SEPTEMBER 1997

Nice firm construction. Full draw. Excellent woody character with rich spice, sweet nutty flavors, and a pleasant toasty finish.

Perfect construction. Ever so soft to the touch. Al dente! Silky smooth CT shade wrapper, good even burn. This cigar warms up to smooth creamy nut and herbal flavors, with sweet spices, nutmeg and cedar.

Smooth colorado wrapper. Supple to the touch. Full draw, even burn, white ash. Rich bellows of smoke deliver a core of complex earthy flavors and spice.

Assault With A Deadly Mouth

Recently we attended a beer festival in New York and set up a cigar booth so that people could see some of the cigars we had featured in the cigar club. We sold single cigars so that people could sample them and also spoke with anyone who was interested in learning more about cigars. It was a beautiful day and for New Yorkers, they were a very friendly group. Unfortunately, however, there was an incident during the day which left me absolutely dumbfounded. It fell into the "Didn’t your Mother teach you any manners?" category and was a disgusting example of what not to do when purchasing a cigar.

The incident is surely something I pray none of you have ever done before and will find as repulsive as me. A man came over and slowly looked at each cigar (we had a total of 12 different cigars for sale). When he had decided which one he was interested in he asked if he could feel it. I took it out of the humidor for him and handed it over. He slowly rolled it through his fingers and looked very closely at it. Then, much to my amazement, he ran the cigar right across his nostrils, then licked the wrapper! I stood there in disbelief hoping that he was planning on buying it. He then handed the cigar back to me and said, "I think I want something a little stronger.". There was no way I was going to keep my mouth shut and explained to him that once you stick a cigar up your nose and lick it, it’s yours. He was slightly annoyed that I was asking him to pay for something he didn’t want, but imagine how many cigars we would throw away if we let everyone do this!

It's very difficult to predict a cigar's flavor merely from sniffing the cigar prior to lighting it. However, you can often discern certain characteristics, particularly if the cigar has an earthy or pungent smell. This often indicates a fuller bodied or earthy flavor. If you smell a strong whiff of ammonia, it's possible that the cigar was rolled with improperly fermented tobacco. Generally speaking however, it’s not until you smoke a cigar that you can truly discover it’s character. If you’re trying to decide on which of a few cigars to purchase, ask someone who’s tried it before.

In the meantime, if you’d like to smell an unlit cigar, go ahead. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it probably will tell you very little. As for sticking a cigar up your nose, well that’s just disgusting. And if you’re gonna lick it, expect to buy it.

Smoke in the Wind

One of the nice things about the warmer months is that we have a greater opportunity to smoke our cigars without someone harassing us about the clouds of smoke developing indoors. This means back porches, patios, outdoor dining facilities, and my personal favorite, golf courses. However, there is an "outdoor" factor which can prevent us from fully enjoying our cigars; wind.

Lighting a cigar is unlike lighting a cigarette. Lighting a fine cigar is part of the ritual of cigar smoking, and consequently takes some time and care to get a proper light. Getting a nice even light without scorching your wrapper is often difficult if you’re using a couple of matches. Always try to use a windproof lighter to get an even burn. This will allow you to fully enjoy the blend of tobaccos in the cigar.

Assuming that we’ve properly lit our cigar, the wind more importantly can deprive us of one of the best parts of smoking a cigar; the smell. Aroma is a key ingredient to the taste of a cigar. You may recall how your favorite food tasted in the middle of your worst winter cold. Not quite as good. It's the same with a cigar. The aroma triggers certain reactions on your palate, and creates expectations, and also reinforces the tastes you get in your mouth. If that lovely gentle breeze suddenly transforms itself into wind, then we loose the ability to fully appreciate a particular tobacco blend because the smoke escapes from our mouth and nose too quickly.

Unfortunately there is no solution to preventing our smoke from escaping us in the wind. There’s no bigger fan of cigar of the course, but I’ll always save my favorites for a comfortable chair and calm airs.