SOIR DU CIGARE

Since my previous column dealt with whisky, I'm now tempted to talk about another guilty pleasure of mine. Warning: controversial subject coming up! I smoke. Not cigarettes. That's smoking for amateurs. I smoke a pipe, and sometimes cigars, depending on the occasion and the quality of the cigars. To get the obvious thing out of the way: yes, smoking is bad for you. Especially if you inhale, which I don't. Also - living kills you dead. No doubt. 

Here in the Netherlands smoking is considered only slightly less evil than, say, committing necrophilia (which is also not allowed in restaurants). One preventive thing they try to do over here is that by now on tobacco packaging 90% of the tin, pounch, or can is covered in a photo of some horrible disease followed by the words "roken is dodelijk". Hey, that's funny - we both smoke the same blend: "roken is dodelijk".

To me it's more of a recreational activity and not so much an addiction. I sometimes go for two weeks without firing up the old briar. But: a good conversation is an excellent excuse for it, with the added bonus of giving the impression that since you take longer to answer (fiddling around with pipe and tamper) - you've given profound thought to what you're going to say. 

Example: "you want another round?" Me: puff, puff, tamp, puff - "sure". See how that works? Another bonus is that kids will look at you funny, because we are a dying breed. I know of two other pipe smokers here in town. That's it. A not-so-bonus is when women say stuff to you like "That smells so good. You remind me of my grandfather". Thanks, lady.

To me, smoking is all about ritual. Ingredients: pipe or cigar; source of fire (matches preferred); something to set fire to; beverage of choice; worthy conversation partners. Instant satisfaction. Which is how the Soir Du Cigare was born.

As it happens, I'm in a band. Every now and then we feel the need to get together in a non-music-playing setting to A: gossip about other musicians, B: talk about new repertoire, C: shoot the sh#t about any topic that comes to mind. This goes much better with a good Cuban (they are legal here!), and a fine beverage.

As a side thought: smoking is a pretty wasteful business - you spend money on something that you then set fire to, only to spend more money to do it again. Which kind of reminds me of something that Canadian chef Frederic Moran said in an Anthony Bourdain show: "food is faeces in waiting". But: I digress. 

You've probably figured out by now that the smoking part of the Soir du Cigare is a mere excuse for a get-together that's mainly aimed at conviviality (Scrabble Score!) and companionship. Which, in these days of cell phones and whatsapp and instagram, we get way too little of. There. I've said it.