No rest for the wicked…

To rest or chew that is the question for many of us. I was told and taught by the powers that be that a cigar should rest between puff, in an ash tray, that way it doesn’t get to hot or bitter, or even so moist that it falls apart or goes out.

 However me being the average Joe cigar smoker, I usually just hold mine or keep it in my mouth. The brands and lines of cigars I smoke are affordable so that it doesn’t matter if it rests between puffs or not. I can’t afford to be smoking $200.00 to $300.00 boxes of cigars, so the case for resting my cigars is moot.

I have seen many amusing rest stops for cigars. Between the Pickets of a stockade fence, on the brick foundation of a bar, the rail of a fence and one time on my refrigerator door handle (that fat bastard). So I guess whether you use an ash tray and rest your cigars is a personal preference, do I have them yes, do I use them occasionally, would I use them if I smoke very, very expensive cigars? You bet your ash! there would be a cigar in every room resting in an ash tray because if I could smoke cigars that were that expensive I would be rich and would have nothing better to do than sit in every room of my domain and smoke and rest my cigars everywhere.

So I say to you, you upstart cigar Aficionados that push your cigar etiquette on others I will rest no cigar before its time…There is No rest for the wicked.  

This blog entry was inspired by a Fellow Cigar smoker who thinks that he knows what is better for your cigars and us as cigar smokers to the point of annoyance. It is all about enjoying cigars not being chastised because we do not stop and let our cigars rest, cigar Nazi.

Happy Smoking

 B.O.T.L.

~Cigar Ash~

When Size Matters

People today, in my opinion, are far to concerned about what fancy, shmancy, name brand cigar they want to smoke and are not putting enough thought into what size they should be smoking in that particular time frame or situation.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good fancy shmancy cigar just as much as anyone else. What doesn’t make sense to me is when someone picks a 60 ring gauge, Churchill and is only going to the corner store, wasting half the thing to the great cement ashtray in the sky. It can be the greatest cigar in the world but if you throw away 3 dollars of a 7 dollar cigar how good could it really be? If you put so much thought and pride on what great name brand cigar to smoke, why not put some of your time into thinking about what size cigar to smoke in the time given to you?
Now I have found through out the years that it is not so much the ring gauge but rather the length that helps me makes my decision. Now of course a cheaper or less desired cigar always runs the risk of being wasted no matter what size, before a more expensive one, there are still some standards I like to smoke by. For instance, if you’re going out for a short period, like on your lunch break, a 4.5 X 50 Rothschild or a 5 x 50 Robusto is perfect. If I’m traveling in my car and have an hour or so to kill a 6 x 52 Toro, or a 6.5 x 52 torpedo are always good choices. And on the days when I have all the time in the world, sitting around with some friends, drinking coffee or some good whiskey and all I have to worry about is just how many cigars I can smoke before I have to shave my tongue; a 7 x 52 Churchill always hits the spot.
Maybe I’m just an old fashion guy, or maybe I’m just an ass, but don’t come bragging to me about your 12 dollar stoge, waving it around like it’s a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory and throw half of the thing away once you had your fill. To me there is nothing more revealing about someone’s actual love or seriousness for smoking cigars then this simple, little gesture of waste. If this is your style, and you know who you are, do your self a favor, think before you smoke. Or you could always just blow it out your smoke ring…

Tommy Wang