I’m no expert. I don’t read the expert blogs. I like what I like, and that’s the only real reason I offer for taking a smoke and a shot. I’m not saying I haven’t gone overboard, but I primarily smoke or drink for the pleasure, not the buzz. Once in a while I expand my horizons, but I’m no connoisseur. When it comes to alcohol, I only drink for one reason: the taste I like even if some might say it proves I have no taste. Hell, some folks would argue that I might as well drink out of a Dixie cup.
Basil Hayden Dark Rye, Berkshire Mountain, Breckenridge, Bulleit, Buffalo Trace, Jim Beam, Old Forester, Old Overholt Rye, Maker’s Mark, Monkey Shoulder, Rebel Yell, Templeton, Tullamore, TX – I’ve had them all, and honestly some were good, maybe even great. Some were good for different reasons. Maybe they were better for sipping, neat, on ice, with a splash of water, or with some cola. Maybe they were better because they were free; its always better when someone else is buying.
If we’re talking rye, well don’t roll your eyes, but it will probably be Old Overholt. It might be cheap, but I’ve tried quite a few and that one stands out as the best taste for me. But if I’m going to be honest, my drink of choice is Jack. Yep, Old No. 7; Black Label. Laugh all you want. You see, I can respect your opinion or the fact that our tastes don’t match up. I can respect that you feel it is beneath you or that it’s too commercial. I can respect you don’t like the flavor. But I like it. I like it neat. I like it on the rocks. I like it with a splash of water. I like it with Coke. And that’s why I like it. I like it because no matter how I might want to drink it, it works.
Some of those others, not so much. Okay. Okay. They are good in their own right. But I like that I can drink Jack any way I want and it works. I’m not going to knock the others and if you’re buying, I’ll drink with you, but if I have to choose, I’ll choose Jack.
Cigars. Well, it’s kind of the same thing, but my tastes haven’t completely settled. There is a small family owned place in League City. It’s call El Cubana. Let me tell you, Manny’s cigars are some of the best I’ve ever had. If I’m choosing at this point, I’ll take his. But there are some other’s I like. Next in line? Arturo Fuente Hemingway Maduros. So smooth. I’d like to try some Oliva. I wasn’t impressed with Acid.
I’m not a regular smoker. I never smoked cigarettes and never will. I chewed Copenhagen Snuff for years. I quit a year before the layoff and was surprised I stayed away during the unemployed phase. My first experience with cigars was with a buddy of mine on a trip to get our senior pictures taken. We were driving his gramp’s Cadillac and we just wanted to feel like high rollers. We got a couple of cheap cigars and smoked em like Boss Hogg.
My dad smoked or used just about any tobacco – chew, cigarettes, Swisher Sweets, a fine cigar. He smoked a pipe, and often had flavored tobacco he picked up overseas while on maneuvers. I loved the smell of his pipe in the evening. With the limits of my tobacco experience, I have no room to be a tobacco snob, and I’m definitely not a whiskey snob. I drink and smoke on special occasions or relaxing after a tough week. I try not to abuse either one. Smoking and drinking are both a personal choice. With that said, I think a guy has to go with what he likes, whether others like it or not. If something hits your tastes, if you prefer a sipping whiskey to a mixing whiskey; if you like a cigar with a bolder flavor – stay with it. After all, isn’t that why you were drinking it or smoking it in the first place?
