The
Top 10 Icons To Enjoy A Cigar With
A cigar transmits the sort of beauty and mystique that defies
description. It has the ability to overshadow the presence of all other
aesthetically pleasing items in its immediate environment and cigar smoking
itself can serve as a pleasant diversion from all the hassles of life or act as
the perfect treat when you’re celebrating or you just happen to find yourself
in good company. Cigar smokers know that just by cutting and lighting up, you
can prolong, enhance or even create a special moment. That passion for life is
one of the most significant qualities that sets cigar smokers apart from the
rest of the crowd.
History shows us that it is very rare to come across a cigar smoker who
is not a person of quality and a model of distinction since, for generations
now, the habit of cigar smoking has been synonymous with leaders, champions,
pioneers and visionaries. These individuals have lent their stature, charisma
and ambiance of folklore to the custom of cigar smoking and thus it seems
fitting that we pay homage in this post by presenting a list of the top 10 most
intriguing icons you could have the pleasure of enjoying a cigar with. With a
selection that ranged from business moguls, sportsmen, movie stars, musicians, writers and politicians, choosing
the top 10 stand-out cigar smokers in history was an extremely complex exercise
but now, finally, it’s been done. So sit back as we rank the chosen
heavy-hitters from the 10th spot all the way to the top spot...
10- Michael Jordan
Well what can be said about this gentleman? Aptly described as “The best
there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be” for his exploits
on the basketball court, off the court, Michael Jordan is the ultimate man’s
man! He owns over 150 suits, he loves steak so much that he decided to open his
own steak house, he plays golf with Tiger Woods in his spare time, and he
recently built a mansion that features a giant movie theatre outfitted with
special equipment made to handle the mass amounts of cigar smoke. (He smokes at
least 10 cigars per day). A lifestyle like his is the greatest perk of with
winning 6 NBA championships.
9- Francis Ford Coppola
This five-time Academy Award winning movie director and scriptwriter has been associated with
some of the greatest films in Hollywood history. His body of work includes
Patton, Apocalypse Now, Dracula, and The Cotton Club (Just to name a few) but
the accomplishment that carved Francis Ford Coppola’s name deep in the eternal
stone was directing the Godfather Trilogy. This 3-part cultural phenomenon
dwarfs the significance of every other detail about Coppola’s life and often
causes many to overlook anything else that he’s ever succeeded at. Outside of
film-making, Coppola has also established himself as a magazine publisher and
is the proprietor of a thriving wine vineyard. Legend has it that Coppola was
introduced to cigar smoking by Jack Warner, one of the co-founders of Warner
Bro’s movie studios. A detail that lends further credence to the theory
declaring cigar smoking to be the stuff of pioneers.
8- Mark Twain
A ground-breaking writer whose contributions in the fiction genre set a
new standard for all novelists and aspiring novelists. Those who knew Mark
Twain say that he smoked on a daily basis and that his cigars were as
instrumental to his existence as his written words. The degree of his love of
cigars was probably best demonstrated when he said “If there are no cigars in
heaven then I’d rather not go”.
7- Jay-z
For at least 15 years now, Jay-Z has been the rapper that defines the
age that hip-hop is living in. Perhaps the most visible and most telling
constant during his reign as the culture's standard bearer has been his
attachment to Churchill sized cigars. To millions of his fans, Jay-Z's songs
and music videos are a spellbinding memento of that old belief that great men
and great cigars ought to always go hand-in-hand. Whether he's "Big
Pimping" in the Bahamas or hosting his "Roc Boys" at the 40/40
club, Hov usually has a cigar in hand to add to his enjoyment of the occasion.
6- Don King
One of the brightest, one of the most eloquent and one of the most
charismatic figures in sports history. Don King’s journey from being an illegal
bookmaker to a first-class promoter has turned him into boxing folklore and an
American icon. This man has promoted bouts for some of the most prominent names
in boxing, including Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes,
Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Julio César Chávez, Ricardo Mayorga, and Félix
Trinidad. And during the 3 decades when he was the undisputed number one
promoter in boxing, he was almost always seen with a cigar in hand.
5- Diego Maradona
‘To understand that gargantuan shadow Maradona casts over his soccer-mad
homeland, one has to conjure up the athleticism of Michael Jordan, the power of
Babe Ruth- and the human fallibility of Mike Tyson. Lump them together in a
single barrel-chested man with shaggy black hair and you have “Ël Diego”, idol
to the millions who call him D10S, a mashup of his playing number and the
Spanish word for God’ – The Houston
Chronicle
4- Fidel Castro
Soldier, statesman, humanitarian, and all-round legend! In these past 5
decades where he has been the global icon of defiance and perseverance, Fidel
Castro has also freed his country from hunger, illiteracy, illness and
subservience to foreign powers. Along the way, he’s struck-up some personal
friendships with some of the most remarkable figures of the 20th century
(People such as Thomas Sankara, Ho Chi Minh, Simon de Beauvior, Hugo Chavez,
Salvador Allende, Muhammed Ali, Pablo Neruda and many, many others). His best
friend for most of the journey though appeared to be his cigar. He was rarely
seen without a cigar until that day in 1985 when he, in another act of noble
servitude towards the people of Cuba, decided to permanently abandon his
favourite pastime as a means of setting an example after a rising national
concern over the health risks of smoking. Still, one can’t help but wonder
about the stories he could share over some Cohiba’s while unwinding on a
summer’s evening somewhere around the Havana coastline…
3- Ernest Hemingway 
Tolstoy claimed that if a gun is introduced into a story, it must be
fired. But the reverse is also true. Just as stories use items, so items can
conjure stories around them. To many, the stories invoked by cigars were
written by Hemingway. Stories of cigars smoked over bullfights in Pamplona, or
of cigar smoke mixing with the scent of strong coffee in the salty tradewinds
blowing off the Gulf of Mexico. People care about cigars because they speak to
a life, or maybe just a moment, that captures who they want to be. Hemingway’s
life has become similarly emblematic. At base an insecure, uncertain
manic-depressive; the stories he told transformed him into a bold “Man of the
World”, traversing between war-zones, boxing rings, Mount Kilimanjaro and the
Sierra de Guadarrama. He understood, as all cigar smokers do, that something as
strange and simple as a cluster of wrapped tobacco leaves, or a troubled kid
from Illinois, can be transformed into the grandest of tales.
2- Denzel Washington
The coolest actor to ever grace the screen. In fact he may just be the
coolest individual in the history of anything because of the swagger and smarts
he lends to every movie role he plays. Seriously, when this man is tackling a
new role, all one can do is watch on in awe as his individual brilliance out-shines
everything else that the movie has to offer. In a 1998 interview, Denzel gave a
Cigar Aficionado an idea of what
enjoying a cigar in his company would be like when he said: “Normally I like to
smoke outdoors. I love to smoke on the sea or by the water. I like the quiet
that it's about. I like to take a nice mile walk up and down the beach, take a
nice toasty single malt with no ice and a good cigar. Walk a bit. Sit down on
the sand. Can't beat it”. Over the years, he has won 2 Academy Awards and has also
gotten the opportunity to study and then portray some remarkable real-life
figures such as Steve Biko, Malcolm X, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter,
Melvin B. Tolson, Frank Lucas, and Herman Boone.
1- Che Guevara.jpg)
An avid cigar smoker and the patron saint for many revolutionaries
across the world because of the example he set by dedicating his life to the
cause of freedom and social justice. Che sacrificed a life of privilege and a
cushy career as a doctor to pick up an AK-47 and participate in armed struggles
that stretched across 3 different continents. What was the motivation behind
his self-less sacrifice, you ask? The desire to awaken the consciousness of a
"new man" who would be driven by moral rather than material
incentives. His passion for cigars is best described in this extract from Cigar
Aficionado : “For Ernesto "Che" Guevara, cigar smoking was not a
luxury, but very much a part of the business of revolution, a spiritual
complement to lessen the hardships of a life filled with difficulties and
dangers”
This five-time Academy Award winning movie director and scriptwriter has been associated with
some of the greatest films in Hollywood history. His body of work includes
Patton, Apocalypse Now, Dracula, and The Cotton Club (Just to name a few) but
the accomplishment that carved Francis Ford Coppola’s name deep in the eternal
stone was directing the Godfather Trilogy. This 3-part cultural phenomenon
dwarfs the significance of every other detail about Coppola’s life and often
causes many to overlook anything else that he’s ever succeeded at. Outside of
film-making, Coppola has also established himself as a magazine publisher and
is the proprietor of a thriving wine vineyard. Legend has it that Coppola was
introduced to cigar smoking by Jack Warner, one of the co-founders of Warner
Bro’s movie studios. A detail that lends further credence to the theory
declaring cigar smoking to be the stuff of pioneers. 
‘To understand that gargantuan shadow Maradona casts over his soccer-mad
homeland, one has to conjure up the athleticism of Michael Jordan, the power of
Babe Ruth- and the human fallibility of Mike Tyson. Lump them together in a
single barrel-chested man with shaggy black hair and you have “Ël Diego”, idol
to the millions who call him D10S, a mashup of his playing number and the
Spanish word for God’ – The Houston
Chronicle Soldier, statesman, humanitarian, and all-round legend! In these past 5
decades where he has been the global icon of defiance and perseverance, Fidel
Castro has also freed his country from hunger, illiteracy, illness and
subservience to foreign powers. Along the way, he’s struck-up some personal
friendships with some of the most remarkable figures of the 20th century
(People such as Thomas Sankara, Ho Chi Minh, Simon de Beauvior, Hugo Chavez,
Salvador Allende, Muhammed Ali, Pablo Neruda and many, many others). His best
friend for most of the journey though appeared to be his cigar. He was rarely
seen without a cigar until that day in 1985 when he, in another act of noble
servitude towards the people of Cuba, decided to permanently abandon his
favourite pastime as a means of setting an example after a rising national
concern over the health risks of smoking. Still, one can’t help but wonder
about the stories he could share over some Cohiba’s while unwinding on a
summer’s evening somewhere around the Havana coastline…Tolstoy claimed that if a gun is introduced into a story, it must be
fired. But the reverse is also true. Just as stories use items, so items can
conjure stories around them. To many, the stories invoked by cigars were
written by Hemingway. Stories of cigars smoked over bullfights in Pamplona, or
of cigar smoke mixing with the scent of strong coffee in the salty tradewinds
blowing off the Gulf of Mexico. People care about cigars because they speak to
a life, or maybe just a moment, that captures who they want to be. Hemingway’s
life has become similarly emblematic. At base an insecure, uncertain
manic-depressive; the stories he told transformed him into a bold “Man of the
World”, traversing between war-zones, boxing rings, Mount Kilimanjaro and the
Sierra de Guadarrama. He understood, as all cigar smokers do, that something as
strange and simple as a cluster of wrapped tobacco leaves, or a troubled kid
from Illinois, can be transformed into the grandest of tales..jpg)
