Miami Cigar Heaven

I just returned from five days in Miami, and for those of you who don't already know: Miami is Cigar Heaven. In South Florida even people who don't smoke cigars enjoy the smell of them. I suppose it is part of the culture and tradition. In addition, people are not as obsessed with limiting others' freedoms in a place where they have gone to escape oppression.

I did the usual cigar rounds while visiting: Little Havana, visited the Padrons, and smoked amazing cigars! I'm just about to light up the Padron 80th Anniversary 1926 Diademas/large-perfecto that the Padrons made to commemorate Jose Orlando's birthday. It looks too good to be true: the absolute picture of perfection... I'm hesitant to cut it... but I will. I am reminded of being in Nicaragua with the Padron family a few years ago and seeing the Anniversary Torpedos being rolled. There were finished bundles of Maduro Torpedos sitting on the roller's table. The cigars had not yet been box-pressed so they looked like rounded and tapered black shafts of steel. They were so oily they looked like they were sweating!!! I have never seen any cigar look as beautiful as those.... and maybe I never will again (unless I get invited back).

My trip was refreshing, to say the least. There is still hope in this country. Our cultures, freedoms, and acceptance of others (who are different) continues to be preserved in South Florida. If you are a disillusioned lover of luxury tobacco who feels your rights are being trampled upon and slowly revoked, take a trip down south and you will receive a breath of fresh, aromatic air.

Great Cigar Makers continue to be the most honorable FREEDOM FIGHTERS in America. They labor tirelessly to make some of the world's most extraordinary delicacies, while the society they live in demonizes them. My only hope is that we can get these American heroes to speak up a little louder and project their Credibility a little wider so that we can preserve this great industry for generations to come.