Pioneering Solo as a Female

Being a female and newcomer to smoking cigars can be a little bit intimidating. Here in the Milwaukee area there are a decent share of cigar bars and lounges to choose from, and I hope to feature each of them in this blog in the near future. The point to this post is that when you are a woman and you walk into one of these places, there are usually only men, and they are enjoying their male bonding with gusto. They are seated at the bar, around tables, or in comfy couches and chairs, inhaling and exhaling bluish clouds of smoke, as they enjoy cigars and sip on whiskeys and beers.

Enjoying an ACID Toast with a Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashion.

Actually, it is adorable. I have a husband and three young adult sons, and to me, there is nothing that makes its way into my heart more than when I see them enjoy food and drink. And this is the energy I see in these cigar places. However, even though I appreciate the pleasure these men are deriving from this experience, it still makes a solo chick a little anxious to enter into this territory alone. (As I said in this blog's introduction, my husband is not a cigar smoker and has no interest in exploring this with me). And the awkward feeling has nothing to do with how I am treated there. So far in the several visits I have made to these places, I have had the men who work there wait on me and kindly answer all my questions about the flavor, body, and strength of their cigar selections, and the mostly male patrons either leave me alone, or make kind comments, like, "It's nice to see a woman cigar smoker for a change." The very few women I have seen are always with their husbands or boyfriends, so I would still feel like an intruder.

Maybe the awkward feeling I have is comparable to the reason a lot of people don't go to movies in the theater alone. It's normal to want family or friends to come along, but I don't have any girlfriends that are interested in cigars, and while my sons are interested, they are a too young, (21, 18 and 18), and under federal law the twins cannot partake anyway. Therefore, I have gone alone so far, and usually bring a journal to record my experiences, but most of the time this past summer I bought cigars carry-out and smoked them on my porch at home.

But the weather is getting colder as we approach November. I will have to get used to smoking as the "lone female" in the cigar bars as winter comes.

Sooner or later, I am sure I will talk to whomever is there, male or female, and make friends. Especially as I said, when winter forces me to!