As a kid I was an altar boy in our church which was my introduction to show business.  I used to love putting on the black or red robes and stand at the front of our little church and watch the reaction of the parishioners as my favorite priest we called “Hatchet Louie” scream, rant and scold the good people of our little town for a variety of reasons.  If they came to church late and quietly slipped into one of the back pews he’d scream bloody murder, if a baby was crying the mother would get a quick warning then all hell would break loose if the poor thing made another peep.  Needless to say, he was a little high strung but I got along with him just fine since I was usually one of two altar boys to volunteer to go along with him to this little church on the reservation about 15 miles out of town where he had to say mass.

Now the best part of hangin’ out with the ol’ Hatchet man was riding with him in his car.  My father is a conservative man who drives the speed limit but I couldn’t wait to get into the old priest’s big Chrysler, stand up in the back (I was a small kid) and watch the fence post’s blur as he sped, swerved and hit every gopher on those gravel roads.  Seat belts??  Who needed seat belts back then!!  He always had a rosary in one hand, the steering wheel in the other and a White Owl in his mouth.  I remember they were White Owls because I was usually wading ankle deep in crushed White Owl packs on the floor in the back.

Father Louis left our world one Sunday afternoon as his Chrysler came roaring over a little hill and careened into a loitering herd of Black Angus cattle that somehow broke through the barb-wire fence in their pasture and then gathered on the road to decide which way to go, cows really aren’t a snap decision sort of creature.   I miss that guy and sometimes I light a cigar when I’m behind the wheel and see how fast my car can go but its just not the same.

With all of his rough edges I still think Father Louie made it to heaven, chances are he still has that pack of White Owls in his shirt pocket but I hope he gets to smoke the odd Cohiba now and then.

More and more women are getting used to the idea that the “Old Boy’s Club” tradition of having drinks and cigars after a good meal may no longer be restricted to that single gender.  Women have appeared on the covers of magazines proudly displaying a cigar in their hands and well, to be honest, I’m all for it!  There are many reasons for my enthusiasm regarding their involvement but the main one is that I get more cigars out of the deal.  What????  Its true !!

My wife and I recently came back from a wonderful holiday in Cuba where we got sunburned, had massive hangovers, heatstroke and lost a very valuable camera in Havana.  It was the best holiday we could have imagined.  The smell of cigars in the air in the different bars mixed with the sound of the music left a big impression on us both so we can’t wait to go back.

These days whenever I’m smoking cigars and especially the Cohibas I always insist that my wife has a puff or two.  I want her to know how a good cigar tastes and I want her to get involved in my passion as well.  She’ll tell me if she likes the smell in the air when I’m smoking and she likes some better than others.  She does NOT like the smell of a non-Cuban cigar so I don’t even ask her to try those, not that I smoke that many, I simply love the muskiness of Cuban tobacco.

Ever since we came back from our holiday my wife seems to surprise me with the odd cigar she picked up at Vancouver Cigar Company on her way home from work.  She knows the guys, stops in and says a quick hello and before you know it I’m holding a Siglo IV, Piramides or robusto that she thought she’d surprise me with just because she was thinking about me…. Awwwwwwwww !!!

So much has been written about the rights of smokers or the lack of that I can’t bring myself to rant on and on about it.

I feel that world travel is relatively easy to accomplish and the benefits can be numerous.  So much can be learned about different cultures when you actually go to their cities, speak to their inhabitants, taste their foods and get to know that the only demons in this world are the ones in our imaginations.  By seeing a nation of people that you’ve never been subjected to you actually witness parents walking down the sidewalks as they hold the hands of their children ( just like at home ), you might see friends laughing and joking in the shops that you visit ( just like at home ) and you see students walking in groups on their way to school ( JUST LIKE AT HOME!!! )  We become more tolerant of other people when we leave the security of our homes, call a cab, go to the airport, fly off to a country we’ve never been to before and get to know the people who live there!

I can hear you from here saying, ” What does this possibly have to do with a particularly frosty Siglo VI??? ”

We’ll get to the temperature of the cigar in a moment but for now I have to say the world travel is vital for  North American cigar smokers because other than the fact that you can taste some pretty interesting alcoholic beverages in different countries, THERE ARE A LOT OF COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD WHERE YOU CAN STILL SMOKE CIGARS IN PUBLIC !!!!   Imagine restaurants where there are still smoking and non-smoking sections, bars with live music where ashtrays are set in front of you by smiling attendants and sidewalk cafes where you can watch the world stroll by as you puff on your favorite duty free Cuban.  Oh yeah, I didn’t even get to the duty free part of world travel.

So back to the Siglo VI.  I was in Alberta about 5 winters ago and was attending the wedding of my favorite cousin.  After landing in Calgary ( the Houston of the great white north ) I picked up my rental car and went straight to a cigar shop to pick up a few stogies for the wedding, one being my first Siglo VI.   I had a few hours to kill after I got to the hotel, the NON-smoking hotel and since the Siglo suspense was getting the better of me I went down to the park bench the hotel management had so graciously supplied for us social lepers about 30 feet from the front door.  I brushed off most of the snow and had a seat!  I remember thinking to myself that this just might be a waste of money but I cut the cap, held the torch in my bare hands to warm it up enough for the fuel to actually lignite and lit the foot.

I remember the wind starting to pick up and the temperature dropping as what sun there was that day went behind a cloud.  Bundled up parents with children in tow tried not to make eye contact with me as they whisked by with their boots in the squeaking snow.  After about 20 minutes one of the ladies from the front desk came out to my arctic oasis in her light sweater and heels for her smoke break but said very little, smoked her cigarette in record time and awkwardly shuffled back to the warm glow of her computer monitor like a defeated Tanya Harding.

This wasn’t working out at all.  I remember the once moist cigar getting as hard as a rock in the whistling wind gusts and having a very uneven burn.  I seem to remember the taste was, well, I don’t think I can remember but I do remember what I thought when this spanish speaking couple got out of their car in the parking lot beside me and dragged their suitcases through a snow bank on their way to check in.  I imagined them probably being lucky enough to get one of the expensive rooms with the fireplace while I wondered how long it would take to get the feeling back in my feet.

What happened next was nothing short of divine intervention by the great gods of Cuban tobacco.  I took a puff and for a second experienced what I thought was the same incredible spicy flavor I remembered tasting one hot sunny afternoon as I leisurely puffed away in one of Lisbon’s sidewalk cafes.  What I did next made perfect sense to me, at least at the time.  I saw an explosion of sparks as I hurled approximately $25 worth of the finest Cuban tobacco money can buy at the windshield of a mini-van parked in front of me and limped back to my room.

A few months back Vancouver Cigar held a party for friends and associates and had a guest Cuban cigar roller with a table set up in the room.  This torcedor had R&J tobacco with him and was demonstrating his skills by producing some mighty fine cigars the size of a toro.  Actually I had seen him the week before at another party that a different cigar store had on a golf course and I guess, not unlike the “Stones”, when you leave your home town its best to spread yourself around and be seen by as many people as possible.  This guy was on tour!  Being able to leave his home country and be an ambassador for Cuban cigars was what he was very good at and I felt lucky to be part of a select group that got to line up and acquire some of his hand rolled masterpieces to keep and age in the humidor at home.

There is something unique about a group of individuals that share the same passion, in this case Cuban cigars.  There were a lot of people I didn’t know there but in no way did I ever at any time feel out of place.  I am fearless when it comes to walking up to strangers and striking up a conversation, a skill I inherited from my father.  Information about Cuban cigars was a commodity being generously passed back and forth and so much was learned that night by yours truly.  I was surrounded by people who had pulled up in their Beemers and other fine German automobiles along with students who came to the party by public transport.  This is the interesting thing about gatherings of this nature, it wasn’t about us at all this was an evening about the shared passion of Cuban tobacco.

At one point near the end of the night I approached our guest roller and struck up a bit of a conversation concerning the rollers at “El Laguito” as you all well know is the holy grail, the Mecca, the big Kahuna of cigar factories in Havana where Cohiba cigars are produced.  He gave me a very brief history on the place and never once took his eyes off the cigar he was working on.  I felt I was being a bit intrusive seeing he was so focused and all but I had to ask him just one more question.  I’ve always wondered how it is that you can become an employee at such a factory that puts out the best cigars in all of Cuba so I asked him as much.  He stopped what he was doing, looked up at me and in a very matter of fact tone said, ” They live in the Neighbourhood.”

WHAT????????

I couldn’t believe what I had just heard.  I thought that at a very young age every child in every school in Cuba would be tested for either his or her potential to be the best of the best and land a job at the top of the mountain.  But maybe thats what so many of us think as we stare lovingly at the Cohibas we smoke.  Nope!  Now seeing my shock he told me that I shouldn’t kid myself, these are still some of the the finest cigar rollers in Cuba but….. they also just happen to live in the Neighbourhood.

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Much has been written about the mighty Cohiba robusto, Esplendido and Limited editions that come out of the hallowed halls of El Laguito but maybe for now we can address the Siglo 1.  This little 4 inch dynamo with a 40 ring gauge tends to surprise even the most particular and stubborn aficionado with it’s taste and smoothness.  Don’t get me wrong, it comes out of the gate with quite an attitude and no shortage of pepper but if handled carefully and smoked slowly you’ll be rewarded with a sweetness and creaminess that we’ve come to expect from Cohiba.

Another thing I noticed with this Perla was the draw and consistency I experienced every time I lit one up. This never ceases to amaze me and I have so much respect for the torcedor and how skilled these artists are.  My only complaint was that it only lasted for 30 minutes and time after time I was left wanting more but isn’t this what we love about small packages?

One more thing, and I have to admit that I’m a sucker for enticing packaging but the tube this cigar came in is the picture of elegance.  One thing that Cohiba has, and I think always has had, is a marvelously talented marketing and design group.  I’m sold!

My Name is Gene and I’ll be spending some time these next few months contributing to this wonderful site.

As I write this I’m smoking a wonderful 3 year old Bolivar Royal Corona.  Yesterday I enjoyed a Montecristo Edmundo which I found tantalizing and the day before, if memory serves me right, I had a Ramon Allones Specially Selected.  I feel fortunate in that I have a well stocked humidor with many different Cuban cigars which never let me down.  What does this have to do with a Cohiba blog you may be asking yourself?  Well, I’ll tell you…..  But just not yet…

When I first went to Cuba some years ago I have to admit that I went for the sun, the rum and to experience the culture which was teeming with music, laughter and a wonderful sense of pride regarding their exquisite cigars.  I didn’t really know much back then about cigars but felt that I should sample a few and thought that well, maybe the smaller ring gauge would turn out to be milder and easier to smoke.  I bought a few H. Upmann coronas junior and R&J No. 3 in the tubes which tasted fine to me but as I sat in the Havana bars I kept seeing a lot of other patrons smoking the larger ring gauge cigars which made me wonder how long it took for these other smokers to develop a taste for such powerful and strong beasts.  On the way home from Havana I stopped in at the airport duty free and picked up a few boxes of my small ring gauge friends and with a song in my heart and a spring in my step I then flew home and immediately bought a humidor.   This began a journey which was exciting, educational and extremely rewarding but if this was a movie this would be the time to cue the music which would be the ominous minor chord.

A very good friend of mine was given a box of Esplendidos that came from his son in law returning from a trip to Costa Rica.  We were both really excited about this treasure and I was given a couple to try.  Now I had always been told that Cohiba produces some of the finest quality cigars the world has ever seen and I couldn’t wait to light one up, sit back and relax.  The music is getting darker and louder.  I couldn’t believe that anything could be so painful to smoke but I was still new to the game and was sure that I still had a long way to go in culturing a taste for what everyone else was saying was the finest that Cuba had to offer.

What I did next was maybe the smartest thing I could have done and that was to completely avoid the Cohiba line for what seemed like an eternity.  I smoked every other brand to come out of Cuba and developed a real passion for Robustos, Churchills, Corona Gordas and pretty much anything else I could get my hands on or afford.  Oh yeah, I also noticed that there was a bit of a price tag for my new found passion and Cohiba appeared to be leading the charge in the price department but so many people smoke Cohibas and after a while I felt the same curiosity I had back in Havana when I observed the more seasoned and experienced smokers.  More time went on and then one of my good friends from Vancouver Cigar gave me a Cohiba Robusto (Cue the music).

This robusto sat in my humidor for a few days and then one Sunday morning I couldn’t take it any longer.  Hey, this was a free cigar, if I didn’t like it I could always throw it away without any harm done so I pulled it out, removed the cap and set the foot on fire.  What happened next was something I’ll never forget.  I was riveted to my chair as I tasted the most beautiful Cuban tobacco I had ever smoked.  This cigar seemed to have 3 different stages which started with pepper and leather and then moved quickly into dried fruit and the final third revealed chocolate and coffee.  Angels were singing as I tasted this example of Cohiba perfection and I began to feel sad about all the time I spent not smoking anything from Cohiba for such a length of time.  I took a picture of the robusto with it’s white ash as it burned peacefully in the sunlight and to this day it is that picture that I use as my cel phone’s desktop.

Since that day I’ve enjoyed many REAL Esplendidos and as time goes on while I am here I’ll be spending more time talking about the moments I’ve spent smoking other shapes and sizes from what I think is the finest brand of cigar made today.  At the end of all of this I still feel so lucky that I took the time to learn what the other Cuban brands had to offer and I DO have a passion for so many of them but for now and this next little while I’d like to concentrate on Cohiba.

Please let me know if this is a story that is in any way similar to your own Cuban cigar experience.