THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 2, 1995 TAG: 9508020033
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LAWRENCE MADDRY
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
``I'm sure there are many things better than a good cigar, but right now I can't think what they might be'' - Richard Carleton Hacker, author of ``The Ultimate Cigar Book''
CIGARS, IN CASE you haven't noticed, are making a comeback. In the mouths of Madonna, George Burns, Jack Nicholson or Rush Limbaugh, they are getting the attention of the public, and sales of stogies are better than ever.
Proof of their popularity is no farther than Areo's Grill at Virginia Beach, which has opened a cigar room - tasteful prints on the walls, subdued lighting and cherry wood wine cabinets - used either for full meals by patrons or merely for a cigar and brandy afterward.
Owners Michael Scaramellino, Sr. and Jr. have installed a floor-to-ceiling humidor and smoke exhaust system. At a christening of the room last month, invited guests had wines and cigars with each course of their meals. The main course featured a Michele Chiarlo wine with the veal chop and a large, dark cigar called a Bauza Robusto, explained Pat Daly, owner of PJ Baggan who served as co-host. Baggan, known for wine, is also a purveyor of fine cigars.
``The food served was rather spicy, so we chose cigars that were flavorful, sweet and spicy,'' Daly said. ``If we'd chosen mild cigars, their taste would have been overwhelmed by the food.''
If you think wine connoisseurs tend to be a little hoity-toity in descriptions of wine, you should read some of the descriptions of cigars in Cigar Aficionado, which may be the most handsome specialty magazine in the country.
The current issue describes a Pleiades Antares from the Dominican Republic as ``a mellow cigar that has an interesting aroma of roasting meat.'' (One of those little beauties will set you back $4.15. So if it doesn't smell like filet mignon, I say forget it.)
Getting a grip on cigars has to begin with a purchase of Richard Carleton Hacker's best-selling (now in its fourth printing) book: ``The Ultimate Cigar Book.''
I reached Hacker by phone in his Beverly Hills, Calif., digs and could almost smell the stogie in his hand through the ear piece.
Hacker says that smoking fool and talk show host Limbaugh has probably done more to promote sales of cigars than anyone since Winston Churchill. But, he says, cigar smoker David Letterman, the late-night TV host, may have more influence with younger smokers.
I had a couple of questions for Hacker:
Is it OK to lick a cigar? Absolutely not, he said. ``Licking is an arcane and repulsive habit (from) the days before humidors when cigars sat in windows and were dry as tinder.''
And what about the cigar band? Leave it on or take it off?
Leave it on, the nation's cigar guru claims. Removing cigar bands is a bit of European snobbery, he said.
The practice of placing bands on cigars started in Victorian times when men wore white gloves when they smoked cigars. They placed white bands on cigars to prevent the tobacco from staining their gloves or fingers. Cigar makers saw an opportunity to increase sales by providing a band on the cigar. And a chance to do a little advertising.
``The band adheres to the cigar with an adhesive,'' says Hacker. ``If you remove it, you may remove the wrapper and destroy the cigar. Besides, a person should be proud of the band. Would you rip the hood emblem off a Mercedes? Why, then, remove the band?''
Women are the fastest-growing segment of the cigar market and Hacker lectures frequently to women's groups on cigar smoking.
The question women ask most is: ``How do I hold the cigar?'' The answer, he says, is any way they like. ``It's supposed to be fun,'' he said. ``There is no proper way.''
Mike Scaramellino Jr. says smoking a cigar gives men a sense of power. ``And I believe that's why more and more women are smoking cigars,'' he said. He intends to hold a special cigar night for women at his restaurant in the future.
Abigail Smith, who has frequented the cigar room of the restaurant since it opened, has been smoking cigars for about eight years.
She claims lighting one up bonds her with males when they are having meals where business is discussed. She's a saleswoman for a printing firm and does a lot of traveling around the country.
``I carry wooden matches in my purse because they are the best way to light cigars,'' Smith said. ``Cigars are wonderful with a nice glass of port. When I'm dining with businessmen and they light up their cigars, I join them. Most women seem to be appalled by it. . . . I believe they think it is unfeminine. But the men like it. And I've always been an individualist.''
Well, 19th century novelist George Sand, another woman who was an individualist, would have approved of Smith's cigar smoking.
``A cigar numbs sorrows and fills the solitary hours with a million gracious images,'' she said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/Staff
Abigail Smith, left, and Anna Blake enjoy cigars at Areo's Grill in
Virginia Beach.
by CNB