Me and My Cigar

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.