Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar

Posted by Doodface

Thursday, September 11, 2008

I love cigars. It's a tough hobby to explain, but once you understand it, it's great. It's something that spans incomes and social status. You can be a multi-billionaire smoking aged cuban Montecristos from the 80's, or you can be an iron worker smoking a bundle smoke from Cigars International after work. Either way - you are really going to enjoy that time that you are smoking that cigar.

So why do I like them so much? Well it started for me as just something to try. I had no "need" for them, but I figured I would try them. I think E and Arbitrage talking about them actually convinced me to try them. At first, they all taste like burning leaves. So I started with mild cigars - Ashton Classic, Romeo & Julieta, h upmann. In those first few cigars, it was purely about the experience. I would sit outside in beautiful weather, and just spend an hour smoking, reading, and just relaxing. Then one day, I smoked a Montecristo classic. This is when I "got it". I tasted flavors for the first time - slight hints of teas, florals, woodsy flavors, and even a slight lemon flavor. From this point on, I was hooked. I had to try new cigars, and find new flavors. The first time I smoked a Padron 1926, and tasted black cherry was an awesome experience.

Shortly after, E had a party with some of the finest beers you can buy (Youngs double chocolate stout, Samuel Smiths Oatmeal Stout, Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, Old Peculiar, to name a few), and cigars. E and I ended up sitting on his back porch for hours smoking cigars, drinking beer, and having intellectual conversation. This was another aspect of cigars that I found that I loved. You have a new connection with other cigar smokers. You immediately have something in common, and something to create new conversations.

I am an ex-cigarette smoker. I quit on April 1st, 2007. As anyone who smokes or has quit smoking knows, drinking and smoking go hand in hand. Before finding cigars, that was the greatest point of temptation. I would go to a bar, and as soon as I took my first sip of beer, I craved a cigarette. Now with cigars, I never crave them. Also, there is no physical addiction to cigars when smoked in moderation. I can go for weeks without one, and never have a craving. You DO get some nicotine from cigars, but unless you are smoking multiple cigars a day, your body clears it out quickly enough that you do not become dependant on it.

So then there is the collecting aspect of it. There are thousands of brands, sizes, styles, and tobaccos. Each person develops their own tastes and preferences. Unfortunately, the best ones usually are the most expensive. Someone who is a wine connoisseur can understand this. So to collect them, you need a special place to store them - just like wine. So cigars are stored in humidors that should be kept at a humidity level of 65%-70%, and a temperature of 63-72 degrees. So after you get the humidor, it becomes a challenge to start filling it up. Soon, this turns into a problem of not having enough room for cigars (until you buy a new humidor). Also like fine wines, most cigars get better with age. I am currently aging Opus Xs, Padron Anniversaries, Blackstone pre-embargo cubans, Montecristo Cubans, as well as many "less impressive" sticks.

Luckily, every friend that I have tried to get into cigars has joined me. E hadn't smoked in years, but now regularly lights up. he also says that a cigar during writing helps his creativity and flow of the posts. Arbitrage gave me my first humidor, and also is a regular smoker now. Probably 50% of our conversation is cigar-related. Some of my current favorite moments involve sitting on my friend's front porch, talking, and smoking cigars. A session of "Front porch time" as we call it, on a tuesday night can make the week just so much easier to get through.

The relaxation aspect of cigars is nearly indescribable. It sounds stupid, I know. But it has been compared to meditation in it's effect on people. The selecting, inspecting, cutting, lighting and smoking of a cigar removes everything else from your mind. You are focused on something as trivial as rolled-up tobacco. After a good cigar (Which can take anywhere from an hour to 2 hours to smoke), I feel like my mind is refreshed, and the stress of the day has been wiped away. The feeling to me is somewhat like how you feel after a full body massage.

So of course it's not all good, right?

No, it's still tobacco, so there are risks involved. However, cigars are not meant to be inhaled like cigarettes. You simply draw the smoke in to your mouth, "taste" it, and blow it out. There is a cancer risk, but it is very rare if done correctly. For people that smoke 7 or less cigars per week, and do not inhale, there is almost no increased risk of cancer over non-smokers. The people that end up with cancerous mouth sores are the ones that smoke many per day. Sigmund Freud smoked an average of 20 cigars PER DAY. It finally caught up with him at age 83 - 67 YEARS after he started smoking. I normally average about 3-4 per WEEK.

Cigars create a ton of smoke, and they don't smell great to non-smokers. If you are going to smoke cigars, you have to be courteous about it. If you are in a smoky bar - light up, and enjoy. If you are on a restaurant patio that allows smoking, but people are eating all around you, hold off until people are not eating, and when you DO light up, try to make it so that your smoke isn't blowing right at people. If you think that you might be bugging other people, you probably are - and you probably arent going to enjoy that cigar.

If you are interested in trying cigars, give them a shot.. Start with something mild, and work your way up. It really is a great hobby. It is relaxing as hell, you will meet some great people. Don't be intimidated to walk in to a shop and ask for advice. They will be happy to introduce someone to our beloved hobby.