Your first month of cigar collecting

Most new cigar collectors make the same three mistakes. Here's how to avoid them and actually enjoy the hobby from the first smoke.

By Colin B. · Published June 9, 2026

There’s a version of getting into cigars that involves doing a lot of research, buying an expensive humidor, filling it with 50 cigars before you know what you like, and then discovering that half of them weren’t to your taste. The other version takes about three weeks longer and costs half as much.

This is the second version.

Week one: set up before you smoke

The single most important thing you can do in your first week is order the humidor before you order any cigars. Not because cigars can’t wait a few days, but because the humidor needs two weeks to season before you load it.

Seasoning means allowing the Spanish cedar interior to absorb moisture and reach equilibrium before any tobacco touches it. An unseasonated cedar interior is a humidity sponge. Load cigars into it prematurely and the cedar will pull moisture out of your tobacco, drying out cigars that cost you $8-15 each.

The process is simple:

• Wipe the cedar interior with a clean cloth dampened with distilled water (tap water introduces minerals and bacteria)
• Drop in two or three Boveda 65% packs
• Close the lid and leave it for 14 days
• Check the hygrometer on day 14; it should read 65-68%

If the humidor reads below 60% after two weeks, the seal is poor. Return it and try a different model.

Week two: buy your first cigars

With the humidor seasoning, you have two weeks to research cigars. The most useful move is ordering a sampler, not a box.

A box of 25 identical cigars is a commitment. You don’t yet know which wrapper styles (Connecticut for mild, Maduro for full) you prefer, which countries’ tobacco profiles appeal to you (Nicaraguan, Dominican, Honduran), or what ring gauge feels comfortable in your hand. A 5-10 cigar sampler across different origins and strengths tells you more than any amount of review-reading.

Good starting sampler criteria:

• Mix mild, medium, and full-bodied cigars. Start with medium-bodied. Full-bodied on day one can be overwhelming.
• Include at least one Honduran or Nicaraguan and one Dominican. They smoke differently.
• Try a Connecticut shade (light, mild) and a Natural wrapper (medium). Maduro can wait.

Brands worth trying in your first month: Arturo Fuente, Oliva, Rocky Patel, Perdomo, Padron. These are reliable, widely available, and represent the mainstream of handmade cigars well.

The tobacco itself is not on Amazon. Your options are a local walk-in tobacconist (the best experience), Famous Smoke Shop, Cigars International, or Thompson Cigar online.

Week three: your first smoke

By week three your humidor is seasoned and your cigars have been resting for a few days. Here’s how to smoke your first one well.

Cut correctly. You’re removing the small cap at the closed end (the end you put in your mouth). Cut just above the shoulder of the cap, removing only enough to open the draw. A guillotine cutter works; scissors do not. Removing too much cap causes the wrapper to unravel.

Toast, don’t just light. Hold the foot (the open end) a few centimeters above the torch flame and rotate it slowly. You’re charring the tobacco in a ring around the foot before the flame touches the center. This is “toasting” and it prevents hot spots. Only after the foot is evenly glowing do you put the cigar in your mouth and draw while rotating it over the flame.

Don’t inhale. This is not a cigarette. Cigar tobacco is not meant to be inhaled into the lungs. You draw the smoke into your mouth, let it rest on your palate for a moment, and exhale. You’ll taste the tobacco. You won’t feel anything from nicotine if you don’t inhale. (If you do inhale by accident, you’ll know it immediately.)

Smoke slowly. One draw every 45-60 seconds is about right. Smoking too fast overheats the tobacco, making it bitter. If the ash is coming too fast or the draw feels hot, put it down for a minute.

Let it go when you’re done. Cigars don’t need to be extinguished. Leave it in the ashtray and it goes out on its own in a few minutes.

Month one: building a rotation

After a few cigars you’ll start to have opinions. You’ll know whether you prefer Connecticut shade (milder, creamier) or Maduro (darker, fuller). You’ll know whether you like a short-and-wide robusto or a longer corona.

At this point, a 5-count of something you liked is a better purchase than another sampler. You’re now building a rotation, not exploring at random.

Keep notes. Seriously. The differences between cigars are subtle enough that you’ll forget what you thought of a specific stick within two weeks. A simple note (brand, name, wrapper, what you noticed) in a phone app or a cigar app like Halfwheel’s log lets you build preferences faster.

When your humidor starts looking full, that’s the right signal to upgrade, not the day you order it.

The mistakes most beginners make

Buying a box before knowing what you like. A box of 25 costs $125-300. Buy fives until you’ve smoked at least 10 different cigars.

Skipping humidor seasoning. Two weeks feels like a long time when you’re excited. Dry cigars are not fixable.

Using cheap butane. Bottom-shelf butane clogs torch jets. Xikar and Colibri make butane specifically for cigar lighters; it’s cleaner. Use it.

Smoking through bad draws. If a cigar won’t draw properly (it feels like breathing through a straw), set it down. You can try a punch cutter to open an additional hole, but a plugged cigar usually means a construction defect and there’s nothing more you can do. It happens.

Buying gear before you know whether the hobby sticks. A budget humidor and a Vertigo torch cost under $60 combined. Know you like cigars before you spend $200 on a humidor.

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Ready to set up? See our cigar collecting gear guide for the specific humidor, cutter, and lighter to buy first.