From the mind of The People's Champ - B&Ms: The key element to our passion

I was sitting around recently and a thought came to my mind that I wanted to share with my fellow enthusiasts. This post is just my opinion and this does not reflect, in any way, the views and opinions of the B&B Cigar Club.

In this day and age of technology, more and more enthusiasts are using the World Wide Web to shop for their favorite cigars. The amount of traffic cigar retailer sites receive has seemingly risen recently given the low prices that are offered and the current economic climate on top of the mounting tobacco taxes being levied by the Federal Government and local governments. Sites like Cigar Bid (hosted by Cigars International), Holts, J.R., Famous, etc. are readily available to provide your favorite brand at a price too good to pass up. But in the midst of this current economic state of affairs, we as enthusiasts must not forget about the one place, the one mainstay that brings us together and provides a safe haven to enjoy our passion away from the criticism and attacks from anti-smoking opponents: the Brick and Mortar (B&M) Tobacconist shop! These shops are available to you as a place to go to enjoy a good drink, a good cigar and, most importantly, the company of great people who share in this passion. Many jurisdictions in this country have banned smoking in public places; think about it, depending on where you live you can't light up a cigar in a bar with a nice adult beverage with friends or in a restaurant after a nice dinner. There are even establishments that operate in jurisdictions without smoking bans that don't allow cigar smoking (yet allow cigarette smoking); there are a few of those establishments in Virginia that fall into that category. It is because of all of those factors that B&Ms should not be ignored! The Champ is not advocating that you ignore shopping on the Internet if you are on a budget and would like to be thrifty with your purchasing of cigars but if you live in an area that has a shop close by, please show some support for that shop...with more and more municipalities enacting crippling and strict smoking bans, these shops could no longer exist without the support of ordinary Joes like you or me. Me personally, I've made one Internet purchase in the 9+ years that I've been smoking cigars...it's nothing against Internet retailers at all but I am of the mind state that I want to see what I want already in front of me to inspect and say "Yes I want this one" plus I like to have a place to go to enjoy what I purchase and you just have an appreciation for the unique characters and personalities that you'll find in a shop. Don't let these small businesses go belly up in these tough times...support your local B&Ms! I want to give a big thank you to Gary Irvin, President of the Friends of Brick and Mortar Tobacconists Association, for his continued efforts to highlight the importance of these precious shops! Mr. Irvin, along with great B/SOTLs who own, operate, or just work in B&Ms are leading the charge to keep these places in existence so we enthusiasts can have our safe haven! You can check out his organization here: http://www.bmtobacco.com.

One other thing I wanted to mention that was on my mind: speaking of going into B&Ms for all your cigar needs, the one thing you'll find in B&Ms that you may not find online...house blends! Some online retailers have their brands that they sell but you can't sleep on what your local shop may have blended and had rolled to sell to you. Some of those house blends are just as good, if not better, than the well-known brands we all know (and either truly love or seriously hate). One example: there's a B&M in Alexandria named The Cigar Palace and they have their own house blend that comes in several different lines (including a Camacho Trip Maddie knockoff that from talking to people who have tried it say it is just as good if not better than the actual Trip maddie) and one of my favorites from their house blends is the Sungrown Maduro line. And the best part about Cigar Palace and their house blends is the excellent deal you get on them: Buy 4 and get 1 free...with most of their lines going for under $8 a stick you can't beat that! Yes we all love the Camachos, the Tatuajes, the Montecristos, the Cohibas, etc. but you can't deny that those little known brands made exclusively for B&Ms can be just as good and won't put a strain on your wallet. So not only should you support your local B&Ms but you should also give their house brands a fair shake...you may find your everyday, go-to cigar.

This is The Champ saying keep lighting up those good cigars and let the smoke take you away! Cheers and enjoy!