I’m a lucky man and I’m not going to deny that.? I was born into a great family and this weekend I had the opportunity to hang out with my grandfather – which reminded me of the role cigars play amongst at least some of the men in my family, and why I smoke them.

Cigars are not for everyone.? They’re strong.? They’re pungent.? They require a bit of an infrastructure to keep in their best shape.? Yet as I sit on my balcony in Arlington, smoking a La Gloria Cubana and sipping on some Rodenbach Grand Cru ale, I’m part of a community.? Not just a community of my relatives who smoke cigars, or my friends, such as my fellow blogger here Marshall, but of all cigar smokers around the world.? We don’t smoke cigars out of “must need them” like many cigarette smokers do (and trust me, I smoked them for a while, too) – no, we smoke them for the same reason why craft brewers drink micro- and home-brewed beers.

This is Marshall's picture, I forgot to take mine.

Back in August I was sent to South Korea for a month.? That’s also the month of Marshall’s birthday, so I initially thought perhaps I would procure some cigars there that I couldn’t get in the United States.? Unfortunately for both of us, the cigars I found in Seoul – and admittedly, this was mostly in Itaewon, the Americanized ghetto of high end shopping paradise around Yongsan Garrison in Seoul – were overpriced for the lack of flavor that they had.? They were dried out, expensive, and really, just not worth it.

When I got back to the United States I visited my local tobacco store.? I go most of the time to Old Virginia Tobacco in Seven Corners.? It’s kind of a good ole boy shop – to be honest, it reminds me a lot of the barber shops in terms of attitude and repeat customers that I used to go to in Charlottesville and Roanoke – but they have good selection and good prices.? Looking for a cigar for Marshall I found one I hadn’t heard before.

It was the La Flor Dominica Salomon.

It wasn’t a cheap cigar.? The most I’d ever paid was for a special edition Opus XX this summer at around $40; this was over $20.? I loved the construction of it as you can see in the second picture (and it tapers off at the end, which I love), and LFD has always been a solid cigar in my opinion if not one of the ones I typically go for right off the bat.? (My favorites, if you must know, tend to be Rocky Patels, La Gloria Cubanas, and Padrons, with CAO Italias rapidly joining that rank.)

Again, Marshall took this pic, 'cause he doesn't run out and smoke 'em right away like I do.

Was it worth the price?

Well, I let mine sit for a week or so and then smoked it.? I’m the kind of guy, yes, who buys whatever he buys someone for their birthday for himself.? And I sat outside and smoked this one on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, sipping on a delicious drink while at it.

Was it perfect?? No.? It took a good bit of maintenance to keep it burning evenly, something which surprised me, but upon reading other reviews I saw I wasn’t the only one.? Was it delicious?? Yes.? Would I buy another one?? Almost definitely, for a special occasion.

But what else do you smoke?

Like I said, I smoke a few different ones regularly.? Padrons of the 2000, 3000 series tend to get smoked a lot, along with La Gloria Cubana Serie Rs, usually #5s.? I found #3s for the first time this weekend so I bought a few, and I’ve switched from CAO Americas to CAO Italias thanks to a friend of mine in the Navy.

My grandfather this weekend gave me a Cosachero, which he buys from Thompson (note: Thompson really really pissed me off in a hard sale phone call, so I won’t link to them – I will recommend Famous Smoke Shop typically out of PA due to good prices and short shipping times to Virginia).? The reason he likes it is that it’s mild, and that you can let it go out and relight it without losing much.? I was hesitant about the last bit but let mine do so when our apple pie came out (Whipkey males are required to eat apple pie at all times lest Whipkey females beat the crap outta them).? However, I found that it relit quit easily and still had the spicy yet mild taste that it had when I lit it.

Here in the Den, we smoke a lot of cigars, we just don’t talk about ‘em as much as we do cocktails.? If you’ve got any questions or comments, please let us know.? And if you work for a cigar company or retailer – we have an opportunity coming up at the beginning of this December – yes, just about a month away – we’d love to hook you up with!

Happy smokes and cheers, y’all!