Sorting The Wheat From The Chaff

Noise, noise, noise.

Sometimes that’s all you can hear. But you can’t make anything sensible out of it; like an aural version of not being able to see the wood for the trees.

Sometimes the cigar world feels like that. Read the popular magazines, check out some cigar websites, look on the forums and they are usually all talking about the same things; the latest release from so-and-so; the latest anti-tobacco legislation being drafted to finish us off once and for all; the latest interview with a ‘celebrity’ cigarmaker.

It all sounds like white noise after a while. So how do you filter it and get what you want to know and learn for your own cigar knowledge and pleasure?

First and foremost, switch everything off. Yes, that’s radical advice coming from a website blog, but bear with us. Press that mute button.

Shut out the clamour. Silence the ‘influencers’ who are desperate to show you what cigar they’ve just lit up (and, incidentally, usually which free watch they’ve just been given. Don’t get us started).

Ignore the mail alerts you get from subscribed websites. Even ours. For now.

The only way to block out the noise is to shut your ears. Take a break. Remember what intrigued you about cigars in the first place. Trust your own palate and your own memory of different smokes. You need to re-establish your connection on the most basic level.

Incidentally, this advice works equally well across a number of genres; it does no harm to power down occasionally and get a sense of perspective about all things from politics, news, social media, jobs and more. Remember your core values; the things and people that are really important to you. Don’t waste time or energy on peripheries.

Then, when the noise has receded and you can hear clearly once more, decide which voices you are going to listen to. We sincerely hope that we are one of them. But whatever and whomever you choose, be selective. Pick those whose opinions you may not agree with – but those whose opinions you trust.

There will always be someone waiting to yell in your ear about the next greatest ever cigar; there will always be someone who knows more than you; there will always be a guy who has an older box of cigars or who has smoked something you haven’t. Great. Bully for them.

Create your own cigar journey. Taste difference leaves. Visit different countries, if the opportunity arises. Form your own opinions and you’ll find that that wall of noise is no longer so exasperating. You can choose to tune in and tune out. Take what is useful from some of those voices – and there are those well worth listening too, of course – and simply forget those which don’t serve you in a positive way. You’ll soon find your own mental filter works better than anything your computer could come up with and you’ll be happier and less distracted too.

So, finish what you’re doing, take a deep breath – and switch off for a while. Press reset. Enjoy the silence. We’ll still be here waiting for you when you’re ready to come back.