Sheldon Posey has been smoking cigars for over 23 years and has been a wholesale broker for about eight. When the planners of Monticello, a full-service restaurant with a sports bar, entertainment room and the Styxx Cigar Room, asked him to help design the mega-complex in metro Atlanta, he found an opportunity to spread his love of the lifestyle even further. Now the manager of Styxx, Posey knows good cigars. And, he’s happy to share his knowledge with others.
First, it’s important to know the anatomy of a cigar. The top layer, the wrapper, is where you’re going to get most of your flavor, said Posey. It consists of the most attractive and the best of the tobacco leaves. The binder, which is underneath this wrapper, is made up of the most unattractive leaves and is what basically holds the cigar together. And the filler, of course, is the tobacco.
Second, it’s important to know what you like.
“Most people don’t know their palate. What you want to do is go to a local cigar shop and ask the people who work there to help you make the best decision for your first cigar,” said Posey.
In order to do this, they’re going to ask some questions, such as:
What type of wine do you like?
Do you drink bourbon, scotch, or vodka – if so, what type do you drink?
What kinds of foods do you like - spicy or mild?
Do you smoke cigarettes; do you smoke marijuana?
These answers will lead them to recommend two or three cigars with which to start off. These will most likely be thinner, and have lighter-colored wrappers, which represent a milder cigar.
Cigars are not just popular with men. You’ll see plenty of women in the Styxx Cigar Room.
“Women usually start out with flavored cigars, such as cherry, vanilla, and coffee,” said Posey. “Then, they’ll move into the milder cigars and eventually move on down the line to the more traditional, which are not flavor infused.”
The taste of the cigar depends on the country in which the tobacco was grown, the amount of sun or shade, the atmosphere and the temperature.
“Of course, you hear about Cuba, since it is the grandfather country of the lifestyle,” said Posey. “But, you have some of the greatest cigars coming out of the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Honduras. Many cigars now are mixed, so you may have a Dominican wrapper with a Nicaraguan, Ecuadorian, or Honduran binder or filler. Since you have tobacco coming from so many different countries, it makes it more complex, which I love.”
As far as brands, the tobacconist will be able to lead you to the ones that will best fit your palate and beginner taste. Posey explained that there are boutique brands which have only been in business for a few years but are making incredible cigars. Some, he said, such as Perdomo, AJ Fernandez, La Herencia Cubana (Cuban Heritage), and Hiram & Solomon are making better blends than the bigger companies.
So, are the more expensive brands better?
“It has nothing to do with the price,” said Posey. “It’s all about your individual palate, and that’s why you have to train your palate. I like to teach customers how to identify their own palate so they can make the best decisions in order to have the most enjoyable experience.”
Once you find a good cigar, it’s important to know how to prepare it for smoking. In the Styxx Cigar Room, employees have a lot of fun showing people how to cut and light the cigar.
“We go through the whole process until you feel comfortable,” said Posey. “The foot of the cigar is open, it’s already cut, but the head of the cigar isn’t. You want to cut the head off so you can put that part in your mouth, but most people cut too much which can make the cigar unravel.”
When lighting it, he recommends using matches that don’t contain a lot of sulfur, or a lighter. A cedar spill is another option. It’s a strip of cedar you light and then hold to the head. Cigar aficionados like to do it this way, Posey said, because it’s sexy and has style.
“Most cigars are packed in cedar, and in most cigar rooms you’ll see the walls, floors, and shelving are lined with cedar because the aroma of the cedar blends so well with the tobacco - it’s just a beautiful experience,” said Posey.
If you’re not going to smoke the cigar right away, or want to buy a few at a time, it’s important to store them correctly.
“The best way to store them at home is in an air-tight humidified environment, and that’s accomplished by putting them in a home humidor and keeping the humidity between 68 and 70 percent,” said Posey.
You can store cigars this way for years, he said, although some tobaccos hold up better than others. If looking for long-term storage, keep the humidity level lower, around 66.
To learn more, the Styxx Cigar Room will be holding free classes and events about once a month, such as Cigar 101. You can go to the Monticello website, the Styxx Cigar Room page at monticelloatl.com/cigar-bar/, or check its Instagram page.
“I don’t sell cigars,” said Posey. “I sell a luxury lifestyle, and that’s really what it is.”
“Of course, you hear about Cuba, since it is the grandfather country of the lifestyle,” said Posey. “But, you have some of the greatest cigars coming out of the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Honduras.
“I don’t sell cigars,” said Posey. “I sell a luxury lifestyle, and that’s really what it is.”