The Master Tobacconist's Guide to Cigars

The world of cigars is more than just smoke and fire. Its a culture that includes men and women from every walk of life. I grew up never having smoked a cigarette and I have never smoked one to this day. It wasn't until I was legally old enough to buy tobacco, 19 years old in Alabama, that I smoked my first cigar. It was 2003 and I had stopped in a local discount tobacco shop. The place was your typical hole in the wall, chain store. I found their humidor, a closet sized room with little to no humidity. I searched through their selection, not really knowing what I was looking for at the time. I came across a cigar named Indian Tabak. It was a dark cigar and it had a pleasant aroma. I paid the cashier and quickly left. The experience is one that many others had enjoyed almost a decade before me, when something exciting began in the cigar industry. This “something” has become know as the Cigar Boom by those in the industry today.