My father smoked cigarettes for most of my life. He also quit several times, and although I thought he'd truly quit about a decade ago I've recently seen evidence he's doing it again. It’s something I’ve been dealing with my whole life.
Nevertheless, I don’t smoke cigarettes, and never had a desire to do so. If anything, my father’s habit galvanized me against it. I’ve had two cigarettes in my whole life. The first was around five years old, when I told my dad I wanted to smoke, too. He instructed me to take a deep breath through the cigarette. I did and the coughing fit lasted quite a while. It had the effect my father intended. My next cigarette was about 15 years later in college. My best friend was a cigarette smoker, and after getting drunk at a party with him I asked for a cigarette, thinking in my drunken state it was time to see what the fascination with these things was all about. I took one puff, and raced back to my dorm room to brush my teeth. It was one of the worst tasting things I’d ever experienced. Neither Listerine nor toothpaste could remove the taste entirely. It took about a day to work its way out.
I’ve also always been well-versed on the dangers of cigarette smoke. The left, media, and other types have been waging a war against smoking for fifty years (some of it rightly so). Even before it was widely know to be carcinogenic, who in their right mind would have thought cigarette smoking was safe? It is smoke…going into your lungs. Ask anyone that’s been trapped in a burning building how great their lungs felt after breathing in smoke. Of course, we later learned that tobacco leaf contains nicotine, which is an addictive drug (more on this later). Despite the fact I’ve always known that manufacturers put additives into cigarettes I had no idea exactly what went into them until recently. Like most people I figured they were mostly made up of cheap tobacco. Holy crap, was I wrong. Cigarettes contain many other substances. Let’s talk about that for a minute.
I’m not going to give you an ingredient list here. The additive list can be found with a little help from Google, and if you haven’t watched the Modern Marvels episode about tobacco I encourage you to do so (on the History Channel). Sufficed to say, only about 50% of a cigarette is actually tobacco (and not very high grade). The rest is made up of sludge derived from pulverized tobacco dust and liquid, along with numerous chemicals like ammonia. The various additives have purposes like keeping the cigarette lit (whether you puff or not), making the nicotine more absorbable by your body, etc. As you can imagine many of these substances are not body friendly to begin with, and burning them makes them less so. I was literally disgusted by what I saw on Modern Marvels when they showed the segment on cigarette manufacturing. I wish that footage could be shown to every cigarette smoker. It would be like seeing cat puke and elephant shit mixed into the cookie dough at the Oreo factory. I don’t care how much you like or are addicted to Oreos – it would be the end of your relationship.
So, smoke equals bad, and cigarettes equal monumentally worse. Even a die-hard (no pun intended) cigarette smoker is likely to admit that they know their habit is wrecking their bodies. Every time I see a cigarette smoker now I just want to scream at them, “If you’re going to smoke cigarettes, for the love of God, roll your own. Buy some natural tobacco and roll your own. Don’t you know there’s manure in those things???”
So, after all this, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re assuming this is an anti-smoking blog. It’s not. It could and should be labeled as anti-cigarette, though. I have always been, and always will be anti-cigarette and anti-cigarette manufacturer.
In actuality, I smoke cigars and pipes, and would freely encourage others to give it a try, if they feel so inclined. How did this happen, you ask? Several years ago one of my cousins married an arrogant, boastful, asshole, never-do-well, closet homosexual. Let’s call him J. Why she married him is still an unanswered question. He’s no longer in the picture, but that’s not relevant to the story. He was a one-upper that always acted overly macho to compensate for the fact he was gay. He always slapped you on the back as hard as he could, he wore camo, drove a jeep, etc. You get the idea. And, naturally, he was into cigars. He even worked at a cigar store for a while (one of his few terms of employment).
I’d always been curious about pipes and cigars. I enjoyed walking past The Tinder Box in the mall as a child. I loved the smell from the tobacco filled store, and often wondered why the cigarettes my dad smoked never smelled like that. As an adult I became curious about cigars. I wondered if they were really different from cigarettes and if they were really something to be savored like fine wine, or if they were just overpriced, oversized cigarettes.
The more time my family members spent around my cousin’s husband the less they liked him, and I was no exception to that. (He could be a blog entry all on his own, but I digress). I came to resent the fact that there was something he could legitimately expound upon that I could not – cigars. So, I started doing some research on the internet. Eventually, I went to the Tinder Box at Lenox Mall in Atlanta (unfortunately, the one that I walked by as a kid is long gone). I bought a couple cigars. I tried one. I enjoyed it. Later I decided why not try a pipe, too? I bought one. I enjoyed it.
Smoking is cathartic and relaxing. It give you time to think, ponder, or pray. It is a respite from other things. At least, it is for me. I smoke outside, on my own. I don’t have cigar buddies, or play poker games. Smoking is “me” time, that I’m lucky to get once a week, weather permitting.
Nicotine? Not a problem. You don’t inhale cigar or pipe smoke (unless you’re crazy). You simply puff it into your mouth and exhale, savoring taste and aroma along the way. Nicotine absorption through the mouth is not very efficient. If there is a nicotine “high” I’ve never felt it. And although there are cheap cigars and pipe tobaccos with additives, most are all natural (even pipe tobaccos that are flavored usually use natural flavorings, but I don’t smoke those anyway).
A premium, hand-rolled cigar is a work of art, a labor of love, and the result of painstaking work at every step along the way. Although pipe tobacco is less labor intensive, the same attributes I just mentioned can be applied to pipes themselves. Although smoking a cigar and a pipe are two very different experiences, they’re both quite enjoyable, and NOTHING like smoking a cigarette.
At this point you might be tinkering with the idea of trying a cigar or pipe. “Gee, if H.K. likes it, it must be good right?” Not necessarily. If you’re going to try one you should probably start with a cigar, and if you enjoy that move to pipes.
“Well, cigarettes smell like shit, H.K. I even tried one and it tasted like shit. How does a cigar taste?” Tough question. Think of it this way: a cigarette tastes and smells like ash, a cigar tastes and smells like premium tobacco. No one can be told what the Matrix is. You must see it for yourself.
I can help you predetermine whether you’re likely to enjoy the taste and aroma of cigars (or pipes). Take this quiz:
1) Do you like coffee (particularly black, and more particularly dark roasted)?
2) Do you like whiskey (particularly on its own)?
3) Do you like red wine?
4) Do you like toasted bread?
5) Do you like pepper?
6) Do you like the scent of leather, spice, or wood?
There are probably other things I could list, but I think you’re getting the idea. This does not mean that if you like few or none of those things you won’t like to smoke. In fact, if I made “Do you like cigars?” question number seven, it might be the only question a lot of people answer with “yes”. Rather, you should interpret it this way - if you like a few or all of those things you’ll probably like cigars or pipe smoking. And if not, there are many milder cigars and pipe tobaccos that would fit with your palate.
It’s a real shame that the big government types have made smoking about as socially acceptable as pissing in public. Mass produced cigarettes and the people that make them are bad, but it’s a shame that cigars and pipes get lumped in there, too. Like any true pleasure in life (a rich meal, a glass of scotch, roller coasters, etc.) they should be enjoyed in moderation, not simply for health reasons, but so that we don’t lose the ability to savor them.
Yes, health concerns are valid despite the fact there are no studies I’ve found that document the health risks to occasional pipe or cigar smokers. If you can find one please let me know. Anecdotal evidence suggests these folks are at no greater risk than non-smokers to any of the typical ailments, and may even live longer. When you smoke you should be aware that you're doing something that isn't necessarily good for you, just as when you enjoy a Coke, a triple mocha latte, or speeding.
Most things in life that are fun or yummy involve some degree of personal risk, and shouldn’t be overdone. Tobacco is no exception to that. If you’re inclined to try a cigar or pipe, walk into your local tobacconist and tell them. Most are friendly and honest when it comes to helping someone new to premium tobacco products. I think you’ll enjoy it.
And if you smoke cigarettes, please, please stop.
Nevertheless, I don’t smoke cigarettes, and never had a desire to do so. If anything, my father’s habit galvanized me against it. I’ve had two cigarettes in my whole life. The first was around five years old, when I told my dad I wanted to smoke, too. He instructed me to take a deep breath through the cigarette. I did and the coughing fit lasted quite a while. It had the effect my father intended. My next cigarette was about 15 years later in college. My best friend was a cigarette smoker, and after getting drunk at a party with him I asked for a cigarette, thinking in my drunken state it was time to see what the fascination with these things was all about. I took one puff, and raced back to my dorm room to brush my teeth. It was one of the worst tasting things I’d ever experienced. Neither Listerine nor toothpaste could remove the taste entirely. It took about a day to work its way out.
I’ve also always been well-versed on the dangers of cigarette smoke. The left, media, and other types have been waging a war against smoking for fifty years (some of it rightly so). Even before it was widely know to be carcinogenic, who in their right mind would have thought cigarette smoking was safe? It is smoke…going into your lungs. Ask anyone that’s been trapped in a burning building how great their lungs felt after breathing in smoke. Of course, we later learned that tobacco leaf contains nicotine, which is an addictive drug (more on this later). Despite the fact I’ve always known that manufacturers put additives into cigarettes I had no idea exactly what went into them until recently. Like most people I figured they were mostly made up of cheap tobacco. Holy crap, was I wrong. Cigarettes contain many other substances. Let’s talk about that for a minute.
I’m not going to give you an ingredient list here. The additive list can be found with a little help from Google, and if you haven’t watched the Modern Marvels episode about tobacco I encourage you to do so (on the History Channel). Sufficed to say, only about 50% of a cigarette is actually tobacco (and not very high grade). The rest is made up of sludge derived from pulverized tobacco dust and liquid, along with numerous chemicals like ammonia. The various additives have purposes like keeping the cigarette lit (whether you puff or not), making the nicotine more absorbable by your body, etc. As you can imagine many of these substances are not body friendly to begin with, and burning them makes them less so. I was literally disgusted by what I saw on Modern Marvels when they showed the segment on cigarette manufacturing. I wish that footage could be shown to every cigarette smoker. It would be like seeing cat puke and elephant shit mixed into the cookie dough at the Oreo factory. I don’t care how much you like or are addicted to Oreos – it would be the end of your relationship.
So, smoke equals bad, and cigarettes equal monumentally worse. Even a die-hard (no pun intended) cigarette smoker is likely to admit that they know their habit is wrecking their bodies. Every time I see a cigarette smoker now I just want to scream at them, “If you’re going to smoke cigarettes, for the love of God, roll your own. Buy some natural tobacco and roll your own. Don’t you know there’s manure in those things???”
So, after all this, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re assuming this is an anti-smoking blog. It’s not. It could and should be labeled as anti-cigarette, though. I have always been, and always will be anti-cigarette and anti-cigarette manufacturer.
In actuality, I smoke cigars and pipes, and would freely encourage others to give it a try, if they feel so inclined. How did this happen, you ask? Several years ago one of my cousins married an arrogant, boastful, asshole, never-do-well, closet homosexual. Let’s call him J. Why she married him is still an unanswered question. He’s no longer in the picture, but that’s not relevant to the story. He was a one-upper that always acted overly macho to compensate for the fact he was gay. He always slapped you on the back as hard as he could, he wore camo, drove a jeep, etc. You get the idea. And, naturally, he was into cigars. He even worked at a cigar store for a while (one of his few terms of employment).
I’d always been curious about pipes and cigars. I enjoyed walking past The Tinder Box in the mall as a child. I loved the smell from the tobacco filled store, and often wondered why the cigarettes my dad smoked never smelled like that. As an adult I became curious about cigars. I wondered if they were really different from cigarettes and if they were really something to be savored like fine wine, or if they were just overpriced, oversized cigarettes.
The more time my family members spent around my cousin’s husband the less they liked him, and I was no exception to that. (He could be a blog entry all on his own, but I digress). I came to resent the fact that there was something he could legitimately expound upon that I could not – cigars. So, I started doing some research on the internet. Eventually, I went to the Tinder Box at Lenox Mall in Atlanta (unfortunately, the one that I walked by as a kid is long gone). I bought a couple cigars. I tried one. I enjoyed it. Later I decided why not try a pipe, too? I bought one. I enjoyed it.
Smoking is cathartic and relaxing. It give you time to think, ponder, or pray. It is a respite from other things. At least, it is for me. I smoke outside, on my own. I don’t have cigar buddies, or play poker games. Smoking is “me” time, that I’m lucky to get once a week, weather permitting.
Nicotine? Not a problem. You don’t inhale cigar or pipe smoke (unless you’re crazy). You simply puff it into your mouth and exhale, savoring taste and aroma along the way. Nicotine absorption through the mouth is not very efficient. If there is a nicotine “high” I’ve never felt it. And although there are cheap cigars and pipe tobaccos with additives, most are all natural (even pipe tobaccos that are flavored usually use natural flavorings, but I don’t smoke those anyway).
A premium, hand-rolled cigar is a work of art, a labor of love, and the result of painstaking work at every step along the way. Although pipe tobacco is less labor intensive, the same attributes I just mentioned can be applied to pipes themselves. Although smoking a cigar and a pipe are two very different experiences, they’re both quite enjoyable, and NOTHING like smoking a cigarette.
At this point you might be tinkering with the idea of trying a cigar or pipe. “Gee, if H.K. likes it, it must be good right?” Not necessarily. If you’re going to try one you should probably start with a cigar, and if you enjoy that move to pipes.
“Well, cigarettes smell like shit, H.K. I even tried one and it tasted like shit. How does a cigar taste?” Tough question. Think of it this way: a cigarette tastes and smells like ash, a cigar tastes and smells like premium tobacco. No one can be told what the Matrix is. You must see it for yourself.
I can help you predetermine whether you’re likely to enjoy the taste and aroma of cigars (or pipes). Take this quiz:
1) Do you like coffee (particularly black, and more particularly dark roasted)?
2) Do you like whiskey (particularly on its own)?
3) Do you like red wine?
4) Do you like toasted bread?
5) Do you like pepper?
6) Do you like the scent of leather, spice, or wood?
There are probably other things I could list, but I think you’re getting the idea. This does not mean that if you like few or none of those things you won’t like to smoke. In fact, if I made “Do you like cigars?” question number seven, it might be the only question a lot of people answer with “yes”. Rather, you should interpret it this way - if you like a few or all of those things you’ll probably like cigars or pipe smoking. And if not, there are many milder cigars and pipe tobaccos that would fit with your palate.
It’s a real shame that the big government types have made smoking about as socially acceptable as pissing in public. Mass produced cigarettes and the people that make them are bad, but it’s a shame that cigars and pipes get lumped in there, too. Like any true pleasure in life (a rich meal, a glass of scotch, roller coasters, etc.) they should be enjoyed in moderation, not simply for health reasons, but so that we don’t lose the ability to savor them.
Yes, health concerns are valid despite the fact there are no studies I’ve found that document the health risks to occasional pipe or cigar smokers. If you can find one please let me know. Anecdotal evidence suggests these folks are at no greater risk than non-smokers to any of the typical ailments, and may even live longer. When you smoke you should be aware that you're doing something that isn't necessarily good for you, just as when you enjoy a Coke, a triple mocha latte, or speeding.
Most things in life that are fun or yummy involve some degree of personal risk, and shouldn’t be overdone. Tobacco is no exception to that. If you’re inclined to try a cigar or pipe, walk into your local tobacconist and tell them. Most are friendly and honest when it comes to helping someone new to premium tobacco products. I think you’ll enjoy it.
And if you smoke cigarettes, please, please stop.
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