• Hi Guest - Come check out all of the new CP Merch Shop! Now you can support CigarPass buy purchasing hats, apparel, and more...
    Click here to visit! here...

What makes a cigar great

CigarMan Andy

CigarMan Andy

Traveling Herf Man
Joined
Sep 20, 2008
Messages
1,833
I once had the pleasure of attending an event with Raymond Scheurer, VP of Davidoff, and he asked us to describe a mystery cigar that we had moked, and what we remembered about it. We heard one gentlemen who said "It was firm with a nutty earthy flavor" another stated "It had a firm ash and hints of leather and coffee" an another described "This cigar was medium to strong bodied and had excellent flavor undertones". 

Raymond responded to these replies by saying "Zino once was asked this same question. This was his answer "It was an experience of friendship, good conversation and was enhanced with a good cigar"". 

These word hit home with me. Though I can enjoy a cigar, what makes the cigar great are the people and places we smoke them. Why is that hot dog at the stadium, the beer at the Octoberfest, or the Pumpkin Pie at the Thanksgiving table so much more enjoyable? Its the people we share it with or the event we are attending. Or in simpler terms, "The Memories that are Created". 

One of the best cigars I ever smoked was a Casa Torano Maduro Lancero. I shared it with my wife the day we renewed our vows on the beach in Puerta Plata, DR. This is a cigar that I will always remember. I think of that day every time I smoke one of these. 

Yes, I believe that there are some cigars that are exceptional, but I enjoyed the Torano Lancero I smoked with Christina on that day more than the Padron 80th Maduro that I smoked in the privacy of our home. Though an exceptional cigar, the memory was not the same. 

So when you smoke your next cigar, think. What did I truly get out of this experience. Was it the nutty earthy floral taste with hints of cocoa, coffee and cinnamon and the three inch ash? Or was it the brothers you shared conversation and stories with,or maybe the woman you dined and danced with.

"Make your next cigar an experience"
​
and​
Share your story​
 
This brought back great memories for me. I have to completely agree... the cigars I even seem to remember are not the premiums I bought at the local shop. It's the ones that I smoked during big occassions. Weddings both of friends and my own, graduations, the first cigar I smoked the day I turned 18. Those are the ones you remember, not the ones you had sitting alone at a table with a fine cognac. A cigar and a cognac make for good friends... but enjoying them with a good acquaintance make for great memories.

Mike
 
The best cigars I have enjoyed have almost all been unexpected gifts from friends or even strangers at a time when we were enjoying something else. A friend once brought out a box of dandy high end smokes during an evening around a fire in northern Michigan while we were talking about trout fishing and bamboo fly rods. I said, "You don't want to waste these on a bunch of trout bums!" and he said he couldn't think of a better way to burn 'em.

Lots of deep discussion and fellowship around the fire that night. And we'll all remember the time we got to smoke some cigars none of us would have been able to buy.
 
I have a good friend I consider a "Shield Brother" up in San Antonio (in ancient Viking holmgangs, a sort of ritual duel, your "second" held your shield while your opponent took a whack at it, and you, with a sword . . . so a Shield Brother is someone you trust with your life) and while we make about the same wages, he's got a whole lot more coming out of his every month, whereas my cigar budget can only be described as "self-indulgent." :rolleyes:

The best cigars I ever have are the high enders I pull out to share with him. Smoked by themselves, they're great smokes. Shared with a bro, they're great experiences.

~Boar
 
For me, the best cigar I smoked was handed to me by a total stranger on my honeymoon.

The wife and I spent 3 weeks in Italy, the first two weeks we were with a tour group of about 40 people, a lot of walking and site seeing, it was great, but then the third week, we spent alone in Sicily, on the shore in Taormina. One evening, we were sitting on the patio of the hotel over looking the ocean listening to the lounge singer and enjoying the night with a few drinks after diner. This guy who I was talking to earlier and his wife stop by to say hello, I had told him we just got married earlier in the day, He said he came by because he saw I was smoking a stogie and he wanted to buy me a great stick for my wedding. That is when he said, I hope you dont mind and gifted with me a Partagas Serie D No4 that he picked up in the hotel bar for me.

I quickly fired that bad boy up and instantly it became my favorite smoke. What an amazing cigar and what amazing memories I have of that night. Now, every time i light one up, I am brought back to Taormina, I can almost hear the ocean breaking off the rocks and the music playing in the background.
 
Jam1173 said:
For me, the best cigar I smoked was handed to me by a total stranger on my honeymoon.

The wife and I spent 3 weeks in Italy, the first two weeks we were with a tour group of about 40 people, a lot of walking and site seeing, it was great, but then the third week, we spent alone in Sicily, on the shore in Taormina. One evening, we were sitting on the patio of the hotel over looking the ocean listening to the lounge singer and enjoying the night with a few drinks after diner. This guy who I was talking to earlier and his wife stop by to say hello, I had told him we just got married earlier in the day, He said he came by because he saw I was smoking a stogie and he wanted to buy me a great stick for my wedding. That is when he said, I hope you dont mind and gifted with me a Partagas Serie D No4 that he picked up in the hotel bar for me.

I quickly fired that bad boy up and instantly it became my favorite smoke. What an amazing cigar and what amazing memories I have of that night. Now, every time i light one up, I am brought back to Taormina, I can almost hear the ocean breaking off the rocks and the music playing in the background.
Click to expand...


WOW!!
 
Those are some great stories guys. I always try to share my cigars with my friends, and it is a far better experience when you set there and talk about things going on in life,then it is when you smoke alone.
 
One of my best sticks was a Black & Mild lit on the picnic bench outside of my freshman dormitory with three of my closest friends. :D

Great topic.
 
Jam1173 said:
For me, the best cigar I smoked was handed to me by a total stranger on my honeymoon.

The wife and I spent 3 weeks in Italy, the first two weeks we were with a tour group of about 40 people, a lot of walking and site seeing, it was great, but then the third week, we spent alone in Sicily, on the shore in Taormina. One evening, we were sitting on the patio of the hotel over looking the ocean listening to the lounge singer and enjoying the night with a few drinks after diner. This guy who I was talking to earlier and his wife stop by to say hello, I had told him we just got married earlier in the day, He said he came by because he saw I was smoking a stogie and he wanted to buy me a great stick for my wedding. That is when he said, I hope you dont mind and gifted with me a Partagas Serie D No4 that he picked up in the hotel bar for me.

I quickly fired that bad boy up and instantly it became my favorite smoke. What an amazing cigar and what amazing memories I have of that night. Now, every time i light one up, I am brought back to Taormina, I can almost hear the ocean breaking off the rocks and the music playing in the background.
Click to expand...

Very cool. My favorite cigar shop in the world, is Fincato, at Via Colonna Antonina in Rome

My wife and I took our second honeymoon in Italy. Another great experience for us: Tina and I were having a morning cappuccino on our veranda overlooking the water at Lake Majory Italy, and I was smoking a BBF, Tina smoking a RyJ. The crisp air and cool breeze coming off the water, oh yes, and my new Italian hat that we bought in Milan.

italianmorning.JPG
 
The cigar that brings back the most memories for me was also the first one I had. Me and my friend Joey had both graduated high school early, and we decided to head to the local smoke shop for cigars to celebrate with. We both got the cheapest ones they had, which were Arturo Fuente Brevas Royals. As we lit them up on the back porch that night, we both talked about what we were going to do, where we were going to go to college, and everything that had led up to where we were now.
classof08-1.jpg

I moved into the town I grew up in at about age 4, and he's the only one left that I grew up with. Everyone else, for one reason or another, changed, like most people do growing up. Some for the better, but most for the worst. But through 14 years, we had stayed the same. I'll always remember that.

A couple of months later problems with one of our friends we grew up with kinda came between us, real stupid stuff, the kind you don't even think about how dumb it is to be mad over. One night I realized how much of an idiot I was and called him up, and invited him over to hang out that day. I smiled and started laughing when I saw what he was carrying, 2 Arturo Fuente Brevas Royals. Not the best tasting cigar I've smoked, or even the highest quality. But definitely the best.
 
I'd be very hard pressed to name what cigar I smoked at any time, but I do remember with good clarity the activity of smoking and who I was with. I can think of great times I've had with friends, drinking, talking, and smoking a cigar. Which cigar, who the heck knows? But those times mean a whole lot to me.

Reading this thread reminds me of times I've spent with my brother in his backyard, or with a friend in front of his gas firepit, or with my buddies, out on the front porch of their house freezing our nuts off but laughing, drinking, smoking, and enjoying the moment all the same. Remembering those moments makes me happy. Realizing that we still have many more of those moments to share makes me excited and humbled.

This reminds me of a little thing that happened a few months ago. Our group of buddies was gathered at the house for a boxing match. Food, drinks, and later cigars. After the fight we're all hanging out, enjoying the time, however one of the neighbors had been ruffling feathers when he kept trying to debate religion. I won't get into it, but lets just say the alcohol gave him the gumption to try to convert anyone who would listen to him. The host, my buddy, pulled him aside to try to settle him down. They got to talking about heaven and all that, and my buddy told him something that hit me: he had the guy look around the house, to all the friends hanging out, laughing, talking, socializing, etc. Then he turned to the guy and said, "To me, this is heaven."
 
There are times that I smoke alone with a drink and the cigar is fine no complains, but smoking in a group such as my monthly Herf or when am hanging with my boys and talking sh*t is just so much more fun and enjoyable. And that’s what a great smoke is to me …. :thumbs: :cool:
 
Very well said, and very good points Andy. The cheapo cigars that I first smoked while on vacation with my wife and her father's side of the family were ten times better than the cigars I smoke sitting on my porch by myself. Another good point about the beer you drink at Octoberfest, but for me it is the beer I drink while I golf with my brother, or the groomsmen from my wedding. Or the beer that I sit and drink with my Dad.
 
BMW said:
Very well said, and very good points Andy. The cheapo cigars that I first smoked while on vacation with my wife and her father's side of the family were ten times better than the cigars I smoke sitting on my porch by myself. Another good point about the beer you drink at Octoberfest, but for me it is the beer I drink while I golf with my brother, or the groomsmen from my wedding. Or the beer that I sit and drink with my Dad.
Click to expand...

I just got a call from two of my groomsmen from my wedding in California that I haven't seen in 27 years. I am going to cali inApril and have a cigar with them for the first time since. Very cool.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top