I smoked commercial cigarettes until they raised the price to $1 per pack. Then I started rolling my own smokes.
From there I experimented with many different types of tobacco and really 'got into smoking'...
The best tobacco I found was the organic stuff. Tobacco, sans pesticides & additives is a truly amazing smoke.
From there, I began adding dried peppermint and a small amount of ground clove, in with the tobacco. Those cigs were an absolute joy to smoke. They smelled so good that people who were anti-smoking would ask me to smoke in their house, like I was burning incense for them.
I moved to Mexico in February of 2015. I brought 10 pounds of tobacco, 5 pounds of peppermint and a couple pounds of clove.
I figured that would last me long enough to find some decent tobacco down here, to continue rolling my own smokes.
I was wrong. And now I am glad for it. I tried smoking some commercial cigs again, but they were absolute shit.
Then one day someone recommended that I try smoking cigars...
Wow, is all I can say. Because I was so happy with my own RYO's, that I had never really considered them.
So, I went to the Vallarta Cigar Factory, here in Puerto Vallarta (my forever home) and learned all about cigars, and boy-howdy, am I glad I did!
From there, I found a man who rolls cigars for a living at the resorts here in town. He is now my cigar dude.
I buy 60 at a time from him for 2000 pesos, or in usd, about a hundred bucks. I don't care about the cost. Smoking these cigars that are made from Vera Cruz tobacco (some of the finest tobacco on earth, btw!) is like heaven...
Talk about long, luxurious smokes! And the thinking time? Instead of ten minute interludes, smoking one of these can last for 2 or more hours...
I highly recommend to anyone that understands the awesomeness of smoking tobacco, to give good cigars a try... You will be pleasantly surprised. Just don't inhale! Let the smoke roll around in your mouth and after you've done that for a bit, let it move up into your sinuses and let it blow out your nostrils. It's freakin amazin! :)
Thank you for your insights of being a dedicated tobacconist, HoneyBee... You inspired me to write the longest reply I've ever written here on Steemit... :D
Much Love,
QuietBear