A Most Happy Happy, Joy Joy, Smoke-Filled JR Anniversary
Today, my cigar-smoking friends, is a most glorious day for all of us here in JR land! Yes, indeed, it is time to break out your finest smokes, the one’s at the bottom of the humidor that you have been saving for such a momentous occasion. Today is one of those reasons why we fire up a celebratory cigar and enjoy it with those we love and cherish most. Okay, without keeping you in suspense any longer, it was four years ago this day that your very own Tommy Zman posted the very first blog here on the JR Cigar Blog with the Zman! Four freakin years, man… that’s 208 weeks of stogie packed 
enjoyment for all of you tobacco crazed maniacs. And for those of you not counting, that’s one thousand, four hundred and sixty days of premium hand rolled joy that I have brought to the masses. Wow, what a rush, I feel so alive!
So, how ’bout a Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, to me and the JR Blog!
Lets go back to the late Summer of 2007, when the great Lew Rothman sent me an email, asking me to come into the JR offices for lunch to discuss a new project that came up, one they felt I was worthy of taking on. And while new work is always great, in my head I was seriously wondering who was buying lunch. (I get a little worked up when it comes to mealtime and cigars.) He told me that JR wanted to start a blog and that I was the guy they knew could pull it off. And while I’m pretty sure Lew didn’t have much of a clue what a blog really was, I assured him that I could kick ash with this thing!
For those of you who haven’t been here from the start, for the first two years I wrote the blog five days a week, Monday-Friday, a type of writing assignment I had never attempted before. Coming up with fresh content every single day was a hell of a challenge, but I will say that it really improved my writing dramatically and I NEVER failed to come up with a new angle. Lew actually didn’t even want me to write much about cigars, but rather current events (like slaying politicians) as he thought it would have broader appeal and give me more to talk about. Then, when the S-Chip bill was signed and everyone was pulling in the reigns, the blog went to one day a week, which admittedly bummed me out, but I quickly adjusted and found a Tuesday through Thursday gig where I disguised myself as an old guy and posed as a Walmart greeter. I have written about so many different things, and it’s pretty amazing actually, as I look back through the blog’s archives. (You can also go back and find all of the the insane crap I’ve written about in the archives section in the right hand column of the archives.)
Now the one thing I really do love to write about is of course, cigars. I have an incredible love affair with this leafy brown creature, born in a place where they drink café con leche and play dominos ‘til the sun goes down. My wife claims it is an addiction, and curses the day I started my so-called stinking habit, but I 
constantly remind her to thank this beloved industry that has helped to pay our mortgage and put chow on the table week after week. I think after all these years I now realize that she’s actually jealous of my robusto romances and my figurado flings, and doesn’t care for the attention I place on these inanimate objects of Latin American descent. But really, guys, too bad, I say to my bride of two plus decades… smoking cigars really is one of the greatest treasures I have ever known and I will not put an end to this love affair that has relaxed me and given me thousands of hours of enjoyment over the past two decades. So, yes, my puro patriots, I will continue to toke my Trinidads, pound my Pepins, do my Don Tomas, hammer my Hoyos, and nurture my NUB (the cigar, ya pervert, come on, this is a family site.)
So a big hearty thanks to all of you who read and support my work and this blog, as we continue to fight for our right to smoke the good smoke.
Tommy Z . JR Cigars Blog With the Zman
CHECK THIS DEAL > BERING VINTAGE CONNECTICUT– YOUR CHOICE $49.95
Bering has been a popular choice among many smokers since 1905. We just received a shipment of Bering Vintage Connecticut. These cigars were handcrafted at the Plasencia factory in Nicaragua for the European market, but the deal never went through. So what did we do? We bought ‘em all!
This week you have the chance to grab yourself a box… or two… or three for just $49.95 each! That’s only $2.50 per cigar. Normally these boxes would retail for up to $120 bucks apiece so the savings are enormous. You’ll only find these beauties at J·R and once they’re gone, you’ll never see them again!
