The Occasional Cigar

Yes, the occasional cigar. Whether enjoyed twice a month, once a month, twice a year or once a year does anyone here ever enjoy an occasional cigar?
I haven't smoked cigarettes in 9 and a half years but an occasional cigar seems to be enjoyable from time to time without making me feel like I want to light up a cigarette.
When the weather is nice I'll sit out front in the evening as the Sun says goodnight, with a radio of some vintage and scan around the AMBCB for some broadcast DX.
Usually I will land on WSM 650 out of Nashville and listen to some really old bluegrass when I decide I'm done turning the dial.

If you've never smoked it may be hard to understand the allure of smoldering leaves but I like many grew up around tobacco and the great variety of tobaccos and their fragrance. Granted, also to many, tobacco stinks. Yes, I agree, yet there are some that just have a certain fragrance that takes you back to another time that feels both distant, and familiar. Taking me to memories, or more like, actual feelings and fragmented memories, piecing themselves together from another time. Using my imagination, I can go back further while receiving impressions through the vintaged radio, playing old mountain music and being able to almost experience a past before my actual existence in this timeline.

This is not intended to be a pro VS con tobacco thread. If you wish to do so then please start a thread in Politico.
We all have our vices. ALL. At our age (most of us) we can enjoy an occasional vice in moderation.

generally tobacco stinks. pipe smoke seems to be the exception. I don't smoke any of it myself...

I enjoy a lot of the blends created by AJ Fernandez. He's a 5th generation Cuban blender/grower/manufacturer that has done many collaborations with different brands in Cuba and Central and South America (Miami too). Everything he touches is golden. He seems to have a 6th sense about these things.

Much pipe tobacco smells beautiful. There's a trick to being able to enjoy the taste of pipe smoke.
Don't just puff on it. Most neophytes make the mistake of making it too hot and that takes away from the flavor. A low ember should be maintained to get a small amount of smoke and still be able to taste the intended flavor. Sometimes you just have to let cool down and draw lightly. If one is simply looking to maintain a certain level of nicotine then a non aromatic blend would be a better choice. Usually non cased burley mixed with red Viginia and a dark Kentucky. It will be stout. If you wish to add smokiness then Latakia is always a good choice to add. If we're talking about the last 4, throw in some Turkish and let the blend set up for a few weeks before smoking it.

Of note, I like to mix Latakia with the sweet stuff. I had a friend once refer to it as, "burnt fruitcake."

Attachment 18078

Over the Summer I plan on going to Charleston a couple of times for a few nights.
Most of the beaches close at 10 to 11 pm and I can't find a decently priced room with a balcony. The reason these are issues is because I want to smoke a cigar at the end of the day and the one place we visited last year that had balconies, the access to them was prohibited. Door to it was sealed shut. That's every room in the place. You can't smoke on any beach at any time, not even a vape. Places that claim to have a designated smoking area put you on the end of the parking lot with no place to sit.

There are cigar bars but you have to drive to them so, I guess I'll have to take a folding chair out to the parking lot and enjoy the heat coming off the asphalt from the daily heating.

Another issue that arises is night sky photography off the beach. I don't know what the light pollution quotient will be but Sullivan's Island is in a good place that points in the right direction for Milky Way photography. They close the beach at 11 pm. Should be late enough. Just a matter of getting in and out in time.

I guess if I got one of the super high dollar beach house rentals then none of this would be an issue.

1st World problems.

I had a Crafted by Oliva robusto. That's an Oliva offshoot made just for JR, an online cigar retailer that offers incredible discounts.
It was a nice medium body with a wonderful aroma of earth, leather, spice, chocolate and a hint of cinnamon although you really couldn't taste the cinnamon it was more like a mild sweet spice.
The wrapper consists of a Sun-grown Habano while both the binder and the filler are Nicaraguan Habano.
I found that a lot of the heavier smokes go well with a Hi-Wire 10W-40 Chocolate Taco Imperial Stout. Don't let the name fool you. It's delicious.

From Google Search:

Quote:

---

Habano wrappers also originate from Cuba but are now grown in countries like Nicaragua and Ecuador. Notably darker, Habano wrappers also produce a stronger aroma and intense flavor. Its profile is described as a blend of earthy spices, leather, wood, and coffee beans.

---

Quote:

---

Sungrown cigar wrappers come from tobacco plants that are grown directly under the sun without the use of man made tents to give shade as in Shade grown wrappers. As opposed to the Shade grown plants, sun grown tobacco plants grown thicker leaves with thicker veins and darker color.

---

Quote:

---

Binder: The tobacco leaf (or leaves) that hold together the filler tobacco. The combination of a binder (known as a banda in Spanish) and filler tobacco is known as the the bunch. With the wrapper and filler, the binder is one of three main components in a handmade cigar.

---

Quote:

---

Filler: The individual tobacco leaves used in the body of the cigar. The filler leaves are held together by the bunch. A fine cigar usually contains between two and five different types of filler tobacco. In Spanish, the term is known as tripa. Handmade, premium cigars are typically made entirely from long-filler tobacco, which are whole leaves.

---

Here's a link to a glossary of cigar terminology.
https://www.cigaraficionado.com/glossary

I quit smoking ciggies 38 years ago. I do on a special occasion, enjoy a cigar or a sweet pipe tobacco. I'm no connoisseur of cigars but I don't go for the plastic tipped gas station ones. I'm old school so for pipe Tabacco I liked Borkum Riff or apple.