I have a tendency toward intensity.
It pulls me to extremes - physically, psychologically, and in business.
With cigars, that same instinct has led me to chase the hardest hitters on the market. The strongest blends. The boldest profiles. The ones that demand attention rather than invite it.
After overdoing it, I spent this past week smoking exclusively milder cigars.
Unexpectedly, it became one of the most enjoyable weeks of smoking I’ve had in a long time.
It took cigars to finally teach me a lesson I’ve resisted elsewhere:
often what we believe we need in order to arrive at some imagined place is precisely what moves us further from it.
Life, like smoking, is never about the destination.
It is about the present - the quiet process of being and becoming.
It seems letting go of that destination, is ironically the best way to arrive at it.
Enough philosophising… For now… Let’s talk cigar of the week.
My final cigar of the week was the H. Upmann Magnum 54, an all time favourite of mine. There is nothing quite like the smooth creaminess and density of the smoke - it remains unmatched.
Confessionally the red and gold band… Simply sublime… By now you know we love aesthetics here at Cigar Letters.
Beyond that… The draw was effortless.
The burn, flawless.
The experience is akin to opening the floodgates of pure bliss.
It is much like lounging on the deck of a yacht at sea.
Calm, yet powerful, sweeping through ones inner world.
The Upmann 54 is certainly an experience you will want to keep to hand for your entire life - it is wifey material to say the least.
I paired it with a flat white - to act as my anchor in this ocean.
A fantastic pairing that I would most definitely recommend to you. Espresso would have been too sharp, too abrupt. It would have disturbed the cream rather than carry it.
Our personalities are often reflected in what - and how - we smoke.
What is your cigar of choice? Do you feel it has taught you anything about yourself?
Write back and let me know - I would love to hear from you.
Yours truly,
The Cigar Lover
Experience > Destination
Cigar Letters
Letter No. 9