Damn these double posts! Sorry again.

Thanks for the replies, am reading them all with interest 🙂

Arwings, you didn't thread jack, did it to my own thread strangely enough 🙂

Well I just smoked a Don Manuel that has been resting a couple of weeks, tasted pretty bad. I guess that there is some merit to the thought that if no one else is bidding on it, it may not be much good.

On the flip side I also bought some Lord Horatios for a good price, $4 or $5 for 5, and the one I smoked was excellent. To my untrained eye it seems nicely put together, nice and smooth, any veins are small. The wrapper is silky with a slight sheen, and it tasted as good as the Cohiba that RICKAMAVEN was kind enough to gift me. There was no bitterness and no spice, smooth mellow and creamy with a good flavor. I smoked it to the band and it never got offensive.

I also smoked a Bohimien Predator that Rick sent me, spicy and fragrant, I really enjoyed it and it has opened my mind to stronger cigars than I thought I wanted. Now I feel that mild is good as long as it tastes good, but all things being equal a medium flavored cigar is maybe better.

I am collecting the cigars you all suggested, I will get to them all in the end 🙂

I had a Trilogy Native Camaroon and I really liked it, about the same strength as the Predator if my memory doesn't fail me, maybe a touch milder. I think the Camaroon wrapper may become a favorite. I am also thinking that one of the wrappers on the Predator is a camaroon(?)

Thank you all again for your input, even my cigar hating better half is impressed by the friendly community here 🙂

Zed.

If you're still experimenting with milder cigars, I could recommend Don Diego. My personal preference, though, is the Excalibur with the claro wrapper. Very mild and creamy. A stark contrast to the Excalibur maduro, which is rather heavy (and delicious!) in taste. I could easily spend the rest of my life smoking Excalibur claros in the morning and Excalibur Maduros in the evenings. By the way, I prefer the #1, 7.25 x 54, and the Epicure, 5.5 x 54 (I think). Between those two sizes, I can fit the cigar to the amount of time I have.

Excellent construction and burn evenness with all the Excaliburs, at least in my experience.

Fudge,

Many of the Arturo Fuente regular line are good inexpensive medium-bodied cigars...like the 8-5-8.

I was a beginner about a year ago, my advice: just keep trying a lot of different brands, and talk to people about them from there (like on these forums) and get suggestions from there.

Fudge,

I am also a new cigar smoker. The ones that I like are:

La Perla Habana

Cupido Criollo

Toraño Exodus 1959

I find them to be mild and enjoy them very much.

I'm not as new to cigars as I am to this site, but I have not tried nearly as many as these fells have. I can recommend trying the Montecristos agian, but go with the plai jane ones that come in the yellow box. My preference is the #1's, but if you prefer a torp, try the #2. ANYTHING by Arturo Fuente I've tried is great! Ashtons, and Cuesta Reys are also made by AF I'm told, and are right up there. If you get the oportunity to try some ISOM's I'll tell you, I always thought they were vastly overrated until I tried the right ones. I had tried the small less expensive Macanudos from the duty-free store in the Mexico City airport, and they were way too strong for my taste. But the first ontecristo I got a #1 I believe made me reexamine my opinion of ISOM's prime export. I like Jose La Piedras, Montecristos, H.Upmanns, and Quintaros among that lot. As to the cutting debate, like you've been told, punches are the way to go, unless you're smoking torpedos, in which case the guilotine is the way to go. Of course these are just my opinions, and they're perfectly true 🙂

Wecome to the Brotherhood, send your addy to doittome1959(at)aol(dot)com, and I'll send a little something you can't get locally.

Thank you all for the wonderful replies 🙂

Excal1, I will definitely try some Excaliburs after such an endorsement.

Equake, I have a Toraño Exodus 1959 resting waiting for a nice enough day to enjoy it. It is a thing of beauty to look at, it just sits in the humi singing "come and smoke me, come and smoke me".

CWFoster, wow what a stunning offer, will send you my address. Thanks very much 🙂

And I got to thinking about the Don Manuels, just because I don't like 'em don't make 'em bad. I think it might be a flavor with some of the light natural wrappers that I don't care for as I have had some others that tasted about the same and I didn't like them either. So if anyone wants them just send me your address and I'll get them on their way.

zed *at* zedlin !dot! net

Zed.

Fudge, I'm on duty to0day, and will be busy for a few days, but about the second, I'll get your surprise off to you.

Wow what a surprise, I never expected that many fine cigars. Some I have no idea about so its given me something to read up on 🙂

That CAO looks fantastic too, what a surprise when I saw that green and yellow label in there. I am in awe of your generosity. What a way to start off a newbie with a selection like that.

Thanks very much Clive 🙂

Zed

You don't hear too much about them, but I like Henry Clay H2000, and Licenciados for mild cigars.

And thank YOU! the Lord Hostios ARE very good! and I am eagerly waiting to try the others!

Licendiandos and Macanudos are the best of the mild cigars! Also, the Joya de Nicaragua (LMAO) is one you might try!

Charlie

PS Slim, how is a dirty ashtry to lick? Often wondered!

I have to agree with Secret_agent_man. Those Indian Tabac limited reserves are well made, mild and you can get 10 sticks for about 10 bucks most of the time right here on good ol' cigarbid.com. Shhhh.....

Por Larrañaga Cigars put out by Menendez Y Garcia are an excellent line of smooth cigars...

hey, fudge!

now that you've had a few more 'gars and didn't die from the mediums *grin* you might want to bump it up a notch. i second the vote for trying a montecristo again. my wife got a small sampler for me for the holidays that had a monte tubo in there, and it was a FIIIIIINE delicious smoke. one of the best i've had so far.

i also can't say enough about helix and fonseca -- both have that mild, creamy quality to them but also have a fair amount of spice that's not at all overwhelming.

hey, if you don't have one already, email me to let me know, and i'll send you a guillotine cutter to try.

thanks for recommending this site, bud!

-antonio