Cigar Rebel

Beyond the Cigar: How to meet other cigar enthusiasts

• Cigar Rebel • Season 2 • Episode 3

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You are listening to the Cigar Rebel podcast. In this episode of Cigar Rebel we are talking beyond the cigar. Join the conversation as we take the time to enjoy one of life’s luxuries on this quirky journey we call life.

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SPEAKER_05

Welcome to the Cigar Rebel community, where indulgence meets authenticity. This is more than a podcast. It's a gathering place for those who savor life's luxuries with unapologetic passion. Here we celebrate the fine art of living through rich flavors, bold spirits, exquisite cigars, and unforgettable experiences.

SPEAKER_06

Welcome, Cigar Rebels, to the podcast. I'm Mel.

SPEAKER_04

And I'm coming and we're coming to you live tonight. Well, kind of. We're coming to you recorded tonight. It's Sunday evening. Um, but Mel and I are going to be live with you in the chat all night long. However, we had a last minute thing pop up for tomorrow night, which is Monday during our normal episode. And so we are pre-recording tonight's episode. And it's an episode that some of you rebels have asked and been talking about. And so tonight we heard, we understood, and we're bringing you a topic beyond the cigar, how to grow your cigar circle.

SPEAKER_06

Yes. And so I'm just going to say something that is just start us off the gate that is mildly uh probably controversial. So good.

SPEAKER_04

I like controversial.

SPEAKER_06

So first thing is first is that some people they don't need a better cigar, they need a better cigar circle.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely. It's it's a great start right there. Absolutely. Because that's not controversial. See, we're we're recording live. It's not controversial. It's just true.

SPEAKER_06

Yes. So I have watched people that spend years chasing the blend, the next release, the next rare box while smoking alone on the patio, wondering why the hobby feels flat or maybe not as exciting as they thought it would be once they got those limiteds they were hunting.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. That's so true. Um, because when they finally sit down, Mel with the right group of people and they smoke just a normal everyday cigar, for some reason, it's the best cigar they've ever had. Yeah. The right group of people, the right experience changes everything and it creates really what ends up being one of the best nights for cigars they've experienced.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04

And I mean, I think because cigars aren't just about the tobacco, absolutely, they're about the rhythm, they're about presence, they're about community, they're about conversations, and they're really about space.

SPEAKER_06

100%. So tonight we are talking about the part of the cigar life that a lot of people want, and they don't always know how to build.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. It's how to expand your cigar social circle.

SPEAKER_06

Yep. Yep, how to meet new cigar enthusiasts without feeling fake, pushy, awkward, or even like you're just trying to join the secret society.

SPEAKER_04

I love that. So, spoiler alert, most people are a lot more normal than the stereotypes make you think when it comes to cigar smokers.

SPEAKER_06

Yes. The cigar culture is one that bridges many gaps. We've talked about this a lot on previous podcasts, and people from all walks of life can connect over their common passions uh for cigars. Um, however, the some, I would say, myself included at times, struggle finding the circle in the past, I would say for me. That was an issue for me. And tonight we are going to talk about all of that. So, rebels, let's go ahead and cut light and settle in.

SPEAKER_04

All right. But before we jump in too far, and we're excited to talk about this episode tonight and get into all of this. But Mel, what are we smoking tonight?

SPEAKER_06

Ah, yes. So I am excited to smoke the Rose of Sharon by Southern Draw. It has a Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and Nicaraguan and Dominican filler. So absolutely.

SPEAKER_04

And this Connecticut Sun Grown has a beautiful shade to it, and it pairs perfectly with this light pink wrapper that you guys can see on there, or ring or band, whatever you want to call it. Um, really am excited to smoke this tonight. So, what are you getting from the cold draw on this particular cigar?

SPEAKER_06

Um, I'm getting some woodiness in there on the just right off the bat. I don't think I've ever smoked this particular cigar, so I am smoking it fresh for the first time. So that's right off the bat.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. So that's a huge thing that you're picking up. Fresh palette, new cigar. This is gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

So I've smoked two or three of these over the last month, so I'm a little more familiar. I'm getting a lot of hay and this little very subtle, almost sweet spice, almost like the finish of cinnamon, but not the cinnamon flavor. But how cinnamon sometimes has that just real sweet kind of finish on the end. That's where I'm really getting. Um, but I'm excited to go ahead and get into this cigar. So we're gonna go ahead and light this cigar. The lighting of our cigar is brought to you tonight by Big Sky Cigar Company.

SPEAKER_02

Back in 1905 on the Montana skies, 100 cents and factories, rolls smoke, follow wise. Reminders, the ranchers, like one bring now. Big sky cigar because bringing that spirit back in.

SPEAKER_01

Yellowstone River to the bold big orange floor, Madison, the reflects what we know. I leave from Nicaragua, Stan Race to Ecuador.

SPEAKER_02

And every bobsoul helps our veterans, men, with warriors and quiet waters. We lend a friend's hand. It's heritage burning in every draw. Big sky skates, Montana's pride and low.

SPEAKER_01

Big sky cigar. We're heritage full with whatever draw.

SPEAKER_06

As always, thank you to our sponsors. So now that we have this lit, I have taken probably two draws from it. And um, it's very creamy to me. Um, I'm still getting a little bit of the remnants of that cold draw, you know, the woodiness or the cedar, as you'd said.

SPEAKER_04

Um yeah, I'm getting a little bit of that creaminess on there. Um, I can I'll give you the woodiness notes. Um, I wouldn't have described that. Um, the hay still prominent. Um, that sweet spice is really pretty much gone and it's transitioned to more of a white pepper. It's that same kind of little bit of the sweetness, but I'm feeling it right on the back of my tongue and right across my tongue, and then just right in the back of my note, which is kind of where I end up picking up white pepper. Sometimes a citrus zest I'll pick up there. Um, but so far, cigar is great. Again, we're only a few draws in. Um, for those of you guys from the Rebel packs, would love for you to drop in the comments what you're thinking about this cigar, um, what you're getting in the cold draw, what you're getting on the flavor notes. Um, if you're not smoking this cigar along with us, that's 100% fine. Go ahead and drop in the comments what you are smoking and drinking. And like I said, we're right here in the comments with you, so we'll be commenting with you. Um, excited to chat with you guys. I'll have an earbud in, listening along and chatting, um, but just had this event come up. And so, Mel, let's go ahead and jump into Beyond the Cigar.

SPEAKER_06

Yes. So, first question is how do you go from I smoke cigars to I know cigar people?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. And it's not online avatars, right? It's no comment section personalities, it's actual people. How do I connect with people?

SPEAKER_06

Yes, and expanding your cigar circle is part of the enjoyment of this wonderful hobby we all enjoy.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. And let's say this up front, Mel, and I want to be very, very clear. This is not a networking episode. This is about finding like-minded individuals who have a passion for cigars the same way you do.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, very important to throw that out there for everybody watching.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, we're not teaching how to walk into a lounge and hand out imaginary business cards that's full of confidence and cedar.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, this is gonna be about the community not collecting contacts. Um I mean, nobody sits down and says, all right, let's form a structured cigar community with quarterly dues and a charter.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. And here's the thing networking is one of these things that everybody tries to sell. Networking's the thing, and it's all these, but if you go to a cigar lounge, or let me just a little bit of wisdom, let me drop some wisdom for you guys in life. If you go to a networking event to make a sell, you've lost before you got there. If you go somewhere to build relationships, many things come from that, and it is so true in the cigar culture as well. Yeah, because this matters, cigar culture is becoming more and more relationship and experience driven. Lounges have events and pairings, casual hearths, um, small local communities, cigar clubs that get together, and those are increasing the really where the hobby lives in our community. But also the cigar culture is about building relationships with somebody that you can set back and maybe you can sit there with them and have a cigar and say five words, or you can sit there and have a cigar and say five hundred words.

SPEAKER_06

Right, yeah, 100%. Um, and so if you're listening tonight and thinking, yes, but I'm not necessarily naturally social or I'm more introvert, honestly, that's that's great. This episode is going to be especially for you. And honestly, coming from Kevin is very extroverted, I think everybody knows that I am more introverted, and having a cigar circle has been awesome for me since even we've gotten into doing the podcast, starting a brand, all those things.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. And so when you're talking about that, there's all of these cigar-friendly venue databases out there. There's, you know, the retail lounge culture, um, even these branded lounge programs that are coming up and they're all really pointing the same direction, Mel, that cigars are social infrastructure now. They're not just simply a retail product. And as you were saying, if you are not naturally social, that's a really good thing. Because some of the best cigar friendships start from very low-key connections.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, could be a nod, a lighter, or even a simple, what are you smoking?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. And kicking off of the why, because I think that's what a lot of people skip with this is why expand your cigar so why expanding your cigar circle matters and really why should you expand it at all? What's important about that?

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, those are great questions, and I think a lot of people are perfectly happy smoking alone.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and that's valid.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, I think solo smoking, um, it's a real part of the hobby. Sometimes there is nothing better than grabbing a cigar, going out on your patio alone, or having some time just with your cigar. It's peaceful, it's reflective. Um, it can be one of the best parts of my day.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, but there's a difference between being isolated and choosing to isolate to wind down from the day, right? And so you can choose solitude, and that's very different than being isolated because I need people, and people bring me energy, I need social time, I need those opportunities to really build up. Um, a great example that was Thursday night. It had been a long week, and we're like, hey, we're just gonna bounce up to the lounge for about an hour. Um, connect. We know some people are gonna hang out, and we got there about 6:40 thinking we'd be back home by 8. We got home at 11.

SPEAKER_06

Right.

SPEAKER_04

I got there, there were people there, we were connecting. We ended up sitting with just a couple of guys, or I sat with a couple of guys up in their actually retail lounge space, our public space at Stories, and we sat there all night and had a phenomenal time connecting over family, over a couple of projects we're both working on, over cigars from PCA. You sat in the corner in the members lounge by yourself on your phone and had a great time.

SPEAKER_06

I played a game.

SPEAKER_04

You played a game, right?

SPEAKER_06

I said my hellos, I shook some hands. It was great to see everybody.

SPEAKER_04

I did talk with some people lightly, but so I needed people, you chose solitude, and it was a great night.

SPEAKER_06

Right, exactly. And the cigar circle, it does matter because it gives you perspective, recommendations, some shared rituals in there. It gives you a better lounge experience, honestly. It's just more fun, especially if you are needing and wanting that that connection.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely. And a good cigar culture or a good cigar circle begins to expand your palate, expand your experiences, and opens your eyes to way more than you would imagine.

SPEAKER_06

That's true. I mean, they share with you what's worth trying, what's overhyped, uh, which lounges are welcoming, uh, which events could be worth attending, and which cigars are smoking better right now, even maybe than they were six months ago.

SPEAKER_04

And maybe more important than that, they give you context into cigars, they give you context into life, and it's really difficult to find that in today's culture where so many people connect only online.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah. I mean, the cigar hobby, it can feel huge uh when you are entering it alone and by yourself. There are so many brands, there's so many opinions, there's so much jargon, there's so much of the macho nonsense floating around in some corners.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. And a good cigar cigar circle. Okay, I cannot talk tonight, guys. Um, a good cigar circle. I'm gonna turn this into a tongue twister. Yeah, um, filters down into something very human, very real, and very relationship driven, and it becomes way more of a family, way quicker than you would imagine.

SPEAKER_06

100%. Um, and I also want to mention cigar experiences. So there are cigars that are objectively good, and then there are cigars that become memorable because of where you were and who you had them with and what the experience was that surrounded all that.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. And a hundred percent that happens. The same stick, different company, entirely different experience.

SPEAKER_06

Yep, 100%.

SPEAKER_04

I can't tell you how many times we've done that and smoked a cigar that was just okay, and then I smoked it with some buddies and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't know that the cigar was that different as much as the circumstances involved with it.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, I agree with that. Um, this also means that social circles, it isn't some optional bonus, but it's part of the flavor of the hobby.

SPEAKER_04

Right, absolutely. And so let's talk just for a second about lounges. Um, lounges are beginning to truly reinforce all that we're talking about as they're building better cultures. Um, the best regarded lounges around the country aren't just praised for inventory, um, they're praised for their experiences, their hospitality, the events that they do, the feeling of community, how welcoming their people are. And this exact language shows up time and time again when you see write-ups about different cigar lounges and magazines on blogs. And as you said, isn't it an optional bonus? It's really a flavor of the hobby at this point. And I couldn't tell you how much more I like that line when you said it that it's a flavor of the hobby, because I do think that is so true in today's cigar culture.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, I figured you would probably like that one.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and so it's time to get a little practical, Mel. So, how to meet people in a lounge without being weird. Okay, because there's plenty of weird people out there. And there's weird people in the cigar culture, and that's okay. We love them anyways. But you walk into a lounge, maybe you know one person, maybe you don't know anybody, maybe you've been there before, but you've kept to yourself most of the time. How do you meet people?

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, the first rule is going to be to stop imagining that everybody else in the room already knows each other and is judging you for walking in not knowing anyone.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and that's so easy to do. And as extroverted as I am, um, when you look at there's a profile there called the disc profile, and I'm almost a pure eye, which means I'm an influencer, um, but it also means I'm very intentional and I can way overjudge myself and feel inferior to people. And so it's easy because when you're the odd person out, it feels like the odd person out. And a lot of people smoking, a lot of people laughing, and here I am sitting in the corner, wishing I was a part of the conversation, trying not to eavesdrop, but honestly listening to every word, wishing I was involved.

SPEAKER_06

Right, because a lot of people walk into a lounge carrying this imaginary social pressure. So everybody here is going to be an expert. Yes. Everybody here has a crew. Um, if I say the wrong thing, I'm exposed. Maybe someone's gonna call me on it, it'll make me feel bad, it'll make me feel inferior, you know, all those things.

SPEAKER_04

You're absolutely right. And the truth is most of the people are there simply trying to stay off their phone and unwind and enjoy a little bit of time with some other people.

SPEAKER_06

100%. So sitting in that corner thinking, I don't even know what Maduro means or that it's a dark cigar, other than that's that's it. Um, but they're all talking about the fermentation process. So what does that even mean?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. And the reality, Mel, is you don't need to know anything other than I really enjoy this cigar, and here's why. And the why can be as simple as it draws well, um, it burns nice, and I kind of enjoy the flavor, but I can't tell you what that is.

SPEAKER_06

Right. And you don't even need to be able to explain the flavor. We have so many conversations with people, not all the time, but pretty frequently, about people sometimes are like, Well, I don't smoke cigars like you do, I don't get those flavor notes. That's a hundred percent okay, and that is what we tell them. If you like the cigar because you like it, that is a hundred percent fine.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, exactly. And so here's the thing: when we're smoking cigars at a lounge, we often don't talk about flavors the same way we do here on the podcast, nor do we talk about the same way when we're rating a cigar to decide is this going to become a part of our line? Or if we're smoking new cigars, decide if we're gonna sell them at stories. Those are different times to focus in on the flavor profiles. Now it's easy for some people to say, well, I always pick them up, so it's just natural. I agree with that, but just because you pick it up doesn't mean you have to say it. And so sometimes we're sitting at lounges and goes, man, I really like this, the drawing well, the flavor's nice. And if somebody says, hey, what flavor are you getting? I might go, it's a little earthiness, there's a little sweetness to it, but I won't go into a lot of detail unless I know for sure there's somebody who geeks out about that. If it's just a casual person at a lounge that we don't know, I want to have a general conversation. I don't want to feel like the cigar geek, nor do I want them to feel inferior. And both of them kind of impact the conversation negatively, to be honest.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, 100%. I mean, I think the best social entry point is not about performance, um, it's about the curiosity.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely. The easiest line in cigar culture is still this. Hey man, what are you smoking? Or ask them to explain what they're talking about. Maybe they're talking about the fermentation process and go, hey, I've only been smoking for a little while. I'm curious. Can you tell me about the fermentation process? The funny thing is, sometimes you'll find out real quick they know a lot about it. And other times you'll find out they don't really know a lot about it, they're just trying to sound good.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, 100%. And you might not know that because you just, you know, maybe said you don't know anything about it. Yeah, but uh in a lounge, asking questions about cigars or you know, those processes in general, if people people like to talk about it, they like to help educate other cigar enthusiasts and they like To just have a good time with it.

SPEAKER_04

So true. Before you jump on, say this cigar, I'm going to ash it here in a second just because I don't want to wear it. Um, but this has a beautiful ash on it. Um, we're sitting out here, it's a little warm with a light breeze. Um, so the burn's a little crooked here, but that's really because I'm not rotating it much. Um, this feels a little bit like a soft boxed press. And so, you know, I'm kind of holding it one angle, not rolling it in my fingers as I normally would. Um, but it's burning beautifully with gorgeous ash holding on really well.

SPEAKER_06

Mine's really pretty even all the way.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, yours is great. Um, but just want to do that.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Um, when we talk about saying, hey, what are you smoking? The line really works because it's low pressure, yeah, and there's no expectation and there's no need to explain anything further.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, asking them to explain it allows them to do the talking. And I mean, honestly, there are very few people that don't like to talk about something that they're passionate about.

SPEAKER_04

I mean, yeah, and so that's so true, but let's get back to the core of the question. What are you smoking tonight?

SPEAKER_06

Yes, it's not too personal, so you're not asking for bank account numbers or anything like that. It's not too clever or too stuffy, it's not trying too hard. Um, and it gives the other person something really easy to talk about and honestly just connect you from there.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely. And so, what are some other openers that you can have from that?

SPEAKER_06

So there's the have you had that before? That's a good one. Uh, how is it smoking? Anything in the humidor you've been liking lately? Um, I'm between two cigars. Have you had either of these?

SPEAKER_04

I really love that last one. It's a sneaky one because it really opens up the conversation and it allows them to give you input. And I've not met a person on the planet yet. I'm sure they're out there, but I don't know that I've met them that doesn't love to be helpful in that type of situation and talk to you a little bit. And if they've not had either cigar, it's something y'all can grab your phone and both look up and go, hey, what do you think? This is what this says about this, this is what this says about that. It's just an easy conversation starter. And so I think that's a really great one.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah. I mean, people really do love to be helpful, and it's important to keep in mind that etiquette, lounge etiquette absolutely matters in this situation as well. Uh, you want to make this, I want to make this point clearly is that lounges work best when people respect the space. So don't dominate the room uh and don't behave like you are the main character uh of everybody else's smoke.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. If you dominate every conversation or feel like you need to be the center of attention, it's just not gonna work. People are slowly gonna gravitate away from you. Um, they may be setting it down, and and you're just slowly getting louder. And for every conversation, you've got a life story that takes 10 minutes to tell. Slowly, what you'll see is people move around the room, they relocate. Um, you don't want to be the person that people walk into the room and go, oh, Bob's here. Um, oh man, Sally, let's sit on that side of the room because Sally can get loud.

SPEAKER_06

Yes.

SPEAKER_04

Right. And so I like to talk if y'all haven't picked up on that yet. But I have to mentally choose not to talk sometimes because I naturally just enjoy sharing and interacting, but I've had to learn that as a skill, especially in the cigar culture, where not everyone's there to have a full conversation. They're there to interact a little bit. 100%. And so you got to read that room a little bit, right? If your strategy is walk in loud and act like you belong, that's not charm, it's friction.

SPEAKER_06

Yes. So a little bit of a better strategy is going to be to, you know, buy your cigar, settle in, get comfortable, and look available, but not necessarily invasive or you know, yeah, too serious. Like, are they gonna, you know, are they gonna come ask me to go sit over there?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. And so let's say this there's a huge difference between open to conversation and circling the tables like it's a dating app.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, please do not circle the tables like it is a cigar dating app when you're there.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. And so I've seen this happen where there's a group of guys in a few chairs together, and the person walks by and then they walk by the other side a little slower, and then they walk by again, and it's you know, it happens sometimes. Oh, I forgot the cutter. Oh, I forgot a bottle of water. It happens, but you can kind of tell when they're walking by and they're looking, and like, hey John, hey Bob. You know, every time they're trying to get the invite to sit down, right? But let's turn the tables a little bit. Let's say you are introverted. That's good news. We have great news for you. You do not need to become some hyper-social extrovert to fit in or to build a cigar community. You can start small, you can start with one-on-one conversations, you can sit back and just listen and then occasionally add something to the conversation.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, and that's how real cigar circles start growing. Uh, it's not gonna be with grand speeches or with repetitions. You just show up, you just nod at the same people, you ask one question, maybe next time it becomes two. I mean, it's yeah, it's knowing being able to kind of read the room and also doing what you're comfortable with.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and that slowly turns into one night somebody saying, Hey, do you want to sit over here with us?

SPEAKER_06

And that's it. That's really how it starts.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely. So let's talk a little bit about questions to ask so that you don't really feel or look socially awkward.

SPEAKER_06

And this is the segment that I think people really want.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Because social is vague, right? And so some of the rebels out there have asked to say, hey, how do you start a club? How do I build a group of guys to smoke with regularly? And that's really what tonight is building toward. And this really begins because if you talk about how do I have a cigar club, how do I be social, that's really, really vague. I think which people are really asking is how do I find like-minded people to enjoy the hobby?

SPEAKER_06

So let's give people actual questions here. So the key is to ask questions that are easy to answer. So that's always a great step. That we talked about what cigar are you smoking? I'm choosing between these two, those are easy ones. Uh, cigar adjacent questions, uh, questions that are not going to be performative and are also not weirdly invasive.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, like yeah, I just several weirdly invasive ones pop in my mind. I'm not even going to share them. You can imagine, think about it. I've heard just about everything asked in the craziest ways at cigar lounges. So let's talk about good lounge questions. If you're new to a lounge or maybe you've been going to the same lounge, but don't know a lot of people. Um, you see a guy sitting there, a female that you're sitting across, and maybe you go, hey, just curious, what strength of cigar do you normally like to smoke? Are you into mild or medium or more full-bodied? Um, I'm just trying to grow my palate and curious what other people are smoking. Super easy. Low, it fits on anything. Easy to answer. It's not performative, it's not weirdly invasive. A second one is hey, what have you been smoking lately? Um, do you have a go-to or do you always just try new stuff? Um, are there any brands in the humidor here that you should say I shouldn't miss? Um, I may not have time to smoke it tonight, but I could take it with me. Um, and then another great question that I love, and I ask this a lot when we're at cigar lounges, is how long have you been coming here?

SPEAKER_06

Right. And that last one is really useful because it often opens into lounge history, local recommendations, and it in regular just crowd dynamics as well.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely. So we were at a lounge um probably two and a half, three years ago. Um, and there was a guy there named Tom, and we were sitting there, and we happened to be, it was a full night, and they had chairs set up in fours, and there were two set, and there was a couple setting chairs, and we just said, Hey, can we sit here? And we were honestly maybe three feet from so you weren't super close, we weren't super far away. There was a table between us, and Mel and I were just talking and they were talking, and there was a lull in the conversation, and so I just kind of looked over at the guy and said, Hey, you guys are doing here regularly, or is this your first time? And he had mentioned, oh, I've been coming here for years, and I was actually kind of came here when they were still trying to prep things, and so it got into that cigar history or that lounge history that was really, really great. Um, and we got to know those guys pretty well. I actually have them on social media, um, not often, but every now and again they'll shoot me a text and see how we're doing, and I'll do the same. And so we're not great friends. I wouldn't say, hey, I'm gonna send him a Christmas card, but when I think about him, I'll shoot him a text, or if I'm at that lounge, I think about it. And those are just really kind of ways things grow, right?

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, I I agree with that.

SPEAKER_04

And so let's talk about events because events are a little bit different than a lounge, um, but you still have some really easy entry questions if you get set at a table and events from those times where you often are at a table with a bunch of people you don't know, or maybe there's a couch set up and kind of some chairs around it. Um, and so hey, have you tried the featured cigar yet? Or have you tried the event cigar yet? Really easy question. Um, what brought you out tonight? Like what excited you about this event? Um, because oftentimes events have multiple facets to them, such as Cigar Fest that we have coming up here soon. Yes, we have great music. Um, it's about seven days away, actually. This Saturday. So when you guys are watching this, it's just about five days away. Yep. Um, and so we've got great music, we have Rustiac's beer, we've got cigar deals with a lot of different vendors, um, eight different vendors are going to be there. And most of the cigars we have at Cigar Fest are all limited edition to Cigar Fest, which is really exciting. And so that person might say, Oh, hey, I know the musician, so I came out to support them. Yeah, or I love Rusty Axe's beer. I smoke cigars occasionally. I figured this was a great opportunity to have a cigar in Rusty Axe's beer, right? Right. So it's a super easy question, or they're this there for the deals, yeah. Um, have you been to one of these events before? And they may go, I have this is my first time here, but I went to one of this city and I went to one of this city. It opens up a whole conversation, and then finally, I told you guys I like to talk, right? So here we go. What cigar are you excited to be smoking from the event? One that allows someone to be a little bit more free to explain. Man, these guys are selling the new German engineering, it's in a new Pantella size they've never leased before. I'm excited to try it. I can't wait. I just bought them. It's what I'm gonna light up next. Whatever the conversation is, they can go deep into what they're excited about.

SPEAKER_06

100%. Um, I think that that's a great list, but I also want to talk a little bit about what not to ask within your first five minutes.

SPEAKER_04

So I love that. I'm gonna call this the anti-list.

SPEAKER_06

Yes. So these are gonna be things that you want to avoid. I would say this is a 99.9% you're going to want to avoid this. And that's gonna be questions like what is the best cigar here? That may seem like you're trying to get someone's favorite or something like that, but what the best cigar is could be variable. If there's multiple cigars, if there's only one cigar and that's not what the people are talking about, it just gets awkward.

SPEAKER_04

Well, it's like I just said, okay, what cigar are you excited about is open-ended. Yes. What's the best cigar here is subjective and becomes a competition, yeah, essentially. Yeah, because now, like the next guy's like, that isn't a favorite cigar, it's this one. And you're creating friction instead of conversation.

SPEAKER_06

Yes. Uh, another one is gonna be how much do you spend on cigars every month? Sometimes people will volunteer this information, they will, but that's not something that you ask.

SPEAKER_04

I have a thousand dollar a week budget.

SPEAKER_06

And if they do tell you, it's not something that you share. Like, oh, oh, uh Susie told me she spends four hundred dollars a month on cigars. Uh, the next one is do you smoke Cubans?

SPEAKER_04

I love that one.

SPEAKER_06

That one we do get that question sometimes from people. And honestly, that question is a little crazy just for multiple facets, but the main one is it's really hard to get them. It's impossible to get them in the US. And so even if you do smoke Cubans, you're not most likely smoking them in the U.S.

SPEAKER_04

Here's the three things about that question, Mel. One is it's pretentious. Two, it makes you sound unknowledgeable if they're a knowledgeable cigar smoker. And three, it feels reaching. And I don't really know how else to describe that other than it just feels kind of it's almost invasive without being invasive because it's just a weird question. Um, but you get asked all the time. I want to make a caveat. Richard uh is probably watching tonight. Um, we love it when you ask us, hey, have you tried this yet? Have you tried this yet? Um that is another one that can probably go up into the great questions to ask is, hey, have you tried the new Oliva cigar yet? Or have you tried the new Placentia? Have you tried the new Elevated Humidor? Whatever it might be, but do you smoke Cubans? Is a very different question because of the connotation connected to them.

SPEAKER_06

Yes. And there are times, probably I would say it's happened multiple times where Cubans come up in a conversation and it is not bad. It is not because it's not pointed and it's not directed. Like if you just met someone and that's one of your first questions, it does, it can come across more harsh, I think, than what the intention is, versus when it comes up just naturally and people just talk about it.

SPEAKER_04

Or they come and tell you, yes, man, I was on a cruise. We got off. I was at the port. I bought these amazing Cubans. It had a little glass top case, it was beautiful. And the whole time there's cigar people around that know those are fakes, and then there's do I tell them they're fakes? Do I not tell them they're fakes? Do I let this new cigar smoker get over there and get all excited? And no, maybe he needs to go on a cruise to get Cubans. I mean, like it's just loaded, right? So I think you have a couple of other ones.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah. So the next one is what do you do for work? This is one that you don't want to ask within the first 30 seconds to two minutes of meeting someone, especially with you don't know, maybe while they're there, maybe they're there to decompress from work and they don't want to talk about work. I mean, you just never, it's another one of those maybe further down the line, once you get to know each other, that sort of thing, but not something you want to start out the gate.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and sometimes it's appropriate if I sit down next to Mel and I and she goes, Hey, have you been coming here long? And I'm like, No, actually, this is only my second time here. I come in when I'm in town. I only I'm only in town every once in a while. Oh, what brought you into town? Oh, I'm here for work. I come like that's a natural life conversation that's cigar adjacent. Um, but they offered it.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, and this is one of my least favorites is when people ask if you are like big into cigars.

SPEAKER_03

I like that.

SPEAKER_06

That one I always laugh a little bit, um, mainly because we have the lounge, our line, the pot is like, no, not really.

SPEAKER_04

We're just doing this because that last one's really pretty brutal. And it's odd, but I've been asked it a couple of times, which is why it made this list. Um, I came with my backpack, I pulled out of my backpack my travel humidor, which I had my 50-count travel humidor stuffed in my backpack, and I set it down there. And I wasn't even actually getting to my humidor to smoke a cigar because I just bought some of in the humidor at the lounge we're at. I was really looking for my cutter because I don't like using lounges cutters. I want to bring my own. Um, and I was grabbing my laptop out, and then Mel, in her purse or backpack, depending on what she was carrying, always has what she calls emergency sticks. Um, and so if you're somewhere and without a cigar, Mel has them. And so she pulled a couple things out of her purse, like a bag full of a Huma bag full of cigars, stuffed it back in there because she was getting her lighter out because she has a specific lighter. This one right here that we travel with all the time. Um, and we know it's hers because it's got this little remnant of a sticker. Um, by the way, we have nine of these lighters floating around our house, but it is this lighter that is Mel's. And so she sat on the table and she rocked up to go to the bathroom wherever you went. And the guy was like, Man, are you guys big into cigars? And it was like, No, we're just here. Travel human or fell out of somebody else's car, so I picked it up. Yeah, you know, I mean, like, I don't even know how to answer that, right? Um, and there's been multiple variations of how we've been asked. Um, that was a perfect question. Are you big into cigars? Right? You should never ask that. Some there's alternative ways to ask, like, hey, how long have you been smoking cigars? How often do you smoke cigars? There's some great questions.

SPEAKER_06

And some people offer up that information. I only smoke cigars on special occasions, or I only would smoke one every once in a while, but now I'm smoking them more regularly. I don't know a lot, or you know, whatever, whatever that, whatever that looks like.

SPEAKER_04

And the reality is you're both studying a cigar lounge, so you're somewhat into cigars.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, 100%. Um I I agree with that completely. Uh, I was at the lounge um and someone was there and he was telling me what his absolute favorite cigar was. And I was like, that is amazing that you can choose one cigar that's your favorite. And he was he immediately was like, Well, I don't smoke cigars. Uh, I don't smoke as many different kinds of cigars like you do. I don't, I don't, he he basically said he doesn't get the flavor notes kind of like he doesn't go dive into that when he's smoking cigars. And I was like, that's honestly awesome. Like, if that is what you enjoy about cigars, that is awesome. If I mean, so I love I loved that. It was a great kind of back and back and forth.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, the really hard thing is for cigars is my favorite might be the one I'm currently smoking.

SPEAKER_06

100%, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Um, but the reality is there are I can probably come with a five or seven, but I think those are also constantly changing. There's a few that stick in that realm. And the hardest part about that question for me, Mel, and probably for you as well, is we have a cigar line with about a dozen cigars when you count the core line, the elegance series, the limited editions we do, and then we make some house blends, and then we make some cigars from some other people that I really enjoy. If you want to ask me what my top five are, it's probably five from that list, but I don't want to sound pretentious and be like, well, yeah. And I really do enjoy other cigars. I know cigar manufacturers that only smoke their line, and I know cigar manufacturers that smoke everybody's line because you've got to kind of keep up with what's out there and what's smoking well.

SPEAKER_03

Yep.

SPEAKER_04

And so it's really hard. So I'm gonna turn that reality into another thing you shouldn't do when you're trying to build a cigar circle, is you should not try to impress people by front loading jargon or front loading your knowledge of cigars.

SPEAKER_06

Yes. Uh so please don't open with I'm really into broadleaf varietals, extra long fermentation profiles, post-roll resting conditions, cigars that get this, you know, you've got the sauteed bell pepper with just a little bit of the ribeye f ribeye fat on there that has just a tingling of salt. Like that's a lot for an opening, which I mean, if that's what you like, but that's a lot for opening up for opening a friendship circle.

SPEAKER_04

So the only little bit of caveat to that is unless the other person clearly lives in that lane, that's not conversation, it's a TED talk that no one asked for.

SPEAKER_06

Yes. Uh so two thoughts. The first one is I'm not always sure what people mean by any of those three things.

SPEAKER_04

That's true.

SPEAKER_06

It could mean a lot of different things. And then second, you earn depth of conversation, you don't launch with it.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

That's a great point. You earn relationship, you earn equity. Um, another thing is not every cigar conversation needs to stay about cigars. Um, and this is where sometimes people get stuck because they don't know a lot about cigars and they feel like that's the only thing they can talk about. So they really get trapped in a lane they built, no one else did.

SPEAKER_06

Exactly. Cigars are the doorway. We talk about that a lot. Uh, they are not always the destination.

SPEAKER_04

Cigars truly are rarely the destination, they're simply the common bond that are bringing you together. Some of the best cigar friendships become conversations about family, work stress, travel, books, sports, food, life changes. There's a couple of guys that I'm very different than they are politically. Um, we share a love for cigars, we share a love um for our faith. And so we can sit around and talk faith and talk politics and disagree, arguing over it, but we built that over time. And I'm not super close to them, but it's close enough that we can have those conversations and it's constructive and we both learn, we both enjoy. Um, I can't remember the last time I had a conversation with them about cigars, other than what are you smoking tonight? Oh, have you tried that? No, let me go grab one and then we jump into one of these cigar-adjacent realities. Yes, it never stays about the cigar other than maybe halfway through the man. This was a great recommendation. Thank you.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, 100%. Um, we also we love talking about food and travel. So talking about getting out of the box of I can only talk about cigars because I am with a bunch of cigar enthusiasts and trying to make friends or trying to get to know them. It can food and travel are easy. They're easy to talk about for everyone. What you like, what you don't like, do you like to travel? What ways do you like to travel? The cigar is there to help get you started and the conversations will keep you there.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. It's so true. Um, one last hint about growing and connecting is this if you're sitting with someone, um, talking, um, when someone walks into the lounge or the shop, invite them over to sit with you. Say, hey, you know, single guy walks in, single female, there's a couple of you guys sitting there going, hey, you're welcome to join us. We're just having a cigar. Um, and if they join, your cigar circle grew a little bit. But if they go, hey, you know what, I'm really just trying to wind down, or hey, I need to read and eat a couple of emails, I'm gonna sit over here. Don't take offense to that. And it doesn't mean the next time you see them walk in, you don't invite again because maybe the next time they're walking in, they're hoping for an invite, but that night they needed to unwind. When we see people, there's a reality. I had this conversation earlier today with somebody, we could drive to Target right now and we could line up a hundred people, and there's one thing I can tell you that's a hundred percent true about all 100 of them. They're going through and dealing with something, and there's something maybe at different variances of levels in your eyes, but to them, there's something maybe as big as your something, even though it's not in your eyes. And so sometimes when people walk in, they need a little decompression time. Yeah, work sucked. They had an argument with their wife on the way home, they are frustrated about their mortgage payment going up, they were in a wreck yesterday, their mom's got something going on, their daughter's got something going on. And so we make the invite, but we give a lot of grace for them to accept or decline.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, yeah, 100%. It's not a rejection if they say no, potentially. So those great insights on that. Uh on that thought, we have more to come after the break.

SPEAKER_00

We fell in love with cigars not because of the flavors or smoking experience or perceived steps, but because it allows barriers to fall between other humans and build deeper connections. For that reason, we've been super intentional to curate a space where people can find community and enjoyment with others, and cigars just happen to be the way we're doing it. For that reason, we are thrown to be the one and only cigar retail store or lounge in downtown Loveland. A good story is one of the most powerful tools used to connect with another human. Sharing stories fades out differences and highlights similarities found in the details or with the storyteller. Over the years, we have seen some of the best stories told over cigars, and thus, new friendships are made, passion shared, encouragement given, and so much more. The impact storytelling has on the human connection is why we've decided to name our store and lounge stories. Because behind every good cigar and conversation is an even better story.

SPEAKER_06

As always, thank you to our sponsors. Let's go ahead and look at upcoming shows.

SPEAKER_04

I'm excited about this lineup here, Mel. Next week, May 4th, we're gonna come to you live back from the studio at Story Cigars and Lounge with developing your palette three um palette building techniques, and we're gonna be um eating some cheeses, some pretzels, some chocolate. Um, we're gonna be smoking the 20th anniversary perdomo Maduro. Um, and if you're with us live at Stories, we're gonna have some of those things to share with you. We'll have plenty of stock of the Perdomos if you want to smoke along with us. If you have the Rebel Pack, um, you'll have that Maduro as well. And feel free to grab a couple of cheeses, maybe some pretzels, some chocolate candies as we walk through these palette building techniques.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, that's gonna be a great episode. May 11th, we are doing cigar deals. Are they a thing of the past? So we will be diving into that topic. And on that one, we will be smoking the Camacho Ecuador.

SPEAKER_04

Um, then on May 18th, I'm excited about this one. Tobacco 101, premium cigar tobacco, varietals, and primings. Um, the funniest thing about this episode is it did not want to pre-schedule to Facebook because we pre-scheduled the lives out into all of our streaming services. Because it said tobacco, they didn't want to do it. So I had to change the background. Cigar 101, and it was fine. Yeah. But tobacco 101, it didn't want. And we're gonna be smoking that night the brand new McAuliffe number two, or as I call it, the silver in the McAuliffe line. Um, it is in the Rebel pack, those were shipped out today, and so all of you should be getting those the next few days um ready to light up with us um starting next week.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, great cigar that goes perfectly with that topic. Um, and then May 25th, we are doing develop your palette number four, building flavor profiles. And on that one, we'll be smoking the ladybug by the elevated humidor.

SPEAKER_04

I'm excited about all those shows. So make sure you go ahead and click that subscribe button below and follow us on social media to make sure you don't miss an episode or catch up on any that you might have missed. You can also click the notify. All of those out on YouTube are scheduled and ready for you to click. It'll email you a few days ahead of time and earlier in the day, reminding you that the episode is coming up. With that in mind, we want to share a couple of events that are coming up. We mentioned this a little bit earlier, Cigar Fest. Melon's tell us a little bit about Cigar Fest.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, I'm very excited for Cigar Fest. It is coming up this Saturday. We still have a few tickets left available, I believe, for the pre-order on there.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, for the Connoisseur Plus, we've got about eight or nine left. The Connoisseur, we have a few more than that.

SPEAKER_06

Yes. Um, it's gonna be a great, great day. As Kevin had mentioned earlier. We are doing a lot, we're releasing a lot of new cigars, limited editions that are going to be available that day. And it they're also going to be all very heavily discounted. Biggest discounts of the year happen on our cigar fest day.

SPEAKER_03

Yes.

SPEAKER_06

Um, and there's also gonna be live music there. Uh, we're gonna have beer and food vendors. There's gonna be some prizes.

SPEAKER_04

And as the graphic says, we've got the cigars. Just bring your favorite lawn chair and expect to have a great time. So we're gonna go on to another event that's coming up, Mel, on June 2nd at Two Guys Cigars in Salem, New Hampshire. We're really excited about this um event. It's going to be Ladies' Night.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, I am really excited about that. I got to see and talk with Agnes a little bit when we were at PCA and we did that a little uh little chat with her. I think it's gonna be a really great evening. You can see that the ladies' tickets are$10, the gentlemen's tickets are$20, and we will be uh smoking cigars. We'll have some cigars there to kind of roll and you know, yeah, just as a good visual for everybody who's wanting to see that.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and this is an event that's really kind of an all-day. We'll be at the shop most of the day at four o'clock local time. Um, you're gonna be on the Ash Hills podcast, which is the all ladies take over of the Ash Hills podcast that takes place just above two guys, and then we'll transition right down from that into ladies' night. Um, expect that to be a great evening.

SPEAKER_03

It's gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_04

Um, wanted to share a couple of events that are coming up. They're gonna be great. June 15th podcast, which is a Monday night. We're gonna be coming live with you with an episode called The Duel. Um, we're really excited about this episode. It's two cigars, one verdict. There's gonna be two blinded cigars. As you can see on the graphic, one is an under$13 cigar, the other one is a luxury over$28 cigar. The panelists are gonna be smoking and scoring them live for us to be able to um give you the verdict at the end of the podcast that night. And we're gonna be talking about cigar value, cigar pricing, um, why there's different levels. We've done that a little bit in the budget um series, but we're gonna do this with four guests. We'll have four in studio and we'll have two virtually um coming to you. And so we're really excited about the episode. And then one last thing just to talk about before we get going, is something we're going to do in May and June and see how it goes. Um, and we're gonna do the Cigar Rebel virtual herf.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Um, as it says on the graphic, distance means nothing, passion connects us all. So we're gonna get a night scheduled. We'll go live, people can come and go as they want. We'll all be on the screen to talk and share. And we really hope that it'll be a great evening for you guys to connect. It's perfect for tonight's episode, right? We don't want online relationships, online personalities to be everything, but connecting like this is a way for us to connect with you rebels out there, for y'all to connect with each other. And who knows what friendships will be born through those events. And if it's something that works well, we'll continue. It may not be every month, it may be every so often. Um, but we're working on putting together the virtual hearth. And so, Mel, before we get back into the topic, Lis, what is your thoughts on where we're at with this cigar? Well into the second third of the cigar.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, so I would say for me, I am not picking up very much white pepper like you have. It could just be my palate for the day. Um, I've gotten a little bit more of a transition more into like a toasted nut or coffee. Um, I'm still getting a little bit of that cedar, you know, woodiness, just a hair on that. Um, but it's still very creamy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Um, if I was gonna give it one definition, this cigar is creamy. Um, that peppiness of the first third really died away. Um, I don't know that I'm picking up the nuttiness. Um, I am a few more cigars in today. Um, I tried to reset my palette before we go live to do this, um, but that creaminess really um stands out. And so let's jump back in the topic. We've got a couple of quick things to cover and wrap up. We're gonna go a little bit long tonight, but we hope you guys are enjoying.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, so going back into tonight's topic, which is you know, beyond the lounge, um, how to build a cigar circle with purpose. And I also wanted to throw out there, we say lounge a lot or cigar events. Yeah, this is also include includes, you know, maybe you're going on a cruise. A lot of times there is a lot of cigar smokers on the cruise. Maybe we were on our last cruise, actually, every cruise we've been on, we have connected in some way or other with a cigar smoker that we end up exchanging numbers, we still keep in communication with, uh, which is awesome. And also, you know, you had mentioned the events. There's also, you know, maybe you're staying at a hotel and you're in the smoking area and someone's got a cigar, and maybe you guys both would love to chat with each other. So we say lounge because it's easy to start there. But the reality is if you see, if there's a place where a cigar smoker could be, if you are somewhere, it's always okay to apply these there to maybe meet someone.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, I was sitting alone in Washington, DC, outside of a hotel, um, I don't know, seven, eight months ago, somewhere in there. And there was a group of guys hanging out, and some women kind of came up and joined them. And then a few minutes later, I noticed they all lit up a cigar.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

And so I was sitting there for a little while, and one of the guys noticed I was smoking a cigar, and so he walked over to ask what I was smoking. I ended up sitting with them for about an hour and joining a cigar. I saw him out there the next night. I was trying to get some work done. And so I said hi and was working and said, Hey, sorry, I'm trying to catch up on emails. And they kind of left before I got done. But there was still that connection. Yeah, we chatted, exchanged numbers with one of the guys because he was asking questions and we were excited. He gave me a cigar, I gave him a cigar that he had never had, I'd never had, and um, it's an easy connection. So that's a great, great point. I'm glad you brought that up. Um, and let's say, for a saying, you don't have a great local lounge, or you do, but you want more than an occasional conversation. How do you intentionally build a cigar circle, Mel?

SPEAKER_06

Right. So there's really four lanes to this, and lane one is going to be to become a regular somewhere.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. Not everywhere, but somewhere.

SPEAKER_06

Yes.

SPEAKER_04

Um, and that matters more than people think. Familiarity is social glue.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, you don't need 10 lounges, you need one place where people start to recognize you, and you know, they're going to, hey, we saw you here the other day. Why don't you have a seat with us?

SPEAKER_04

Or absolutely see you again. You know, there's a lot of lounges with very reasonable membership dues. Yeah. And so become a member. Becoming a member automatically makes you a part of the club, and you'll eventually meet other members, right? Um, so lane number two is start small with one-on-one conversations. Yes. If you've had, you know, it really is the easiest upgrade path, if you want to call it that. If you've had two or three good conversations with someone, the next move is hey, would you want to start getting together on Thursday nights?

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, absolutely. Um, I think that's perfect. It's casual, uh, it leaves room there. It doesn't feel needy. Uh, going on to lane three is use online communities to uh help bridge. Right. And that I mean use them to bridge, but not really substitute.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_06

So this is where the the BS Lounge advice is useful there. Online cigar communities can absolutely help you find local people, uh, good information and even good event awareness. Absolutely. Uh, but they work best when they lead to real-world conversations.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely. So there's Instagram, Facebook, X, Discord, subreddit threads, event pages. All of those should be mapping tools, not substitutes for a cigar circle.

SPEAKER_03

Yes.

SPEAKER_04

They're not the final destination in any way, they're the roadmap. Um, so let's get to lane four, just so now we're running a little long time. Um, start your own small cigar night. It might be one of those scenarios where, as you've had those one or two conversations, you said, Hey, would you like to get together on Thursday night? We're going, hey, I'm gonna be there Friday around seven. And some people show up and that kicks off.

SPEAKER_06

Yes. And please hear me when I say this. When you say start a cigar club, it doesn't mean that you need to have bylaws, logos, matching polos. We have been we have been to one that they actually had like a treasurer there, yeah. Uh, because we were a guest that night, and it was still very fun, but it was more with a purpose.

SPEAKER_04

It was a meeting, yes, not a hang. Yeah, yes, and there's nothing wrong with a meeting, and a meeting with a cigar is an immeasurably better meeting. However, it wasn't a circle, it was these guys came and conducted business.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, hundred percent.

SPEAKER_04

Um, say, you know, tell us what it can really mean at a small cigar club.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, so that can just be three, three people. Maybe even if you just have one person starting off with two, and then it grows to three or four or more uh meeting on the patio the first Thursday of each month. You all, or one person brings a cigar you like and that you want to talk about, and you all share that cigar and talk about it.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and that's really enough. That's already a cigar club.

SPEAKER_06

Yes. I mean, it could also be Sunday coffee and a morning cigar, or it could be a quarterly bottle and cigar night. Absolutely. After work Wednesdays once a month.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and the smaller and simpler you make it, the more likely it survives. When it gets complicated, it's complicated.

SPEAKER_06

Yes. And if you want to give it shape, you can use some of these themes that we have put together for you. And the first one is that everyone will bring their favorite that's under$10. Uh, you could have everyone bring something they haven't smoked before.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, another one we've done is everyone brings a cigar and drops it on a tray. Um, and then whoever's birthday is next just picks a cigar and you just go and either in a circle from there or go by birthdays, however you want to choose it. And so everybody ends up with a cigar they didn't bring.

SPEAKER_03

Yes.

SPEAKER_04

And then at some point you pause and go, hey, is everyone to share about their cigar for less than a minute?

SPEAKER_06

Yes. And on those, keep in mind it is okay to have some flexibility. Say you get a cigar you've had you don't like, someone will probably trade with you. Like, not that you need to have an all-out trade afterwards, but that has happened before when we've done that. Um, there's also gonna be pairing nights. So maybe you're gonna do coffee and a cigar or bourbon and whiskey in a cigar. Um, everyone, the last one could be that everyone is going to share the cigar that surprised them most recently.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and what I love about all of those examples, Mel, is they're simple, um, they're easy to do, there's no pressure, and they're repeatable.

SPEAKER_03

Yes.

SPEAKER_04

You could you could do any of those every meeting and it wouldn't get boring.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, and they're fun. And I think, like you said, there's no pressure on anyone to feel like they have to perform. If you're looking at a cigar that's under$10, you're not looking like, oh my gosh, I need a cigar that's really gonna impress people.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_06

Because there are a lot of cigars that are impressive under$10. Absolutely. But if you don't have a if you don't know a lot about that, you might think, oh my gosh, I need to bring 10 Opus X's for this group. And that's not the that's not the vibe.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely. And it and it could easily be everybody brings a cigar under$10 and you smoke the one you brought and then tell them why you brought it, super easy. Or it could be everyone brings, um, maybe it's hey, on Thursday, Jeff's gonna bring a$10 cigar for everybody. You know, there's multiple ways to play with that, there's not one way, right? But that's how community lasts.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, it's how they're built, it's how they last. I agree with that.

SPEAKER_04

Super simple. So let's move forward for a second because um this may be the most important segment of the entire episode, and we're already about five minutes over time, um, 10. And so this is what I really want to say. You can't just ask, how do I meet cigar people? You also have to ask, Am I the kind of cigar person people want to be around?

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, and that's great because it's not just about access, this is also about presence.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely. So I want to make this painfully practical to expand your cigar circle, be someone who is welcoming, who's curious, who's low pressure, who's generous and consistent.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, you don't need to be the loudest, you don't need to be the most knowledgeable, and you don't need to have the rarest cigars.

SPEAKER_04

Oh some of the least enjoyable cigar people have all three of those qualities. That is true fact, and you still don't want to be around them. Yes, good cigar people do simple things well. Okay. So they offer their cutter and lighter when someone needs one, they share a recommendation without forcing it, they don't make new cigar smokers feel stupid or unknowledgeable, they don't turn every conversation into a flex. They don't have to have a story for every circumstance, they know how to listen and they know when to leave space and just be.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, and that last one is underrated. Um, cigar circles are built on good pacing socially, just like cigars are built on good pacing physically. Physically.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, a great cigar companion doesn't crowd the room. Like last night, I mentioned or Thursday night, I mentioned we landed in the retail space smoking lounge, the public smoking lounge with a couple of guys. And there was probably a couple of different times for five to ten minutes. We all just kind of sat there. We'd been having a conversation, and that portion of the conversation kind of ended, and we kind of went silent for a little bit. And either somebody else walked in and then left, or somebody go, Oh, hey, have you thought about this or have you heard about this? And then a whole different conversation opened. But there was plenty of space to just be.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, and that really makes the room easier to be in for everyone.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely. And if you're trying to build a cigar culture and you're trying to be someone that cigar smokers want to be around, here's some cheat codes. So show up, be normal, ask good questions, come back. Offer value. Do not force chemistry. If someone's sitting alone, ask, hey, do you mind if I sit here and say that I'm really just trying to decompress or I'm trying to get through the some emails or I'm texting with my daughter? All right, no big deal. And then go so and it may be when they wrap it up, they come move by you or go, hey, you still want to have a cigar, but you just gotta be easy.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah. The cigar social circle that you want probably won't appear in one magical night. You know, you hope that you know, little kids on the playground they meet and they're like, hey, we both want to be on the swings, want to be friends. Yeah. And or we both want to go down the slide. And I do think that while it's not quite like that as an adult, it's harder to meet people sometimes and connect. You have a great connection already, which is the cigar.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and one of the best things about it is as we get older, we don't need a lot of friends, we need quality friends. And friendships, especially in the cigar community, are built the same way everything and all good things are built.

SPEAKER_06

Yes.

SPEAKER_04

They're built slowly, they're built repeatedly, they're built with intention. Yes. And so that's tonight's episode, Beyond the Cigar.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, hopefully you guys enjoyed it. If you've been smoking alone for a while and maybe thinking, I'd like to know more cigar people, then this could be your sign, right?

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely. Walk into a lounge, ask the question, stay a little longer, come back again.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Super easy.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah. So on that note, final thoughts on the cigar.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, absolutely. So this has been a great cigar. Um, I'm typically not drawn to Southern Draw as a brand, um, but we have somebody, a good friend in our cigar circle that loves them and he is passionate about them. And so I've been smoking through them. Um, we've brought them into Story Cigars and Lounge because we wanted to support his passion for them. And so this cigar, I would say, has been very balanced throughout, very creamy. That white pepper at the front transitioned well in this very final little portion. Um, I pick up a lot more earth. I could see where you're getting cedar. I still don't pick up a lot of that. It's more of an earthiness. And what's really weird is the white pepper's back a little bit, but only on the finish, not necessarily on the palate.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, I was gonna say now that I'm in, I'm almost done with it. I notice now that I'm thinking about it as we're talking about it, there is a little bit of that citrusiness or maybe that white pepper that's lingering just on the tip of my tongue and at the roof of my mouth, really.

SPEAKER_04

And that creaminess is a little bit of that sweet creaminess. It's not just creamy, but there's a little, and so it's kind of like you're eating a great mole that's got some spice to it, but that sweetness kind of washes over it. That's kind of how this is. It's really, you don't feel the heat until the finish. That's what I feel here. And so um, I'd give this a great rating if I was gonna score it. I'd probably definitely score it low 90s. I I haven't thought through that real well, but it's burned exceptionally well. The draw's been great. Um, the feel of the cigar in my hand and my mouth is great, and the flavors, um, I really enjoy the cigar.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, I would say that. And definitely talking about, you know, the mentioning that citrus on the finish. We had a pizza tonight for dinner that had a lemon, almost a lemon finish on there. Yeah, and so that could be probably maybe influencing this finish, this end for me a little bit. But that's that's there for me a little bit as well on the finish.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, but I wasn't picking it up beforehand. I wasn't either.

SPEAKER_06

It's just been this last, it's really been just this last third for me.

SPEAKER_04

Well, guys, rebels, thank you for joining us today. If you like the episode, please leave us a review, um, share it with your friends, um, and hit us up with topics that you might want us to bring in the future, like tonight's, which was from a question.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, 100%. And if you are watching or listening on replay, drop us a comment with hashtag replayfam and click the notify button so you don't miss an episode.

SPEAKER_04

Yep. Next week, as we mentioned earlier, we have a great episode for you, Rebels, as we continue this series, Developing Your Palette with episode three, um, palette building techniques. And again, we're gonna do that live from the uh members' lounge of Story Cigars and Lounge. Almost didn't say that. But for tonight, this is our show.

SPEAKER_06

Yes, thank you guys so much for tuning in. Don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and share with your fellow cigar uh lovers. We will be back on Monday at 7 p.m. Central Time. Until then, keep your cigar lit, your ash long and your palette curious.

SPEAKER_04

Good night, Rebels.