I quit smoking in 1985, and learned that there's no such thing as just one. I used to like cigars, honestly have not missed them.

Well you asked. For me, absolutely not and have never even tried.

My parents were heavy smokers and I have no desire to go anywhere near that direction. Besides my lifelong allergies are enough trouble as it is.

My younger brother died of lung cancer age 33. He smoked dope every day. My dad smoked cigars during the war, but quit thereafter. It extended his life by many many years according to his heart surgeon.
I love the smell of weed, cigars, pipes. Not cigs, they really smell bad. I do not smoke any of the aforementioned as it seems narcissistic to me. Besides, I have enough work keeping up with the youngin's without having crapped out lungs!

Geez! I feel kind of bad. I bought something at wally world. My principles are becoming transient!

I smoked cigarettes (such a cute word, really) HEAVily from '73 to '82 and quit cold turkey (it's all we had way back when. That, or hypnosis). I had a Cuban in Vancouver, B.C. in '75. Was quite impressed. I will never go back to being a tabacco junkie. That said, I subscribe to a philosophy of moderation (except for carbs, dammit) so every time my wife & I have gone on a cruise -'93, '08, '13- I have brought a small handful of small, assorted Cubans back. I go through them about one per week or longer. When they're gone, they're gone.
No big deal. I do find a good cigar to be very pleasurable -I *like* a good buzz now & again- but they're hardly a problem. As for smoke in the lungs... inhale cuban smoke? What are you, nuts?

Did someone say stout?

Is there a Hookha lounge close by?

Cigars, cigarettes, smokeless - different but the same. Hazardous to your health. Very perplexed that cigars have a 'cool' factor.

I can't explain the cool factor. I like biking because I can loose myself in the experience. I like the cigars primarily for the same thing. I get lost in thought and shut the world out. I enjoy the smoking and having a single malt or beer and thinking. It is also a great celebration experience. If I have had a hard week, a good cigar helps unwind and then celebrate life again. It is earthy and sensual.

Very true.

I'm a Scot, and very much into my scotch. Cigars - a bit less. I used to have one every 2 to 3 months, but have cut that back to once or twice a year.



Perhaps we should start a scotch thread.

After the Monster Cookie Metric Century this last Sunday, I celebrated with a cigar and a single malt scotch on the rocks!

This was prompted by the 'Cigars' thread.

I was practically raised on scotch - and often enjoy a decent blend (yes there is such a thing) or a good single malt.

I can't drink more than two at a time though, and usually stop after one. The enjoyment seems to fade after too many.

I'll bet there are a number of scotch drinkers here? What are your favorite blends, and singles?

Done

Excellent picture!

Got that Hemingway look down ... and in Havana, what's more.

it's a good thing that we can't get Cuban cigars here in the U.S., nothing is quite the same and easy to skip

I smoked a few years ago when I was in Cuba and later in Nicaragua, but I decided to give them up. The best way to avoid negative health consequences is to avoid tobacco entirely.

Nice Panama hat, by the way.

Bruichladdich a particular favourite.

Pinch... has been my favourite blended Scotch for decades.

Famous Grouse... I keep a bottle in the cabinet as a staple and it is better than a lot of singles.

Some favourite singles...

Springbank 10 yr - from Campbeltown, our ancestral home. Spectacular whiskey.

Auchentoshan - 12 yr old, (triple distilled)... more complex than many give it credit for and a change from Highland malts, one of the smoothest whiskeys there is with great citrus notes and a long dry finish.

Amrut - a singularly stellar Scotch from India that is only aged 5 -6 years because of the climate but comes across like a good 10/12 yr old whiskey, it is considered one of the best whiskeys on the face of the earth. If I was wealthy I'd drink this all the time... it is that freaking good.

I am very partial to my local Alberta Springs 10 yr old rye (blended) that is a nearly pure rye whiskey although it is blended for taste and might have a little mix of other grains... it is a simply luscious whiskey that has been getting excellent reviews here as I brought a few bottles with me to share with friends and family. At 24.00 a bottle it lives closer to the bottom of the shelf but tastes like it came off the top.

I do like single malts - Glenmorangie, Laphroig, and MacAllan. Yes, I know there are hundreds more, but these are still the main ones for me. I don't pour one more than once a month, though.

I don't explore scotch any more.

I rarely drink anymore but I too have been sipping on Pinch since the 80's, Otherwise, it is Bruichladdich, or MacAllan. Something I enjoy equally though is Zacapa Rum neat.

I think Bill Lumsden (of Glenmorangie and Ardbeg) got it right with Ardbeg Corryvreckan. But at $100+ a bottle, it's the same as two new tires, and the new tires win out.

Tuesday marked 25 years since the last time I had a drink of scotch.

I smoke a very occasional cigar and only to be sociable. When I was traveling internationally for business, cigar smoking after a business dinner was the norm. A cuban cigar with an after dinner drink is really one of life's (for me) guilty pleasures. I have a friend with whom I golf and he likes to smoke cigars so I will enjoy one with him. I prefer the smaller Cuban cigars or cigars from the Dominican Republic or Honduras. And they should be lit with a special torch or by a piece of wood but never a match (sulfur).

Great pics as usual. You have movie star looks in your hat and could be cast as a villain in a James Bond movie.

Any name that starts with GLEN, MacAllen 15 is fine for me, Makers Mark.

Pinch is a new name, perhaps that will be part of the weekend adventure.