Bliss and meditation
We often compare how we taste a cigar to how we taste wine. There is, in such moments, a search for bliss. Savouring a good cigar might be a form of meditation expressed by the poetry of wisps of blue smoke that we quietly puff out of our mouth.
Cautionary Remark
Terry makes a fundamental distinction between “smoking” and “savouring” a cigar. “To savour a cigar, you need to keep the smoke in your mouth a few seconds and taste all the flavors and aromas that emanate from it. You should never inhale the smoke! You don’t smoke a cigar, you savour it! If I like to taste the flavors and smell the aromas, I hate to inhale the smoke!”
The primary steps to savour a good cigar
To give a good cigar its full due and take full advantage of its pleasures, you need to:
- Sharply cut the cap that covers the head of the cigar with a cigar cutter, a knife or a sharp blade.
- Light the cigar with a good lighter or with a wooden match. To ensure you don’t alter the taste, never use short matches or a gas lighter.
- Warm the tip of the cigar before lighting it.
- Light up the cigar without inhaling the smoke.
- Gently blow on the cigar tip to ensure it is well ignited.
- Draw the smoke into your mouth and keep it in a few seconds to discover all of its subtilities and flavours.
- Never inhale the smoke of a cigar into your lungs.
Dreaming of a better world
Terry lights a Montecristo, draws the smoke into his mouth, savours it for a few seconds and exhales. In the cloud that slowly rises above his head, there are dreams of a better world for the disadvantaged children that the organizations supported by the Pomerantz Foundation are trying to help.
