One of the most often quoted lines referencing cigars but
what in fact is a "Smoke". That my
brothers is the magic of a cigar. A
"Smoke" is not just that hazy cloud that comes from our cigar tips, our mouths
and trickles out of our noses. A "Smoke"
is a proscenium arch into a different world.
A world of shared experience, appreciation, history, and brotherhood. A
play in which we are both actors and audience.
My introduction to a "Smoke" began in my teens. I felt changed with a cigar in my hand that I
knew next to nothing about and didn't have the years to appreciate its
majesty. This was not trying to be tough
like the kids by the railroad tracks it was trying to be a tycoon like the
railroad barons. I was reaching back
into history.
I was fortunate that I did not waste much time on the cheap
machine made flavored cigars. I was
unbeknownst to my father educated and initiated to the club by his example and
his humidor. I began with cigars with
names like Excalibur, Punch, & Fuente, magical, mythical names. Object d'art that exuded craftsmanship and
quality. The moist rich earthy smell of
my father's humidor tantalized and teased with mystery and excitement. Later in life that smell would allow me to be
with him while we lived thousands of miles apart. I was participating in that shared experience
even if it was surreptitious.
As I grew older and was able to share a "Smoke" with my
father I also was able to share his wisdom and experience. He taught me the ceremony of a "Smoke". We talked about the balance of appreciation
without becoming ostentatious. He
explained that even as a shared experience it is simultaneously a private
experience. "We don't smoke for show" he
would say. I realized that this was a serious endeavor
not to be wasted on fools.
I began to share these teachings with a few good
friends. Many an hour was spent sharing
a "Smoke" and the comradery that comes with that process. We became the best of
friends because of the time and attention we spent with each other because a "Smoke" requires attention and respect.
We shared weddings, births, graduations and funerals and tied them together
with a series of "Smokes". Because a "Smoke" is a process and a place. A
place where you can be away and together, where you can step back from the
massive events of your life and reflect and appreciate their magnitude.
When I am on the Golf course and pull out a cigar with
non-smokers they are often curious and appreciative but it is like words from a
foreign language with no translation.
Between shots I am closer to my brother smokers than I am with my
playing partners. Each draw tends to
remind me of another "Smoke" at another place at another time with other
brothers even ones I have never met.
I often wonder when I clip a vitola who else had smoked that
same size and brand. What did they think
of it and what did they think about when the smoked it? Was it smoked for an occasion of just for
lunch? Then the train of thought would
pull away for an hour on a random journey.
Perhaps the only hour of the day spent relaxing without the weight of
the world.
What is a "Smoke" then?
It is a community, a brotherhood.
It is a shared history, appreciation and experience. It is a mythology with a pantheon of Heroes
both of cigars and cigar makers. It is a
proscenium, a doorway, into many spaces that transcends the ordinary and unites
us across space and time.
Then I am reminded of another oft quoted statement about
cigars:
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. -Sigmund
Freud.
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