Tobacconists Say Utah Legislators Head for Unintended Consequences with HB0170 The unintended consequences of HB0170 for professional tobacconists and their pipe-smoking adult customers is not unlike ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater,’ according to the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association. Read more on
Tobacconists Say Utah Legislators Head for Unintended Consequences with HB0170 The unintended consequences of HB0170 for professional tobacconists and their pipe-smoking adult customers is not unlike ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater,’ according to the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association. (PRWeb February 12, 2011) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/2/prweb8133912.htm Read more on
M&M to reopen for St. Paddy’s Day A prospective buyer of the M&M plans to temporarily reopen the historic bar for St. Patrick’s Day. Read more on
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Attention, cruise fanatics! Tired of just lounging around on those hum-drum cruises? So are we. Fortunately, there are some new options out there. Good news: now you can book a cruise that blends adventure with relaxation. Check out some of these amazing cruises and explore the most beautiful parts of the world.
Western Caribbean
Experience the grandeur of the Western Caribbean on a 5-night cruise aboard Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Century. See Miami, Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman.
The revitalized Celebrity Century was made with relaxation in mind. New accommodations include 314 new private verandas, 14 new Sky Suites and 174 new stunning Concierge-Class staterooms with beautiful fresh-cut flowers, top of the line bathroom amenities and even a full pillow menu.
The expert crew aboard this magnificent ship will help you and your family stay relaxed and entertained for the entirety of your cruise. Movie lovers will delight in first run film screenings. If live entertainment is more up your alley, there’s an abundance of music and dancing for your viewing pleasure. Whether you’d like to mingle with fellow passengers, catch a new summer flick or spend some quality time with your significant other in a plush stateroom, you’re sure to be completely satisfied on this one of a kind cruise.
During your cruise aboard Celebrity’s Century, you’re guaranteed to find the ideal mix of excitement and relaxation. This ship accommodates nearly every activity that you may be interested in. Enjoy a refreshing morning swim or unwind in the whirlpools. Or take advantage of the rejuvenating spa and sauna treatments. Be sure to capture the best moments in the Photo Gallery and Photo . Enjoy jogging, golf, shopping, and a fully equipped fitness center.
Panama Canal
Excitement and leisure meet on a 14-night cruise aboard the fantastic Norwegian Pearl. Port stops include Los Angeles, Cabo San Lucas, Acapulco, Huatulco, Puerto Quetzal, Puntarenas, Cartagena and Miami.
The magnificent Norwegian Pearl will win you over instantly. This brand new ship offers the very finest amenities and can accommodate even the most selective vacationers. Explore 12 amazing dining establishments, and 11 bars and lounges where you can mingle and let loose. And you won’t want to miss the bowling alley and rock climbing wall. These staterooms and suites offer the very best in comfort and serenity.
Europe
For the absolute ideal European tour, try a 7-day cruise aboard Princess Cruises’ Grand Princess. London, Brussels, Copenhagen, Helsingborg and Oslo are part of this exciting journey.
This mammoth 2,600-passenger Grand Princess ship features a cutting edge design with some of the most imaginative amenities available on a cruise ship. With a ship this size, passengers have limitless choices and possibilities.
Lisa VanDyke is a freelance writer who writes about several topics including cruise deals.
This remarkable ship offers a vast array of activities that are sure to please each and every passenger. If you’re ready for some serious head to toe pampering, you’ll find just what you’re looking for at the impressive spa facilities. Or, you can head to the deck for some invigorating sport and gym activities. Indulge in some retail therapy with luxury shopping boutiques. Lounge by one of the serene pools with simulated coral reefs. The options for fun, excitement and relaxation are endless.
Asia
Explore the rich culture and immense natural beauty of Asia on a 5-night cruise aboard Royal Caribbean Legend of the Seas. You’ll experience the breathtakingly beautiful Hong Kong, Sanya, Hue and Hanoi.
This amazing cruise gives passengers an unforgettable showcase of one of the world’s most outstanding coastlines. Allow the serenity and immense beauty of this unique sector of the world wash over you as you soak in unforgettable views from the deck. This ship is filled to the brim with amazing entertainment and leisure activities. 18-hole miniature golf, four whirlpools and a Solarium with a sliding roof are just a few of the impressive options available.
Alaska
Alaskan cruises are world renowned for the alluring natural beauty they offer. One of the very best Alaskan cruise options is a 7-day cruise on the Coral Princess. Princess Cruises includes visits to Vancouver, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, College Fjord and Whittier.
The Coral Princess is a decadent way to completely unwind and escape the grind of daily life. It offers a great selection of amazing dining options, such as specialty restaurants Sabatini’s Italian restaurant and the Bayou Cafe & Steakhouse, as well as a European-style casino, a classy cigar lounge and suave martini bar.
With all these options, there’s no reason why you’ll ever have to settle for a so-so cruise ever again. Smooth sailing to you. Ahoy!
Courtney Allen is a freelance writer who writes about several topics including
Many novice smokers have embarrassed themselves trying to smoke a cigar with the same frantic, huff-and-puff energy that goes into cigarette smoking. But cigars aren’t cigarettes, any more than cheap beer is fine wine, and just as you’d never guzzle a fine Cabernet Sauvignon, you shouldn’t just inhale a cigar.
The first question to consider is, of course, the quality of the cigar. Handmade cigars are generally considered best. Machine-rolled cigars use scraps and bits of tobacco, rolled together, while handmade cigars use entire leaves, blended with specially-picked filler leaves to create a rich, full, subtle taste. Otherwise, remember the “wrapper rule”: cigars wrapped in darker paper will tend to be sweeter, while lighter wrappers often denote a drier taste.
The second question for many cigar smokers is whether to smoke with the band on or off. The bands, which wrap around the cigar and give the cigar’s brand name or manufacturer, was first introduced in 1850 by manufacturer Gustave Bock to set his high-quality Havana handmade cigars apart from knockoff brands. If you’re smoking in the UK, where smoking with the band on has long been considered gauche, a form of bragging, you’ll want to remove the band. Some smokers also collect bands, as a way of remembering all the different experiences they’ve had with cigars. Otherwise, it’s up to you.
The next step is to cut the cap of the cigar, which must be removed so that air can flow through. Most cigar fans have small guillotines, which cut right across the top of the cigar. (You can usually purchase one from the same place where you your cigars – or bum one from a friend.) Some smokers still bite off the top of cigars, an unappetizing and possibly unhealthy alternative. Cigar “punches” and “piercers” (or V-cutters) are also available. Choose the method that’s best for you, and keep your cutter sharpened.
How to light? Steer clear of paper matches, which will only stay live long enough to light a small portion of the cigar. You need a full flame that will cover the entire head of the cigar. Wooden matches may work, though it’s recommended that you let the sulphur burn off the tip of the match before lighting.
Butane lighters are free of odor and taste and are the favorite method for many smokers, as are “torch” lighters. Whatever you prefer, make sure you turn the cigar as you light it (“turn and burn,” experienced smokers say), so that the entire cigar is lit. Some aficiandos believe it’s a bad idea to let the flame touch the cigar and prefer to use a lit cedar strip, but many American smokers argue that this is just a bit of unnecessary European pretension.
Inhaling the smoke is unnecessary and dangerous. Once again, cigars are not cigarettes. You pull the smoke into your mouth and, like a wine taster, allow its flavor to saturate your palate, without allowing the smoke into your lungs. For this reason, cigar smoking is more taste-oriented and less harmful to your health than cigarette-smoking.
The taste of the smoke varies depending on the tobacco type and the sorts of flavors added by the makers, as well as the age of the cigar, the conditions in which it’s been stored, and many other factors. Regardless, the taste is richer, fuller and subtler than that of cigarettes, and many people who don’t enjoy cigarette-smoking have found that they like the taste or odor of cigars.
The cigar can be stopped from burning and “finished” later, though its taste quality quickly declines (like that of an open bottle of wine) the longer it’s left half-smoked. It’s a better idea to wait until you have time to fully savor the taste, beginning to end.
As for the aftertaste, try a drink containing citric acid (such as orange juice or lemon-flavored liqueurs), followed by a hard cheese and, eventually, a good tooth-brushing. (You’d be brushing your teeth anyway, right?) After-dinner mints can help, too.
Most of all, remember what worked this time. Cigar smoking – again, like wine – is a pleasure that should improve with age.
provides you the opportunity to build your own sampler of the finest cigars that include cigar brands like Montecristo, Romeo & Julieta, H Upmann, Macanudo, Cohiba, Gurkha and many more. Choose from more than 1000 different brands! Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters.
For those who do a lot of entertaining, it’s hard to come up with new party themes. But the recent popularity of cigars offers a great creative party idea for stressed-out would-be party hosts.
Putting together a good party is hard – and gets harder as you grow older. In college, it’s easy enough to satisfy your guests with, say, a bowlful of pretzels and a keg of beer, but friends burdened with adult responsibilities – a job to get up for, a child to raise – may not want to drive out to your place just for some stale salt-heavy snacks and a can or two of average quality beer. So you’ve got to come up with fun new ideas. But this gets stressful, complex, and sometimes expensive as well. After you’ve tried out your first two or three great inspirations, you may begin to burn out on entertaining all together.
But there’s hope. Try throwing a cigar-sampler party.
Cigars aren’t just your grandfather’s chosen indulgence anymore – they’ve grown increasingly popular during the past fifteen years or so. After bottoming out during the 1980s, cigars became the break of choice for a well-educated, younger demographic, even as other forms of smoking went into decline. They’re just luxurious enough to feel like the break you deserve, but, since they’re designed to be smoked slowly, one at a time, and in moderation (unlike cigarettes), they won’t break the bank. Their infinite differences in taste offer the pleasures of connoisseurship as well: experienced smokers learn to enjoy the differences between double claro cigars (light and generally dry-tasting, with very tan outer wrappers) and maduros (dark brown in color and sweetish), between the great cigars of Nicaragua and those of the Dominican Republic or Turkey. A cigar-themed party makes sense if your friends are smokers, and it also makes sense for those who aren’t (as long as, you make sure not to invite anybody who’s passionately anti-smoking or allergic to tobacco).
Here are some tips on throwing a cigar-themed party:
1) a sampler or two of premium cigars, until you have enough to cover the number of planned guests. (Keep the guest list small – you’ll have better-quality interactions, and you’ll keep the party affordable.)
2) Cigar samplers are easy to online, but be careful. Some cigar stores “lead off” with a too-good-to-be-true deal – an inexpensive sampler labeled “premium.” Usually these cheap “premium” platters actually contain only a few top cigars, and are then rounded out with cigar pawns – cheaply-made knockoff cigars. Make sure that your sampler comes from a high-quality cigar or online store, and that you know what you’re getting.
3) Once you have your premium-cigar sampler, assign one cigar to each guest.
4) On the night of the party, serve simple snacks before you serve the cigars. (Cigars tend not to go well with ultra-creamy or rich foods.) Hard cheeses, dark chocolates, fruit, coffee, and fine red wines or beers are recommended. Remember – avoid anything too rich!
5) After folks have eaten and had a few drinks, bring out the cigars. Have everyone head outside with his or her assigned cigar and a drink; light everyone’s cigar, and tell them to smoke up. You’ll have given all your guests something new to talk about.
6) If desired, encourage your guests to bring their own cigars, which can be collected and served as part of a “second round” later. Guests could compare the tastes of their two assigned cigars. You could even encourage one of your guests to bring some non-premium cigars, even off-brand gas-station cigars, as a gaga – though only if you’re going for a second round of smoking!
Experienced cigar smokers will enjoy the chance to share their enthusiasm with others. New smokers and nonsmokers will be trying and enjoying something new.
Remember when lighting to cut the cap of the cigar, then, using a wooden match or a zippo lighter or other full flame (not a paper match), turn the end of the cigar in the flame a full 360 degrees until every part of it is lit. Remind your guests who haven’t smoked cigars before that they shouldn’t inhale – this isn’t a cigarette! Pull the smoke into your mouth and taste it thoroughly without allowing it into your lungs. Remember, it’s about the taste.
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On a beautiful summer’s afternoon Ken and Rob sit down to review a controversial cigar. The Cohiba Esplendido always falls short for Rob, however Ken thinks its always a winner. For further review of the cigar head to www.friendsofhabanos.com
