Chesapeake Smoke

I had a work meeting in McLean, Virginia, this morning. So, being very close, I hit my two favorite locations there: Tachibana for an exquisite sushi lunch, followed by a visit to the PG Cigar Boutique. I walked in to see a dark cloud over Emil’s head … he was busily repricing cigars for tomorrow’s S-CHIP implementation. Apparently, Virginia is getting spanked with more tobacco taxes, as most of their inventory was going up 10-20%, much more than the 40 cents per stick S-CHIP levy.

He’s worried, and rightfully so. As individual states gang up on smoke shops to fill their tax coffers at our expense, the mail order places will gain more and more traction, at the expense of the brick & mortar shops. While I have nothing against Cigars International, and have even patronized them on occasion, I don’t want to see them become the norm for cigar purchases. I firmly believe that the cigar experience is tremendously enhanced by shopping … and smoking … in the company of our peers and fellow cigar lovers. Reading a description of a cigar on a website cannot compare to going into a real, live walk-in humidor, examining their wares, talking to a professional tobacconist, and firing up a stick on the spot.

So suck it up, guys, spend the extra dollar or two, and support your local smoke shop. If we let tax-happy politicians and the anti-smoking Nazis have their way, cigar shops will go the way of the horse and carriage.

Okay, enough depressing tax stuff. Back to PG Boutique. After my delectable lunch of raw fish, I hit the smoke shop, looking for some miniature cigars I could take to work for that occasional mid-day hit. I usually do a Bahia Tico, or maybe a Rocky Patel, but I was hoping Paul Garmirian could hook me up. Emil turned me onto their Boutique Bundles, in a variety of sizes and flavors. “Tell me about them, Emil,” I said. And he simply tells me they were a joint project of Dr. Garmirian and Heinrich Kellner. “Go on, Emil, tell me more.” His simple retort … “Have you ever smoked a bad Kellner cigar?”

Sold. Gimme a bundle. So I grabbed an 8-pack of Panatellas, which I sampled on the drive home tonight. Fifteen minutes … Bingo!! I found a smoke-break smoke! All Dominican, hand-rolled, a little bit of spice to the flavor, just the thing to brighten your day when work gets you down. I also got a fistful of short commute smokes, the un-banded 4″ x 50 Toritos that Paul says are his personal favorites.

Okay, S-CHIP threatened to put a damper on the day. But I fired up a Torito for the drive back to the office, and arrived in a surprisingly good mood.

Get out there and smoke, smoke happy and smoke proud!