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Last post 5 years ago by 99cobra2881. 19 replies replies.
Am I Missing Something in Regards to CI Bidding...
manowar5150 Offline
#1 Posted:
Joined: 10-02-2018
Posts: 15
Hello, all. Quick question for the veteran bidders. So I added an AJ Fernandes lot, 35 sticks, to my Lotwatch last night, with bidding starting at $16.00, 4 days to go, and one bidder with one bid. Great deal, too good to be true. This morning, I checked my lots again, and wouldn't you you know, the bid on this lot is now up to $65, there's still only one bidder, but it looks like he bid 4 times. Am I missing something? Why bid yourself up so high? Can you even do that? It's still not a bad deal, but I don't get the bidding, and I haven't seen anything like this on my other lots. Any input?
opelmanta1900 Offline
#2 Posted:
Joined: 01-10-2012
Posts: 13,954
Bid-bots... They're rampant at this time of year...
dstieger Offline
#3 Posted:
Joined: 06-22-2007
Posts: 10,889
Autobid.

Winning dude has his max bid set at $65 (or more likely, higher.)

Other 'loser dudes' dropped in and bid more than $16, but winner dude's autobid automatically jacked up winner dude's bid to a buck higher than loser dude's bid...and that happened a couple/few times.


Smoke better cigars
manowar5150 Offline
#4 Posted:
Joined: 10-02-2018
Posts: 15
dstieger wrote:
Autobid.

Winning dude has his max bid set at $65 (or more likely, higher.)

Other 'loser dudes' dropped in and bid more than $16, but winner dude's autobid automatically jacked up winner dude's bid to a buck higher than loser dude's bid...and that happened a couple/few times.


Smoke better cigars


'Preciate it. That explains it. As far as smoking better, name some of your favorites. I'm a little new to cigars, and I'm all ears when it comes to smoking better.
dstieger Offline
#5 Posted:
Joined: 06-22-2007
Posts: 10,889
manowar5150 wrote:
'Preciate it. That explains it. As far as smoking better, name some of your favorites. I'm a little new to cigars, and I'm all ears when it comes to smoking better.


The list is very fluid....but in last few days, I've smoked good cigars from Tatuaje, Crowned Heads, RomaCraft, La Palina, Caldwell....as well as Cuban H Upmann and Ramon Allones. Can't remember ever smoking an AJF and thinking...Wow, that was a good cigar
manowar5150 Offline
#6 Posted:
Joined: 10-02-2018
Posts: 15
Tatuaje, Crowned Heads, and RomaCraft I have on the way. Thanks for the other names, I'll look into stocking up on a few.
lance4824 Offline
#7 Posted:
Joined: 07-06-2018
Posts: 664
manowar5150 wrote:
Hello, all. Quick question for the veteran bidders. So I added an AJ Fernandes lot, 35 sticks, to my Lotwatch last night, with bidding starting at $16.00, 4 days to go, and one bidder with one bid. Great deal, too good to be true. This morning, I checked my lots again, and wouldn't you you know, the bid on this lot is now up to $65, there's still only one bidder, but it looks like he bid 4 times. Am I missing something? Why bid yourself up so high? Can you even do that? It's still not a bad deal, but I don't get the bidding, and I haven't seen anything like this on my other lots. Any input?



welcome. I hope you stay around. If you get a chance you can do an intro on the threads below. There are alot good people. In the Trade topic, we trade cigars packs (5 or 10 cigars). The new guys send a pack to a vet and then someone will send you some. It is a great way to try new cigars and meet new people.

Trade Intro
http://www.cigarbid.com/...s/626198/p/215/n00b-PIB

Cigar Discusion
http://www.cigarbid.com/...NFO-PLEASE-READ-v-2-1-3

Herfing

Pudding Mittens Offline
#8 Posted:
Joined: 08-15-2016
Posts: 1,291
dstieger wrote:
Can't remember ever smoking an AJF and thinking...Wow, that was a good cigar

I can't remember ever smoking an AJF and NOT thinking... Wow, that was a good cigar.

Bought two boxes of RomaCraft CroMagnon Mode 5 about 2 years ago, without having ever smoked one, because of a very very good sale price and everyone hysterically yelling foamy-mouthed praise about how incredible they are. Guess what? "Meh" ROTT. "Meh" a year later. "Meh" about six months ago, the last time I tried one. Probably will stay "meh" forever, to me.

Fuente-anything tastes like nothing to me, like flavorless steam, even their high-end stuff.

Tatuaje, not bad and much better than Fuente's zero flavor, but still mostly "meh", to me.

AJF I can't get enough of, they're all very good to me. Even the lower-priced stuff is great. Buy the "Man O' War Anthology" 12-pack sampler, or his Side Projects boxes, or a box of the regular Man O' War, and put it away for a year or two and... wow, excellent! And yet cheap-ish. His slightly-pricier stuff (New World, etc.) is even better still.

Notice how I put "to me" in all those statements. Everyone's palate and capabilities are different. New guys need to try lots of stuff and make a mental (or paper!) chart of what they like.
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dstieger Offline
#9 Posted:
Joined: 06-22-2007
Posts: 10,889
well....smoke what you like...I've tried at least a dozen different AJF cigars and I think I only ever went back for seconds on MOW Virtue. You're welcome to the rest. I suppose though that I should be sorry....I could save a lot of money if they all wow'd me too
Pudding Mittens Offline
#10 Posted:
Joined: 08-15-2016
Posts: 1,291
dstieger wrote:
well....smoke what you like...I've tried at least a dozen different AJF cigars and I think I only ever went back for seconds on MOW Virtue. You're welcome to the rest. I suppose though that I should be sorry....I could save a lot of money if they all wow'd me too

Oh, very interesting! The MOW Virtue is the only AJF that causes a semi-to-mostly-"meh" reaction in me.

Palate differences are really fascinating. There's no right or wrong, there's only different.

And yeah, I can relate. Sometimes I wish White Owls made me happy, I'd have a LOT more money. But alas... Herfing
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Abrignac Offline
#11 Posted:
Joined: 02-24-2012
Posts: 17,216
To be honest, it’s a crapshoot. I’ve smoked some $2 cigars that tasted better than some $25 cigars.

Best advice I can give you is to research the nuances of tobaccos grown in different regions. Also, educate yourself on the different varieties such as Connie broad, corojo, etc.... and the leaf types secco, etc. These are the variables which control taste.

You’ll also find that the humidity level as well as roll tension affects the way a cigar smokes which has a bearing taste as well.

Some blends smoke better fresh, while others need long periods of age to smooth out flavors.

Smoke a large variety of cigars. Decide what best suits your palate. Then research the blends and look for similar blends. Btw, your palate will go through many changes.

Bing is your friend
manowar5150 Offline
#12 Posted:
Joined: 10-02-2018
Posts: 15
Pudding Mittens wrote:
I can't remember ever smoking an AJF and NOT thinking... Wow, that was a good cigar.

Bought two boxes of RomaCraft CroMagnon Mode 5 about 2 years ago, without having ever smoked one, because of a very very good sale price and everyone hysterically yelling foamy-mouthed praise about how incredible they are. Guess what? "Meh" ROTT. "Meh" a year later. "Meh" about six months ago, the last time I tried one. Probably will stay "meh" forever, to me.

Fuente-anything tastes like nothing to me, like flavorless steam, even their high-end stuff.

Tatuaje, not bad and much better than Fuente's zero flavor, but still mostly "meh", to me.


AJF I can't get enough of, they're all very good to me. Even the lower-priced stuff is great. Buy the "Man O' War Anthology" 12-pack sampler, or his Side Projects boxes, or a box of the regular Man O' War, and put it away for a year or two and... wow, excellent! And yet cheap-ish. His slightly-pricier stuff (New World, etc.) is even better still.

Notice how I put "to me" in all those statements. Everyone's palate and capabilities are different. New guys need to try lots of stuff and make a mental (or paper!) chart of what they like.
.


I suppose everyone will feel strongly about his preferences. I, for one, smoked the AJF New World last week, a box press, and even though my palate is pretty immature, I could tell I was smoking delicious quality. I bought a box. That being said, I recognize it might not be for everyone. I REALLY like Drew Estate and My Father, and I've seen hate for both of those being thrown around. Best advice I've received is the last sentence, which I've been working on. Doing the research, putting in time, and truly studying what I like best.
manowar5150 Offline
#13 Posted:
Joined: 10-02-2018
Posts: 15
Abrignac wrote:


Some blends smoke better fresh, while others need long periods of age to smooth out flavors.


I may need to pick your brain one day on this subject. Others say to age all your cigars. The more the better, or words to that effect. Interesting.
Pudding Mittens Offline
#14 Posted:
Joined: 08-15-2016
Posts: 1,291
manowar5150 wrote:
I may need to pick your brain one day on this subject. Others say to age all your cigars. The more the better, or words to that effect. Interesting.

People disagree, but in my experience, I have never found age to harm a cigar. Some don't improve, some improve a little, some improve a lot, some improve quickly, some more slowly, and the longer it goes the smaller the improvements with each passing year get (diminishing returns, at rates different for every cigar), but I've never found a LOWERING of overall "quality" due to age.

Generally, age reduces strength but causes the different flavors to "marry", and usually this "marriage" is much tastier than the mere sum of its parts (which is what you taste when smoking that same cigar when it's young).

It's not that simple, but that's a good high-level summary and approximation.

Although not perfect (it doesn't address stength changes or long timespans), a good analogy is spaghetti and sauce. Boil the spaghetti, add sauce, mix. Eat half of it right now. Not bad. Put the rest in the fridge and eat it 2-3 days later. Wow, much better because the flavors have "married".

If you define "quality" mostly as just strength, then yes, age can "harm" a cigar. But if you define "quality" more broadly, as I believe you should, then in my experience it never does. What you lose in strength, you usually gain in richer, merged, more complex flavors to enjoy.

If you're a "powerhead" guy who mostly wants super-strong cigars, then yes, smoke them quickly and don't age them. But most guys are into cigars for more than just power, and want to appreciate rich, long-aged flavors.

Please note that, in general, only relatively strong cigars should be long-aged. Ones that aren't strong just don't improve much.

Here's what I do: I buy only strong cigars, and in quantities larger than what I intend to smoke in the near future. If you repeat this often enough, aging just automatically happens, because you automatically build up excess stock. It's easy!

I HIGHLY recommend that, if you're going to do this, you Sharpie the acquisition date (I like "MM/YY" format) on each cigar box or bundle, or if necessary, on a cigar's cello itself. This way, years later, you know exactly how old everything is, without needing to create and maintain any external registry (paper records, Excel spreadsheets, etc.).

Hope this helps!
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Abrignac Offline
#15 Posted:
Joined: 02-24-2012
Posts: 17,216
manowar5150 wrote:
I may need to pick your brain one day on this subject. Others say to age all your cigars. The more the better, or words to that effect. Interesting.



Generally speaking the fuller the flavor and/or oilier the wrapper the longer it can be aged. The milder the flavor the quicker you want to smoke it.

Lots of things to learn.

Back in 2012 I picked up a few boxes of La Aurora 1495 robustos. They had the oiliest wrapper I recall on a cigar. Out of the box they tasted like chit. So I buried them for 3-4 years. Then one a whim I dug our a box and smoked another one. It was very tasty. Wish I would have bought another 10 boxes when I bought those for $25 a box. They’re long gone.

Another example of a craptastic cigar blooming we’re the OI La Perla Habana Morados. Every now and then you’ll see a mooch thread about them. There was a blend one year that after 3-5 years of sleep yielded a true gem. Later iterations never smoked nearly as well.

On the other hand, there are many $10 and up per cigars that are air balls out of the box and no amount of aging will add any flavor to them.

My advice is to invest in some serious storage capacity. At one time I had a 3000 cigar humidor and room for another 1000 or so in misc containers. But compared to others here my stash was small. Due to health concerns I no longer smoke except on very special occasions. The 15-20 really good cigars I keep are more than enough to last me a few years.

Find a few blends you like and buy as many as you can afford. One year I probably bought 1500+ cigars here the using free fall function. Ninety-five percent were either DPG blends under their label or other labels they rolled. The rest were mostly Oliva’s. I bought them at an average cost of $2-3 dollars per cigar using a bot that would tell me the lowest price they would fall to.
manowar5150 Offline
#16 Posted:
Joined: 10-02-2018
Posts: 15
Thanks for the advice, guys. Abrignac, thanks for the anecdotes. I love hearing stories like that. Is there a thread for coolest cigar stories or memories? If not, I might start one.
Sparky52 Offline
#17 Posted:
Joined: 08-03-2018
Posts: 15
Me being a relative newbie, I followed the advice of the veterans on purchasing 5 paks and some 2 or 3 brand samplers. After leaving in the coolidor for a month, I was amazed at how different the taste and smoothness had changed from ROTT. So my 2 cents worth of advice is don’t go for larger quantities, at first.
Abrignac Offline
#18 Posted:
Joined: 02-24-2012
Posts: 17,216
Sparky52 wrote:
Me being a relative newbie, I followed the advice of the veterans on purchasing 5 paks and some 2 or 3 brand samplers. After leaving in the coolidor for a month, I was amazed at how different the taste and smoothness had changed from ROTT. So my 2 cents worth of advice is don’t go for larger quantities, at first.


Always a good idea to put cigars to bed when you get them. That way the humidity stabilizes.
99cobra2881 Offline
#19 Posted:
Joined: 11-19-2013
Posts: 2,472
Also for long term storage I keep my coolers at 70rh. When I want to smoke a cigar I rotate it to one of the humidors which averages a humidity of 65-68rh. Many cigars will smoke better at a lower RH. Many will say to go to 60rh or to dry box cigars for a few days prior to smoking. Both are good options and are another thing you can explore for yourself and build up your preferences.

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