The Best Cigar I Evver Had
Alex_Svenson
Posts: 1,224 ✭✭✭
It is inevitable, you are out at a party or anywhere meeting new people and as soon as someone finds out you have a true ifinity for fine cigars, you are bound to get one of several standard questions: Are Cuban cigars really better? and of course my favorite, what is the best cigar you have ever smoked. I am flying out to meet some collegues right now and the guy on the plane next to me just asked me the later once he found out I work in the biz. I used to have somewhat of a canned response for such a question, but last weekend, I had the privilige of actually smoking "the best cigar of my life". With the experience fresh in my mind, I figured it might make for an interesting blog.
Notice that I said experience above, what I have found over the last 20 years is that the actual cigar itself plays a small role in "the best cigar you ever smoked" contest. For me it was a Diesel Unlimited Robusto, a cigar I have smoked so many times before but this one was made special by the food, ambiance and company I kept.
As many of you know, I spend a significant amount of time traveling and blending as part of my job as a buyer and merchandiser in the cigar industry. The job is wonderful and of course is filled with perks, but it has one big disadvantage. Smoking and tasting cigars day in and day out, it becomes hard to find the time to relax with "my cigar", the one I set aside to enjoy and unwind. As a cigar lover for many years before this became my job, the time i have always made for myself with my daily cigar has always been of the utmost importance in my life. One way I preserve the time for my cigar is by keeping my last night on my travels open so that I can set aside time to spend with myt friends in the industry as friends rather than suppliers or customers, where we just smoke and enjoy each others company. Back to last week, after a 5 day stint between Nicaragua and Honduras I headed back to Managua Thursday night before my flight our Friday morning. My good friend Kris who works with AJ Fernandez accompanied me as he had been in Esteli for a few weeks and was eager to get to a larger city for some excitement. We ate at a restaurant in Managua called San Juan del Selva which is a staple for me when I am in Managua resting before traveling home. The place is amazing, not just by Nicaraguan standards but by any standards. Owned by an old Italian gentleman for the last 20 years, the menu is very pricey but the food delivers. The man can cook. Having met up with one or two othe friends who live in Managua, we feaster for a solid two hours. Appitizers from mushrooms, eggplant, small flank steak filets and monstrous shrimp the size of lobster tails filled the table. After polishing them off we moved on to a 20oz ribie each cooked to perfection and a massive baked potato as the red wine flowed. After dinner I lit up my Diesel and the smoke clung perfectly to the ligering fat cells in my mouth from that juicy steak. From the moment we sat down to the moment we left, the coversation never seemed to stop as we told stories and caught up on old times. At the end of the night as I was moving into the last third of my cigar, the waiter brought over a round of Hennessey in warm glasses which perfectly rounded off the long finish from the cigar.
I still cant get over how a cigar I have smoked hundreds of times can change so much by the atmosphere. I guess it just goes to show that cigars really are an "experience". Perhaps there is more we can do to ensure we get the most from our cigars, such as waiting for that perfect moment or surrounding ourselves around good company. I know this experience will forever change the way I think about that cigar I reserve as my own for the day.
Notice that I said experience above, what I have found over the last 20 years is that the actual cigar itself plays a small role in "the best cigar you ever smoked" contest. For me it was a Diesel Unlimited Robusto, a cigar I have smoked so many times before but this one was made special by the food, ambiance and company I kept.
As many of you know, I spend a significant amount of time traveling and blending as part of my job as a buyer and merchandiser in the cigar industry. The job is wonderful and of course is filled with perks, but it has one big disadvantage. Smoking and tasting cigars day in and day out, it becomes hard to find the time to relax with "my cigar", the one I set aside to enjoy and unwind. As a cigar lover for many years before this became my job, the time i have always made for myself with my daily cigar has always been of the utmost importance in my life. One way I preserve the time for my cigar is by keeping my last night on my travels open so that I can set aside time to spend with myt friends in the industry as friends rather than suppliers or customers, where we just smoke and enjoy each others company. Back to last week, after a 5 day stint between Nicaragua and Honduras I headed back to Managua Thursday night before my flight our Friday morning. My good friend Kris who works with AJ Fernandez accompanied me as he had been in Esteli for a few weeks and was eager to get to a larger city for some excitement. We ate at a restaurant in Managua called San Juan del Selva which is a staple for me when I am in Managua resting before traveling home. The place is amazing, not just by Nicaraguan standards but by any standards. Owned by an old Italian gentleman for the last 20 years, the menu is very pricey but the food delivers. The man can cook. Having met up with one or two othe friends who live in Managua, we feaster for a solid two hours. Appitizers from mushrooms, eggplant, small flank steak filets and monstrous shrimp the size of lobster tails filled the table. After polishing them off we moved on to a 20oz ribie each cooked to perfection and a massive baked potato as the red wine flowed. After dinner I lit up my Diesel and the smoke clung perfectly to the ligering fat cells in my mouth from that juicy steak. From the moment we sat down to the moment we left, the coversation never seemed to stop as we told stories and caught up on old times. At the end of the night as I was moving into the last third of my cigar, the waiter brought over a round of Hennessey in warm glasses which perfectly rounded off the long finish from the cigar.
I still cant get over how a cigar I have smoked hundreds of times can change so much by the atmosphere. I guess it just goes to show that cigars really are an "experience". Perhaps there is more we can do to ensure we get the most from our cigars, such as waiting for that perfect moment or surrounding ourselves around good company. I know this experience will forever change the way I think about that cigar I reserve as my own for the day.
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Comments
DAMN.....
This reads better than a PLAYBOY FORUM! I have got to Eat at this Place and ENjoy One of my Favorites ..... The Diesel Unlimited....... Thanks for the Great Story....... I agree totally with this Thread about the Experience.... it is a whole lot more than just smoking a GOOD CIGAR! It is the Whole Kit and Kabootle!
Thanks For your Sacrafice for us BOTL! LOL
Ozzie
DAMN..... This reads better than a PLAYBOY FORUM! I have got to Eat at this Place and ENjoy One of my Favorites ..... The Diesel Unlimited....... Thanks for the Great Story....... I agree totally with this Thread about the Experience.... it is a whole lot more than just smoking a GOOD CIGAR! It is the Whole Kit and Kabootle! Thanks For your Sacrafice for us BOTL! LOL Ozzie --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I agree the expierence deff increases the enjoyment of the cigar. Im usually alone when i smoke though. Not to many people around that enjoy a good cigar.
I sit out in my patio quietly unwinding with a cigar and coffee and a book or catalog.
I have a portable fire pit that I burn when it is cold. The weather has been cold lately and since the air has changed I can hear TAPS playing over the speakers from the airforce base(10 miles away) at 10:00PM, I kind of find that relaxing.
My dogs come out to spend time with me also instead of staying inside, all around good time to reflect on the day.