So yeah, everybody wants to know how to make money, or just more money. And while this is absolutely true, don’t forget that:
Working for someone else will not make you rich, only them…
If you only have one source of income, you are doomed to fail. The secret is: multiple sources of income.
How would you describe smoking a cigar? Do you smoke at home or at lounges? We all have our own opinion but what is yours? Take a look at this mini documentary by Philip Bloom and see what it means to be a cigar connoisseur. Let us know your thoughts!
Lights up on a younger version of yourself. You’re fresh out of school, the emotions are high and you go out drinking with the boys. And oh boy do you boys drink! Now, not being the expert you are these days, you decided you wanted to cap the night off with a smoke from your favorite cigar that you’ve been saving for this very moment.
Suddenly you find yourself leaning over the toilet in the bathroom at your favorite bar. And so, following the cause and effect theorem that this universe so heavily depends on, you ended up hunched over the toilet, regretting every single life choice up until this moment, and asking the big questions in life: “Was it worth it?”, “Are these the final moments?”, and “Did I remember to put the lid back on the mayo before I closed the refrigerator door?”…
Sound familiar?
If you answered yes, then I hear you and I see you, and I say, “you live and you learn”.
If you answered no..well, either you’ve been repressing your memories again, or, when can we call you in for an interview cause you’ve got the chemical makeup of a warrior!
All instances of early adulthood trauma aside, there are some, not so great results from smoking and/or drinking while on an empty stomach. It’s just always a better idea to have some sustenance in your system before sitting and smoking.
Well what’s the solution? It’s simple: eat before you smoke. If you don’t have time to cook a four-course dinner, then order one from your nearby takeout favorite! Never has there been a better time for takeout and delivery! A cigar is much more enjoyable when you can smoke if from start to finish without feeling nauseous. Here are a handful of after-dinner cigars to smoke based on what you may have had to eat.
So, this begs the million dollar question (probably not THAT dramatic but we think big over here at Mike’s Cigars): To smoke…or not to smoke…before or after a meal? (That’s what we in the biz call a “Title Drop”, patent pending)
To be honest, it’s up to you really. Along with some of the, not so great feelings accompanying smoking on an empty stomach, there are also a lot of benefits: 1) You LOOK really cool 2) You SMELL really unique (but that’s a benefit any time you smoke 3) You SEEM mature and 4) You get to stay home sick from work!
I support your decision and you know what, I’ll light one up with ya, in solidarity!
Buuuuuuut, just in case you stand on the side of people who care about their physical health, rather than their popularity count, here are a selection of after-meal cigars that will keep you satisfied and satiated:
Once you’ve filled up on your favorite cut of your favorite juicy piece of meat, a nice full-bodied cigar, you will be able to handle! Only the most luscious, complex, and savory cigars are befitting choices to complete such a meal. Camacho Corojo, Ashton VSG, and Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua are full-bodied and full of versatile, woody, and creamy flavor.
If your sweet tooth kicks in after an epic dinner, finish the night off in the company of a Bahama Mama or M Coffee by Macanudo. Notes of cocoa, honey, and black pepper mingle effortlessly. Pair either with a glass of wine, rum, or an aged cognac for a nightcap.
So, it’s not exactly like Hamlet, but you get the idea 😉
A few years ago I was in one of the biggest casinos in Atlantic City and was at one of the roulette tables where they permitted smoking. There was an older gentleman smoking a cigar. He was telling people it was an original Hoyo de Monterrey Churchill, which he acquired from his father who had purchased it in 1958 in La Habana. He was celebrating his birthday and it was the very last one in the box.
It smelled fantastic! Suddenly this heavy woman comes up to the table and thunks down on the table a giant glass of scotch which sloshed over the green velvet. At the same time she places on the table about $20,000 in $100 chips and yells out:
“Why don’t you put that stinking thing out!”
It was obvious she was intoxicated. He looked over at her and said “My dear I’m afraid that you have failed to notice the sign that states this table is for smokers”.
She looks at him and in a drunken voice yells out!
“I’ll show you who can’t read” and pours her drink on his cigar which is resting in an ashtray. The whole table froze and everyone stopped speaking. The older gentleman calmly reached over to her pile of chips, grabbed a handful of her chips and threw them into the crowd. At that moment she with a guttural roar charges him and head butts this poor guy in the stomach. They both go down and a riot ensues with everyone grabbing her chips and security coming over trying to break up the fight. The last I saw of them they were escorted out. If there is a lesson from this story I can’t thing of one.
-M. K.
One of the distinct factors that distinguish Miami from other cities is its peculiar scents. Growing up, cigar smoke seemed to surround me.
Back then (the 1970’s) there were no fancy cigar shops. Instead I recall hanging around Cuban cafe windows and taking in the aroma of cigars as it melded with the engaging smell of fresh brewed cafe and the overpowering cologne of the men who mulled around reminiscing about Cuba. That scene still plays out on any given day in certain parts of our town.
Interestingly enough, Miami is not only forever branded with the smoky scent but it has quietly become the cigar capital of the world without the neon, red carpet fanfare that usually accompanies our successes.
“If you consider the number of companies that manufacture and distribute out of our city and the terrific quality of the cigars they produce, Miami could and should be considered the epicenter of the cigar world,” said Erik Calviño, publisher of Cigar Snob Magazine which is also produced in the Magic City.
Over the last two decades the cigar industry has blossomed and evolved from the café counter business to manufacturers and distributors that are some of the most touted in the highly competitive industry. Ironically, the gold standard of the bunch, Padron Cigars (headquartered in Little Havana), which many of us remember our fathers and grandfathers smoking, exploded onto the international cigar spectrum as the cigar boom of the 1990’s climaxed and came out on the other side of the hoopla, in my aficionado opinion, as the world’s finest, most consistent cigar (including the embargoed Cuban brands).
Miami has always had an interesting relation to cigars — the obvious link being the Cuban migration of the 1960s. Many cigar growing families re-established operations in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua while keeping their administrative offices in Miami.
Oliva, Perdomo, Sosa, Toraño, Padron, Garcia, Carrillo are all Miami, Cuban-American families closely associated with the cigar business in some fashion.
Cigars also have a historical tie to this city through the waves of Northeastern transplants that migrated to our shores (particularly after World War II). Many of these “new Miamian’s” were of Jewish decent — not only did they bring their cigar smoking habits with them but many decided to make cigars their business. When I was a kid, I thought the only men who smoked cigars (or liked baseball and boxing for that matter) were Jews and Cubans.
“In Miami, cigar smoking takes on a different dynamic,” Calviño explained. “Here smoking cigars is truly an egalitarian pursuit. The bulk of cigar consumption in Miami is middle class.”
This ratified what I’ve experienced enjoying stogies here my whole life. Whereas, in other places cigars are reserved for special occasions, Miamian’s light up to mow the lawn.
My neighbor Alfredo, for instance, walks his terrier Sherry every Sunday at the crack of dawn as he puffs on a Don Pepin Garcia Blue — one of Miami’s finest sticks (as aficionados call cigars).
Ironically, my cigar craze didn’t start in my hometown. After high school, I went away to college in Tampa (the former cigar capital) where I stumbled upon cigars in Ybor City — a unique, multi cultured community smack dab in central Florida where the cigar industry had set up shop in the 19th century.
For me, it was a cultural connection to my past. In the 1800s, propelled by Tampa’s burgeoning cigar industry, Ybor City became home to the first great Cuban migration. In Ybor, I learned about cigars and the travails of Cuban patriot Jose Martí who journeyed to Ybor City several times to rally for financial support to liberate Cuba from Spanish rule.
After college, in the late 1980s, I came back home with ambitious dreams and a cigar in my pocket. Through the many festive occasions, hardships, transitions and reflective walks with my neighbor on Sundays, a cigar has always punctuated the occasion.
One day, before the quarantine started (remember those times?), I was walking around Lincoln Road, just taking in the culture and environment that was before me, in the heart of Miami Beach, a biker shoved a flyer into my chest and sent me onto the pavement. After getting up and making sure my cigar cutter didn’t shatter in my pocket, I read the flyer and it said, “Improvisation for Non-Listeners. Friday-Sunday in the back room of the McDonald’s on Alton Road. Yes you read that right. No the location changes every week”.
Setting all qualms of location aside, I was intrigued. I’ve done improv before. I’ve been to a bunch of improv shows, but you know what? Everyone was listening. But I thought, “You know, if they can teach improv to non-listeners, why can’t I teach cigar cutting to non-smokers?” Or even people who do smoke but don’t have a cutter on hand. You don’t need to be a cigar aficionado to join my course. And lucky for you, you’re already registered! You don’t even have to leave your house, or even download Zoom ™. No Zoom ™ bombers on this lecture!
So, welcome to Cigar Cutting for Non Smokers. If you’ve signed up for this course, you’re probably looking to fulfill a requirement in your catalogue for “General Cigar Studies”. You’ve come to the right place. You don’t need a book, you don’t need paper, all you need is everyday things you can find around the house, or, even, on your person. And, you’re also gonna need several of your favorite #QuarantineCigars. Might be the same cigars you were smoking before we were sheltered in place. Either way, get ‘em out.
Now, let’s get right into it, shall we?
LESSON ONE: SCISSORS:
We’re gonna start with something simple. A pair of scissors. Yes, they can be regular office scissors. You don’t need any special cigar cutting scissors. Take the scissors and align the two blades right below the cap. The cap of your cigar is part of the wrapper leaf and it’s typically very thin and easy to remove. And just cut in a circle around the cap till you can just peel it off. Light it up, draw it out, enjoy! Lesson one, done!
LESSON TWO: POKE WITH A KNIFE (or any other sharp’ish object):
Now, of course, if your kids are around, this may not be a #QuarantineActivity that’s exactly right for them, but while they’re off in the den playing games, we can get down to business. Take any knife off the rack and you’ll see how it can cut more than just the vegetables you’re trying to hide in your children’s mac and cheese. The key here is to carefully create an opening in the cap without causing the wrapper to crack or the end of the cigar to undo itself. Apply a small amount of pressure when you’re inserting the tip of a sharp end. More pressure when it’s not super sharp (maybe the knife sharpener’s on lockdown too. No judgements from us). You don’t want to poke too deep or too much. The cigar is like a fine piece of china. Treat it with the respect and care it deserves. Peel the cap off. Light it up, draw it out, enjoy! Lesson two, finished!
LESSON THREE: FINGERNAIL:
No, that was not a typo. This is something that everyone has! And even if ya don’t, borrow your significant other’s, or your parent’s, or any of your sharp fingered pets that might be lounging around the house wondering when these humans are just gonna take them out to walk already. Anyway, this one’s simple. Take the fingernail and just cut around the cap. Easy enough. Might wanna clean it though before you go strumming any guitars or doing whatever other activities one does with a fingernail these days. We suggest having a dedicated cigar cutting fingernail, preferably the right index. Light it up, draw it out, enjoy! Lesson three, completed!
LESSON FOUR: TEETH:
Don’t knock it till you try it! The fact is, people have been cutting their cigars with their teeth for decades. You don’t even have to sharpen them first. Bite down gently on the cigar cap to remove a little from the cigar. Once there’s a little opening, you can peel the rest of the cap off with your fingers. We suggest not watching any food videos while you do this because you may not really want to drool all over your cigar. And who wouldn’t drool over that nice seared steak that Gordon Ramsay just pulled off the grill?
And just like that, you’ve reached the end of the course. I’ll be signing all credit approval forms once the bell rings. Until then, why don’t you think about some more creative ways to cut a cigar?
Maybe they’ll make it into next semester’s course?
Getting ready for a 30 mile ride on my motorcycle over to my friends house for a cold beer and cigar on a spring afternoon. I packed my leather jacket and two of my favorite Arthuro Fuente cigars for the trip in my saddlebags I thought. I had a nice ride over and settled in on my first beer and deep discussion about the worlds affairs and what we could do to fix them. As the conversation reached a lull. I walked over to get that good cigar out to highlight the afternoon.
To my astonishment there were no cigars in my bags? So, what a bummer and my friend who does not smoke didn’t have any cigars. So, we visited and talked for a while and had another drink. This without a cigar was boring. I loaded up for my peaceful ride home wondering where my cigars were? I know that I walked out with them in my hand on the way to the shop to prepare for the ride. Not sure about where they were kinda puzzled me. As I returned home looking along the road thinking I laid them on the bike or something and they fell off.
Nothing to be seen anywhere. So the bike was put up and looked for the cat aka Mr. Richard to put in the shop for his nightly routine. As usual he was lurking in the shadows or just hiding from me. Nowhere to be found. Then I discovered him by my truck with cigar in paws and if he saying unwrap this bad boy and give me a light. I got that cigar still in good shape and returned it to the humidor. Now I had two cigars before the trip started, but only found the one the cat had. To this day the other cigar has never showed up. I don’t know if he smoked it or put it in his cat humidor……lol
So, the mystery continues……………………
– Chares T
The first in a series dedicated to understanding the definition and body of a cigar, its historical and cultural implications on society, and the loving nature of community through cigars.
As the sun sets here on day ten thousand, nine hundred and fifty eight of this quarantine period, I find myself again alone with my best friend…my cigar. They’ve been with me through heaven and hell, good times and the bad…it’s a marriage made in heaven. And I looked at them, and I asked them, “how did you get to be the way you are?” Your beautiful body that loops and spirals with my fingers, your magnificent smell that pervades my being, and your presence that completes me…” I genuinely wondered, in search of an answer to reach some sort of greater understanding of my best friend.
So, what exactly is a cigar?
At first glance, it’s simply a rolled up piece of paper with some stuff in the middle, tied up nice and tight.
But, nothing is ever that simple, right?
As you peel apart each layer, their complexity unwinds and you witness the inner-workings of a pure, premium, crafted cigar. Their natural beauty that can only be achieved with the smoothest of fingers and finest of tobacco, the smell and the taste of the fermented tobacco, which was also aged until it was made perfect just for you…and just for me.
We handle them with eloquence and love because they need to be cared for tenderly. Cut and lit in the right way that will optimize your experience and make you feel just right.
As I sit down and relax, I think about your history. Your humble beginnings at the start of the New World, your cultivation in Cuba and your widespread revolution that was worldwide. The Tobacco Trail…The Cigar Crusade.
And then I think about the impact you’ve had on my friends, society, culture…and the power you have to bring people together…and how this virus is keeping people apart.
But they’ll never be able to keep us apart.
Cohiba cigars are some of the finest cigars of the world, and the Cohiba Holiday Limited Edition Gift Pack may be the finest and most elegant Cohiba gift set ever created! Why? Well, aside for the four limited edition cigars, it includes a pair of luxurious cuff-links featuring the classic Cohiba “Red Dot” logo that will have you looking as classy as the cigars themselves
Gift Set Includes:
Acquiring this amazing gift sampler set is for any lover of the My Father Cigar line or for anybody who just wants to try an array of cigars from the line. Also included is a free lighter and cutter will have you smoking in no time!
Gift Set Includes:
Macanudo Holiday gift set is the perfect gift this holiday season! Featuring 6 cigars that gives you a real taste of what the Macanudo brand has to offer. In a set with a really cool Macanudo branded triple flame lighter that is included in this gift set!
Gift Set Includes:
Alec Bradley samplers are the way to go if you are looking for good, quality taste and flavor from a premium cigar maker. Each of these samplers are as unique as the tobacco used to construct them. From individual tubes, to cellophane wrapped, to special collectors editions with lighters, these are a great gift for your humidor and a wonderful addition to your smoking den
Gift Set Includes:
Bring home the most Iconic brands and smoke away with Cuban Heritage brands that provide very smooth and complex flavor!
Gift Set Includes:
Montecristo Toro Sampler Pack of 12 is a stunning gift set! Packaged in a beautiful Montecristo branded box. This is a perfect gift for any Montecristo fan, or as an introduction to the different blends that Montecristo has to offer
Gift Set Includes:
This thing is BAD ASS. It comes packed with 20 amazing Churchill cigars! This also features a stunning knife. I mean this thing is something out of crocodile Dundee (that isn’t a knife, THIS IS A KNIFE!) with a 7 7/8″ fixed tactical blade knife comes standard with a leg sheath for the most tactical cigar smoker. All of this packed inside of a water tight travel humidor big enough to bring enough cigars with you for all your friends and their friends too!
Gift Set Includes:
This Christmas bring a little piece of the tropics home with you with the Cuban Christmas 22 Cigar Super Sampler. Featuring 2 each of 11 of the best cigars from the Cuban heritage brands Romeo Y Julieta, Montecristo, Gipert, & H. Upmann, put the winter chill behind you and enjoy the warmth of a Cuban Christmas
Gift Set Includes:
The LIMITED EDITION Opus X Jeroboam Table Lighter by ST Dupont has a long history of creating lighters and accessories for major tobacco and cigars manufacturer. The S.T. Dupont Opus X Jeroboam Table Lighter features white Chinese lacquer with 18k gold highlights, which add an elegant finish to the remarkable beginning of your enjoyment!
Still looking for more options? We have plenty of holiday cigar lovers gift ideas for you! Please visit our Mike’s Cigars Gifts Page for more Gifts, Cigar Samplers, and Specials Collections
Mike’s Cigars offers the absolute best and biggest selection of cigars, humidors, lighters, ashtrays, cutters, and smoking accessories. If you're looking for the lowest prices on premium cigars online with fast shipping, Mike's has something for everyone!
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