Cigars 101 – It’s Personal
I have always been of the opinion that you shouldn’t trust anyone who doesn’t have at least one known vice, be it swearing, drinking, smoking, or whatever. If they appear to be overly virtuous, then they are probably hiding something much more malicious. I remember one fellow from Toledo who went to great lengths to project a Lilly-white image. He regularly attended church, could quote chapter and verse from the Bible, and condemned anyone for any form of indiscretion. You would have believed such a person would be trustworthy, honest and forthright. Frankly, I found him to be one of the most ruthless and unscrupulous businessmen I ever had the displeasure to meet, not to mention an extreme bore. I have challenged this rule about vice over the years and found it to hold true time and again.
As for me, my passion has always been cigars, something I learned to smoke when I was thirteen years old behind my friend’s house in Chicago (a White Owl Classic if memory serves me correctly). I am not advocating smoking or trying to encourage others to imbibe, just to describe someone’s choice in life. I do not promote or advocate smoking cigars, but I have found it to be a small personal pleasure. I guess I am at the stage where I am no longer impressed by mansions, fast sports cars, boats, or any other “boys toys” to find happiness. To me it’s the little things that makes life pleasurable, such as a fine woman, good company and conversation, perhaps a drink, and a really good cigar.
I never acquired a taste for cigarettes or chewing tobacco and found them to be simply a waste of time (and money), but that’s me. Occasionally I’ll pick up a pipe, but frankly, I get more enjoyment out of a cigar. In addition to recreation, I enjoy smoking a cigar while I’m writing as it allows me to pause and concentrate on the subject at hand. It also helps me pass the time when performing the tedium of mowing my lawn.
Cigars come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, colors and tastes and one of the biggest misconceptions I would like to clear up is there is no such thing as a bad one, unless of course it has dried out, been soiled, or somehow been damaged. Actually, it’s a matter of matching the right person to the right cigar. There are some cigars I simply wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole, such as a green-leafed natural, something soaked in liquor, or twisted to look like a rope. I have enjoyed tobacco from Cuba, the Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, the Philippines, and many other locations. My tastes have evolved over the years whereby I prefer a large cigar with a generous ring size and wrapped in a dark Maduro leaf. But again, that’s me. Cigars are a personal thing. What one smoker may enjoy, another may despise. That’s why it is a matter of trying different cigars until you find what you like. Novice cigar aficionados should seek the expertise of a mentor to provide the proper tutelage. The worst thing you can do is try to smoke a type of cigar to impress someone else, not yourself. Further, a cigar should not be forced on you as it is a conscious decision you must personally make.
I cannot possibly teach you everything you need to know about selecting a cigar herein, there are simply too many variables involved, everything from its origin and manufacturer, to the wrapper, the filler, or even how it should be cut and lit. Outsiders may be surprised to learn the best cigar wrappers do not come from the Caribbean, but rather Connecticut, right here in the good old U.S.A. There is evidently something in the Connecticut soil conducive for growing the right leaves for wrapping a cigar. As Stengel would have said, “Who da thunk it.”
I was always envious of Winston Churchill, the famous Prime Minister of England, who was an iconic figure for the cigar. I have read books on Churchill and had the pleasure of visiting his Chartwell home in England. Interestingly, when Churchill was alive there was always at least 10,000 cigars in his home. It seems he received truckloads of them from various heads of state, grateful constituents, and various manufacturers who hoped he would endorse their product. Imagine what a learning experience it would have been to sample the various cigars under his roof.
Yes, I have had my fair share of detractors over the years condemn me for my passion, and I make an effort not to let it interfere with others, but the taunting by the anti-smoking establishment gets rather tiresome. They just do not understand the pleasure of a good cigar. A few years ago when I was still coaching and umpiring in Little League, I went down to the local ball fields one night to see a friend’s son play. I was comfortably sitting away from others in the outfield and had just lit a cigar when another coach spotted me and, lacking an umpire for his game, begged me to call the game for him. I reluctantly accepted and entered the field with my cigar in tow. Some of the parents jeered me for the cigar but I assured them not to worry and I put it out and stuck it in the backstop fence so I could smoke it later. The game went on for several innings. When it was over, I returned to retrieve the cigar and found it had fallen out of the fence and on to the red clay of the field, much to the amusement of the parents who chided me earlier. Unfazed, I simply rubbed the red clay off and re-lit it, much to the amazement of the parents. “Sorry,” I said, “but there is nothing like a good cigar.”
It’s personal.
P.S. – The term “Stogie” comes from Conestoga, a village of southeast Pennsylvania which, in its heyday, manufactured cigars.
Keep the Faith!
Tim Bryce is a writer and management consultant located in Palm Harbor, Florida.
He can be contacted at: timb001@phmainstreet.com
Copyright
History of Cigars
Ah, the fine premium cigar. There truly is nothing to compare to the experience of a fine cigar, a glass of really good cognac, and an evening in the shade. It is a peaceful experience to say the least.
However, have you ever looked at your high-profile smoke and wondered what the events were that led to the making of it? Most true cigar aficionados have at one point or another.
The chain of events that led to the production of the cigar that you now hold in your hand is a long one, spanning back over 500 years. It all began when a brave explorer by the name of Christopher Columbus decided to throw caution to the wind and risk it all to prove that there was more to the world than everyone knew at the time. In 1492, he found success, along with a little something in the new world called tobacco.
Ironically, Luis De Torres of a Spanish Envoy to America decided to take some back to his home for personal use. After spotted lighting it, he was arrested for witchcraft and sentenced to a decade in prison.
The presence of tobacco popped up again as Cortez stumbled upon a tribe of Aztec natives that are smoking tobacco. Through Cortez, the tobacco makes its way throughout Spain. From there, the pipe-smoked substance began to grow in fame and use. By the mid 1500’s, tobacco had made its’ way all the way to France where the first seeds were planted and cultivated by a monk by the name of Andre Thevet.
From there, tobacco made its’ way to the distant lands of Portugal, Russia, Turkey, and Italy. The Portuguese, via a trade route, introduce it to the Japanese. Onward it spreads to Morocco, Egypt, and even to the Philippines. Finally, in the early 1600’s, it makes a full historical circle as documents reveal that the husband of Pocahontas, John Rolfe, brings tobacco to the state of Virginia.
By the early 1600’s, Cuba has built a solid name for fine tobacco growth and becomes the major supplier for the majority of the known world.
In the mid 1700’s, the infamous Catherine the great creates the cigar band as a concept. It seems that Catherine would smoke cigars so often that her fingers would take on a brownish colored stain. Therefore, to avoid this, she had a band designed so she could hold her cigars without the irritating stain.
From there, it is only a matter of time until the major brands began to establish themselves. , H. Upmann, , El Rey del Mundo, Sancho Pancza, Romeo y Julieta, Hoyo de Monterrey, Montecristo and the rest of the premium cigars that you and I enjoy today become very notable over the next century.
That brings us to the here and now. Today, we can sit back and enjoy our fine cigars knowing that they have a history that dates all the way back to Christopher Columbus. So when you enjoy that next high-profile smoke, blow a plume and say, “Here’s to you Chris!”.
Denis is the author and webmaster for CigarInspector.com, your source for and .
The Book Of Est.
Werner Erhards Est Training Was Unlike Anything Experienced Before. Luke Rhineharts Written Account Of This Controversial Self-help Movement Has Been One Of The Most Influential Books Of Todays Most Prominent Self-help & Personal Development Teachers.
The Book Of Est.
Humidors Maintain Humidity for Cigars
Are you an avid cigar smoker? If your answer is yes, then you should various cigar accessories such as ashtrays, humidors, cutters, lighters, cases and tubes. A humidor is defined as any kind of box or room with stable humidity and temperature employed to store cigars, cigarettes or pipe tobacco. Humidors are available in different sizes to suite everyone’s demand. For example, small wooden or acrylic glass humidor boxes are used among smokers, while walk-in humidors are used by cigar shops. All humidors employ hygrometers that control humidity levels.
Classification of humidors
1. Table humidor
A table humidor is usually kept in a static place. In fact, it can hold usually 300 to a few thousand cigars at a time. Available in various sizes and shapes, table humidors are made of marble, leather and wood. Some of the renowned features of table humidors include:
• Obtainable in modern and traditional styles
• Capacity to keep humidors from 500, 1000 to1500 cigars
• Available with lock facility
• Specifically crafted to maintain perfect interior humidity and temperature
• Backed by 100 percent satisfaction guarantee
2. Room humidor
Room humidors are very common in cigar bars or stores. Keeping in mind original tastes of cigars, one room is altered to a humidor where all the cigars are stored at temperature and humidity required by cigars.
3. Travel humidor
Travel humidor is a portable humidor that is used for carrying cigars for an event or party. The humidor can carry 10 to 40 cigars at a time.
4. Personal humidor
Like travel humidors, personal humidors can be used for specific events and parties. Containing up to 75 or more cigars at a time, personal humidor is an ideal option for offering sought after temperature and humidity for cigars.
Humidor brands
There are a number of humidor brands available in the market. Some of the popular humidor brands include Adorini, Andre Garcia, Alfred Dunhill, Gerber Humidor, Bellitica, Elie Bleu, Griffin’s, Manning, Zino Davidoff, Michel Perrenoud and Gerl.
How to humidors?
One can humidors from online as well as off line market, but online market is considered best as there are a number of stores available to offers cigars and their accessories, like humidors, at rock bottom prices.
GothamCigars.com is the best place to shop online. We offer a wide variety of quality to from at discount prices.
Choosing the perfect cigars with your liquor
Since a very long time cigars and humidors have been looked upon as luxury items and certainly made for people who love and live life king size. A number of pictures of some great men drawing a expensive cigars and holding a nice glass of aged wine and brandy have always been documented since a very long time in a number of movies, documentaries or even biographies. So you certainly need to follow little hind in case you want to enjoy a nice cigar with an aged wine or brandy at any special occasion or even after your dinner.
You have to keep in mind that a number of and cigars brands have always been mated with some of the most expensive brands of liquor. Some of the most popular liquor types branded with cigars may include whiskey, rum and also brandy. There are people who like having cigars with a glass of red wine usually after having their dinner. A number of people have also been debating since a long time that good and expensive cigars should always be matched with potential drink that in fact has a nice touch of sweetness.
There are a number of smokers who have managed to create some of the most popular unions and for ages this process of match making has been in different traditions and cultures. A nice cigars from your favorite humidors certainly may also go very well with a mug of beer and it may always increment the fun of having draught in certain special occasions just like most of the people from rural areas in western culture have been doing for ages.
A trucker would usually prefer smoking a nice branded cigar when having a mug of draught and playing pool with his friends in a motel down town. There certainly is no other way better than trying to enjoy a nice pair of cigars from your humidors along with a mug of draught beer and cheer your favorite team playing base ball. Most of the times it certainly does sound that both have been mated for each other and so the taste matches perfectly as they simply tend to blend very well along with each other.
You certainly have to keep in mind that much of the pairing and mating is certainly based on all your personal expertise and so you don’t have to depend on any books or articles to get that perfect taste from your humidors cigars.
B K Tooper is an expertise in matching different blends of cigars and liquor. He has a number of articles and reviews to his credit. You can read all his reviews at