This final entry in our Anniversary Bash Contest comes to us from Jamie Wilson. He’s one the daily prize and now we’ll be judging the best entries for a chance to win a box of the Camacho 10th Anniversary Cigars.

I’m a newbie aficionado. My first taste of premium handmade cigars came over a couple of warm summer evenings back in Michigan last July during the wind-up to my brother’s wedding. Dinner had been served, drinks poured, and the sun had begun to set as a group of eight of us sat around a table on the patio laughing and talking. Then something peculiar happened. The women continued their conversations but the atmosphere among the guys had changed somehow. They grew quiet for a moment, slightly more serious, almost conspiratorial as if reading each other’s minds. They leaned further back into their chairs and were reaching into their pockets and pulling out lighters, cutters, and cigars. One of his friends, a former major league baseball player no less, passed me a cigar from his personal collection. I watched carefully as each of them went through a careful and deliberate ritual of cutting the head, prepping it, and patiently and methodically lighting the cigar, letting the flame dance around the end of it until the fine smell of tobacco filled the air. No one spoke for a few minutes. They just savored those first draws before picking up the conversation again, this time about the cigars they were smoking. For me, a complete outsider to this world of cigar smokers, it was a fascinating experience.

Those first experiences were enjoyable but it wasn’t until months later, during the holidays, that my interest in cigars turned into a passion. My brother gave me two cigars from his collection, an Oliva Serie G and a Monte Cristo Serie C, and the February 2007 issue of Cigar Aficionado with its list of the “25 Best Cigars of the Year.” The next day, armed with a wish list of cigars pulled from the pages of the magazine, I found a cigar shop and bought my first humidor, a cutter, a lighter, and a handful of cigars. I still had virtually no clue about cigars but I was already hooked. I scoured the Internet looking for information but what I really needed was a comprehensive introduction for newbies like me and I found it in a 345-page book with a title that would have turned me away had I not read very positive reviews about it: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cigars (Second Edition) by Tad Gage.

Normally, I wouldn’t even consider a Dummies or Idiot’s guide to anything because my impression of them has always been that they only graze the surface of the topics they cover and seem to be written for people with short attention spans. That definitely is not the case with this book. The author is an expert on the topic and his passion for cigars is evident from the very first page all the way to the last. This is a comprehensive book that turned a newbie like me into someone who not only enjoys a fine cigar but has a deep appreciation and respect for every cigar I smoke. My brother has already accused me of enjoying collecting cigars as much as I enjoy smoking them. And he’s probably right.

This book has something for everyone, whether beginner or seasoned aficionado. It is divided into 5 parts:

Part 1 is dedicated to the very basics: how to choose good cigars, where to find them, how to cut them, light them, and smoke them. It also has a section on speaking the language of cigar smokers and how to make sense of what you see including color, shape, and ring size. In a way, this section is the “Quick User Guide” of the manual and should get newbies up and smoking like the pros in little time.

Part 2 talks about what makes premium handmade cigars so great. It explains the components that make up a cigar, the regions where tobacco is grown, how cigars are created, and even addresses the truth and myths about Cuban cigars.

Part 3 is all about the long history of cigars and how the cigar tobacco is grown. For me, this was one of the most interesting parts of the book. I had no idea just how rich the history of cigars is and just how much work and dedication goes into ensuring that cigars are made from only the absolute best tobacco leaf. The painstaking process of planting, cultivating, harvesting, fermenting, and aging tobacco is what really gives me such a deep respect and appreciation for what is truly an amazing art form. It is why, as my brother suggested, that I take such pleasure in collecting cigars as much as I enjoy smoking them. These chapters alone, in my opinion, are well worth the cost of the book.

Part 4 covers humidors and how to care for your cigars. It also talks about alternative smokes, cigar collectibles, and even how to rate your cigars. The author gives a detailed checklist of qualities to look for in a cigar and conveniently provides a rating sheet that can be freely photocopied, filled out, and filed for future reference when you want to remember how you liked (or disliked) a particular cigar you smoked in the past.

Part 5 wraps up the book nicely with suggestions and tips on cigar etiquette, dealing with cigar mishaps (e.g. split wrappers), how to properly finish off a cigar, smoking at home, and tips for food, drinks, and parties to go along with the cigars.

I’m almost reluctant to say it, given my love of cigars, but “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cigars” is undoubtedly one of the very best cigar-related purchases I’ve made in my short time as a cigar smoker. Tad Gage crammed years of his personal knowledge and experience into a relatively short book given the amount of information in it and kept the book interesting enough that I couldn’t put it down. I highly recommend it to anyone just now getting into cigars (I wish I had read it before buying my first humidor and those full-bodied smokes on my first visit to the cigar shop) as well as seasoned smokers who’d like to round out their knowledge of this time-honored tradition.

Sponsored By: Cigarmony.com Get 5% Off Your Order By Using The Promo Code “CJ2010″

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Typically I enjoy reading while I enjoy a cigar. My latest book is the 10th installment in the Repairman Jack Series. If love the Horror or Mystery genre I think you’d really enjoy these books.

Sponsored By: Cigarmony.com Get 5% Off Your Order By Using The Promo Code “CJ2010″

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My wife dropped this book, The Dangerous Book for Boys, in my lap after a trip to the bookstore yesterday. Simply put this book rocks and I wish I’d had it when I was a kid. It has everything from famous battles to building a tree house, to courting girls! Even if you don’t have any boys still get this book. In fact I think I know what my brother and a few other friends will be getting for Christmas this year.

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