“In this culture, we are all just people who love cigars and each other.”
~ S Peterson
Cigar culture is a topic that has many hits using the google machine. Articles and videos that go back to the mid 2000’s. There isn’t a history lesson here (perhaps in the future), instead I’m going to talk about how cigar culture has not only shaped my life but has become a beautiful subculture of its own.
Cigars has been equated to many things; wine, food, pipes and while sometimes there is a solid analogy to be had there, they all fall short. Summer of 1997 I was introduced not to just a cigar. I was invited into a culture. Something I previously viewed as prestigious and unattainable for a 19-year-old kid. With the tutelage of the wonderful Howard and Elaine from Stogies on Grand, a new brick and mortar lounge and retail shop in the heart of St. Paul, MN. I was never judged for my age or inexperience with cigars. The joy of going to Stogies after work as a 19-year-old kid was something I couldn’t have predicted and yet there we were. Stories being told, laughs and good times all around was my first window into what would become a lifelong subscription to the loving community of the cigar world.
Over the past 20ish years, the industry has changed. A lot. And I didn’t know that when I entered the cigar culture that I was coming in at the dawn of the rebirth of cigars in the US. The mid-late 1990s saw a huge boom in the sale of premium cigars and with it shops and lounges started popping up all around the US (and globally). What transpires is nothing short of magical. You now have a room of individuals who are so eclectic in character it would make your head spin. People from every race, color, gender, financial status, political or religious affiliation all enjoying a cigar and treating each other as people. The civility, respect and love shown to those who enter this beautiful space is a curious one. I have looked and have not found another social arena that has a community like this. Sure, we have swaps and cigar events, but for most, it’s a cherished brother/sisterhood. Cigar people are the best people I’ve known. Every major city in the US has a cigar culture to join and those in rural America, can join by proxy using the internets, facebook, insta and the twitters (follow us! Links below).
Cigar culture goes way beyond the cigar. It’s a people first culture and we’d love for you to join us.