I live a hectic life, a business to run, luxury cigars to smoke, a family to keep stimulated and entertained, friends and colleagues to talk with and trips to be made throughout the world seeking new and exciting opportunities. So it is with distinct jealously that I guard those rare moments when I can sit back, after a good meal, or perhaps just in a quiet ten minutes or so, and puff on one of the very best luxury cigars in the world.

For me cigars smoking is all about taking time out of my day to sit quietly for the length of time it takes to smoke a cigar, and reflect on my achievements or order my life for the next moments. Woe betides anyone who interrupts these serene and solitary moments. A few years ago, I joined a cigar club, an excellent establishment that offers a gentleman a comfortable chair and a steward to bring a humidor of your very best cigars, perhaps a newspaper, a nice snifter of cognac, or just a cup of good coffee. These places are very quiet, many men come and sit and just take the time to smoke a good cigar in peaceful luxury surroundings. There is not much talk, a few good natured hellos and perhaps a quick discussion about the latest sporting achievements, there is no work mentioned anywhere. I have been a member for five years or so, and I still do not know what a lot of my regular cigars cronies do for a living. For us all it is simply about taking a little time out of our day to enjoy a luxury smoke. The pleasure is tangible, as I sit and take a quick look through my humidor to select a cigar to smoke, like very best cognac; each different cigar has a different feel, taste and draw to it. If I am in a serious smoking mood then nothing but one of the very best Cuban Cohiba`s will do, this is the luxury champagne of the cigar world, an imposing length of fine Cuban tobacco, produced to Fidel Castro’s personal standards, and Castro is a man who knows a thing or two about luxury cigars. If I am in the mood for something a little different, perhaps a darker tobacco from the Dominican Republic, if Cohiba’s are the champagne then the cigars from here are the fruity Red, perhaps a Shiraz.

Cigars cannot be rushed and the time it takes to smoke one gives you an enviable window in the day. I wouldn’t give these up for all the tea in China.

Editorial | Image Bigstockphoto