Inglorious Cigar Loving Bastids
Pretty good chances are that if you read this blog, you are a lover of the luscious leaf. With deference to sir Quentin Tarantino. We ARE Inglorious Cigar Loving Bastids. Cigars make our lives better. The ritual of cutting, lighting, and then drawing in that first heavenly puff of smoke is one that we relish with all our hearts and souls. Dare I say that we would kill for our cigars.
A good cigar is truly like a friend who accompanies us on long car rides, a day on the links, or on the back deck when the stars litter the sky. It’s an understatement to say that we ‘love’ our cigars. So, I started thinking about the cigars I personally love – you know, my faves. My mind was all over the place as there are so many sticks I smoke. I tried to come up with a list of my top ten favorite smokes and it was too hard. So then I thought, what if I had to choose just five to smoke the rest of my days. Ooooo… now that’s getting more serous and required some intense thought. But then my brain went one bizarre step further. What if the smoke Nazis gained control and we Inglorious Bastids were only allowed to choose one cigar to make our regular everyday stogie. What would it be?
Wow, my brain started to hurt. A cloud of smoke began to seep from my ears as confusion riddled my soul. I have to pick one cigar to spend the rest of my life with. Holy crap, this is just like marriage – you have to be eternally faithful and you still don’t get laid. With my mental faculties in a quandary, I decided to seek the help of some friends. I turned to the cigar forum I frequent (or is it ‘freak’quent) on the internet for some support. I’ve been a member of Herfersparadise for a little over three years and it has become a fixture in my daily regimen. There are a lot of knowledgeable cigartophiles there – some good dudes, some weird ones (yours truly falls into that category) and a few grating assholes, just like any internet forum. (No I Am Not referring to any of my friends who post both here and there.)
So I posted my smoke-filled dilemma in a new thread in the cigars part of the forum and it read like so…
The smoke Nazi’s have cut us off at the balls and every smoker gets to choose one cigar to smoke the rest of their life. Just one to spend the rest of your days with. Price is NOT the object here, only choice. What will it be?
Now I really had no idea what the response would be, but I knew the Herfer’s faithful would enjoy lending their two cents into the kitty. Right off the bat, my bud, Kevin says, “I’ll choose none. If Tommys 8 th grade stupid question ever comes true I will be dead,” which cracked me up, and it was cool because the answers were coming in fast and furious.
And what was amazing is that about 35 answers in, we had 35 different cigars listed and that really surprised me. Finally a few repeats made the list, but what truly surprised me the most was that half of the answers that the guys listed as the ONE cigar they would choose… was a Cuban made smoke. I really didn’t expect that. A lot of guys seem to scoff at Habanas, stating quite emphatically that Nicaragua, Honduras, and the DR has surpassed the Isle de Castro in quality. But after close to 100 posts on the thread and 1,700 views, there are still those who feel that a ‘real-deal’ Havana is still the only way to go.
The top picks: Montecristo # 2 and 4. Siglo VI is popular as well as the Partagas Serie D Robusto. What’s so interesting about the “legal” cigars is that the choices were spread out across the board. And I personally think that’s a great sign for the industry, meaning that a lot of manufacturers are making a vast array of great smokes..
Oh yeah… my personal pick? Papayos? Optimos? Grape Philly Blunts? Well, since price is NO object, I choose to make the everyday smoke for the rest of my life… the 1926 Pardon Anniversario. (Sorry to disappoint those of you who refer to me as the JR whore. I mean I am, but variety is the spice of life, as they say… whoever ‘they’ are.) I think this cigar is so consistently smooth, well rolled, and the flavor profile is amazing.
On a final note, some found it impossible to narrow it down to ONE brand. One guy even said he’d rather give up smoking if he was forced to stick with the same cigar choice forever. To me, that’s completely insane and irrational, but probably every bit as my proposed question.
Okay, I didn’t solve world hunger or our grotesque economical problems, but I did offer up a mind numbing proposition for you to ponder.
Yes, we are the Inglorious Cigar Loving Bastids and the Smoke Nazis will feel our wrath… and smell.
Tommy Z.
JR Cigars Blog With the Zman
