Your First Cigar

The good news about buying your first cigar is that you don't need to know anything about cigars to do it well. You need to find the right place and ask one decent question.

Go to a real shop. A local one with a good reputation, or better, one an acquaintance who actually knows cigars points you to. Skip the gas station. The person behind the counter is the whole reason you're there.

Then ask them where to start. Tell them it's your first one and you don't want anything that's going to knock you out. A good shop will hand you something mild and easygoing, and that's exactly right. Wrapper types, strengths, shapes, torpedo versus box-pressed, all of that, you'll form opinions on over time. You don't need them yet. The first one is about getting your bearings, not passing a test.

This isn't outside-looking-in advice. It's how I still do it. The cigar in the afternoon I wrote about, the owner picked for us.

Once you've got it, most of doing this well is just not making yourself sick. Three things cover it.

Don't inhale. A cigar isn't a cigarette. You draw the smoke into your mouth, taste it, and let it go. Inhaling is how you end up dizzy and a little green.

Eat something first. An empty stomach is most of the reason a first-timer feels rough halfway through.

And slow down. A puff about once a minute is plenty. Rush it and the thing burns hot and turns bitter, which is a shame when you paid for something better than that.

On what you paid: a good first cigar runs about ten to fifteen dollars in most of the country. In high-tax states like New York, expect fifteen to twenty-five for the same stick, which is the taxes talking, not the cigar. Anything in that range from a real shop is plenty for a first one. You're not trying to impress anyone, least of all yourself.

That's the whole thing. Find a good shop, ask an honest question, don't inhale, eat first, take your time. You'll know more after one cigar than any guide can tell you, this one included.

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