It's so nice when you can share the pleasure of your inexperience with everyone else...
A friend of mine got married a couple of years ago, and as I was the only one of his friends that knew anything about cigars, he asked me if I would help him out with a few smokes for family, etc. Nice guy that I am, I thought a good box for everyone would make a great wedding gift.
One of my favorite smokes at the time was a CAO MX2. I knew the owner of the local shop pretty well, and thought that I could get a deal on a box of them. Understand that I was the only cigar smoker of all of my friends, and therefore had no benchmark as to what is considered to be a stronger cigar. He told me later that had I told them the box was for a wedding reception, he may have steered me in a different direction. You can see where this is going...
Skip to the reception - I break out the box and present it to my friend. Oohs and ahs over the black velvet dress box and the dark and oily smokes. Guys who had smoked cigars and knew they didn't like them wanted one; girls that had never smoked a cigar but after 6 mimosas / appletinis / cosmos thought it would be a great idea to have one. So went about distributing, clipping and lighting at least 18-20 cigars for a group that containted maybe 3 true cigar smokers including myself. About 20 minutes later, things begin to go horribly wrong. My first indication that something wasn't right was when the groom stumbled up with a forced smile on his very, very green face choked out a "great cigars, man". I replied with "thanks - why don't you sit down and enjoy it". Poor guy.
Almost simultaneously I was called to the front porch where a few of the girls were huddled around another friend of mine laying on her back, sick and mumbling incoherently with 3/4 of a cigar laying next to her like a murder weapon. Shortly thereafter, more began dropping like flies. I will never forget the piss drunk father of the bride making his public service announcement to the inebriated group (let's see if I can get this right) - "if you need a drink, we'll get you a drink. If you think that you need a ride home more than you need another drink, we'll get you a cab. If you have already had enough to drink and you are feeling generous, please remember that there is no need to return the drinks you have already been served. They belong to you now, and we would prefer that you take them home ."
In short:
Box of CAO MX2's for a bunch of drunk reception guests - $150 (I think). Watching a dozen people to return their appletini's to the house (yep, the same way they came in) - priceless.
A friend of mine got married a couple of years ago, and as I was the only one of his friends that knew anything about cigars, he asked me if I would help him out with a few smokes for family, etc. Nice guy that I am, I thought a good box for everyone would make a great wedding gift.
One of my favorite smokes at the time was a CAO MX2. I knew the owner of the local shop pretty well, and thought that I could get a deal on a box of them. Understand that I was the only cigar smoker of all of my friends, and therefore had no benchmark as to what is considered to be a stronger cigar. He told me later that had I told them the box was for a wedding reception, he may have steered me in a different direction. You can see where this is going...
Skip to the reception - I break out the box and present it to my friend. Oohs and ahs over the black velvet dress box and the dark and oily smokes. Guys who had smoked cigars and knew they didn't like them wanted one; girls that had never smoked a cigar but after 6 mimosas / appletinis / cosmos thought it would be a great idea to have one. So went about distributing, clipping and lighting at least 18-20 cigars for a group that containted maybe 3 true cigar smokers including myself. About 20 minutes later, things begin to go horribly wrong. My first indication that something wasn't right was when the groom stumbled up with a forced smile on his very, very green face choked out a "great cigars, man". I replied with "thanks - why don't you sit down and enjoy it". Poor guy.
Almost simultaneously I was called to the front porch where a few of the girls were huddled around another friend of mine laying on her back, sick and mumbling incoherently with 3/4 of a cigar laying next to her like a murder weapon. Shortly thereafter, more began dropping like flies. I will never forget the piss drunk father of the bride making his public service announcement to the inebriated group (let's see if I can get this right) - "if you need a drink, we'll get you a drink. If you think that you need a ride home more than you need another drink, we'll get you a cab. If you have already had enough to drink and you are feeling generous, please remember that there is no need to return the drinks you have already been served. They belong to you now, and we would prefer that you take them home ."
In short:
Box of CAO MX2's for a bunch of drunk reception guests - $150 (I think). Watching a dozen people to return their appletini's to the house (yep, the same way they came in) - priceless.
