Cigar culture celebrated in Joburg (video)
Smoking is so politically incorrect nowadays that expressing excitement about indulging in the act is likely to land you before some Facebook firing squad.
READY TO GO. Master roller Luiz Lopez adds the finishing touches to a La Aurora robusto cigar he’s just completed. Picture: Supplied
There’s something about cigars, though, that places them in the same cultural corral as wine, coffee or chocolate: stuff that’s interesting to immerse yourself in as a hobby, learning about them as you go and collecting interesting examples.
MUNCHIES. The Hyatt Regency in Rosebank offers a number of menus for visitors who’ve come to enjoy the Terrace Cigar Bar and the other venues on site. Picture: Supplied
For this reason, a place like Rosebank’s Hyatt Regency’s The Terrace – an outside bar with a cigar menu – is great to have on your radar. It’s not the sort of place most people can affort to go to day in and day out, with single cigars starting at R225 each, but it does allow the space and ambience required to properly enjoy the experience (experts say that a robusto should take you the best part of an hour to get through).
Last week, the venue hosted master cigar roller Luis Lopez from the La Aurora cigar factory in the Dominican Republic who, though he could speak no more than ten or so words of English, managed to communicate both his passion for his craft and the proper etiquette for clipping, lighting and puffing on his product.
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