Cigar Snobs

briarguys · Mar 8, 2015

This may offend someone, and that is not the intentions of this post, but this problem is real. When I go into one of my local B&Ms to smoke my pipe, I am immediately met with hostility among the "Cigar Sharks" as I like to call them.
Anyone else have a problem with cigar smokers in their local B&Ms?

papipeguy · Mar 8, 2015

I smoke cigars and pipes at the B&M but I've never encountered any snobbery there nor would it be tolerated. I'm sure there are places like that but I see the days of cigar snobbery being so passé that I'd probably just laugh at them anyway. I'm way past caring what others think.

sallow · Mar 8, 2015

Sounds like a personality clash thing. I wouldn't want to stereotype people.
When I go to a b&m I usually end up smoking a cigar anyway, not a bowl.

cosmicfolklore · Mar 8, 2015

Can you elaborate a little on what you mean? I mean, at my B&M hang out we have a lot of friendly comradery, back slapping, and jesting, which could be seen by someone new as snobbery maybe. But, for the most part no one feels that one form of smoking is any better or worse than the other. But, we are more pipe heavy in our area than most B&Ms. But, I do go to cigar bars very now and then. Our last few pipe club meetings have been at cigar shops, and usually they come over to learn more about pipes and the aromas we add to the place. But, maybe your cigar shop attracts a different sort.

bloodwood · Mar 8, 2015

I smoke both and find it odd a cigar smoker would turn their nose up to a piper.
I enjoy smoking cigars over pipes. Offered either I'll always take the stick.

Though, I feel pipe smoking looks classier and (all things being equal) smells better than cigar smoke.

pcr1 · Mar 8, 2015

I like them both. Different smokes for different situations. However here in WA State we cannot smoke in our local B&M (Nanny State laws). So I smoke at home or at a friends home. I can't even get any interest in a club here.

cpjeffrey11 · Mar 8, 2015

Anyone offended by that post could probably use some Desitin.
I never feel like the cigar chompers at my local lounge dislike me or my pipe, of course the owner smokes a pipe. That small detail may deter such uncouth behavior.

mso489 · Mar 8, 2015

I think cigars have been marketed as prestige smokes for high flyers, and they have built up the pricing on cigars accordingly, so it's like some makes of cars that seem geared to attract a kind of aggressive and often obnoxious driver although the car itself is a fine piece of engineering. I like cigars, although I mostly steer past them and enjoy a pipe these days. I think cigar smokers with attitude are just a small cohort. Take a bunch of college age guys and send them to the horse track with a pocket full of cigars and almost immediately they all think of themselves as James Cagney or Adam Clayton Powell. At that age, they have to try on different roles to find out where they really fit. I smile to myself and shrug. Hope I wasn't quite that overt; I was. Anyway, if the crowd isn't pleasant, try a different day, or a different shop; maybe a better group will show up.

warren · Mar 8, 2015

What would indeed be entertaining would be to get a couple of pipe snobs here together with the cigar snobs in that store.

dochudson · Mar 8, 2015

I would like to hear 'the rest of the story'

phil67 · Mar 8, 2015

I am immediately met with hostility among the "Cigar Sharks" as I like to call them.

Could you please exemplify what you mean by 'hostility? Just exactly what, or how do they act towards you as that sounds like a rather strong reaction to one who is smoking a pipe!

settersbrace · Mar 9, 2015

I think the OP may be just suffering from some self confidence issues simply because he is trying to smoke a pipe in an otherwise cigar dominated atmosphere. Our shops lounge is welcoming to all that enter and on pipe club days when the lounge is full of pipe smokers, it's the cigar smoker that feels alienated. I too need to hear the "rest of the story".

phred · Mar 9, 2015

The only "hostility" I've ever encountered was one cigar smoking gentleman who dislikes Latakia blends - and his distaste for them provoked a certain level of hilarity among the other cigar guys. I moved a little close to the ventilation system (and away from his immediate vicinity), some discussion about varieties of pipe tobacco ensued, and all was well.
Of course, I've long since realized that my political opinions do not mesh particularly well with those of many of the "cigar guys", so I just keep my mouth shut and read my book, unless the discussion seems like one that might benefit from a contrarian point of view.

freakiefrog · Mar 9, 2015

The only time I have noticed anything is when I've gone into a higher end cigar shop. The regular guys sit and watch and the conversation dies down almost as if I were intruding into someone's dinning room. There was no welcome from the staff just a couple of guys behind the counter puffing away on their sticks. Even after walking to the counter with 80.00 worth of cigars the employee said these words "Find everything ok?" these were the only words that were spoken to me.
Now in retrospect I have a cigar shop that is great!! Friendly, helpful and just good people. They even will walk in the humidor with you to show you new stuff and make suggestions. Good people.
Maybe it's just the shop, maybe its just the people either way.

ericthered · Mar 9, 2015

Yeah, it could definitely be a variety of things. What is your "lounge etiquette" like? Do you buy anything while you're using the lounge? Maybe they're just over-zealously protecting the B&M's interests by creating an uncomfortable environment for someone they think doesn't buy enough while they're there. I'm not saying that you do or don't, I'm just thinking about possible reasons.
Depending upon how much of a challenge you want to tackle, you could try to win them over. There is usually more to people than first impressions- their impressions of you as well as your impression of them. Become a regular fixture at the store, be a model customer, respond to hostility with friendliness and keep a thick skin, and you all may be able to reach some common ground.

brass · Mar 9, 2015

I wouldn't over generalize your experience to all cigar smokers. In my experience, both cigar smokers and pipe smokers, while holding diverse view points on many issues, are usually friendly and tolerant. After all, smokers are a politically endangered species, no matter how we chose to partake our poison. :wink:
I frequent tobacco shops whenever possible, and I haven't observed any hostility to pipe smokers. If anything, the cigar smokers show polite interest in the pipe, pipe blends and the accouterments.

sablebrush52 · Mar 9, 2015

I've never encounter this kind of behavior. Sure you weren't imagining it? Or maybe they just disliked you?

tacoman · Mar 9, 2015

For what it is worth, our pipe club used to meet in a cigar lounge, and the management told us that the cigar guys hated our pipes and thought that they smelled bad. Imagine!

coraxsnag · Mar 10, 2015

How odd. I've got two in my nearby vicinity, and in one of them, I'm on friendly terms with the manager and a couple of the regulars (Don't get in there as often as I'd like). Even had one compliment the aroma of the blend I had going at the time.

cosmicfolklore · Mar 10, 2015

Is James Dean even still following this thread? I would also like an elaboration.

Cigar Snobs

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