Three Matches – Cigar Aficionado Even with thirty years of cigar experience under his belt, Cigar Aficionado Executive Editor Gordon Mott still remembers one of his first and more unique cigar smoking experiences. Early in his career, Gordon was offered a Cohiba while dining with friends in Mexico and the party’s host certainly had an [...]
New Orleans is a city known for its fine cuisine, eccentric culture and boisterous celebrations. So it’s no shock that you’ll find plenty of places that not only allow cigar smoking, but encourage it. And while it’s no Havana, New Orleans does produce its own, handcrafted cigars. The New Orleans Cigar Factory (415 [...]
As smoking bans sweep the nation, some states are beginning to have regrets. Well, only as far as cigars are concerned. Many cigar lounges and tobacco shops saw a drop in sales after the smoking bans were issued in recent years. As you can imagine, selling a cigar without allowing customers to try it first [...]
In many ways, fine cigars are like a fine wine. They are natural, organic and sensitive to their environment and must exist in a carefully controlled combination of temperature and moisture. Appropriately so, you might be worried about your cigars drying out during the winter months. But don’t be. Even with low humidity levels this [...]
Recently I came across a blog post from John Straka where he explored the attitudes of tobacco across the last 70 years. He discussed various types of tobacco that were sold, how they were sold (hidden or displayed), and costs. Nothing was left from his list, from cigarettes, to chew, to snuff, and even a [...]
With more than $620 million missing from their budget, New York scrambles to fill in missing gaps with tax hikes on, of course, cigars. Currently, tax rates for cigars are 46% of wholesale prices, but under new plans the state will raise tax rates to an astounding 90% of wholesale price. Cigarettes, little cigars, and [...]
For all the newbies out there who may be venturing into the wonderful world of cigar appreciation – or for those who just look plain silly lighting a cigar and don’t know any better – we’re offering a 101 lesson in cigar lighting. The proper care and lighting of a cigar is important to the [...]
From time to time cigar smoking newbies will ask us how to pick a cigar that speaks of their personality. We believe that cigar smoking is like continuing education; the more experiences you open your mind to, the more you learn about yourself. Nonetheless, we have some pointers for those stumbling onto this blog for [...]
Loyal readers send us their favorite cigar-related quotes and we thought we’d share a few of them with you today: “You should hurry up and acquire the cigar habit. It’s one of the major happinesses. And so much more lasting than love, so much less costly in emotional wear and tear.” – Aldous Huxley “I [...]
