I feel a long, long story coming on,(skip to the bottom if you like, I recall some complaints from the length of my last post) inspired by this post: http://snuffhouse.org/discussion/3173/2/what-did-you-smoke/… When I began smoking about six years ago, it was exclusively Gudang Garam Professionals, a type of Indonesian clove cigarette. When I moved, I couldn’t find the blasted things anywhere, so I switched to smoking the dreaded Djarums(Black, Bali Hai, Splash, Special, Vanilla, Menthol, Light, Original…) and Zanzibar wine flavored cloves. None of those were ‘it’ so I started flitting from one type of cig to the other trying to find ‘the one’. (Sound familiar, snuffers?) I didn’t want to give up on tobacco, but I didn’t want to smoke something that wasn’t as enjoyable as I felt a ‘vice’ should be, either. After a while I just started smoking Camels(wide, frost, infused, crush, mellow, robust, no.9…)because they were readily available, as well as Marlboros(smooth, menthol, red, 27s), American Spirits, Nat Shermans, Sweet Dreams(Midnight, Cherry, Vanilla, Mint), Capri, Misty, Pall Mall, Kools, Virginia Slims, Basics… I kept smoking to feed the habit, but soon, each new pack revealed itself to be nothing more than cannon fodder. I delighted in trying new cigarettes, but I hated being continually disappointed by them. I couldn’t roll my own worth s$%@, either. I tried Neos, (teeny filterless cigar-things, smaller than cigarettes, rolled with havana leaf) liked them, but then moved and once again COULD NOT FIND THE DAMNED THINGS. Again, I was on a search, supplementing my cigarettes with the occasional cheap drugstore ‘cigar’(Philly’s, Backwoods, Miami, Al Capone, Black n Mild, Swisher). But these simply didn’t fill the need for a ‘quick smoke’, thus were unreasonable on the go, unless extinguished and relit later,(eww) and I detected a chemical-y taste in them that I didn’t care for. I had one last go at cigarette sampling, with funky asian cigarettes(Peel’s Sweet Melon, Menthol Orange, Sunny Peach, Dj MIX’s Apple Menthol, Lemon Menthol, Strawberry, Black Devil plain, Black Devil Rose, LaRose menthols) which were cute, but not the tobacco I wanted. I became fed up with the Cigarette Search. It just left me with an empty wallet, and no peace of mind to show for it. I wanted to try an ‘actual cigar’, but was timid, since I didn’t know squat about them, feared that if I asked cigar afficionados or a tobacconist about them I’d be met with disdain, and they were a bit pricey to buy and end up hating. Yet, I didn’t know where to start, either. So I just began visiting cigar shops relentlessly, whenever I found a new one, much the way I once did with headshops in my Search For Cigarettes, mostly to ‘think about it’. Every now and then tobacconists WERE rude and snobby to me(sheesh!). Eventually I went into one and just grabbed a random cigar and bought it. Thankfully, it was a mild Macanudo. Very easy on the tastebuds, instant turn on. I started buying tins of them, and Romeo y Julieta. The more I set aside time for the mild cigars, the more I noticed how yucky the burning paper tasted when I switched back to cigarettes. I could hardly taste the tobacco in them anymore. The cigars tasted good, and proved worth holding onto as a vacation, but that was an avenue of baccy I wasn’t ready for, primarily due to expense and the trouble of ‘keeping’ a cigar. Didn’t have a way to store them, didn’t like the urgency of needing to smoke them so soon after purchasing, making them an unsuitable everyday smoke. I started becoming interested in what other forms tobacco had to offer, so I then read about dip online. I asked dipping acquaintances about their relationship with it, and all I was told made me rather leery of blisters/bleeding/soreness in my mouth, and floating sawdust like bits getting stuck in my teeth. The cons seemed to outweigh the pros, as with cigarettes… A dipper on a forum I found through google mentioned that he was ‘trying to quit dip using snus’. Cue googling ‘snus’. Encountered a lot of complaints about the ‘evils’ of Camel snus, decided against trying that one and ordered a bunch of cans from online, instead. Loved them. Repeat pattern: snuser online says that he is also using ‘nasal snuff’, googled nasal snuff, had to experiment, so I bought one tin from a local shop and found it vaguely pleasing. I found snuffhouse, started reading obsessively, and placed an order with Nicotinerush… Between that first package showing up in the mail and my myriad of snus cans in the fridge, I was in oral and olfactory HEAVEN for several weeks, and accidentally FORGOT to smoke! When my snus ran out, I tried to pick cigs up again, and to my dismay, resumed the process of feeling sick and tasting only paper… Blech! (‘why on earth am I doing this to myself?!’) After a while I decided I couldn’t bring myself to do it anymore. Cigarettes were too much business and not enough pleasure, combine that with their pricetag to ecstasy ratio, and it was just silly. I had a hard time discarding them… I felt like I was betraying an old friend- but every time I lit up and tasted that first puff, I just didn’t enjoy it. You might love a girl and be tied to her psychologically, have a lot of fond memories and history, but when it comes down to it, if you can’t kiss her without deceiving yourself into it, and you start to feel sick every time you do, then it’s time to let go, back off, and perhaps just be friends. I let go. I backed off. (We’re still friends.) WHERE I AM NOW: Over time, the omission of cigarettes has bulldozed the feelings of desperation tobacco once infected me with. I have resumed the ritual of an occasional cigar(I hope to eventually sample every single one at the local shop at least once, most recently, Arturo Fuente and Hoyo de Monterrey have been pegged. If you have any strong recommendations, don’t be afraid to whisper me!) so obviously, I have not given up on smoking, I still smoke, and plan to continue… In my heart, I am, most certainly, a smoker- I will ALWAYS and forever, be a smoker… A ‘dirty, debauched, hedonistic’ smoker. An air ruiner. A secondhand smoke smog wielding ‘killer’. But I am ALSO a titillated toffeenose, a sucker for snus sachets, and not only an addict, but a bloody hobbyist! And I ADORE my hobby. I wish to *maintain* my hobby. I want to respect, care about, and learn from, my hobby. There is so much out there, it will take me years upon years to process it all, and I’m looking forward to those years, to snus, to snuff, to cigars, and soon, to pipe. Sometimes it’s difficult to manage something that is simultaneously a hobby, a passion, and an addiction… The balance, for me, lay in taking it slow, meditative: reflect, relax, and remember… If you aren’t getting along, don’t force it. WHAT I HAVE TO ASK YOU: How did you start snuffing? What is your relationship with it, how do you feel about it? Reluctant, enthusiastic, ambivalent…? Where do you plan to go with it, and where do you see yourself with regards to it, in the future? Is it a stepping stone, a final destination, a passing fancy? An obsession? Any personal stories, I encourage!
I used to buy a tin of snuff a month to get myself through high school. Funny thing is somehow I never got caught sticking powder up my nose during class. I would fake allergies as my cover. Then I switched to snuffing as my main digs to try and quit smoking in a large part because I couldn’t smoke in my apartment. Then the store that sold snuff in my area stoped selling it. So finaly I found online ordering and have been loving it so much. I really think if the store I bought my snuff at when I was younger had more varieties then dean swift I would have been a more dedicated snuffer earlier on.
Well, I don’t wanna write a long post, but I started smoking regularly in my late teens, seemed everyone did it, and even when I was in the Navy. I do recall picking up the odd can of Scotch Snuff and giving it a few snorts now and again, but that was an odd novelty and I was totally ignorant of snuff, and didn’t know anyone that used it, nasally, or orally. I did know a guy in high school that dipped, but that did not appeal to me then. I quit smoking sometime around 1999, I guess because I did want to, having attemted to quit a few times before, and also moving in with my girlfriend who had a smoke free home, and didn’t like smoking. So, I only smoked on occasions when out with the buddies drinking. Fast forward to less than a year ago, I was totally bored at my extremely boring desk job, who’s saving grace is the internet, and was thinking of getting some Skoal Bandits, just for something to do. I was searching online about them, and I must have come across snus, and the Camel Snus. So, I walked to the corner gas station and got a tin of both of the Camel Snus(Mellow&Frost). It was totally new to me, and I liked the sweet taste, but I was not used to oral nicotine at all, and they made me feel quite ill. I even cut them in halves. I continued my research and got some Swedish snus, which while some I liked OK, I was connecting with it, and was still feeling ill from them. During this time, I got my 1st proper nasal snuff, in an exchange that included snus. I kept it all in the freezer, and never touched the snuff, till one day I decided I did not like snus, and I was going to try this snuff I had. Well, I loved it. I thought it was great. It was Jaxons Cherry Menthol. I then embarked on more snuff, and ordered a few from MrSnuff. Was greatly enjoying snuff, and it’s varieties. The it seemed when the weather changed, and maybe it was menthol use overload, I got totally stopped up for a few days. I didn’t snuff for a while, as I was miserable. Then I thought I’d give snus another try. So, I made a small order. Well, the daily use of snuff must have built up my nic tolerance, as I wasn’t feeling ill anymore, though the odd(to me at the time) taste with the heavy saltiness was a challenge, but I kept on, and came to really like snus. I then, would sniff some snuff now and again. Though I still had some sinus congestion issues. Now to more present time, I snus regularly, and snuff as well, though I have become more careful in finding snuffs that don’t negatively affect me, currently I’ve been snuffing Toque Whiskey&Honey. One thing seems to lead to another, and I wanted to try dip recently. I bought a can of Copehagen Snuff, and really liked this, though the fine cut, I found to be hard to control, but I finished the can and got a can of Skoal Classic, which was very good. I am currently using a can of Grizzly Straight Long Cut, which is good too, though I think I prefer Natural flavor. So, these days, I might dip in the morning before work, and at work, I’ll use 4 portions of snus, and I keep a tin of snuff at work and sniff as desired, and in the evening I might dip a couple of times. I guess I did write a long post, but this is my tobacco story.
Currently the cigarettes are looking less and less appealing. But tobacco in general; seems that most of the members here don’t really express any type of experience (where people F#@! with you for liking tobacco). I’m not gonna start either, but somehow I can’t seem to shake the feeling that this is part of “dude and his tobacco.” So today I have a weird thing with cigarettes, familiarity with snuffs, cigars, and these grape Santa Fe’s. Ghetto, I know, but good. I guess that’s just where the journey has taken me.
I also still smoke an occasional cigar and enjoy them much more now when I don’t smoke cigarettes anymore. Most of cigars I get as gifts, always Cuban, and one make is above others in my mind: Partagas. Strong, fullsome taste and more nicotine than in chainsmoking horse! Don’t need any snus and snuff for ages after one.
I was never a dipper, or even a true smoker, having enjoyed at most only a few cigars and pipe bowls full before I stopped due to the cost, aggravation and the fact that everywhere in my life is so smoke free, and time so limited, that I truly cannot be smelling of it or taking the time to enjoy it. However, with that said, try the Por Larranagas (in the glass tubes) which have amazing fragrant aroma but very strong, full bodies flavor and the Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur, latter with and without the maduro wrappers. You need a lot of time to enjoy one. Cohibas and Romeo y Julietas also nice, the latter a little milder, but still have nice punch, great aroma. Montecristos also very good. In the past I have enjoyed a few good Cubans are good in Europe, have lots of nicotne, but workmanship except for the Cohibas is awful. Hard to get a good draw, they seem rushed versus the Dominican or Hoduran versions w/ same names. I didn’t care of the Macanudos at all. I might still find myself wanting ones here and there, but snuff pretty much does it for me now. It’s so much more subtle, easy to enjoy quickly, and after a good rinse doesn’t leave you all stinky, even if you like the South African cow dung ones (which I do).
^ Maybe you just don’t know how to smoke a real cigar after those banana republic fakes; full of air they are and so “easy to draw”. With a real cigar you have to put some effort into it and then relax. By the way, I’ve smoked hundreds of 2nd class Cubans, and they were “easier” to smoke, reason being they were not rolled properly. A REAL CIGAR is made to be smoked all the time not just for occasion. That’s the way Cubans use cigars. Of course it’s different for us, but just relax, wash your car, go for a walk, play catch or anything while smoking a cigar, that’s the Cuban way.
Allan H " or anything while smoking a cigar, that’s the Cuban way." We had a President recently who found many new uses for cigars…The infamous “Double-Dip Method”
i’d love a proper Cuban cigars, never had one, I bet it’s nice
I’ve seen president Clinton here in Dublin many times, he is the man. Just before Christmas there was a Cuban lady hand-rolling cigars for customers at Fox’s with even more sex appeal than Bill, they’d make a handsome couple though. I’ll never forget that, witnessing the sensuality and skill of a real craftswoman.