The other day, I was in my local lounge chatting away with another patron. This is a guy with encyclopedic knowledge of cigars, the cigar industry, and its history. He’s a true student. It helps that he has worked in shops and been in the industry for decades. A student myself, but by no means at his depth of knowledge, I love discussing anything cigar-related with him. But despite all his knowledge and experience, he isn’t a snob. And I’ve found that to be the case with most experts I’ve encountered in any hobby I’ve pursued.
But when I took up cigar smoking in earnest and participated in various cigar forums, one thing I noticed almost immediately was that there were even more gatekeepers and snobs than I had encountered in other hobbies. I thought the guitar gear world was bad when I was writing my gear blog GuitarGear.org. But the cigar world was on a different level entirely.
I didn’t get mad at this, though I did experience a bit of SMH. And honestly, it made me laugh because when I thought about it, I engaged in a bit of snobbery myself. So, as a way of checking my ego, a couple of years ago, I started writing a post to poke fun at the snobs and my own snobbery. Mind you, it was meant to be humorous, not denigrating. And until today, it has stayed in my Drafts section. But looking through articles I hadn’t yet published, I thought, what the hell. So, here it is, formatted like I did with “Some Cigars…”
🎭 Some cigar smokers treat cigars like personality props, holding them the way movie villains hold cats — dramatically, unnecessarily, and with the confidence of someone who thinks smoke output is a character trait.
But the best cigar smokers treat cigars like conversations. They don’t need theatrics. They’re too busy paying attention to the draw, the structure, the progression — the stuff that actually matters.
📜 Some cigar smokers invent rules because cigars don’t have any. No tannin charts, no acidity scales, no mash bills, so they create commandments and enforce them like self‑appointed hall monitors of taste.
But the best cigar smokers embrace the chaos. They know cigars are agricultural, unpredictable, and gloriously inconsistent. They don’t need rules to enjoy the ride.
💰 Some cigar smokers don’t know the difference between inexpensive and cheap. Anything below their magic number is instantly condemned as trash.
But the best cigar smokers know value isn’t a moral category — a well‑made $8 cigar can deliver more honesty and charm than a diva with a luxury band.
🔢Some cigar smokers inherited the Cuban mystique like a family heirloom. They speak in box codes like they’re decoding ancient scripture and treat every non‑Cuban like a well‑meaning understudy.
But the best cigar smokers appreciate tobacco, not mythology. They know great leaves grow everywhere, and they’re happy to smoke excellence regardless of passport.
📣Some cigar smokers get shaped by the loudest voices online — the self‑proclaimed experts who shout in absolutes and turn every cigar into either “trash” or “elite.”
But the best cigar smokers tune out the noise — they trust their own palate, have their own opinions, and live happily in the middle ground where nuance actually exists.
🕵️♂️Some cigar smokers use snobbery as camouflage for an undeveloped palate. They smoke too fast and judge a cigar by the first half‑inch as if they’re reviewing speed bumps.
But the best cigar smokers are learners, not lecturers. They slow down, explore, revisit, and let the cigar reveal itself instead of rushing to a verdict.
📦 Some cigar smokers treat cigars like rare coins, storing them in humidors that look like museum exhibits and smoking three a year — all on holidays, and all of them photographed like newborns..
But the best cigar smokers actually smoke their cigars. They believe tobacco is meant to be enjoyed, not archived like ancient pottery.
💎 Some cigar smokers use the hobby to show off their wealth, smoking a $100 cigar while flashing their bling
But the best cigar smokers know a cigar isn’t a fashion accessory — it’s a flavor journey. They don’t need diamonds, gold, or a watch the size of a hubcap; they’re perfectly happy enjoying a great cigar in a T‑shirt, because for them the real flex is knowing how to appreciate what’s in the leaf, not what’s on the wrist.
⛪ Some cigar smokers treat smoking a cigar like going to church, as if it’s a sacred ritual only the initiated can partake in.
But the best cigar smokers know a cigar isn’t a sacrament — it’s a shared moment. They treat it less like a holy ritual and more like a good conversation: open to anyone, relaxed, and better when nobody is trying to impress the room.
🏷️ Some cigar smokers buy only the big, flashy name brands, convinced that a famous label guarantees greatness — as if the band itself is doing the smoking for them.
But the best cigar smokers know reputation is just a starting point — not a verdict. They’re just as excited to discover a small‑batch gem from a humble factory as they are to revisit a classic, because for them the joy is in the tobacco, not the logo.
🏅 Some cigar smokers treat the hobby like a competitive sport. They flex strength, rarity, price, and exclusivity like they’re competing in the Cigar Olympics.
But the best cigar smokers treat the hobby like a pleasure. No scorecards, no victory laps — just good tobacco, good company, and a good moment.
Again, I want to stress that I’m just poking fun. There are a couple in the list that I have been guilty of in the past, especially the ritual one. With any hobby, it’s easy to become too canonical and parochial. Sometimes, it’s good to just take a step back and laugh at ourselves.
One that made me laugh when I re-read it was how some treat cigars like rare coins. That reminded me of a dude I once met who had over four-hundred guitars that he hung on the walls of a huge soundstage that he built on his property. And these weren’t your garden-variety guitars. Some were rare, vintage guitars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars – EACH. But the guy couldn’t play if his life depended on it.
On a final, more serious note, snobbery thrives on certainty and absolutism. Good cigar smokers thrive on exploration and discovery. They don’t need to be right; they just want to understand. They don’t need to impress; they want to appreciate. They don’t need to win; they want to enjoy. And that’s why they’re the ones worth listening to — because they’re the ones who actually listen back.
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