Jeremiah Cruz Jr. (Better known as JJ). Photo courtesy of Jerry Cruz

On July 22nd, we set aside a little time and smoke a special cigar. While we enjoy that cigar, we allow our minds to drift and think of a special little someone who departed this world far too soon. We remember Jeremiah Cruz Jr., better known as JJ or Jerry’s Little Robusto. He passed away from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) at three and a half months old.

The cigar we smoke to remember JJ was the cigar his father, Jerry Cruz, smoked to celebrate the birth of his son. That cigar is the Don Pepin Garcia Serie JJ. Today would have been the Little Robusto’s third birthday. If you are a cigar smoker, we ask that you light up a JJ for JJ to celebrate the memory of the little guy.

One of our Brothers of the Leaf (BOTL), Barry from A Cigar Smoker’s Journal, has been extremely generous and has offered to make a donation to the American SIDS Institute for every picture he receives of someone smoking a JJ for JJ. For more information on this generous donation, please take a look at Barry’s Smoke a JJ for JJ page.

If you are interested in learning a little more about JJ, head over to the
3rd Annual Smoke a JJ for JJ Participation Post on Stogie Review.

Post from: Walt in PA

3rd Annual Smoke A JJ for JJ Day

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After a truly good meal, an outstanding cigar is still the most satisfying after-dinner activity that doesn’t involve two human beings.
Brad Shaw, Radio Announcer

The quote above by Brad Shaw is one that instantly triggers memories. Having a cigar after your run of the mill dinner is secondary to what comes to mind. When I think about an after-dinner cigar it normally brings the holidays to mind.

I suppose being able to smoke in the confines of my home (within a designated room) I have become spoiled. These days I smoke one cigar per day throughout the week. My daily routine typically has me cooking dinner shortly after getting home from work. This not only has dinner ready for my wife when she comes home from work, it also gives me a little more free time in the evening.

By having dinner between 5:30 and 6:00, I can light up a robusto after dinner and not be concerned with getting to bed at too late an hour. So, as you would have imagined, my daily cigar normally comes after having dinner and spending some time with my wife.

Having an after-dinner cigar in this manner has definitely taken away from the experience in the general sense. When I think of a more meaningful after-dinner experience, the holidays or special occasions come to mind. A prime example of this is Thanksgiving of last year.

With family living nearby, my wife and I generally pull double duty on the holidays. This particular year we had dinner with my Wife’s family followed up by having dessert at my parents house. This year it played into the cigar concept because my father is also a cigar enthusiast.

As my father and I sat around digesting our meals, we puffed away on a couple of cigars. I don’t recall if we were smoking the same brand or even what that brand they may have been. All that mattered was that the cigars were an excellent end to a fun and family-filled day.

Post from: Walt in PA

A good meal and a good cigar is something special

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Maybe it’s like becoming one with the cigar. You lose yourself in it; everything fades away: your worries, your problems, your thoughts. They fade into the smoke, and the cigar and you are at peace.
A Quote by Raul Julia

I must admit, I am not well versed when it comes to cigar quotes, or any quotes for that matter. Since starting this series of articles, I have read dozens upon dozens of quotes on cigars. Some are clever, some are funny, and some are extraordinarily deep.

Among all of those quoted, there is one that stands out in my mind among all others. That person is quoted above, Raul Julia. This man seems to have completely embraced the hobby before his untimely death in 1994. Not only did he embrace the hobby, he seems to have had a respect for it far beyond that of the occasional or social cigar smoker. He is an individual which I would have loved to meet and speak with regarding his view on life and cigars.

In the quote above, Raul Julia points out the reset that your mind seems to go through after enjoying a fine cigar. The one and only thing I can think to compare this to is riding a motorcycle. In both scenarios you clear your mind and focus completely on the task at hand, be it negotiating a curve in the road or picking out the intricacies in a cigar.

There have been very few things on my mind that could not be shaken free during some alone time a cigar. This isn’t to say that a bound bunch of leaves is the cure for your mental ills, but it is a great way to take a break from the stress and come back to it with a clear mind. Often times I find that revisiting the cause of the stress with a clear head gives me the much needed opportunity to see it from a new vantage point.

Post from: Walt in PA

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I’ve got a great cigar collection – it’s actually not a collection, because that would imply I wasn’t going to smoke every last one of ‘em.
Ron White

I have to admit, I am a bit of a cigar collector, at least by Ron White’s definition. Over the years I have purchased cigars that were meant for enjoying during a special occasion or a celebration. I find that some cigars resting in my coolidors have seen special occasions come and go, all the while never getting even close to the flame of my lighter.

It seems strange to have some of these cigars and know that I’ll probably never smoke them, especially since they are for smoking. I suppose I worry that after my prized cigar is turned to ash, I will never be able to replace it. In addition, what if it is the best cigar I have ever smoked and I torture myself by enjoying it only to never see one again. On the flip-side, what if the cigar is down right terrible and it spoils the occasion or celebration?

The simple solution would be to simply fire it up when the opportunity presents itself. If the cigar is fantastic, just drink in the moment and appreciate the cigar for what it is. If it is terrible, just pitch it and move on to something I know will turn out better.

Back in my early days of cigar smoking, I coveted anything that I felt was outside of my price range. Over time I realized the cigars were doing me no good resting in the humidor. Since then I have been finding reasons to smoke those coveted cigars, even if I’m celebrating something foolish like mowing my lawn during a heat wave without getting heat stroke.

Even with my efforts to smoke my higher priced cigars, I still find it difficult to touch flame to a select few of them. Those cigars may just wind up sitting in the cooler forever, but they have a special meaning behind them that is worth more than the enjoyment I would get from smoking them.

One of those coveted cigars is a 2005 Fuente Fuente Opus X Forbidden X. It was a gift given to me by Jerry Cruz with the stipulation that we would smoke those cigars together on the day that we each made a cool million bucks from Stogie Review. It was a running joke for a long time and I doubt we will be smoking those cigars in our lifetime. For the meaning behind that particular cigar, I’m willing to hold on to it indefinitely and simply look at it from time to time.

Post from: Walt in PA

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“The cigar is a great resource. It is necessary to have traveled for a long time on a ship to understand that at least the cigar affords you the pleasure of smoking. It raises your spirits. Are you troubled by something? The cigar dissolves it. Are you subject to aches and pains (or bad temper)? The cigar will change your disposition. Are you harassed by unpleasant thoughts? Smoking a cigar puts one in a frame of mind to dispense with these. Do you ever feel a little faint from hunger? A cigar satisfies the yearning. If you are obsessed by sad thoughts, a cigar will take your mind off of them. Finally, don’t you sometimes have some unpleasant remembrance or consoling thought? A cigar will reinforce this. Sometimes they die out, and happy are those who do not need to relight too quickly. I hardly need to say anything more about the cigar, to which I dedicate this little eulogy for past services rendered.”
The Duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, 1794

As I read through dozens of cigar quotes for these types of articles, there were some that were so much more than a clever quote regarding the enjoyment or relaxation brought on by cigars. Some of those quotes were rather deep and thought provoking, much like the one above by The Duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt in 1794.

As I read the quote over and over again, there is nothing to argue against. Each and every point made in the writing makes perfect sense to me and I would agree with all of them. Rather than try to argue against said quote, I thought perhaps I would dive into it and point out how a few sections relate to me.

”It is necessary to have traveled for a long time on a ship to understand that at least the cigar affords you the pleasure of smoking.”

In todays society, a long trip across the sea by ship is not required to elevate your stress levels. With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, stress has become a part of everyday life. In the sense of sheer boredom, I suppose a long flight or car ride can relate in a sense.

Although you won’t be smoking your cigar while flying in a commercial plane anytime soon, smoking in a car is something many of us probably do on a regular basis. While operating a motor vehicle doesn’t lend itself well to focusing on the cigar alone, it does allow you to enjoy it in a passive sense while you keep your mind focused on the road ahead.

If you have ever taken a long drive and had the option to smoke a cigar along the way, you know that even as a passive pleasure, they make a fantastic travel companion. The only problem your smoky companion may cause is the occasional ash on your lap, which I think is much nicer than one which constantly reaches for the radio.

”It raises your spirits. Are you troubled by something? The cigar dissolves it. Are you subject to aches and pains (or bad temper)? The cigar will change your disposition. Are you harassed by unpleasant thoughts? Smoking a cigar puts one in a frame of mind to dispense with these. Do you ever feel a little faint from hunger? A cigar satisfies the yearning. If you are obsessed by sad thoughts, a cigar will take your mind off of them.”

This is the part of the quote that I believe is true in every sense of the word. From time to time I find myself enveloped in stress and frustration. When these times arise, I simply need some quiet time to myself so that I can analyze my thoughts and realize the course of action required to remedy my ills.

Ever since I have started enjoying cigars, I have found that by enjoying one while I analyze my thoughts does wonders for my mood. The relaxation that the cigar provides allows me to drift away from the stresses and I can then see the issue without over-analyzing or over-complicating it.

By the time I am finished, my thoughts are in order and I find myself completely relaxed for the better portion of the time it took me to enjoy my fine, hand made, product. There are occasional times when one cigar isn’t enough, but a second always does the trick, and a nice adult beverage doesn’t hurt either. It is all about slowing down enough to see the problem for what it is, then taking the necessary steps to think it through.

”I hardly need to say anything more about the cigar, to which I dedicate this little eulogy for past services rendered.”

This little piece drives the quote home and reinforces all that has been said. It is as if the originator of this quote speaks about the cigar as a dear friend. He closes out his words by thanking the cigar for all that it has done for him. Like the originator, I too can appreciate all the times when the cigar helped get through difficult times, or even made a celebration all the more special.

Post from: Walt in PA

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A couple of months back, I was out running an errand and I must have walked past someone with an acute sense of smell. Having been fresh out of the cigar shop, I must have smelled ripe of cigars and grabbed the attention of a middle aged couple. As I made my way further down the isle, searching for an item, I overheard the two begin talking about cigars.

I tried not to eavesdrop too much, but the conversation basically revolved around a grandfather that used to smoke cigars. The conversation then changed direction and wound up focusing directly on a cigar misconception that every non-cigar smoker tends to latch on to, for one reason or another.

When the conversation took the direction of how only the wealthy could afford to smoke cigars, I was fortunate enough to have found my item and was making my way towards the cash registers. This misconception, along with the one about only old men smoke cigars, are the two I hear most frequently.

In the past, I’ve even had friends comment on how well I must be doing because I smoke cigars and drink expensive beer. In some instances I’ve had people over that seemed very uncomfortable with my offering them a cigar or drink. I would assume this was due to the cost of the items were perceived to be much more than they would typically spend on themselves. It is also equally uncomfortable to be offered money in exchange for the drink or cigar in question.

The truth of the matter is that my wife and I make a decent living but in no way consider ourselves wealthy. With our decent living, we have students loans, a car payment, a mortgage, and the expenses of day to day living to contend with.

Ten years ago, I would have probably shared this same outlook on cigars and expensive adult beverages. However, I like to think I have matured considerably since then. I no longer buy a case of beer with the intention to get drunk and carry on. The same goes for when I enter the liquor store, I’m not buying with the mindset that the bottle will be empty by the end of the weekend.

The last case of beer I purchased was Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout. Due to the way Pennsylvania operates, getting a six-pack is very difficult. Because of my purchase consisting of a case, the cost was right around $55.00. Reaching for a bottle every now and again, the case wound up lasting me just under two-months.

The same goes for Scotch. My favorite thus far has been Macallan 12 year old Single Malt. The cost per 750ml bottle runs about $50.00. While the cost of this single bottle of whisky may give most people a serious case of sticker shock, I don’t mind spending that kind of money knowing that the bottle will last me two to three months, on average.

The common thread between these items and cigars is that they are meant to be appreciated. I don’t light up a cigar with the same mindset as a cigarette smoker, using it for nothing more than a nicotine delivery system. Time is set aside to enjoy what I have, and often times a nice craft brew or Scotch / Bourbon goes hand-in-hand with said cigar.

I’m not going to attempt to bore you with figures, but cigars are not as expensive as you may think. I generally smoke one cigar per day which averages about $5.00. When that cost is compared to smoking a pack or two of cigarettes per day, you can see that the price difference isn’t as far off as one might initially imagine.

What I am getting at here is that you may find things in life more enjoyable if you reverse roles sometime and give quality over quantity a try. By not smoking for nicotine and drinking to become intoxicated, I am able to appreciate the finer things in life without breaking the bank. Granted, the initial cost may seem high, but it all averages out in the end.

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“They had no good cigars there, my lord; and I left the place in disgust.”
Alfred Lord Tennyson, returning from Venice

Each and every time I read the above quote by Alfred Lord Tennyson, I can’t help but laugh a little. I envision a noble man standing in a caste, white cape gleaming, while a man strides up to him to report his journey. As he stands there, breastplate highly polished, wearing a helmet with a stripe of red rising from the peak like a flaming Mohawk, he reports to his commander that “They had no good cigars there, my lord; and I left the place in disgust“.

While I have never left a place in disgust due to lack of cigars, I feel Lord Tennyson’s pain. On more than one occasion I have gone on family trips and outings, finding myself with some unexpected spare time to enjoy a cigar. More than once I have been stopped in my tracks when I discovered that the closest cigar shop to the town I was staying in was miles and miles away.

Because I have had one too many of those types of experiences, I find myself packing cigars even if I do not expect to smoke one. I also pack a spare or two just in case I am joined on my cigar excursion.

In the occurrence that I know I will be in the vicinity of a cigar shop, or plenty of cigars, I still pack some of my own. During my last two trips to the annual IPCPR Convention, I made sure to have several cigars on hand. You may find that kind of crazy being that I was going to a cigar convention, but at times you just want to smoke something you know you will enjoy without the surprises of convention samples.

Post from: Walt in PA

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I even smoke in bed. Imagine smoking a cigar in bed, reading a book. Next to your bed, there’s a cigar table with a special cigar ashtray, and your wife is reading a book on how to save the environment.
Quote from Raul Julia

Ah, to smoke a cigar in the comfort of your bed. A beautiful and understanding woman lying next to you entertaining herself while you slowly puff on your cigar and savor the moment. This is a scenario I think most cigar smokers would kill for, but given the chance would probably avoid like the plague.

You are probably wondering, if it is such a great scenario then why avoid it? The answer is very simple, in my eyes anyway. You see, many cigar smokers avoid smoking within their own home because cigars tend to be rather odoriferous. The smoke smell clings to things around the house such as your fabric drapes and furniture.

Unless you are changing your bedding daily, I would think the smoke would lock on tight and become a nuisance, irritating you as you attempt to drift off to sleep. It may only be a minor irritant after the first time, but think of how your non-smoking spouse would respond to the pleasant smell of cigars bound to their pillow.

Despite the downside of the lingering aroma on your bedding, smoking in bed is awesome! You see, I’ve never had the pleasure of smoking in bed while at home, but I have had the pleasure in hotel rooms that permitted smoking. In a hotel situation, you get all the benefits without the drawbacks. Each morning after you rise from bed and go about your day, the cleaning staff comes in to change the bedding for you.

The first time I had the pleasure of smoking in bed was a few years ago while attending Cigarfest. I was with a group of people who all were fortunate enough to get smoking rooms. After a long day of hanging out and carrying on, we all made our way back to the hotel. Before turning in for the night, I stretched out on the bed, fired up one last cigar, and watched a little television.

Lying there completely relaxed with a cigar hanging out of my mouth as I watched some old television re-run was so much nicer than I would have thought. When I was finished, I hopped into the shower and got cleaned up before turning in. The following evening I returned to my clean room to do it all over again.

The same scenario took place while attending the annual IPCPR convention in both Las Vegas and New Orleans. The one and only issue I ran into was in Las Vegas when I set off the smoke alarm, which was located right above he bed I was lying in.

If you ever find yourself away on business, without your better half, do yourself a favor and get a smoking room just so that you can experience the awe that is smoking a cigar in the comfort of bed. Even if you are only able to do it once in your life, I doubt you will regret the relaxation that it brings on.

Post from: Walt in PA

The Pleasure of Smoking a Cigar in Bed

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Last week I was scanning through my list of RSS Feeds when one of them caught my eye. While I am not an everyday reader of Copyblogger, I do read a couple of articles throughout the week. This time around, I saw an article entitled “One Foolproof Trick to Blast Writer’s Block” written by James Chartrand.

Having had my fair share of trouble coming up with post ideas, I dove right in and began reading. The concept for beating writers block was not only simple, it was genius. It took the simple concept of naturally forming an opinion on things you read and applied it to popular quotes.

I liked the idea so much that I sought out a couple dozen cigar quotes and became eager to get started. Initially I was planning on placing these topics on Stogie Review but wasn’t completely comfortable with the idea. Being that these quotes are going to generate a lot of opinion, I thought it might clash with the more educational and informative style of Stogie Review.

Instead, I thought I would try a few out here on Walt In PA so that I could get a feel for how they went, writing wise, and to test the waters on how they are received. If they go over very well, I may shift them over to Stogie Review to get more eyes and responses on the writing.

In any case, this post is the first in this potentially long series, which has yet to be titled.

A youth with his first cigar makes himself sick; a youth with his first girl makes other people sick.
A Quote from Mary Wilson Little

Ah, to be young again (relatively speaking, after all, I am only twenty-seven) and fawn all over a pretty young girl. To think up ways to impress this individual, and of course inadvertently drive the adults around you crazy.

Having read a few more quotes by Mary Wilson Little after finding the one above, I think the quote was meant to focus more on young love rather than cigars. Being a cigar nut, I obviously begin thinking about the cigar part of the quote and focused less on that of young love.

When we were young, we all found ourselves in a position to do something fun that was frowned upon by our parents. Some took things a little farther than others, but we have all been in the situation where we had a finger waved at us while the person on the other end of that finger was hollering about the results of our actions.

Being young, we feel the urge to rebel against anything deemed as not cool. When it came to being cool, some of us ventured out into the waters of trying cigars. I mean come on, how cool did you feel when you popped that first Swisher Sweet or White Own Grape into your mouth before setting it aflame.

After the cigar was burning and we were about half way in, some of us weren’t feeling so cool anymore. While my first experience with a cigar didn’t leave me tossing my cookies, I wasn’t feeling so great. In fact, I can recall one friend loosing it after showing all of us how cool he was with his cigar.

The first time I had my first real cigar I think I was about eighteen years old. It was some time around New Years Eve and an older friend of mine passed out a few Churchills. I don’t recall what they were or where he picked them up, but the urge to be cool hit me once again.

This time around, I wasn’t feeling ill after smoking most of the cigar but I couldn’t understand what was so appealing about it. By the time I reached the band I tossed it into an ashtray and was happy to be rid of it. My mouth tasted so dirty that all I wanted to do was brush my teeth.

Some years later I embraced the hobby, but I still find it amazing that I have come full circle. From being ill to recommending cigars as a hobby to those interested. With such a poor first impression, I would have never thought to be seeking out and buying cigars years later.

Post from: Walt in PA

Memories of that first cigar

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As I’ve said in the past, I am a fan of Darren Rowse and ProBlogger. I subscribe to the ProBlogger RSS feed and for a fair amount of reading throughout the week. A couple of weeks ago, Darren had a guest post outlining the thirty bloggers to watch in 2010. The following week, he posted an article asking his readers to come up with their own list.

Being the avid fan of cigars that I am, I thought I would come up with a list of my own bloggers to watch in 2010. My list has been created to follow the cigar theme in some way. Some of these bloggers cover other topics, but there is a cigar element involved along the way.

10) Lindsay Heller from The Holy Trinity
When scanning through this list, Lindsay Heller and The Holy Trinity probably had you drawing a complete blank, and rightfully so, the blog was just created on January 13th, 2010. So if her blog was just started recently, why is it on my list? The answer to that question lies in Lindsay’s Twitter Personality. She is a straight shooter that provides loads of interesting information to those of us interested in cigars and adult beverages. In addition, Lindsay provided three fantastic Guest Articles for Stogie Review which has me eager to read what she has to say in the future.

09) Skip Martin from Smoke Signals
Skip Martin and Smoke Signals are names that you hear flying around Twitter from time to time. While Skip doesn’t blog on a regular basis, when he does it is a smash hit. All of his posts are well written with a lot of passion behind the message being presented. If you take advantage of an RSS Reader, I would strongly suggest subscribing to Skip’s blog because you won’t want to miss what he has to say next.

08) Chris from Nice Tight Ash
Selecting just one of the Guys from Nice Tight Ash was practically impossible. These guys do a wide array of things that cover cigars, from reviews of cigars and accessories to industry news. In addition to informative articles, the guys also produce good quality video content. Be sure to look them up sometime, I think you may like what you find.

07) J. Mulley from The World According to Stew
J. Mulley, or Stew, started his blog back in April of 2008 and quickly began producing written cigar reviews. Along the way, Stew switched over to providing his readership with video reviews. Not only are Stew’s videos informative but he also throws in a bit of outside banter from time to time, which makes them fun to watch.

06) Tom Adcock from Tom’s Cigars
Two years ago, Stogie Review presented a first guest review from Tom Adcock and friend Ed Nazre. The duo made for both entertaining and interesting reviews. Over the last two years, Tom has expanded from his regular guest spot on Stogie Review and created a blog of his own. Here you will not only find occasional video reviews, you will also find written reviews that are short and to the point.

05) Tony Ricciardi from Smoke Score
Some time on 2009 I received word that Tony was starting his own blog rating wines and cigars entitled Leaf and Grape. Over time it seemed that his readership wanted less wine talk and more cigar talk. Because of this, Smoke Score was born. Even before the transition, Tony has produced some quality writing that is full of interesting information.

04) Barry Stein from A Cigar Smoker
Barry is a cigar blogger that made his appearance on the web back in April of 2008 with written cigar reviews. Since then, Barry has made excellent headway in expanding his writing. Each reviews points out interesting information as to the origin, or back story, of the cigar before breaking down his opinion into manageable proportions.

03) David “The Doc” Diaz from Stogie Fresh
The Doc has been involved in Cigars as a member of the press for some time now. In addition to a regularly scheduled podcast he also produces some fantastic articles to expand his readers horizons. His articles are always information packed and well written. If you haven’t ventured over to Stogie Fresh in your journey through the world of cigars, I would strongly suggest taking a look.

02) Brian Hewitt from Stogie Review
I am biased here and you all probably know that. As a co-founder of Stogie Review, no list of mine would be complete without some sort of reference back to my home blog. Regardless of my bias, Brian writes some terrific articles that are very engaging. In addition, the man is a machine with a red editors pen. You can read Brian’s writing every Wednesday on Stogie Review in the form of cigar reviews.

01) Jerry Cruz from Stogie Review
As I said with in the blurb about Brian Hewitt, I am completely biased towards Stogie Review. Just like the case above, the bias doesn’t make much of a difference here because Jerry is a very engaging individual that shines when video blogging. Jerry has a straight shooter type of attitude and says what is on his mind at any given moment. This turns off the occasional viewer but makes him real in the eyes of many others. In the off chance that you haven’t seen Jerry shine, take a look at a video he did just last month portraying Jerry the Elf.

Post from: Walt in PA

10 Cigar Bloggers to Watch in 2010

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