Commentary: Special Cigars for Special Occasions

You may have noticed that, over the last week, I’ve been somewhat missing in action. I have a good excuse (or, rather, excuses).

For one, aside from playing a little golf and saying goodbye to many great friends and coworkers, my wife and I recently packed up our apartment in Virginia, loaded up our belongings, and drove them to our new home in Chicago. On Friday we closed on our condo (our first home purchase). On Saturday and Sunday we unloaded and began the unpacking process. Today is my first day at my new job.

As exciting and wonderful as all these changes are, I’ve been incredibly busy. I look forward to getting settled in, establishing a new routine, and maybe even taking a few moments to celebrate some big milestones in my life—including my first wedding anniversary, which passed on May 15 with little time for fanfare.

I also look forward to enjoying a few nice cigars. While I’ve never needed an excuse to fire up a premium smoke, I find that special occasions make great opportunities to light up cigars that I may have been aging or saving for months or even years. Here are a few of the cigars that I’m really looking forward to:

• Arturo Fuente King B
• Ashton Classic Corona
• EO 601 Serie “Red” Robusto
• La Aurora Guillermo León Gran Corona
• Litto Gomez Diez Small Batch No. 2
• Paul Garmirian 15th Anniversary Robusto
• Tesa Vintage Especial Rothchild
• Toraño Exodus 50 Years Blend Short Churchill

You’ll note that not all of these cigars are extremely expensive or even all that rare. I just happen to like them a lot, and that makes them special enough in my book. Besides, a cigar is only as special as the company it’s smoked in, and, since I’m a native Chicagoan, I have many friends and family members with whom I’m eager to visit. I can’t wait to share some excellent cigars with them once I get a few more of these boxes unpacked.

In the meantime, please share some of your favorite special occasion cigars in the comments below.

-Patrick A

photo credit: Flickr