Given today’s anti-tobacco legislative and tax climate, the LAST thing we need is snobbery. That old image of cigars as a rich man’s diversion has got to go; if anything, it’s just another arrow in the quiver of the anti-smoke Nazis. Despite what “they” would have you believe, cigars are more blue collar then blueblood.
A couple weeks ago I got a call from Rob Heming of the Blowin’ Smoke Podcast. He had received several emails and phone calls decrying cigar snobbery, specifically that old gem, “if you can’t afford to smoke brand x, you have no business smoking cigars.” These guys always do a great job talking cigars, but this podcast in particular is worth a listen.
That argument is the kind of horse$#!t spewed by cigar “smokers” more concerned with status than enjoyment. If a cigar is good, does it matter what’s on the band? Famous Smoke Shop buyer Jeff set the record straight.
Famous Smoke Shop is but one company striving to make cigars affordable to those who enjoy them. Smart buying allows us to pass on the savings, which is exactly why we:
So the next time you’re at the shop or a herf and hear someone waxing classist, take a moment to educate them. Cigars are about tobacco, not marketing, and anyone who thinks otherwise has clearly got a thing or two to learn.
When he's not busy writing, editing, smoking cigars, or raising his many, many children, Hayward " "It's Lou, not Hayward" " Tenney spends his days combating confusion about his real name (it's Hayward, but please - call him " "Lou" ") and mourning the matrimonially-induced loss of his moustache (what's he gonna do with all that moustache wax he made?).
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I was one of those who sent a message to Rob that may have sparked his thoughts which eventually ended up in his idea of Blowin’ Smoke podcast #117. I’ve seen posts from the cigar elite who say that very thing… people trying to be something they’re not, and showing off that they are able to afford to buy “Brand X” Knock it off, a#@holes. We still enjoy our $3 cigars, anyway.
Great blog, Gary. Off to smoke my birthday cigar!
In the UK, our taxes make cigars very expensive compared to the US and it’s more a case of “if you can’t afford to smoke cigars then perhaps you shouldn’t”.
That said, all tobacco is expensive in the UK and the price of 20 cigarettes is approaching that of a Cuban petit corona.
I do agree however that brand snobbery is divisive and pointless; pandering to the marketing man rather than taste. Much as I look down on certain brands because I don’t like them, I don’t decry the man who does.
In the UK, our taxes make cigars very expensive compared to the US and it’s more a case of “if you can’t afford to smoke cigars then perhaps you shouldn’t”.
That said, all tobacco is expensive in the UK and the price of 20 cigarettes is approaching that of a Cuban petit corona.
I do agree however that brand snobbery is divisive and pointless; pandering to the marketing man rather than taste. Much as I look down on certain brands because I don’t like them, I don’t decry the man who does.