Discover cigars
The history of cigars, which dates back more than a thousand years, dates back to the tobacco of the ancient Maya people in Mexico and Central America. In ancient times, the Maya smoked pipes or old-fashioned cigars loosely rolled in banana or palm leaves, not hand-cut and elaborately as they are today. It is believed that the origin of the word “cigar” is the word “sikar” in the Maya language. Cigars were discovered by explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492 and became popular in Europe in the 17th century. The neat shape of the cigar as we know it today dates back to the 20th century.
Cigars are expensive because of the meticulousness in the production process. Quality cigars must be made from tobacco leaves grown and aged naturally without chemicals in suitable climates such as Cuba. After harvesting, tobacco leaves will be dried for about 25 to 45 days and then aged at the right temperature and humidity. Every day, the worker will have to check the humidity of the leaves and turn them so that the leaves are aged evenly. Finally, the cigar is rolled, but to roll beautiful and even cigars requires the worker to have many years of experience. The way to distinguish high-end cigars from cheap cigars is that the inside of high-end cigars is rolled with whole leaves and not cut into small pieces. From growing tobacco leaves, drying, aging, checking to rolling cigars all require a lot of time and labor, so creating a handmade cigar is not simple.
In Vietnam, cigar smoking has only become popular in recent years. After a long time of quitting smoking, my father started smoking again 2-3 years ago, but this time it was cigars, not cigarettes. Having always had a hobby of collecting many things, cigars suddenly became his new target and until now, he has not stopped collecting the types of cigars that he likes. Just like my father's other collections, he collects for no special reason but only for his personal interest.
Travel to "recruit" cigars
Although Cuban cigars are the most famous, my father believes that it is not necessary that Cuban Cohiba cigars are good. Besides Cuba, there are also cigars from many other countries worth trying such as Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Honduras. It is the abundance of cigars that makes my father more interested in "recruiting" for his cigar army.
Whenever my dad travels, he always looks for the number one cigar shop in the country he visits. Visiting long-established cigar shops in different countries is a fun way to buy the right cigar. Most of these shops are either family-run or flagship stores of big brands like La Casa del Habano and Davidoff of Geneva. La Casa del Habano stores, which sell Cuban cigars, are easy to find in major cities around the world, except in the US. Davidoff of Geneva is the most famous Swiss brand, with its main store in Geneva being very large and decorated with real tobacco leaves hanging from the ceiling.
There are many other cigar shops that leave a deep impression because of their antique and luxurious decoration, such as Fincato in Rome (Italy), Davidoff in Zurich (Switzerland), A la Civette in Paris (France) or Sol Cigar Co AS in Oslo (Norway). The most unique is probably the Marukin family cigar shop in Tokyo (Japan), a small and pretty shop located in an old house with many sophisticated decorative details. Manuel's in Zurich is crowded and suitable for young people because you can smoke cigars while drinking beer on the sidewalk. In addition to the above-mentioned old shops, there are also places that look very professional but are newly opened, such as Best Cigars in Sofia (Bulgaria).
My father's specialty is tubo cigars, which are cigars kept in tubes made of alloy, aluminum, glass, plastic or cardboard. The main purpose of cigars in tubes is to preserve them well during transportation. In addition, the designs of the tubes are also very diverse, some are beautiful and unique. The special thing is that each tube is made specifically for each cigar and tubo cigars are not produced in large quantities, so they are rarer than regular cigars. Every time I go somewhere and come across a cigar store, I always stop by to ask about the types of tubo cigars that the store has. But it is very difficult to find the type that my father does not have because he has nearly 400 different types of tubo cigars.
My dad is also quite interested in cigar rankings and often hunts for the best cigars each year. One of the most reliable cigar rankings is Cigar Aficionado, an American magazine that has been operating for 26 years. They rate cigars on a 100-point scale and base them on four factors: appearance, taste, burning quality and overall experience. My dad’s collection includes the best cigars of 2005 and from 2010 to 2018. The number 1 cigar of 2018 is the EP Carrillo Encore Majestic from the Dominican Republic, which received a score of 96/100.
Slow down and enjoy
Smoking cigars is not necessarily a healthy hobby. According to research, cigars are just as harmful to health as cigarettes. However, when it comes to the toxic substances around us in the modern world, even the air we breathe every second and the food we consume every day are not necessarily 100% safe. Even British experts say that sugar in food is as dangerous as alcohol and cigarettes. Meanwhile, Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939), a cigar addict with a frequency of smoking 20 cigars a day, died at the age of 83 in England. And former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965), smoked 8 to 10 cigars a day and drank a lot of alcohol, lived to the age of 90. In any case, in general, smoking cigars is still not good for health.
Perhaps only cigar connoisseurs can understand the poetic taste it brings. As mentioned above, the characteristic delicious taste of cigars is created from rich soil regions and to perfect it, it is indispensable for the skillful hands of humans. The cigar tasting is similar to the wine tasting because there are types that not only have the smoky smell of tobacco leaves, but also layers of flavors depending on the marinating process such as spicy, sweet, woody, cocoa, chestnut, etc. In the whirlwind of this industrialized era, how many people spend an hour to enjoy the delicate taste of a handmade product like a cigar? Isn't this an hour a precious time to get away from the hustle and bustle of modern life and become relaxed? Everyone has a different way to relax and my father chose cigars.
Cigar is not simply a luxury, cigar is history, culture, lifestyle. And so, cigar has been associated with the image of my father, who is always passionate, does not follow any rules and enjoys life to the fullest. Normally, cigar is a symbol of a gentleman and power, but to me, cigar is simply a relaxing moment of a father who has experienced life and deserves to enjoy. Perhaps cigar is the symbol of my father's composure. But to my father? A cigar is just a cigar.
