David Meyer leaned back in a leather-upholstered chair and smoked a Davidoff Aniversario No. 3. Seated nearby, Kelly Morrison savored a Davidoff 1000 and Rich Carney a Davidoff Puro D'Oro.
The three lounged and puffed in the members-only Commonwealth Cigar Club one floor above David and Renee Meyer's Milan Tobacconists retail store in Roanoke.
An annual fee of $1,000 and a biometric lock that reads fingerprints offer entry into the not-for-profit club, which formally opened April 16. Cigar aficionados living outside a 50-mile radius pay $500.
"The club is something Renee and I have always wanted to do," David Meyer said. "We just always envisioned a nice place for people to come and enjoy a cigar."
A dress code forbids hats and sandals and calls for collared shirts.
"There is a board that reviews all applications," he said.
Citing privacy, Meyer would not disclose members' names.
He said the club is intended to serve "like-minded people" but emphasized that demographics vary among the 30 people who have joined to date.
"Believe it or not, our members have all kinds of income levels," Meyer said.
So far, three women, including Renee, are members.
"We would like to get 50 members," Meyer said. "If we get 50, the club will be self-sufficient."
The Commonwealth Cigar Club occupies the second floor of the historic three-story building owned by the Meyers at 309 S. Jefferson St. The couple live on the third floor.
He would not say how much the club's limited liability company has invested to create the handsomely appointed club, which is a separate entity from Milan Tobacconists.
"People do not have to buy their cigars from us," Meyer said.
Membership provides access to private lockers in a room where the humidity is held to about 70 percent to retain cigars' ideal characteristics.
Pipe smokers can join, too. Two filtration systems serve smoke duty.
The Commonwealth Cigar Club has an ABC license that allows members to bring their own spirits, which are stored in individual lockers. Meyer said the club is the first of its kind in Virginia and that its unique setup prolonged the process of applying for and receiving the alcoholic beverage license. As a private club, it is exempt from Virginia's new law that prohibits smoking in restaurants.
Carney said he enjoys the taste and relaxation associated with a fine stogie, which he said typically requires an hour to smoke.
His favorite cigar is a Padron 2000, which features tobacco grown in Nicaragua.
"It's a very high-end taste for a very affordable cigar," Carney said.
Meyer said good, hand-rolled cigars generally range from $3 to $30 each.
Many cigar growers fled Cuba after the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro and left with the seeds for the tobacco famed for quality and taste. Some growers ended up in Honduras, Nicaragua and elsewhere -- including the Dominican Republic, which has achieved renown for tobacco used in prestigious brands such as the Davidoffs smoked by Meyer, Carney and Morrison.
One review of the Davidoff Aniversario line describes the cigars as "velvety to the touch" with notes of "pepper, grass and a touch of earth."
Carney is not a member of the Commonwealth Cigar Club.
"It's a tremendous luxury and a luxury I cannot share with my family," he said. "I come up here as a visitor."
In 2000, David and Renee Meyer purchased Milan Tobacconists from her father, Don Roy, and stepmother, Myriam, who had acquired the longtime downtown business, known as Milan Brothers, from brothers Joe, Herb and Ellis Milan in 1994. Milan Bros. was long famous in the Roanoke Valley for its tobacco products and as a place to discreetly peruse and purchase "girlie magazines." The Meyers accentuated and enhanced the former and deep-sixed the latter.
In 2008, the Meyers moved the business down South Jefferson Street after they purchased the three-story building at 309, which once housed Lee & Edwards Wine Merchants, for $600,000 in July 2008.
Like other tobacco products, cigars are linked to cancer. And even though most cigar smokers do not inhale, the risks remain.
Stogies have fans and foes. One recent Internet search for the phrase "cigar stink" pulled up about 1.4 million entries.
But cigar connoisseurs, men and women, celebrate the aroma and taste of fine, hand-rolled cigars and the relaxation of savoring their slow, steady burn.
May 3, 2010
Arabic ad has smokes under fire
A SOCIAL marketing campaign targeting Arabic-speaking smokers in southwest Sydney has recorded a significant drop in tobacco use.
The “Ma’feesh cigara men gheir Khosara” (There is no cigarette without loss) campaign saw smoking rates drop by more than 5 per cent.
The tobacco control project focused on Arabic communities in Liverpool, Canterbury, Bankstown and Campbelltown.
Promotions on Arabic radio stations, billboards, bus advertisements and in Arabic language newspapers emphasised the health risks of smoking.
Following the campaign, bilingual interviewers surveyed more than 1000 participants to determine smoking rates.
Associate professor Chris Rissel from Sydney South West Area Health Service said the impact on tobacco use was significant.
“We focused on how smoking harms the family household. That was quite powerful,” Dr Rissel said.
“We had an overall drop in the prevalence of smoking from 26 per cent to 20 per cent.”
The study, published in the journal Health Promotion International, also reported a decline in the number of smoke-free homes of almost 8 per cent.
The marketing campaign had the biggest impact on married men over the age of 40 and the highest socio-economic groups, as well as the unemployed.
Researchers will continue to work with cafes and retailers to show the health impacts of inhaling smoke through water pipes.
Dr Rissel said the health effects of flavoured water pipes can be worse than cigarettes.
The “Ma’feesh cigara men gheir Khosara” (There is no cigarette without loss) campaign saw smoking rates drop by more than 5 per cent.
The tobacco control project focused on Arabic communities in Liverpool, Canterbury, Bankstown and Campbelltown.
Promotions on Arabic radio stations, billboards, bus advertisements and in Arabic language newspapers emphasised the health risks of smoking.
Following the campaign, bilingual interviewers surveyed more than 1000 participants to determine smoking rates.
Associate professor Chris Rissel from Sydney South West Area Health Service said the impact on tobacco use was significant.
“We focused on how smoking harms the family household. That was quite powerful,” Dr Rissel said.
“We had an overall drop in the prevalence of smoking from 26 per cent to 20 per cent.”
The study, published in the journal Health Promotion International, also reported a decline in the number of smoke-free homes of almost 8 per cent.
The marketing campaign had the biggest impact on married men over the age of 40 and the highest socio-economic groups, as well as the unemployed.
Researchers will continue to work with cafes and retailers to show the health impacts of inhaling smoke through water pipes.
Dr Rissel said the health effects of flavoured water pipes can be worse than cigarettes.
Apr 26, 2010
Ga. man who left jail for cigarettes gets 20 years
Authorities say an inmate who broke out of jail, then returned after stealing 14 packs of cigarettes, has been sentenced to 20 years.
Prosecutors told The Florida Times-Union inmate Harry Jackson, 26, escaped his cell at the Camden County Jail last year and went to the exercise yard to retrieve cigarettes he had expected would be tossed over a fence.
They say that when the contraband wasn't there, Jackson scaled the fence, broke a window at a convenience store and grabbed cigarette packs only to be arrested upon his return.
Jackson pleaded guilty to burglary and escape charges Monday. Prosecutors say he had been jailed on charges including driving with a suspended license. His lawyer, William Ashe, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
Prosecutors told The Florida Times-Union inmate Harry Jackson, 26, escaped his cell at the Camden County Jail last year and went to the exercise yard to retrieve cigarettes he had expected would be tossed over a fence.
They say that when the contraband wasn't there, Jackson scaled the fence, broke a window at a convenience store and grabbed cigarette packs only to be arrested upon his return.
Jackson pleaded guilty to burglary and escape charges Monday. Prosecutors say he had been jailed on charges including driving with a suspended license. His lawyer, William Ashe, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
Apr 20, 2010
Camel Orbs Tobacco Candies Are Toxic For Young Children
A new study finds that smokeless tobacco candy could be dangerous for children as it contains nicotine that can be addictive.
The candies are called Camel Orbs and each one contains a small amount of nicotine minus the nasty smoke present in cigarettes.
The products are dissolvable, and are designed for smokers looking for that nicotine fix when they are somewhere where smoking is not prohibited.
The candies come in childproof packs, but children have been known to find ways to open these packs and ingest the dangerous candies.
“Infants are susceptible to accidental tobacco ingestion because of a natural curiosity and a tendency for oral exploration,” wrote researcher Gregory N. Connolly, DMD, MPH, of Harvard University and colleagues in Pediatrics. “As taste discrimination develops, young children may be more attracted to flavored tobacco products. Ingestion of as little as 1 mg of nicotine by a small child can produce symptoms such as nausea and vomiting.”
“In light of the novelty and potential harm of these dissolvable nicotine products, federal and other public health authorities are advised to study these products to determine the appropriate regulatory approach, on the basis of their potential to cause poisonings and create addiction among youths,” the researchers write.
The candies are called Camel Orbs and each one contains a small amount of nicotine minus the nasty smoke present in cigarettes.
The products are dissolvable, and are designed for smokers looking for that nicotine fix when they are somewhere where smoking is not prohibited.
The candies come in childproof packs, but children have been known to find ways to open these packs and ingest the dangerous candies.
“Infants are susceptible to accidental tobacco ingestion because of a natural curiosity and a tendency for oral exploration,” wrote researcher Gregory N. Connolly, DMD, MPH, of Harvard University and colleagues in Pediatrics. “As taste discrimination develops, young children may be more attracted to flavored tobacco products. Ingestion of as little as 1 mg of nicotine by a small child can produce symptoms such as nausea and vomiting.”
“In light of the novelty and potential harm of these dissolvable nicotine products, federal and other public health authorities are advised to study these products to determine the appropriate regulatory approach, on the basis of their potential to cause poisonings and create addiction among youths,” the researchers write.
Apr 15, 2010
Vote on electronic cigarettes ban postponed in Ill. House committee
Advocates of electronic cigarettes aren’t allowing their chosen alternative to tobacco to become contraband in Illinois quietly.
The Illinois Senate passed legislation that would prevent the sale of the battery-operated e-cigarettes with little attention last month. That changed this morning in a House committee to consider the legislation, SB3174.
The plastic cylinders often look like real cigarettes but dispense a vapor rather than smoke, along with a dose of nicotine.
Former smokers who use the products and retailers who supply them objected to an outright ban, suggesting that lawmakers should look at regulation of e-cigarettes first. Several former smokers said they tried every FDA-approved smoking cessation tool but still couldn’t quit the habit until finding the e-cigarettes.
State Rep. Constance Howard, D-Chicago, said she also was a former smoker and understood how difficult quitting could be.
“I just wish there was something like these around before my mother died,” she said, to applause from the assembled e-cigarette proponents.
Sponsoring state Rep. Marlow Colvin, D-Chicago, said the FDA hasn’t approved the products yet and have found examples of carcinogens and other chemicals in the cartridges. He and lobbyist Kathy Drea with the American Lung Association said the state should prevent people from buying the e-cigarettes until the FDA has ruled on their safety.
But at the request of committee members asking for more information on that process, Colvin postponed a decision on the bill until next week.
The Illinois Senate passed legislation that would prevent the sale of the battery-operated e-cigarettes with little attention last month. That changed this morning in a House committee to consider the legislation, SB3174.
The plastic cylinders often look like real cigarettes but dispense a vapor rather than smoke, along with a dose of nicotine.
Former smokers who use the products and retailers who supply them objected to an outright ban, suggesting that lawmakers should look at regulation of e-cigarettes first. Several former smokers said they tried every FDA-approved smoking cessation tool but still couldn’t quit the habit until finding the e-cigarettes.
State Rep. Constance Howard, D-Chicago, said she also was a former smoker and understood how difficult quitting could be.
“I just wish there was something like these around before my mother died,” she said, to applause from the assembled e-cigarette proponents.
Sponsoring state Rep. Marlow Colvin, D-Chicago, said the FDA hasn’t approved the products yet and have found examples of carcinogens and other chemicals in the cartridges. He and lobbyist Kathy Drea with the American Lung Association said the state should prevent people from buying the e-cigarettes until the FDA has ruled on their safety.
But at the request of committee members asking for more information on that process, Colvin postponed a decision on the bill until next week.
Mar 29, 2010
Cigarette Cartoons Are "Uncool," AG Says
Tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds will pay Connecticut $150,000 to settle a lawsuit over an advertising campaign in Rolling Stone Magazine.
The 2007 spread for Camel cigarettes violated a master tobacco agreement banning the use of cartoons in cigarette advertising, according to state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.
"This campaign improperly employed cartoons to sell cigarettes, enticing kids into addiction, illness and early death", Blumenthal said in a news release.
The ad appeared in the Nov. 15, 2007 issue of Rolling Stone, and included a four-page fold out poster."These ads hark back to the insidious and disingenuous 'Joe Camel', the cute and cool cartoon character designed to appeal to kids", Blumenthal said.
R.J. Reynolds denied the ad campaign violated the agreement, and paid the $150,000 to cover the state's legal costs.
The 2007 spread for Camel cigarettes violated a master tobacco agreement banning the use of cartoons in cigarette advertising, according to state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.
"This campaign improperly employed cartoons to sell cigarettes, enticing kids into addiction, illness and early death", Blumenthal said in a news release.
The ad appeared in the Nov. 15, 2007 issue of Rolling Stone, and included a four-page fold out poster."These ads hark back to the insidious and disingenuous 'Joe Camel', the cute and cool cartoon character designed to appeal to kids", Blumenthal said.
R.J. Reynolds denied the ad campaign violated the agreement, and paid the $150,000 to cover the state's legal costs.
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