Cigar Snobs

[carytobacco]

Most cigar smokers here are either interested in asking about pipe smoking or they are just indifferent. But I don't see them putting down pipe smokers or being hostile to them.
There are, however, cigar snobs that are hostile to all smokers that don't smoke the same trendy cigars they do

 

[krizzose]

I've only smoked my pipe at a B&M that has a very good selection of pipe tobacco, and where one of the employees is a pipe smoker. While it's cigar heavy, I've never noticed any cigar v. pipe snobbery.
I did, however, experience some hilarious pipe snobbery there once. Another pipe smoking customer saw me light my pipe, and apparently assumed I need his help. He came over and just started dumping his wisdom on me. Unasked, he made the statement that he only smoked "British blends" and nothing that would make him want to "brush his teeth," by which I think he meant aromatics. When I started asking him about what blends he liked, I never got a straight answer. He had clearly never heard of what I was smoking (Mac Baren Mixture Flake), nor Escudo (!) or either of the Gawith companies. When I pressed further by asking if he liked latakia blends, he said "sometimes." It soon became apparent that he was a pipe guy (and by "pipe," he meant Canadians....anything else was just a little on the amateur side) rather than a tobacco guy, and I got a lecture on his eBay procedure for buying estates. Very enlightening. Any comment of mine was met with a correction, or just general condescension, i.e., that I would eventually learn the right way to approach pipe smoking, etc. After a while I was just baiting him for my own amusement, and he bit every time. All in all, a very enjoyable conversation with an oblivious and presumptuous asshole.

 

[mso489]

My local independent shop is run by a guy in his sixties (I'd guess) who makes conversation with each customer in a friendly and informative but never intrusive way. He can't greet everyone as they walk in the door, because often he is helping fill an order or answer questions, but he'll greet anyone as soon as he has the time, in a friendly and welcoming way. The "trick" is, he really knows his stuff, so he's not trying to impress anyone. It's his business, and he has answers if you'll listen, and if you don't want to listen, he'll leave you alone. In other words, he knows how to stay in business and has been there since about 1976. That's how you do it.

 

[derfargin]

I would have to agree with others that have posted. You need to clarify exactly what you mean as "hostility." Plus, I think someone asked this before, Did you buy anything while you're there. Etiquette of a smoking lounge is to "pay your tribute" meaning support the place financially before lighting up. Just crashing to sit on a chair in a place that allows smoking indoors and then leaving would probably be met with some resentment of the locals.

 

[bulldogbriar89]

the perks of not having a local B&M is not having problems like this. Not that I would care what others think or say.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

I have a friend, and former coworker and older gentleman, who smokes cigars. One of the nicest guys I've ever known. He doesn't smoke pipes, but he is always very interested in mine. He appreciates the shapes, the beauty of the wood grain, and everything else associated with it. He even absolutely loved the freehand I carved not too long ago and was excited to see it. He just prefers to keep to his cigars.
Perhaps they're not being "snobby" on purpose. Perhaps they're just intimidated by your coolness as you stand there smoking your pipe while looking quite dashing and intelligent lol.
Seriously though. Next time you feel a bunch of cigar smokers are giving you the cold shoulder, buy a tin of some good tobacco, and a few cobs, introduce yourself and off them the cobs and share the tin with them. Cobs are relatively cheap, and although it might take a bit of money out of your pocket in the process, you might make some new friends.

 

[andrew]

True story brah, one time I was smoking my pipe in a lounge, after buying a bunch of tobacco, and this young chump smoking a cigar right by me says "do you have to smoke that shit around me?" I put down my pipe, walked up to him, and ripped the cigar from his mouth, put it out on his forehead, then he ran out of the B&M into this nightclub, so I followed suit, here is the actual footage that was recovered. I've never seen that guy again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXMOHS1F5jY

 

[carytobacco]

Lol
Nice suit

 

[daimyo]

I've met a few snobby cigar smokers in my days but I always attributed it to the person in question rather than the cigar. Some folks are just that way and any excuse to behave in such a fashion is good enough for them.

 

[jeepnewbie]

Was at a b&m in Augusta with me being the only piper. They were a great lot of guys. One asked for tips on pipes being interested and gave me some tips on cigars.

 

[rx2man]

The closest place to me does not care what you smoke. Went to one several mos ago and had cigars with me but was thinking of having a pipe the lady working said she did not think it was a good idea as the cigar smokers would not like it. I now goto pipe stores where everyone smokes what they want.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

That's odd. Pipe smoke doesn't hang in the air and stick to you the same way that the heavy, oily cigar smoke does. I'd wager that no one would even smell your pipe smoke in a room with someone smoking a cigar.

 

[phil67]

... the lady working said she did not think it was a good idea as the cigar smokers would not like it.

I also find that rather odd. I used to smoke cigars more often than I do now about 35 years ago and I found them much more irritating as to their room note and the cloying smell they left behind. As cosmic pointed out, I seriously doubt that a room full of cigar smokers would ever notice the smell of one smoking a pipe. Obviously the lady didn't have a hint about what she was talking about.

 

[andystewart]

Interesting thread. I frequently smoke a pipe in cigar lounges in London and the Pipe Club of London holds a monthly meeting in the smoking room of JJ Fox in St James, which is resolutely cigar-centric. I often get questions about my pipe and positive interest, but never a cross word or look. Definitely no 'hostility'. There is no doubt that cigars are enjoying a resurgence in the UK, whereas I get the feeling they've always been quite popular in the US, but I haven't heard of any snobbery here towards pipe-smokers. Maybe we don't have the groups of older cigar-smokers (who might be cliquey and negative) that you do? Shame on them if they don't welcome you as a kindred spirit.
Andy

 

[raevans]

At the B&M I used to work at, we had a saying..."Cheap prices and free abuse". Some would take that as hostility, but once they realized that everyone was just kidding around, they would usually join right in.

 

[joshb83]

i dont think i've ever run into this problem either. I smoke both, put prefer the piep for its mellow flavor and scent, but anytime i go into a B&M where cigar smokers are in conversation or mid-stick, i often find a seat and light my pipe, and more often than not, i have somehow become the center of attention and get more inquisitve qustions about piping than anything else. It's all about the camarderie. Pipers and Cigar smokers are mostly one in the same, and i know many of us on this site will fit in this category. just my 2 cents.

 

[pitchfork]

Was James Dean abducted by a roving band of hostile cigar snobs or is this whole thread just a Haja-esque windup? Anyone, anyone?
Bueller?... Bueller?...Bueller?

 

[mso489]

Some snobbery is bullying, and some bullying is aggressive and to be avoided, or if you're a brawler, invited and settled on your terms. But a lot of verbal bullying is just waggish, and settled if you come back with a good line of schtick. You can come up with your own schtick, but I might run through the math, a good cob pipe, a really good tin of tobacco, maybe thirty-five bucks, for at least ten smokes. A comparable quality cigar might run you fifteen or twenty or a good deal more. If you run the local snob through the tally, and invite him to try the pipe, he might not do it, but it might shut him up. If you're low key and confidant, Mr. Snob might lose heart fairly soon. Along the way, you remind him that the pipe you're smoking cost a hell of a lot more than the cob you're recommending he try. And so on.

 

[condorlover1]

Never really liked cigars and after spending a few hours at the after show at a cigar bar in NJ I realized the reason why. The smoke is so thick it sticks to everything and necessitated me having to send my jacket and scarf to the dry cleaners to get rid of the stench!

 

[natibo]

This thread has gone on way too long.