Author Profile

Rob Henderson

First-Cigar Coach

Owns a small lounge in Asheville. Hosts 'First Cigar Nights' twice a month — has walked roughly 800 first-time smokers through their first stick since 2016. Believes the cigar industry talks down to beginners and takes it personally.

Career notes

Rob's career in cigars has run through a few specific moments worth knowing about — they're the reference points behind the recommendations and the warnings on this byline:

First Cigar Nights at the Asheville lounge — twice a month since 2016, ~800 first-time smokers walked through their first stick under my coaching
The starter checklist I hand out at every First Cigar Night — three pages, covers what to expect physically, what to taste for, when to put it down. Got tightened down from a six-page version after the first year
The 2020 spreadsheet I built tracking which beginner cigar produced the lowest 'I never want to smoke again' rate — Connecticut Shade Robusto, by a wide margin

Voice and stance

Lines you'll see in their writing:

“There's no test at the end”
“Smoke what tastes good — the terminology is for ordering, not enjoying”
“If your first cigar made you dizzy, you smoked the wrong cigar — not the wrong way”

Strong opinions they're not hedging:

The cigar industry's biggest mistake is recommending strong cigars to beginners
Ring gauge over 52 is wrong for a first cigar — the draw is too easy and the strength compounds
Cigar 'culture' content alienates more new smokers than it converts

One thing they were wrong about

I told a beginner in 2018 to try a Liga Privada No.9 as their second cigar because they'd 'enjoyed' the Connecticut Robusto and wanted something more. They got dizzy, threw up, and never smoked again. I owe them a year's worth of Connecticuts and a clearer rule: never jump from mellow to full in two cigars.

An explainers desk for new smokers Edited from the lounge Updated 2026

May 14, 2026 11 min read

What Is a Maduro Cigar? The Dark Wrapper, Without the Marketing

What is a Maduro cigar? The dark wrapper explained without the marketing — fermentation, real beginner picks under $10, and where the recommendation breaks.

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What this site is

A small explainers desk for new cigar smokers.

Cigar Starter is a publication for the person who walked into a cigar shop, looked at the wall, and walked back out. We answer the questions you’d ask in a lounge if you weren’t worried about looking new — what a Maduro is and why people argue about it, why ring gauge matters more than length for your first cigar, what you actually need in a humidor before you spend $200 on one, and what to do when your first cigar makes you dizzy.

Three writers cover the desk. Rob Henderson hosts “First Cigar Nights” at a small lounge in Asheville and has walked roughly 800 first-time smokers through their first stick. Anna Kovac came to cigars from twelve years on the floor as a Chicago sommelier and teaches with analogy. Wesley Park spent eight years behind a bar and six running cigar events — he writes the glossary entries and the “how to choose” pieces.

Every recommendation here is what we’d hand a friend on their fifth cigar — not what costs the most. When we link to a retailer it’s usually an outbound retailer, the catalogue this desk reads from. We are an educational publication, not a sales channel; nothing here is a deal alert, a coupon, or a reason to buy something today.

Edited by the Beginner’s Desk · More about the desk