Cigar Blog

Happiness is a good cigar

Where to Smoke Your Cigar in Seoul

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South Korea is undoubtedly one of the smoker-friendliest countries on earth. With one of the highest smoking rates in the world, a prevalence of attractive smoking advertisements, and cigarettes available nearly everywhere, it’s an easy city to light up in. According to the Ministry of Health, 25% of South Korean adults and 10% of teens are smokers- and an astounding 44% of adult men smoke.

There are possibly several reasons behind this: not only are cigarettes cheap in Korea, but apparently most of the men begin smoking during their military service, which is mandatory for all. Also noteworthy is the small number of adult women who smoke; it’s traditionally taboo for women to smoke in Korea, and a number of Korean women have taken to “smoking openly as a gesture of affirmative action”.

However, all of this could all change soon: the South Korean government has recently proposed a slew of anti-tobacco measures, which include an 80% price increase on tobacco products, requiring photographic warnings on packs of cigarettes, and introducing smoking bans in several public places.

Which is where we come in. Because cigars are smoked tobacco products, it’s going to get a lot harder to find places to smoke our beloved cigars in South Korea.

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A good place to start online is looking through the archives of the Seoul Cigar Aficionado Society Blog– which, sadly, looks to be inactive now. Still, their list of cigar-friendly places is a great place to start.

We’ve heard good things about the BURN Lounge and Cigar Bar located at yongsan gu 305-7, which also features live jazz acts, and a good selection of wines and cocktails. The 3 Alley Pub is known as a “foreigner bar”, and is a lot more casual than BURN, but also cigar friendly.

Should You Age Your Cigars?

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This is probably one of the most common questions that you hear from new cigar enthusiasts. It is a very valid question as you normally hear people talking about how the older the cigar is, the better it tastes. Then there is the camp that says that aging a cigar would cause it to lose certain flavors. So which camp is right? Do cigars taste better when aged or are they better smoked “fresh?”

The answer, I have to say, depends on you and your personal preference PLUS the kind of cigar. So how do you know whether you should age your cigar or not?

If you are a new to the cigar smoking world, you might not have an all time favorite cigar yet. Or perhaps you do – you never know. Here is a suggestion to help you determine if you actually should age cigars. I have to warn you, though, this will take a long time.

So here is what you should do. Get your favorite cigar and set it up for aging. The best thing you can do with respect to this is to get yourself a good humidor if you don’t have one. If you can’t afford it right now, then you might want to ask a friend if you could put your cigar in his humidor. Otherwise, you can’t really age a cigar properly and if you are planning on aging cigars in the future, you really need one.

Age your cigar for 6 months to a year and at the end of that time, purchase another cigar – same brand and flavor – and then compare how they both taste. See which one you prefer and you will have your answer.

What to Do With the Problem of Smoke?

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cigar smoke
Let us face it – one downside to smoking cigars (or cigarettes for that matter) is the lingering smell of smoke in the room after all is said and done. For a couple of hours or so, we would enjoy puffing on that nice stogie. More often than not, we would be enjoying the time with a friend or two. There is no doubt about it – the time is well spent and there is nothing to complain about. However, after the cigars are long gone, the scent of smoke may very well stay. Even worse, the scent of stale smoke could pervade the room for days on end.

What do you do about this? Well, there is no need to suffer the smell. There are smoke eaters which can be purchased easily from your local cigar shop. These will do very well for the designated smoking room in the house. You could check out products that are sprayed onto surfaces to “eat” the smell of smoke away. However, this would only work if you spray all the surfaces that smell of smoke. If you have a large smoking area, then it might be a bit too costly.

There are also smoke eaters which function much like an exhaust fan. These are normally used in commercial areas where smoking is allowed in an enclosed place. Of course, they could be quite expensive as well.

My suggestion? Choose a smoking room that has good natural ventilation so that you can get fresh air in more easily. Clean up the room as soon as you can and make use of the cheaper “sprayable” smoke eaters.

Do you have any suggestions of your own?