. . . tasted like the 2nd half. Most of the cigars I smoke don't really hit their stride, flavorwise, until they are at least 1/3 gone. *sigh*

For those badge carriers who rushed in here with guns drawn thinking this was a football thread, please accept my apologies. ;o)

LLT, buy longer cigars and cut a 1/3 off.
Barry

Barry Barry good idea. X

Thanks for the suggestion, guys. Dumb me, all I could think of was to turn the gars around and smoke the other end, but that didn't work. Doh!

BTW, what did Homer say before he got over his dyslexia?
HOD!

Funny you brought this up...last night, Mike had his first La Perla (from Christmas) and smoked about 1 1/2 inches of it.

He remarked that he didn't like it and was about to just toss it in the firepit...UGH! I yelled no, no, no, no! Wait, give it a chance because the first 1/4 - 1/3 is not necessarily gonna be like the middle or end of any given cigar. He then decided that he was just gonna cut it in half. He didn't after I asked him to just keep on smoking it...well, he ended up enjoying it after all!

Moral of the story: always give it a chance (well, except for that damned White Rabbit Jim gave me, LOL) and then chalk it up to experience good or bad...

I like Torps and agree regardless of the brand, most cigars hit their true potential after smoking the first inch or so.

Just last weekend was at the club watching one of the games and gave a cigar to one of my friends that is an occasional smoker. At first he thought cigar was bland, told him to keep on smoking, in about 10 minutes, he goes wowwwwwwwwwwww this is good.

Part of the solution can be found in lighting ... IMO

See the current thread on that subject ... THIS is why I warm the cigar before lighting it ... I noted with great interest, that several guys after reading what I wrote there have indicated they're now believers ...

Proper lighting is not a meaningless ritual ... it adds to the pleasure of smoking your cigar ... I didn't make this up, I learned it years ago and have found by experience that it works.

Just for the record I love White Rabbits and any other DE Natural. (well except maybe the eggs)

I don't understand why the first half would taste different then the second if the cigar was made with long fillers. I mean isn't it the same tobacco throughout the whole cigar?

Now if its because the flavor is different because the burn is farther away why wouldn't you just cut your cigar in half and smoke each end which would now taste the equivalent of the second half. If that makes any sence.

I agree, toasting the foot warms it for the flame, reduces the time needed to light the cigar and reduces the "hotbox" effect. Does anyone know why a match might be run up and down along the entire length of the cigar?

eleltea, & E-Chick.. this is what I have found as well.. Haven't had the White Rabbit though..lol While In New Orleans last week for a funeral gave a cousin of mine an Opus X to share the experience with after some cafe au lait and beignets. If you've ever had an Opus you may agree it starts off very mild and gets more flavorful as you smoke.. by the middle to the last it's great!
RJ