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Camels and Bourbon - Together at Last?


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I opened the current issue of Rolling Stone today to find this ad. I have many thoughts, some of them conflicting, but I will reserve them for now. Smokers, non-smokers...what do you think?

Anybody have any idea which bourbon is being used?

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I just in the past hour saw these for sale on eBay and was going to make a post about it as well. I don't smoke cigarettes so they will be out of the question for me, but maybe its something interesting for those who do. I guess they dry the leaves in an environment where there is evaporating bourbon in the air like the Makers Mark cigars.

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Yeah, I'm not a smoker, either, so I couldn't experiment effectively regarding the taste/quality. Thanks for the info about MM cigars - I always wondered about how that was done. Seeing the ad prompted several questions in my mind:

1) Smokers, especially if you've tried these, are they good? Can you taste the bourbon? Or is this just a gimmick?

2) Obviously, lots of folks here enjoy bourbon and cigars. Maybe this is rationalization on my part, but I see this as very different than bourbon and cigarettes. I get the impression that you (cigar smokers) seek out a cigar to savor as a complement to the flavors in your bourbon and vice versa. I see cigarette smoking as frequently being a compulsive, self destructive behavior that many smokers wish they could give up. Is it a good thing to have cigarettes marketed as a companion to bourbon?

(Confession: As a family doctor, I am biased here. I regularly see people who are having difficulty quitting and daily see people as a direct result of the damage they've done. Yes, I see ravages of alcohol, too, but not nearly as regularly with respect to desire to quit or for health issues that are easily connected directly with consumption. I guess I see alcohol as something that CAN be bad for you, but cigarettes are virtually always bad for you. Also, I have yet to have my first patient asking for help quitting the occasional cigar.)

3) How are they made? What does "hint of bourbon" really mean? I tried searching the Camel brand and the RJR website to find out, but there was no information.

4) Where are they getting the bourbon? Directly from a distillery for "industrial use?" Or buying retail somehow?

5) Can you think of another marketing campaign that involves alcohol and CIGARETTE smoking?

I realize that this probably strays from the usual discussion in this forum, so, if I have posted inappropriately, I apologize to the moderators.

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As a cigar smoker and bourbon drinker, I can only tell you my personal opinion on the connection. I see each as a pleasurable experience on its own. Just as each bourbon has its own distinct flavors and aromas, so do cigars. I have never personnally tried to figure out which cigars go best with which bourbons as I select each depending on my mood at the time. My favorite cigars are the spicier medium smokes like La Gloria Cubana or my personal favorite La Perla Habana (of which I was happy to share with BobbyC and Craig Beam at the pavilion). The combination of my La Perla Churchill with the 16yo BMH was as close to Nirvana as I have ever been (of course the company I was in helped to fuel the sensation also). I wish I had brought more with me to share that night and will rectify that situation in September. bandit.gif I just wish I had a little deeper pockets so I could afford my all time favorites (not counting those oh so delicious Cubans) Diamond Crowns or Opus X with a pour of Pappy 23 or Hirsch 20. bowdown.gif

Spicier is not necessarily what I look for in my bourbon though. Sometimes I like the spicier rye bourbons but tend to go more often to the wheaters.

However, from my cigarette smoking days in my youth, it seemed that beer was the drink of choice as I could go through a twelve pack of Michelob Light and a pack of Salems on a Saturday night. Something about sitting in a bar with a cold barley pop just automatically made me reach for a cigarette back then. Thank God I finally put that behind me way back in 82.

This post just jolted me with a thought I hadn't had in a while. I have a tupperware container somewhere with some cigars that I was humidifying with Bookers. I lost track of them this past year and maybe I need to 'revive' them for the Pavilion this year? I'll have to dig for them in the morning when I get home from work!

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I am not a cigar smoker (heck, I don't really smoke anything) however, I have to admit, I have been smoking a few Carlos Torano Reserva Selecta with ORVW 15 yo/107 bourbon and the match is perfect! Somehow the cigar tobacco smoke/taste complements the bourbon, and vise versa.

Who would have thought.... yum.gif

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I'm sure that in order to say "bourbon" they used actual bourbon. The cigarette companies have enough problems without false labeling. I'm sure they didn't need much. I'm also sure they didn't have any trouble finding someone to sell them a couple of barrels. Heaven Hill is always the obvious suspect but the more I learn about the shadowy world of bulk whiskey sales, the more I find it could be just about anybody.

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  • 1 month later...

I still have not been able to find them here in NYC, and that was with 4 people looking out for them. They have banners up all over the place advertising them, but they only have the older 'flavored' ones. I did however bid and win on a tin on eBay so it should be here by next week. I don't smoke though and don't plan on starting so they'll be put in my humidor filled with cigars from various distillers.

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