The Perfect Holiday Smoke
5 January 2009
The Perfect Holiday Smoke…
You know, it seems every year I’m faced with the same problem. I go through my humidors looking for the perfect cigars to accompany me on my Christmas excursion. Carefully taking into consideration size and time commitment, as well as my cigar-smoking cousins who’ve never turned down a smoke from me since I’ve been in the business.
The first part of the trek was to the northeast corner of Connecticut, “The Quiet Corner” as it’s referred to. It’s where I grew up… and is about a three hour drive from New York City. Usually I love enjoying a cigar on the drive, but this time just wasn’t in the mood. It was bad weather, bad traffic, and I knew I’d just end up chomping on it to release my frustrations rather than actually enjoying it.
We (my girlfriend Tiffany, and I) spent the next 3 days in Connecticut with my family. I don’t think I ever appreciated the wrap around porch of our Victorian home until I began enjoying cigars. It’s perfect. However, the cold weather didn’t permit me to enjoy a cigar this time… My cousins and I did burn a quick La Flor Dominicana Carajo with them outside of my Grandfather’s condo which was a nice little break from the family celebrations.
Next was the trek North and West to the great city of Buffalo- Tiffany’s hometown. The next three days were to be spent up there. The weather was rainy, and traffic was again difficult… we had exhausted our ipod’s, and were still faced with about 400 miles of driving ahead of us. Finally Tiffany looked over and asked, “Wanna smoke a cigar?” “Eh.” I replied… “Well, I want to”. She said. I looked over and asked, “Really!?!” She said, “Yeah, I’m in the mood… what else are we gonna do?” With that, I went rummaging through my ‘man purse’ next to me and found a Davidoff Grand Cru No. 1 that I had packed. Since we were parked on I-90, I put down my window a touch and fired it up. I passed it to Tiffany for her to enjoy. She asked a few questions about it, and passed it back to me… it was just wonderful.
We eventually made it to Buffalo… and I didn’t end up having the opportunity to enjoy a cigar again until I made it back to New York and was in my store New Year’s eve… but the cigar I shared with Tiffany on that ride was just so perfect. It wasn’t a big fancy “trophy” cigar… and we weren’t sitting at the Grand Havana Room, with a nice glass of Cognac… There we were, bundled in my car wearing sweats, listening to NPR and enjoying a cigar together… and enjoying EACHOTHER! Sometimes those “perfect moments” just seem to happen… so for me… this was my Perfect Holiday Cigar!!
What was yours?
The Perfect Holiday Smoke…
You know, it seems every year I’m faced with the same problem. I go through my humidors looking for the perfect cigars to accompany me on my Christmas excursion. Carefully taking into consideration size and time commitment, as well as my cigar-smoking cousins who’ve never turned down a smoke from me since I’ve been in the business.
The first part of the trek was to the northeast corner of Connecticut, “The Quiet Corner” as it’s referred to. It’s where I grew up… and is about a three hour drive from New York City. Usually I love enjoying a cigar on the drive, but this time just wasn’t in the mood. It was bad weather, bad traffic, and I knew I’d just end up chomping on it to release my frustrations rather than actually enjoying it.
We (my girlfriend Tiffany, and I) spent the next 3 days in Connecticut with my family. I don’t think I ever appreciated the wrap around porch of our Victorian home until I began enjoying cigars. It’s perfect. However, the cold weather didn’t permit me to enjoy a cigar this time… My cousins and I did burn a quick La Flor Dominicana Carajo with them outside of my Grandfather’s condo which was a nice little break from the family celebrations.
Next was the trek North and West to the great city of Buffalo- Tiffany’s hometown. The next three days were to be spent up there. The weather was rainy, and traffic was again difficult… we had exhausted our ipod’s, and were still faced with about 400 miles of driving ahead of us. Finally Tiffany looked over and asked, “Wanna smoke a cigar?” “Eh.” I replied… “Well, I want to”. She said. I looked over and asked, “Really!?!” She said, “Yeah, I’m in the mood… what else are we gonna do?” With that, I went rummaging through my ‘man purse’ next to me and found a Davidoff Grand Cru No. 1 that I had packed. Since we were parked on I-90, I put down my window a touch and fired it up. I passed it to Tiffany for her to enjoy. She asked a few questions about it, and passed it back to me… it was just wonderful.
We eventually made it to Buffalo… and I didn’t end up having the opportunity to enjoy a cigar again until I made it back to New York and was in my store New Year’s eve… but the cigar I shared with Tiffany on that ride was just so perfect. It wasn’t a big fancy “trophy” cigar… and we weren’t sitting at the Grand Havana Room, with a nice glass of Cognac… There we were, bundled in my car wearing sweats, listening to NPR and enjoying a cigar together… and enjoying EACHOTHER! Sometimes those “perfect moments” just seem to happen… so for me… this was my Perfect Holiday Cigar!!
What was yours?
