Guest Commentary: Cigar Appreciation through Distraction

[Editors’ Note: The following is a guest commentary from Chris Verhoeven, a friend of StogieGuys.com who is studying at Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam.]

Initially, the concept of “cigar appreciation through distraction” sounds like a contradiction in terms. How can one further enjoy a cigar by distracting oneself from the experience of smoking it? Let me explain.

I recently embarked on the journey that is getting a master’s degree and have found that I have more reading to do than ever before. This includes a good deal of things that I would not regularly consider enjoyable reading, too, and it started to eat away at my free time—a time usually devoted to cigar smoking.

I decided that I should simply combine the two. Pick out a cigar and head for my university’s smoking lounge to light up and power through some material. Since I assumed I would be consumed by the task of reading, though, I continually reached for my lesser sticks. Good sticks in their own right, but not ones I would otherwise pick for an all-out smoking experience. These include Don Lino’s Africa line, Padilla Hybrids, and the Tatuaje Angeles.

But something strange happened. I found that I started to enjoy these sticks, cigars that I smoked regularly back when I couldn’t afford the high-end stuff, more than ever before. I was falling in love with them again. This got me thinking.

Awhile back, StogieGuys.com published an article that evinced that the average cigar was only meant to be puffed once or twice per minute. What I found was that by distracting myself, I smoked at a slower, more relaxed pace and generally enjoyed the cigar more while picking up on its subtleties.

So, with this in mind, I suggest you give it a try. Pick out a book, trudge through some Sudoku puzzles, or do anything else that you enjoy. Much like fine liquor, these activities can actually complement the cigar and add to your enjoyment of the smoking experience.

That said, I’ll still probably continue to horde my Opus Xs, Anejos, and Padrón Anniversaries for special occasions or moments of blissful smoke emersion. But at least now I’m giving myself a chance to fall in love with some of fine, cheaper sticks that simply require me to slow down and give them a chance to shine.

-Chris Verhoeven

photo credit: Flickr