With my financial situation the way that it's been for the past year and a half, I'm finding that chasing the ever elusive "Golden Egg" cigar is getting bit tiring. I'm not getting excited about smoking anything anymore, and sticks seem to be only slightly different from one another in flavor...but vastly different in price and availability...

This may well be the beginning of the end...
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It sounds like you might be a bit burnt out. It might be good just to step back for a few weeks and reassess the situation then.
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:-)

How many do you smoke a day/week? I sometimes take a week or two off and the flavors I experience when I start again are enough to bring me back. But then again there is nothing wrong with quitting smoking.

Also do you nose smoke? If you don't currently, learning how will increase your flavor experience exponentially.

And a last point, if you are consistently smoking a certain type, such as Nicaraguan puros, switch it up and smoke a Cuban or a Dominican. Or hell at least a Nicaraguan with an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper.
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Albert shut up and call me already!:-) (j/k) Great points... Walt, i hope that
things get better for you. Maybe you should try a pipe to mix things up.

btw... i've kinda noticed your semi-negative rants about a lot of different sticks recently...
it's kind of a 180 for a guy that was very passionate about cigars when I first met him.... Maybe
you should take a "short" vacation and revisit cigars after a few weeks (as albert suggested)
or maybe even a month and see if you get "the urge" during that time... I personally love your
insight and opinions....and would hate to see you not around anymore Walt...
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I was ready to quit last week after a couple of bad and mediocre smokes in a row. I was thinking "Why am I even smoking these? The money I've spent and the risk smoking these just aren't worth it"

Then I smoked a great cigar and was right back on the bandwagon :-)

I understand how you feel though. I think I'm done buying for awhile. I have more smokes than I'll smoke in a year, and I don't have any business spending more money on cigars. Like Pat and Albert said, take a week or two off. You'll start wanting a good cigar, and maybe just keep it to smoking on the weekend. Sell or gift the sticks you no longer enjoy and just keep those around you do :-)

Personally for me, I've amassed a decent number of "htf" or "higher end" sticks. I also have a good number of lower end sticks. I've stopped hoarding the better ones and started enjoying those, like they were meant to be :-)
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I have gone through this before and I would almost say it's normal to just kind of get burned out from time to time. I have gone through this cycle a hand full of times myself. Like others have said taking some time off from smoking and maybe a little more from buying and smoking through your current inventory will usually have you back in the saddle in short time. Try for two or three weeks and see how you feel and if you still just feel meh, than give it some more time. If not than maybe you have just reached your peak and are done with the hobby. Hopefully not but never say never. I tend to do this with most hobbies and some I have stuck with while others I just walk away from. Hell, I got pulled over twice in 10 minutes on my bike last weekend and was keeping it all legal at the time. Just had two different LEOs who wanted to break balls that day I guess. Plus the joys of riding a supermoto I suppose too. After I got home I was so pissed that I was ready to sell the thing and be done with it. The bike has been parked since and I have no desire to even go out and ride this weekend. I think it's normal for all hobbies. Hope to see a post in a month or so telling us your back in the saddle and back to your old routine. Worse case scenario hopefully is you get past it and may have some age on your smokes.
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if you are quitting ive got dibs on your stash Walt! :-) :-)
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Seconds!:-)

You got all the info you need. A break is necessary once in a while. No point in smoking if you don't enjoy it.

One suggestion is to smoke an old favorite, if that sucks, then it's break time, if it's still one of your favs, maybe your profile changed a bit and time to pick some more favs up.
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It's all dog rockets. :-)

As far as being negative lately...that was only in regards to the Dirty Rat selling for $12 a stick (box price makes these reasonable). That came on the back of outstanding releases from Andre and Pete in the $8-$10 range, and my finding out that 858 Sungrowns sold for $6 a stick. In all honesty...I'll still take a Pork Tenderloin over almost anything right now. I only wish I could find more to buy at that price.
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just wait... in a year he'll put them out as a regular release... you heard about
what's happening to the t-110 blend right?
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If you ask me, this is a natural progression, at least it was and is for me. I got so sick of "chasing the next one" and what it typically entailed: paying more money for some new stick that tasted slightly different from the hundreds in my humidor already. So, I quit buying MONTHS ago and have decided to smoke my stash down. I don't worry about the new stuff and am loving smoking what I already own.

Its also allowed me to revisit stuff I haven't gotten to in a while, and find that I love it still, and I have probably saved literally hundreds of dollars over the last several months as well. :-)
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Try an Acid for something to stir up your taste buds!
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This sounds like a NC situation that I ran into many years ago. Didn't matter what kind of fancy box you put it in or what descriptive phrases you use about the care that went into making it and the long heritage of tobacco in somebodies family. After a half an inch it all tastes the same to me.
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Do you think that it is the "collecting" side of cigars that you are tired of?

A pal that I worked with until a few weeks ago brought over a few cuban rounds from a local reservation a few weeks back (<--- read cheap smokes). Wasn't the best smoke I'd ever had but the chance to sit around and catch up after not hanging out for a few weeks made the experience excellent. I guess I could have sat there without a cigar and enjoyed the chatter, but the cigar added an extra bit of enjoyment.
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If you were here, I'd make YOU smoke an ACID just for suggesting it... :-)

That's exactly what I think it is. Since the release of the Daisy Cutters (how many months ago was that?), I've picked up a total of 8 boxes of cigars, not including another $300 on a NC collection buy out and some aged CC singles...which we'll round up to another 3 boxes worth. So...11 boxes x 25 per box = 275 cigars give or take. Yeah...I've kind of been out of control. :-)
I guess what really put me over the edge, was when I picked up a couple of handfuls of singles recently, and saw what additional cash I was spending on top of the financial hemorrhaging of the past few months. That's probably why I started getting pissy lately about $10+ singles. I think I need to just not buy anymore cigars for a little while. Except for the Padron 46's when I get the word they're in... :-)
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I go in waves. Some weeks I'll smoke every night. Others, I won't even smoke at all...kind of like posting here with me as well. I smoke when the mood hits and when I have time. Basically the stars have to align. At least it keeps things interesting for me. I feel your pain, and I hope all of this will pass.
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I'll let you cry on my shoulder Walt. :-)
Besides, I didn't know flavored cigars were that exclusive.
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Shut Up Huy! :-)
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Hang in there. Cigars and friendships because of cigars go hand in hand.
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I dunno about this thread...but I want a cigar now....

This is like all addictions...at some point they seem like theres nothing left to enjoy.......and then....you discover something new.

I'd say give it a rest for a month even...maybe two... someday some new cigar will bring you back and you'll be glad it did. Otherwise you're just on to something else entirely....but there's always something. Or maybe that's just me.
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