Cigars, Whiskey & Fire

My pleasure!

“Any man who doesn't partake in cigar smoking is nothing more than a weak-willed, meandering oaf, and I would never put my lips to those of any creature, man or beast, whose lips were not fresh awash in the currents of cigar smoke." – Catherine the Great

In the early days of World War II, Winston Churchill received a message from the manager of Dunhill, whose shop had just been bombed: "Your cigars are safe, Sir."

"Only fine cigars are worth smoking, and only men who smoke fine cigars are worth kissing." -Joan Collins

I placed an order today for a number of Gurkha cigars. A mid-level brand, I find them quite enjoyable for a casual smoke, though some more experienced smokers have sharply divided opinions. This restock of my humidor serves a dual purpose: I have a female friend who has recently gotten into cigars in a big way, and has been asking me for a care package. Once these new smokes come in, I'm going to go through the humidor, and select a variety of cigars to send to her. Maybe I'll get lucky, and have a few shots of her enjoying them to post in the next few weeks. I'd be humble and claim I didn't have any influence in her enjoyment of cigars, but I'm not that humble, and unrepentantly happy to know a fine lady who enjoys a fine cigar.

A good cigar is like a beautiful chick with a great body who also knows the American League box scores. - M*A*S*H, Klinger, "Bug-Out," 1976

There's a certain ceremony that goes along with cigars. The artistry of presentation, the way they are stored, displayed, prepared. It's not just the act of smoking a cigar that's enjoyable, every aspect of the hobby is made to remind of one refinement, class, and a stately order to things. It's a reminder of a life less rushed, and more deliberate.

So if you're on the motorcycle, on the track you're not thinking at all about what's happening next week or tomorrow or anything. You're literally thinking about the turn you're setting up and there's something about that I find very cathartic and meditative. - Dax Shepard

"The most futile and disastrous day seems well spent when it is reviewed through the blue, fragrant smoke of a Havana Cigar." - Evelen Waugh

Oh brother, be a brother, fill this tiny cup of mine. And please, sir, make it whiskey: I have no head for wine! - Nick Cave, lyric, "Brother My Cup is Empty"

U.S. First Strike U.S.S.R. First Strike NATO / Warsaw Pact Far East Strategy U.S. / U.S.S.R. escalation Middle East War U.S.S.R. / China Attack India / Pakistan War Mediterranean War Hong Kong Variant SEATO Decapitating Cuban Provocation Inadvertent Atlantic Heavy Cuban Paramilitary Nicaraguan Pre-emptive Pacific Territorial Burmese Theaterwide Turkish Decoy NATO (obstructed) Argentina Escalation Iceland Maximum Arabian Theaterwide U.S. Subversion Australian Maneuver (ostructed) Diversion (obstructed) Limited Sudan Surprise NATO Territorial Zaire Alliance Iceland Incident English Escalation Zaire Screen (obstructed) Middle East Heavy Mexican Takeover Chad Alert Saudi Maneuver African Territorial Ethiopian Calamity Canadian (obstructed) Turkish Heavy NATO Incursion U.S. Defense Cambodian Heavy (Warsaw) Pact Medium Arctic Minimal Mexican Domestic Taiwanese Theaterwide Pacific Maneuver Portugal Revolution Albanian Decoy Palestinian Local Moroccan Minimal (obstructed) Diversion Czech Option French Alliance Arabian Clandestine Gabon Rebellion Northern Maximum (obstructed) Sabotage (obstructed) Paramilitary SEATO Takeover Hawaiian Escalation Iranian Maneuver NATO Containment Swiss Incident Cuba Minimal Chad (obstructed) Iceland Escalation Vietnamese Retaliation Syrian Provocation Libyan Local Gabon Takeover Romanian War Middle East Offensive Denmark Massive Chile Confrontation South African Subversion U.S.S.R. Alert Nicaraguan Thrust Greenland Domestic Iceland Heavy Kenya Option Pacific Defense Uganda Maximum Thai Subversion Romanian Strike Pakistan Sovereignty Afghan Misdirection Thai Variation Northern Territorial Polish Paramilitary South African Offensive Panama Misdirection Scandinavian Domestic Jordan Pre-emptive English Thrust Burmese Manuever Spain Counter Arabian Offensive Chad Interdiction Taiwan Misdirection Bangladesh Theaterwide Ethiopian Local Italian Takeover Vietnamese Incident English Pre-emptive Denmark Alternate Thai Confrontation Taiwan Surprise Brazilian Strike Venezuela Sudden Malaysian Alert Israel Discretionary Libyan Action Palestinian Tactical NATO Alternate Cyprus (misspelled “Cypress”) Maneuver Egypt Misdirection Bangladesh Thrust Kenya Defense Bangladesh Containment Vietnamese Strike Albanian Containment Gabon Surprise Iraq Sovereignty Vietnamese Sudden Lebanon Interdiction Taiwan Domestic Algerian Sovereignty Arabian Strike Atlantic Sudden Mongolian Thrust Polish Decoy Alaskan Discretionary Canadian Thrust Arabian Light South African Domestic Tunisian Incident Malaysian Maneuver Jamaica Decoy Malaysian Minimal Russian Sovereignty Chad Option Bangladesh War Burmese Containment Asian Theaterwide Bulgarian Clandestine Greenland Incursion Egypt Surgical Czech Heavy Taiwan Confrontation Greenland Maximum Uganda Offensive Caspian Defense

Hookahs have often been an inspiration for artists and photographers looking to capture the exotic, erotic, and the surreal. In the Middle East and Arab world, people smoke waterpipe as part of their culture and traditions. Social smoking is done with a single or double hose hookah, and sometimes even triple or quadruple hose hookahs in the forms of parties or small get-togethers are used. When the smoker is finished, either the hose is placed back on the table signifying that it is available, or it is handed from one user to the next.

Why pay $100 on a therapy session when you can spend $25 on a cigar? Whatever it is will come back; so what, smoke another one. - Raul Julia