Leinekiugels Sunset Wheat and Perdomo 10th Anniversary Champagne

Leinekiugel’s Sunset Wheat has been one of my favorite spring and summer beers for a few years running now. It is a smooth and refreshing easy-to-drink beer with a SLIGHT hint of blueberry. It does not taste like a blueberry like some beers do, it just has a hint of flavor. Adding an orange slice will enhance the flavor, or you can drink it straight like I do. This mild beer is perfect for the end of a hard earned day with a light and easy-to smoke cigar. My favorite cigar pairing for this is Perdomo’s 10th Anniversary Champagne.

The Perdomo 10th Anniversary Champagne is a well-packed long filler mild cigar. I always tell my friends that a beginner cigar smoker will love this cigar, but so will a picky connoisseur. The cigar comes in a number of sizes, but I recommend the torpedo shaped figurado. The cigar has a mild natural wrapper and a Cuban-seed mixture of aged Nicaraguan tobaccos.   This is a real treat and only costs $5.50 for a single cigar, $27 for a 5-Pack and $106 for a box.

Yuengling Lager and a Cuban Legacy

Growing up, post 21 of course, Yuengling Lager has always been a part of great summer days and nights. Yuengling (brewed in Pottsville PA) is America’s Oldest brewery and has survived for good reason… it is GREAT beer. The lager has recently grown in popularity and can be found readily in most states. If you have not tried this beer you need to stop reading this article and go buy a case. This lager has a smooth crisp flavor with enough body for any beer snob to enjoy. It should be enjoyed with a cigar of the caliber of a Gurkha.

One of my new favorite cigars is the Cuban Legacy by K. Hansotia & Co which, K. Hansotia is the owner of Gurkha. This medium bodied cigar has a smooth earthly flavor with hints of coffee. For the price of $2.30/cigar when you buy a box of 20, this cigar is not just a great smoke it is a great deal. So crack open a Yueng and spark up a Cuban Legacy because tonight is going to be a good night.

New Castle Brown Ale and 5 Vegas Torpedo

New Castle Brown Ale is a great spring beverage for any beer lover. This English beer is darker and full of flavor while being smooth and easy to drink. The excellent balance between flavor and drinkability makes it great on hot days in spring. I recommend enjoying a few of these ice cold beverages while smoking a 5 Vegas Torpedo.

The 5 Vegas Torpedo comes in three wrappers; Natural, Gold and Maduro, and any of these would pair well with a New Castle. This smooth smoking cigar brand has grown in popularity recently and is a great mid-range affordable smoke. StogieBoys Cigars currently has a 6-pack sampler of the 5- Vegas Torpedo’s for $24.95. They additionally carry these cigars in other quantities.

In years past, cigar smoking was commonplace and readily accepted in our society.  Cigars were enjoyed, mostly uninhibited, by many in professional, social and private circles.  Today, cigar smoking is largely under attack in our society, and cigar smokers are unnecessarily demonized as less than civilized people.

As cigar enthusiasts, we need to each contribute to changing these perceptions.  It is fact that cigar smoking doesn’t pose the same health risks as cigarettes.  Also, cigar smokers tend to be among the most respectable and respectful people on earth.  So we all need to carry the torch and turn the conversation positive about cigars.

As I enjoyed a couple of cigars over the last weekend, I thought about the benefits they deliver and the reasons I love to smoke them.  If I could sum it up to two words, I would say the cigar is the great facilitator and enhancer.

1)      Relaxing – There are very few things in life more relaxing than smoking a cigar.  That’s just a fact.  A cigar at the end of the worst day has the power to single handedly change your perspective and make things right.

I don’t smoke cigars only to relax, but invariably, when I do smoke one, I am more relaxed at the end than when I started.

2)      Problem Solver – Got a problem to solve?  A good cigar will help.  I have solved many a problem in life over a good cigar.  Perhaps it is the relaxing qualities of the cigar, or maybe it’s something else, but a good cigar enhances your ability to think clearly and reason.  The problems never seem as big or tough to solve after a good puro.

3)      Camaraderie – the solitude of smoking a cigar by yourself is nice sometimes, but there is nothing like enjoying the company of other cigar enthusiasts when you smoke a cigar. There is a unique bond between cigar guys and it is easy to strike up a conversation, even if you have never met them before.

4)      Conversation Enhancer – conversations are just plain better when you are smoking cigars.  No matter who you are with, the conversation is more interesting, enjoyable, funny, fruitful…

5)      Hunger Eliminator – I’m a big guy and I could stand to skip a few meals from time to time.  It is a proven fact that smoking cigars can have the effect of reducing your appetite.  I often smoke a cigar when I get hungry to lessen hunger pangs or make it easier to eat less.  And it works. It’s a natural diet supplement!

I hope this is at least good food for thought and I hope it will challenge our readers to think as well, and respond.  Most of all, I hope you are proud to be a cigar smoker.  We should all remember not to apologize for being one.

According to The Washington Times the FDA is considering options like prohibiting online cigar retailers from doing business, prohibiting walk-in humidors and, essentially, changing the dynamics of how some like to enjoy a nice evening. Here is a piece from the article:

“The FDA is mulling a range of possibilities, such as banning the sale of cigars online, which represent a significant portion of cigar sales; new and punitive taxes, and limits on “commemorative cigars.” Cigar-tobacco blends would have to be approved by the FDA. Popular events like the “Big Smoke” in Las Vegas and even walk-in humidors in cigar shops would be prohibited.”