Montecristo Cigars

I can’t say that I ‘m a great chess player but I’ve had a lot of fun evenings with my friend John, smoking cigars and playing chess and arguing about politics, sports, especially religion and a bit more about religion…. John is very well read and has a lot of opinions concerning many many topics but the guy is a hothead… We light up a cigar, open a beer or maybe some port, we’ll play a game or two and then after he has a few drinks in him the show begins…. All I have to do is start some topic that I know he is passionate about and I can be guaranteed about 3 hours of pure entertainment… I’m sure that through the years many many cigars have been lit and smoked over a chess board, many beverages have been consumed and many fights have broken out… But that’s what life is all about.. Good friends, great cigars, a topic or two and great memories!

I guess we can all gaze into our crystal balls and try to guess the future of cigar prices when Canada raises our sin taxes…. They hit us pretty hard already but I guess its anyone’s guess as to how much more we will be expected to pay if things continue the way they are going…As I look around at Non-Cuban prices on the internet I’m amazed as to how affordable they are compared to Cubans but one puff of a Monte No.2 and it becomes pretty clear as to where the money goes…When the U.S. embargo lifts on Cuban products we can all expect to see a lot more happy American cigar smokers and I’m hoping it won’t take too long…. I love these cigars and I truly hope that our American cousins will be able to enjoy a Cuban smoke whenever he or she wants…. But how expensive will a Montecristo become when we are faced with that day?

I’ve been waiting all year for this day.. Yes, it’s Victoria Day.. The day that Canadians celebrate in memory of Queen Victoria’s birthday. ..The May long week-end is usually spent out of town, either camping at a lake, golfing with friends or simply hanging out in the back yard with a glass of scotch and a Montecristo!!  That’ll be MY plans since I wasn’t around when that dowdy queen was reining over the British Commonwealth and I really don’t care why there is a Canadian holiday, just as long as I get to come up with a good reason to light yet another cigar and kill time!! Also Victoria day is an informal mark of the beginning of summer.. Who cares! Either way, after I finish this entry I’m reaching for my box of matches and am going to kick back!

Finally the sun is staying in the sky a bit longer each day and finally smoking a cigar outdoors is becoming more comfortable as the summer months approach.  I’ve had it with hanging around cold decks, garages and workshops where I smoke cigars in the winter and, although we don’t have terrible winters in the Pacific North-west, we still can feel the damp chill as we happily puff away on cigars in December.  Today we have clouds and a bit of rain, which is great for the lawn, but still not perfect…… But……. Summer is coming and I couldn’t be more excited!!!!!! I still have a lot of Montecristo No. 4’s aging nicely in the humidor and those are so perfect for an early in the day smoke…. Its nice to know that as the warmer evenings approach, the bigger cigars after dinner will be enjoyed without a lot of discomfort!

As I was taking this photograph I wondered if there was any truth in the different cigar quotes that people say about Freud so I took it upon myself to read up on the topic online… Well, it doesn’t appear that he really had a lot to say on the topic other than ” a good cigar is merely a smoke.”  Now thats not a real earth shattering quote coming from anyone, so there’s no point in getting excited about it, if you ask me!!! My take on this is that Freud’s slant on things were sometimes of a sexual nature and I believe that people couldn’t wait to take THEIR ideas of what he MIGHT have said about a cigar and blown it all out of proportion.

Weather today, beautiful!!Plans for the day, continue with gardening and taking care of a few loose ends around the yard…. Sound glamorous ?? Not really…………But this little Montecristo No. 4 I smoked after breakfast made my thankful for all that is good in life and thankful to Montecristo for the care and time put into the growing, tending to, harvesting, curing and finally rolling one of the best cigars in this format….. I sat in the garage after breakfast and, with some great strong coffee (don’t forget the sugar), had a fantastic 45 minutes with this cigar…I’ve previously mentioned that there is a very good reason why this is one of the most popular cigars in the world, it will NEVER let you down.

As days go by and the more cigars I smoke, the more I really appreciate a good old wind tunnel… It seems that when I run into a cigar with a bad draw I enjoy the experience less and less… I end up massaging the cigar, breaking the wrapper and just getting angrier by the minute… Last night I had the pleasure of smoking a Montecristo No. 4 with perfect draw… I sometimes speak to people who tell me that they like the perfect amount of resistance in a cigar but if you ask me, the perfect resistance is NO resistance…. You’ll be able to get a big or small puff, depending on your needs at the time.. I also find that a cigar with no resistance will often burn more evenly.. I dunno, thats just my 2 cents worth!!!!!

I’m not sure who took this pic but I have to say a big thank you.. Yesterday I went over to Vancouver Island and visited an uncle who has a nicely stocked humidor.  After dinner he told me to pick anything I wanted and since he had a number of these, you never want to take a guy’s last cigar, I thought I’d give it a try…We were drinking a local heavy ale and the cigar and beer went pretty well together… All I can say is that this was one of the best Montes I’ve ever smoked because of the balance and unusual complexity for a Montecristo… When someone asks me what cigar I love to smoke, and I’ve been giving this a lot of thought lately, I think maybe the best answer is, whatever cigar is at the right age… Cigars DON’T have to always be old to smoke well, some are great as soon as you get them..

Willie “the lion” Smith, shown above was rarely seen at his piano without his trademark cigar in his mouth…He was a piano player looked up to by young musicians and peers alike as being a relentlessly aggressive “stride” player that would hold court in late night jazz bars… I’m in the middle of re-watching Ken Burns’ Jazz series that exposes the origin of American jazz out of New Orleans and I can’t recommend this DVD box set enough to anyone who loves music and feels the need to learn about all of jazz’s contributors… As years go by and less and less smoking, especially cigars, is tolerated in public places, I can’t help but miss the days when you could go into a bar or club where you can hear a jazz band, have a drink and light up a cigar! Oh, get me back to Havana soon!

Well thats a relief.!!!! A Canadian  team advances.. The Habs have been a proud and sturdy (most of the time) Canadian institution for nearly a Century and I couldn’t be more excited about it!!!! Last night it was a great time to light up a Montecristo “A” and I have a few left to smoke after they win the Stanley Cup…. Hmmmm.. That’s a bit of a bold statement.. Well, seeing that the Vancouver Canucks lost to Chicago left me feeling almost nothing, really, for a few different reasons… The pace of the games here and in Chicago haven’t been as fast and furious as the other games I’ve been watching and a part of me thought that, even if they did advance, they’d probably run into trouble….. Plus…… I hate the “Green Men”…. I think they are an embarrassment to our beautiful city and an embarrassment to the game in general……. The Monte “A” was stellar and I hope I’ll be lighting another soon in riotous celebration when Lord Stanley’s Cup rests in Canada this summer!