Cigarettes vs. cigars: No comparison, baby!

By Gary Korb

Many moons ago, back in my college days, I picked-up the nasty habit of smoking cigarettes from a friend who lived in my dorm; menthols were my preference. I was also into smoking a pipe at that time. I used to buy my pipe tobacco from this great little tobacco shop. They had a big humidor stacked floor to ceiling with all the best premium cigars. At the time, I had no interest in cigars. I guess I thought a pipe was cooler. Boy oh boy. How does that song go? If I only knew then, what I know now.

Anyway, back to cigarettes. Even though I smoked them pretty regularly for a while, I was never totally hooked. I'd get a bad cold, would have to stop smoking, and usually quit altogether without missing them at all. Later on, when I was in a band, I got back into them. Peer pressure I suppose, since most of the guys in the band also smoked cigarettes. My guitars even have little black burn scars on their peg heads as a reminder of my old habit. (I used to place the cigarette between the low E string and the peg head to hold it in place.)

Some years later, after I discovered the wonderful world of cigars, I never looked back at a pack of cigarettes. Just the thought of sucking in that rancid smoke made my stomach queasy.

Of course, some old habits die hard, and having recently gone through a little personal trauma, I picked up the habit again to ease my stress. I've only been smoking a few cigarettes per day, because that's about as many as I can stand, and I'm pretty sure this will be my last pack.

Now the reason I bring this up is because I think the cigarettes are having a negative effect on my palate when it comes to enjoying my cigars. It seems that when I light up a good cigar these days, they taste flat and bitter.

Now I know that there are many cigar smokers out there who smoke cigars and cigarettes, cigars and pipes, or a combination of all three. So my question is, if you're a member of the group who smokes both cigars and cigarettes, and you prefer cigars, do you feel that the cigarettes prohibit your palate from picking-up the flavor nuances of the tobaccos in your cigars?

For me, it's one of the reasons I've decided to drop the cigarettes for good. I just love the flavors in premium cigars too much to ever want to go back. After all, my palate is my livelihood.

Lesson learned. Your thoughts?

Comments

Unknown said…
Cigarettes do affect your pallette more than cigars.
A strong cigar can do it on a temp basis but then it fades, but when i used to smoke ciggies i seem to remember changing my eating habits as the food needed to be more spicy. I mean lets face it, ciggies go with junkfood and beer whereas cigars go with something better in life.

I'm not speaking as any kind of expert, just a Brit who learnt that ciggies affected my boxing and now i'm too old for that, cigars aid my personality and aspirations.

Best Wishes to you Gary,

Roy.R
Essex. UK
Fabio Marton said…
From personal experience, I can tell you that not only cigarettes impair your taste and smelling, but also can destroy a a big factor in the pleasure of cigar smoking that is the nicotine itself. A sizable and slow burning cigar can cause you nicotine inebrity, that very nice and soothing sensation, like being a bit dizzy but in full control of your mind. Being drunk but still smart. If you already have nicotine rushing in your blood due cigarette (lung) smoking, the nicotine peak is lost for good.
Jaqlene Klum said…
Well comparing the cigarettes with cigar is as if you compare Rolls Royce with Some Volvo car. Because when it comes to cigar you get the feeling of being a part of legacy, class, fame and superiority in every puff but cigarettes are just cigarettes which every other person can smoke.
Buy cigars said…
I need filtered cigars as they are safe to drink and i love the taste.Please suggest me the place from where i can grab this.

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