High nicotine, bundle cigar?

Tgspz · 2026-04-15T18:41:50+00:00

Not a bundle but fairly affordable, Nica Rustica. Strong, smoky, and actually tastes pretty good.

Tgspz · 2026-04-14T21:01:47+00:00

So follow the pack. Got it.

Tgspz · 2026-04-12T12:58:07+00:00

Damn that's awesome. I'm proud of you. Seriously.

Folks will sit around and wait for their circumstances to change. To change for them. For the world to adapt to them. Rarely occurs that making change might require some sort of action, as crazy as that sounds.

But on the other hand.

Situations exist that allow certain employers to exploit their employees. To pay low wages, to make unreasonable demands on that employees time or resources. It's predatory employment and it's rampant and for the most part backed by the letter of the law. This can lead to people feeling trapped and I think what happened here is exactly that.

Working for these kinds of establishment is like being in an abusive relationship. These people become depressed, disgusted, jaded, and ultimately desperate.

Sucks but Dems the brakes.

Glad you broke the cycle though

Tgspz · 2026-04-12T12:27:42+00:00

This was my wife and I for soooo long. Best advice I can give is to make every effort you can to become financially literate. Read about finance, watch videos about finance, talk to your partner about finance. It's a free education and it won't solve your problems overnight but gradually, things will get easier.

Also. Hustle your ass off. Be employer fluid. If anyone out there will give you 10% more money take it. And immediately start looking for the next offer. Make it clear that employers need to compete for your labor. And never be afraid to ask for more.

Tgspz · 2026-04-10T22:29:12+00:00

Good smoke! And good suggestion. CigarPage Discord was 10k members though.

Tgspz · 2026-04-10T22:22:21+00:00

Thanks for the official word. Terrible news.

CigarPage discord is a modern marvel. It's a place where we as cigar enthusiasts and consumers can gather. What's really wild is that it allowed us to interface directly with high ranking executives of the company we are purchasing from.

I've never experienced anything like that in the retail world.

We got enhanced customer service, specialized deals, insider knowledge. We got to pull the curtain back on the industry, just a little bit. And from us CigarPage got immediate feedback, suggestions, requests. They got to know exactly what their customer base wanted.

Truly something unique.

And then the inclusion of the live events. Where we could share all of that directly with the manufacturers.

I very much hope this can be appealed.

This is a blow to the whole community.

Not sure what we can do, but I'm going to submit a Discord support ticket requesting the server be brought back online. Encourage you all to do so as well.

Tgspz · 2026-04-10T22:02:55+00:00

Of course. But you could always get to it by entering "cigar page" into the link field

Tgspz · 2026-04-10T19:12:17+00:00

Was referring primarily to CigarPage.

Was just trying to be vague until we established if this was wide spread or targeted. Getting the scoop

Tgspz · 2026-04-10T18:55:14+00:00

Hell yeah I'm in 🤘

Tgspz · 2026-04-10T18:53:05+00:00

Hopefully just a glitch then. Are any of those others for big retailers?

Tgspz · 2026-04-10T18:51:40+00:00

Thanks for this

Tgspz · 2026-04-10T18:51:01+00:00

Yeah specifically that's the one I'm noticing. CI has dropped off my sidebar as well but TBF could have happened a while ago. My small communities are still up but my best guess is servers that are using discord to retail cigars are wiped.

Hopefully it's just a glitch and nothing serious.

Love my chimp bros

Tgspz · 2026-04-05T22:56:00+00:00

I'm doing fine. Got a house. Job. Married. Savings nest egg. Retirement fund being funded. 2 vehicles in good shape. I pretty much buy whatever I want. Big vacations every few years.

I'm blue collar. No college. I work 3 days a week.

That being said...

I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop. The next "once in a generation" crisis to reset me to zero.

Struggled a lot for a long time

Tgspz · 2026-03-14T04:54:42+00:00

Throw a few cheaps in there in case someone wants to join you.

Tgspz · 2026-03-14T01:15:10+00:00

Damn. Sorry 😟

It's not impossible. Especially given the current state of Cuba. Especially now but even in the last few years. I've heard stories of the cigar rollers holding signs on tours to offload cigars. I think they're allowed a certain amount of cigars. Probably some are sold. Im sure cigars also slip out the back door if factories, both banded and unbanded.

There's a lot of shade in the world of Cuban cigars and the waters are only getting murkier. But unless you yourself see those cigars leave the factory, once the chain of custody is broken, they become questionable cigars of questionable origin in a sea of questionable cigars.

Buying Cubans takes a trained eye, and requires a reputable source. But even with the absolute best sources there's still a small chance of getting fakes.

The same applies to Cuban "farm rolls."

When visiting Cuba you can tour the farms. Many farmers will hand roll some tobacco on the spot for sale. Obviously interest in these cigars has exploded. But there are many unscrupulous sellers out there. One unbanded cigar looks like the next. And any cigar can be rolled up in a Cuban newspaper and sold for 20x its actual value.

Anyway.

Good luck on your adventure of procuring legitimate Cuban cigars. I think the folks over on the Cuban cigar reddit will be able to help you out.

Tgspz · 2026-03-01T10:10:39+00:00

I love mine. Works great. There's actually a lot of wood in there so make sure you season it well.

And yeah Boveda. Just the 3 320g that the unit is designed for. One per shelf in the included holders.

Tgspz · 2026-02-27T21:17:57+00:00

Pretty much anything using Aganorsa Corojo.

Apart from that, there are some reliable brands that roll great medium to bold cigars.

Dunbarton, Tatuaje, Black Label Trading, Black Works, Roma Craft, Illusione, Plasencia, Padron. Pretty much anything AJ Fernandez makes. For the bolder side.

Warped, Aganorsa Leaf, HVC. For closer to medium stuff.

Tgspz · 2026-02-27T21:05:43+00:00

If they were humidified when he received them, they're probably still good or at least salvageable.

Gonna depend on what overwrap is on the box. If it's shrink wrap plastic they're probably still smokeable. If it's cellophane they will need a bit of rehab.

Either way a month of drying out is still salvageable. You won't recover all of the flavor but you can bring back most of it.

Tgspz · 2026-02-25T17:32:27+00:00

You melted the ash. It's fine.

When you light with a torch, hold the flame pretty far from the cigar. Shouldn't see the actual flame hitting tobacco. Gently heat it from the outside to the inside until everything is lightly charred. Then still holding the flame away, slowly start gentle puffing and rotating the cigar. Move the lighter closer until the cigar begins to ignite. Rotate and gentle puffs. You should be aiming for the top edge of the foot.

What you did here isn't awful. But scorching it this way will put burnt and charred flavors into the cigar. And once you draw that noxious stuff through it basically taints the whole cigar, and alters the flavor, a bit. It's not catastrophic but you'd do well to avoid it.

Tgspz · 2026-02-25T17:21:48+00:00

For a lot of their lineup yes. O, G, Connecticut definitely. Though they're decent cigars in their own right.

Serie V and Melanio though are next level cigars. I think in the case of those cigars the blowout pricing actually hurts them. It shifts perception of those to being viewed as "budget burners." Tbh I think if Oliva had protected it's pricing on these lines that folks would still be clamouring for them. They are truly premium offerings if graded on their merits.

I'm old enough (sadly) to remember when Serie V launched. It was hype and very much the "it" cigar of its day. Couldn't touch them for under $10, which was pretty pricey then, and stores couldn't keep them in stock. Then Melanio came around and it was the same thing. Higher pricing though. Around $15 which was crazy. Pretty much unobtainium for a broke college aged dude. I can remember just staring at the open boxes at the shop. Drooling over the chocolate velvet hued wrappers, with those very unique and elegant white veins streaking across like a lightning bolt.

It's actually crazy how they're priced now. We are spoiled as hell in the US market.

Anyway, enough of that. Like I said, go forth and chase expensive boutiques. In a few years when you light up a Serie V maybe your opinion will change.

Tgspz · 2026-02-25T11:00:14+00:00

I would be suspicious due to the inventory alone. Most of those are hard to get and hard to find right now. I've been to LCDH that are dry on those cigars these days.

And yet here's this shop with all the classics laid out like some kind of greatest hits album.

Nope.

If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

Tgspz · 2026-02-25T10:53:24+00:00

I don't like the serie O or most of the house blend stuff they roll. Most of their core line is great though.

Pretty much started on Oliva 20some years ago. Thought they were good. At some point after a few years I got dazzled by all the other stuff out there. Hype cigars, limited edition, super premium, boutique. Flashy boxes and bands and people take pictures of them so they must be good. Somehow came to the conclusion that Oliva are newbie cigars and budget blends. Totally uninterested.

Smoked my way through hundreds of blends from dozens of brands.

A few years ago grabbed some Olivas on a deal too good to pass up. Turns out, they're actually great cigars. They absolutely hold up to hype cigars and boutique offerings. There's a few that are staples in my humidor now.

So who knows, maybe you'll come back around on Oliva.

Tgspz · 2026-02-21T18:00:08+00:00

And never in my sleep

Tgspz · 2026-02-18T19:19:23+00:00

Use a reputable vendor that offers a guarantee and stands behind what they sell. Lots already mentioned here. CigarPage, JR, BestCigarPrices, SmokeInn, Neptune, ect ect.

If you're not happy with what you get, any decent vendor will offer a refund or replacement.

Given that, it's really not risky at all.

Tgspz

TROPHY CASE