There's an old blessing-that's-also-a-curse: "May you live in interesting times." Interesting times are full of excitement and opportunity, but also dangers and challenges. It seems to me that these are indeed interesting times to be a cigar smoker.
Social cigar smoking has gotten more popular, and we've seen the results. There are a lot more options on the market now than there were a few years ago. Because the general demographic of the cigar smoker is someone with money to spend, discount cigar manufacturers are chasing the gravy train by adding new products.
On the other hand, this can make it a lot harder to find premium cigars, because it's not like even the most well-connected firm has a way to generate a lot more premium tobacco and age it properly. As everyone may remember from high-school science, plants grow at a certain rate regardless of how desperate a smoker is for a certain leaf. Particularly when the craze seemed to be at its height a couple of years ago, there were several times when I'd go to the local steakhouse and find many of my favorites absent from the humidor. Obviously I can buy cigars online, but for single cigar purchases I find there is a lot more competition now than when I started.
Add to that the anti-smoking backlash has made smoking more difficult, and there's never a dull moment for the cigar smoker these days.
Social cigar smoking has gotten more popular, and we've seen the results. There are a lot more options on the market now than there were a few years ago. Because the general demographic of the cigar smoker is someone with money to spend, discount cigar manufacturers are chasing the gravy train by adding new products.
On the other hand, this can make it a lot harder to find premium cigars, because it's not like even the most well-connected firm has a way to generate a lot more premium tobacco and age it properly. As everyone may remember from high-school science, plants grow at a certain rate regardless of how desperate a smoker is for a certain leaf. Particularly when the craze seemed to be at its height a couple of years ago, there were several times when I'd go to the local steakhouse and find many of my favorites absent from the humidor. Obviously I can buy cigars online, but for single cigar purchases I find there is a lot more competition now than when I started.
Add to that the anti-smoking backlash has made smoking more difficult, and there's never a dull moment for the cigar smoker these days.
Comments for May you smoke in interesting times...