In the middle of the dimly-lit main room of Old Havana Cigar and Co, the Broad Street bar and cigar shop, Berry College freshman Eric Alburl was enjoying his first cigar. Old Havana, the only premium cigar shop in downtown Rome, has become a meeting place for many students.
The light chatter of the customers competed with sounds of jazz music in the background. Clouds of cigar smoke rose toward the ceiling, perfuming the bar with a relaxing scent.
Old Havana offers live jazz music and performers weekly, as well as cigars, beer, and wine.
Photo courtesy of oldhavanacigar.com
“I like the flavor. Mine tastes like honey,” Alburl said.
Alburl, like many other students, has become part of the noticeable incline in cigar enthusiasts at Berry.
“I was so worked up about schoolwork,” Alburl said. “One of my friends got me to come here to sit down and have a cigar with some of the guys, and now I feel so much more calm. I just love the atmosphere here.”
Steven McDowell, bought the store in 2003 and aims to provide a calm atmosphere for his customers.
photo courtesy of oldhavanacigar.com
Owner speaks about Old Havana
“I wanted to create a warm and inviting ambiance, a place where [students] can get away from their strenuous schedules, with midterms and finals, and relax over a cigar,” McDowell said.
He said the changes in the cigar industry may account for the increase in younger cigar smokers.
“When I was at Berry, I had to pay $10 for a half-decent cigar, which isn’t the case any more; you can buy a premium quality cigar for much less today. Plus, with the advent of flavored cigars, younger, less experienced smokers can enjoy a cigar without feeling like they’re smoking the big-old nasty cigar that their granddad smokes,” McDowell said.
Cigar Club awaits approval
Cigar interest at Berry has grown so much that a student-initiated cigar club is in the process of trying to be authorized and approved by the Student Activities Office (SAO).
The cigar club’s advisor, Eric Sands, a government professor at Berry, said that the club will present its constitution to the SAO Nov. 26, 2007.
“Because smoking of any kind has been so demonized by the media, and because Berry would not likely want to be associated with the support of smoking, we made sure to only propose off-campus [cigar] get-togethers in our constitution. That way we have a better shot of being recognized,” Sands said.
Sands said that he believes the revived interest in cigar smoking has both
- cultural origins and
- economic origins
“America has become a nation of affluence that carries over, in many cases, to college students. I think that because college students have more money today, obviously they are more willing to spend it on life’s finer pleasures,” Sands said.
“Also, after the Cuban trade embargo, many Cuban cigar companies had to relocate their tobacco fields and factories. It takes a long time to adjust the quality of the crops when moving to unfamiliar climates. Plus, there is at least a five-year aging process with premium cigars. In other words, the big cigar companies may have just now figured it out--again,” Sands said.
But to Alburl, whatever the companies have done, they’ve done it right.
“The whole experience was just incredible,” Alburl said as he exhaled his last puff of the night.
“I can guarantee cigars will be a big part of my future,” Alburl said, “I’ve tasted elegance, whatever that is, and damn did it taste good!”
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