Thompson and steer towards Cigar International (CI). Me, I use JR Cigars almost exclusively. Either way, enjoy the flight . . . and hang on tight.

Now, when you want some advise on really cheap cigars that ain't total dog rockets, I'm your guy. :-)
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Since everyone's tastes vary, I would suggest filling it up with things that you try on your own and want more of.

Nice humi, btw.
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Nice humi man! She is gorgeous.....enjoy, and like Dave said fill it up with whatever you want.....and yea stay away from Thompson's.
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If you want to fill a humi, create an account on Cigarbid, and start bidding! For me the auction becomes part of the fun, placing bids, snipping a box or fiver, getting snipped too! Before you know it you'll need a couple more coolers.
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Beautiful humidor you have there! I'll echo the stay away from Thompson's sentiment. I find Holt's to be a great place to shop, probably my favorite. I've had luck with CI and Famous too.

Have fun filling it up!
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I agree that snipping a box can be a delightful experience. :-)
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Heck yea, I love that game, it's like trading stocks.
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Thanks for all of the awesome suggestions! Keep em' coming please.

What are some of your favorites as far a lower cost cigars to keep in there?

Why don't you guys like Thompson cigars for purchases?

Thanks, Mitch
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I'd fill that sumb!tch with skettios.
That way, when there was some room, I'd know it was time to fill the spaces with cigars.
Or more skettios.
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Wow! Be careful what you buy being new. A lot of sticks don't age well and just get bland. Padrons and Fuente's age well as well as some full flavor sticks. Plenty of deals if you give yourself time to buy, I would not be too eager to fill that up. The results could be disappointing in a few years.
Great looking locker!
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Like others have said, fill 'er up with that you like. Don't fill 'er up with what we like. Unless you're inviting us all over to smoke your sticks! :-)
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LADC, Mi Amors and Mi Amor Reservas. Also, LFD's, La Palinas and DE T52's & No. 9's!

Bequtiful piece! Hope you enjoy!
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Beautiful humidor, brother! I order from CI and famous smoke a lot, but I've gotta throw a shout out to small batch cigars as well. Just got my first order in from them and placed one with CI the same day. Small batch beat the CI order here by a day, free shipping and each 5 pack came with their own Boveda pack. Plus on what I ordered, the prices were better than both of my other regulars. All around great customer service.
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Three things about Thompsons that have turned many off. One, though they have improved in this of late, they did have higher prices on many sought-after brands. Two, their offerings are heavily salted with their own labels, not only clearly marked "Thompson" but also hiding behind other bands. Lastly, in my experience, their delivery by post is often several times longer than what others provide. There may be other issues someone else can state.

Note, I did not tell you NOT to buy from them. Your experience may differ. I merely said that folks here would steer you away. As you see, I was right . . . for a change. :-)

As for less-expensive options, I can suggest a few I like. JR Cigar has an Ultimate line of quality cigars in many vitolas (sizes) and wrappers, which are more affordable than others, and which are very good cigars. Important: I said Ultimate, not their JR Alternate brand, which is a cheap bundle cigar. Those are not terrible, but they are far from notable. Some others with similar quality and price are El Rey del Mundo (ERDM in Asylum-speak) and Hoyo de Monterrey (HdM). If you like the Padron flavor, and why shouldn't you, yet balk at the cost, you might find that Sancho Panza has a few that approach that, at least for the regular numbered Padrons (3000, 4000, etc.) as opposed to their Anniversary marcas.

Many vendors offer 5-packs and samplers, and that's a good way for you to explore without making a commitment on full boxes.

Enjoy the ride.
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Illusione Rothchildes, a box of 50 can be had at a good price.
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I'd like to go ahead and say do NOT buy from Thompsons. Ever. No matter what.
Their business model is about mass-advertisment. They are everywhere. I can't even imagine how many catalogs they send out.

All that money comes from somewhere. Their shipping department and customer service are two of those places.

I admit, I may have made this all up. Even if I did, why take a chance?
There are so many exceptional vendors in the cigar world that there's no place for a Thompson's.
We cigar smokers are literally spoiled to death by excellent prices, over-the-top customer service, and are served by the best human beings this country has to offer.
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An under the radar, lower cost favorite of mine is the Latitude Zero from CI or Cbid.

(side info: CigarInternational, CigarBid and cigar.com are the same company)
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For a box that size and a couple of thousand sticks you may want Mike and Tim's help with a high end control system:

http://havanacontrols.com
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I'm digging all this great advice and learning alot. Thanks so much to everyone who has posted so far.

Mitch
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