Heya folks o/

I'm a near complete noob here, having smoked less than 2 dozen cigars in my smoking career (a little over two months.)

I'm finding myself biasing towards a really full flavor very quickly, which is surprising me. (The PH 681 is a top 5.)

As I'm unemployed I'm on a pretty strict $10/week budget (which usually amounts to $20 every other week.) I've had good luck so far on various samplers and deals from cigar monster/famous. (and some questionable luck from Thompson.)

Any suggestions, recommendations, pointers, etc?

I started reviewing what I've been smoking over at Cigar Noob and could use a couple pointers if people are so inclined.(I'm not spamming for advertising clicks or anything.)

Thanks.

o/

- MWF
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Welcome to CA.
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Welcome!
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Welcome to the Asylum. In your RyJ review, you mention storing at 72%, which is a little wet. That might account for the burn issues you had.
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Im in the same noob boat as you!!! and Im also leaning to a stronger cigar. The last one I had was a cheap Fuente 8-5-8 Maduro that i ended up getting bored with towards the end. Never could get any real discernible flavor out of it other than tobacco. Ill stay tuned to you blog!
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Welcome! :-)
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Welcome
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Welcome to the MADHOUSE!!
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madman walking! welcome ! :-)
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Welcome. Check out the WTS posts here for some great deals.
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Welcome to the Asylum! :-)
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Welcome!

1. Your definitly too wet IMO. I keep mine at 65% with Scott's beads and almost never have any burn issues. Any sticks I pick up at the B&M go into storage to dry out a bit.

2. As for you budget, to stretch it out, try www.cigarbid.com - Some sharp bidding will get you some good fivers for way much less than shopping at the B&M. It's known as the devil site for a reason :-) Also, as noted above, many a good deal can be found by the BOTLs here clearing out space in their humis.
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Welcome.
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Welcome! Try leaving your cigar out or in an unhumidified box for around 24 hours prior to smoking. That should improve burn and flavor IMO.

On roughly a $40 a month budget, I'd figure out how many sticks I'm likely to smoke that month then by the best sticks possible.

I do this cigar thing for the enjoyment, taste, and relaxation. I'd rather smoke 5 amazing cigars per month...than 30 average smokes. That's just my humble opinion...and it's worth precisely what you paid for it:-)

P.S. - Here's a screaming deal for $30...I might hop on this one myself!
http://www.cigarsinternational.com/p...ASST11&cat=167
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Hey thanks everyone o/

72% is high? Hmm... I'm not sure what I can do about that with one of those crappy analog dial hygrometers and sponge humidifiers.

The auction stuff still seems a bit deep-end for me.

I'm also pretty amazed that I've had this humidor a month and it's starting to seem awfully small. 50 cigars sure seemed like a lot :-)
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Get yourself a Hygroset, an adjustable digital hygrometer. I understand WalMart carries a cheap digital, but I haven't used it. You can get beads to replace your sponge from Cigarmony, Heartfelt, or shilala (member here). Beads are much more reliable, and you can get them for specific target RH. Personally, I find my cigars smoke better at a target of 65%.
You can get some amazing deals on cigarbid and cigarmonster. Just be careful and know your prices, as occasionally people will bid something up over retail.
Yeah, your collection will have a way of expanding to fill available storage. Welcome to the slope.
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That's now at least 3 "too wet" votes. I'll definitely give that a shot. Tough to think that far ahead :-)

While that certainly seems reasonable I'm far more inclined to buy a bunch of the cheapest thing I can stand to get me through, then spend the rest on the best it can buy, at least while I'm still this new to the field.

Cigar Monster deals have been treating me well. Those 681s knocked my socks off, and I've got a sampler 5 pack coming later this week. Plus, I've been back and forth with Hayward from Famous a few times on twitter and he's pretty awesome.

I fully expect to get to that point. But there's SO much out there that I know nothing about. I have a lot of ground to cover before settling in to a groove.
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As to cigar bid - it's exactly what you need. You can get "better" (better being relative to what you like) smokes at really good deals. Instead of paying $5.50 - $6 for a Perdomo Corojo each at the B&M, I can sometimes get a fiver on cbid for $15. You can set your cbid to ship on only Thurs. to combine winnings and save on shipping costs. Knowing the B&M MSRP and cool emotions, buying on cbid can save you some cash. And don't worry, they always have more auctions every day.

If you haven't tested your hygrometer than you may not really know what your RH is at. Depending on the size of the humi, the sponge may have too much water. Definitly at least do a clibration test on the hygrometer to see where your at, go digital if you can, analog leaves a lot to be desired. There are some really good guides on here on how to salt test, so a search for them can give you better guidance than i can.

Understanding your on the budget thing (aren't we all), beads really are the way to go. Scott sets his beads for 65% and they hold rock solid for me.
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I dunno man. I used to be an eBayer. I ... can't be trusted.

Does anyplace really sell at msrp or is that just a perceived discount trick?
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Some people like their sticks at a higher RH, but if you do so be sure to dry box for a few hours to a day before smoking. Makes a world of difference in burn and flavor as far as I'm concerned..

aj
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