I am an avid fan of Gina Gershon, so when I saw her on the cover of Cigar Aficionado I had to go out and buy my first cigar. The local cigar store was alive with smoke, this was years ago when smoking in public was allowed, and there were gadgets, gizmos and cigars everywhere. The store smelled great, even while smoky, like apples and sage. I told the store owner I was there to smoke my first cigar and he offered me one, pf which I cannot remember the name. I coughed and hacked, my eyes watered and handed the cigar back. With an awful taste in my mouth and a burning hatred for Gina Gershon, I decided smoking cigars was not something I will do. However, as I was leaving I noticed a little stand with dangling key chains and thus was I born into a collection obsession with cigar cutters.
I won't pretend I collected cigar cutters because they served a function. I had a much more immature reason for my collection. Cigar cutters were cute. One even looked like an old floppy disk from the 80's. Much to the dismay of real cigar aficionados, I bought and wore that floppy disk on a key chain. To this day I still get stopped and told that the cigar cutter I use is sloppy and ineffective. I happily reply back that I do not smoke cigars, and manage to offend a few now and then, when I say I bought it because it was cute.
What I've learned, on my daily outings and random informative lectures, could fill a book. For instance a creepy but quirky fact about cigar cutters is that the blades are called guillotines. There are single blade guillotines, double bladed guillotines and V shaped guillotines. Cigar cutters come in different shapes like one that fits in your wallet like a credit card, another which looks like a swiss army knife and yet another, double bladed guillotine cutter, which looks like a wicked toy. Cigar cutters come in rubber, plastic and steel. In the early 20th century they were hung from watch chains and vest pockets and the rich had gold cigar cutters. The search to add to my collection has led me to cutters made out of shells, a cigar cutter shaped and designed like a padlock and even some shaped like kangaroos.
While I search for beauty and quirkiness in my cutters, that may not be useful to someone who wants to smoke an actual cigar. What is useful to know about cutters can be summed up in a few words. Choose what is best for the type of cigar and cigar smoker you are. Double bladed, single bladed, antique or scissor cutters, its your choice. Just try not to use your teeth.
I won't pretend I collected cigar cutters because they served a function. I had a much more immature reason for my collection. Cigar cutters were cute. One even looked like an old floppy disk from the 80's. Much to the dismay of real cigar aficionados, I bought and wore that floppy disk on a key chain. To this day I still get stopped and told that the cigar cutter I use is sloppy and ineffective. I happily reply back that I do not smoke cigars, and manage to offend a few now and then, when I say I bought it because it was cute.
What I've learned, on my daily outings and random informative lectures, could fill a book. For instance a creepy but quirky fact about cigar cutters is that the blades are called guillotines. There are single blade guillotines, double bladed guillotines and V shaped guillotines. Cigar cutters come in different shapes like one that fits in your wallet like a credit card, another which looks like a swiss army knife and yet another, double bladed guillotine cutter, which looks like a wicked toy. Cigar cutters come in rubber, plastic and steel. In the early 20th century they were hung from watch chains and vest pockets and the rich had gold cigar cutters. The search to add to my collection has led me to cutters made out of shells, a cigar cutter shaped and designed like a padlock and even some shaped like kangaroos.
While I search for beauty and quirkiness in my cutters, that may not be useful to someone who wants to smoke an actual cigar. What is useful to know about cutters can be summed up in a few words. Choose what is best for the type of cigar and cigar smoker you are. Double bladed, single bladed, antique or scissor cutters, its your choice. Just try not to use your teeth.
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