Originally Posted by
cccorlew
When I was in Cuba last summer teaching photography to American students I was introduced to cigars. I'm not a smoker, so I was surprised how pleasurable I found smoking a cigar. Of course, I can't get those nice Cubans here, but still...
I guess I'm now a cigar smoker. I keep it down to one or two a week in hopes that I'll avoid negative health consequences.
Any of you enjoy this vice?
Curtis in Cuba Photo, 2012 by
ccorlew, on Flickr
In our country and culture that was a brave post. Far too many people equate Cigars with Cigarette smoking however. Traditionally cigars are not inhaled and the flavor of the tobacco is sampled by the pallet and blown back out. Earth notes, coffee notes, chocolate notes, nut notes even grassy notes all can be tasted with different good cigars. All natural flavors found in different hand rolled cigars from Cuba to Honduras to Jamaica and Nicaragua or the Dominican Republic. I have been on a tour of a factory and watching the Torcedor roll and press the cigars and deftly use the Chaveta to cut the leaves was rather impressive. But alas I no longer partake maybe because I now cycle or maybe because of the looks people give you even if they come where you are smoking and then act like I have entered their space rather than the other way around. But my real question might be, Is that a Panama hat? Like a real one from Ecuador? I love hats from Fedoras to Optimos or Plantation Panamas. Another dying art is the weaving of the Toquilla straw into a proper hat.