When I first started smoking cigars I went online and searched for forums and other resources to find out more info about them. The first place I ever landed was CigarPass. I was impressed as to how long it had been around and liked the simple look as well as the community attitude. Rod is very open and friendly to questions and queries (although often busy since he’s the site main coder and all-around geek).

The serious questions

1. Has the growth the forum gone as expected or did it exceed your expectations?

To be honest, the growth of the forum is not quite what I expected 10 years ago. CigarPass was intended to be just that, a site where cigar lovers could come to trade and pass cigars. I quickly realized that you cannot host a trading site without the community atmosphere; that’s where the full fledged forum quickly came in. I started out with just a couple of forum categories, and slowly expanded to include The Lobby, Cuban Cigar Talk, BST, Beer/Wine/Liquor, etc. I’ve always been very cautious when adding new categories, as I don’t want CP to become just another online forum. So, back to your question… I did not expect CP to someday become the most trafficked cigar community; however I am very proud that this happened. CP has truly exceeded my expectations in many ways, most particularly the friends I have made here, and the many friendships that I have seen created throughout the world. Truly an amazing feeling to see something so small flourish into what it is today.

2. Has anything gone not so quite as expected?

Where to begin… I never imagined that running aweb site would be so demanding. CigarPass was initially launched to be a trading platform, however I quickly realized there are scammers everywhere, and in order for the site to be successful, a true sense of community had to be developed.The community developed better than I expected, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve been part of online “communities” since the early 90′s, and never have I seen a true sense of community/family like CP. Of course there are trying times… Occasionally there are member disagreements – these are usually the toughest to handle when it involves older/more tenured members. It’s never easy having to step in to resolve a situation, as sometimes it means friendships will be hindered.

3. What do you think the future of online cigar forums will be? Will we see a future with more consolidation, commercialization or more home-grown, grass roots growth?

Good question. Back in the late 90′s, when I first joined the online cigar world, there were only about three forums, all of which were quite popular in their own way. CP launched in 2000, and then around 2003-2005 I began seeing many home-grown cigar communities popping up all over the place. As you know, there was quite a consolidation/buy-out last year which I refused to be part of. My personal feeling is that the forums that were recently purchased and bundled together will soon be sold. I personally believe that cigar smokers are a rare and unique breed. They truly want the family/community atmosphere, rather than the typical internet user group feel.

There are two types of online cigar forums: 1.) the commercial forum which is flooded with ads and the only purpose is to make money, and 2.) the community driven forum where it’s a true hobby. Sites will always be sold and purchased, however my plans are to keep CP privately run with the community in focus at all times. To answer your question, I think we’ll continue to see both commercialized cigar forums and also true cigar communities.

4. Is there any intent to start membership fees?

Starting a membership fee would take away from the community-sense of the site, and turn it into a commercial site. It would also make some people feel they’re entitled to act as they choose, simply because they purchased a membership; this would create some real issues. I have no plans of instating membership fees. I will continue to help offset operating costs by selling banner ads to reputable cigar company’s.

5. Do you think that the SCHIP tax and/or the recent moving of tobacco to the FDA will reduce cigar smoking in general? What will it mean for a forum like this?

While I disagree with SCHIP and how the money is being spent, I doubt it will have any major effects on the general cigar community. It looks like most manufactures have reduced their prices in order to offset the negative effects SCHIP would have created. While it’s not a major tax (at least when purchasing boxes of premium cigars), it is a tax and it will continue to increase. This of course will hinder the cigar business as a whole down the road. I will say that SCHIP will certainly hurt B&M’s;some people will mostly begin purchasing their cigars from over-seas. I could go on and on, but I don’t want to get political otherwise it may get ugly.

Not so serious/more fun questions (can be answered tongue-in-cheek):

1. Favourite smokes?

Panacea Red Label, Partagas Shorts, RASS, San Cristobal, Cohiba Magicos, any and all Padrons!

2. Not so favourite smokes?

When I first started smoking cigars (about 10 years ago) I purchased a box of cheap cigars called Middletons. I’ll never forget these cigars… I almost puked, they tasted like what I would imagine manure to taste like. Never have I smoked something so acrid and awful. I learned my lesson, don’t smoke cheap gas station cigars.

3. What was the best cigar bomb you did (if you’ll admit to it ) (note: not about size but impact or result)

This may sound corny, but each and every bomb I have received over the years has been the best… It’s amazing people you hardly know, or don’t know at all will send you cigars out of the blue. If I had to choose, I’d say one of thebest bombs I can receive is when someone sends me something home made; cigar related or non-cigar related.

4. Favourite celebrity cigar smoker(s)?

Cosmo Kramer, aka Michael Richards. By far one of my favorite actors. George Burns is another one of my favorites. The man smoked something like 10 cigars aday and lived to be 100!

5. How many cigars in a day/week/month? Is thereever a time when it’s been too much or too little?

Typically I smoke most in the summer. With a busy schedule, I’m lucky if I can get one cigar in per day. On the weekends I indulge a bit more.

6. Best movie to watch while having a cigar.

I don’t thinkI’ve ever really smoked a cigar while watching a movie. Living in Southern California, my favorite time to smoke is amongst other CPers. If I’m alone, then in the backyard with music playing and my favorite beverage…Vodka Soda’s!

As a continuation of the questions I asked the Team of 11, I decided that it shouldn’t all be serious so you’ll find below the fun or not-so-serious questions. If you’ve never been to the Asylum, you definitely should join. It’s free and ad-free.

The Fun Questions

1. Favourite smokes?

1. My favorite cigars tend to be Partagas (especially 898s), Bolivar, Por Larranaga and Upmann. I also enjoy custom rolls.
2. The cigars I’m smoking with the other 10.
3. Whatever cigar I am smoking.
4. My absolute favorite regular production cigar is the Montecristo Especial. Always a consistent winner for me. I also have a fondness for Cohiba Lancero’s, Davidoff Chateau LaTours and Vegas Robaina Don Alejandro’s
5. Partagas is always a safe bet but I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s my overall favorite..
6. Usually smaller marcas, since I usually get bored with larger format cigars. Favorites will also be aged or vintage, and normally always from Cuba.
7. I smoke a lot of Partagas and Saint Luis Rey, typically in the smaller ring gauges. A Partagas or a Saint Luis Rey lonsdale with a few years of age on it will always bring a smile to my face.
8. One given by a freind and enjoyed with them. Sharing cigars either giving or recieving always makes them taste better.

2. Not so favourite smokes?

1. Smokes that are peppery or overpowering without other flavors.
2. The over hyped and over marketed cigars. A good cigar should be able to stand on its own.
3. Ones I don’t like
4. Any “flavored” cigar or novelty cigar.
5. Cigars with no spiciness or complexity. All the standards that you’ll see being the brunt of many jokes around here.
6. Over marketed cigars. Cigars that rely on a fancy presentation or band to sell.
7. Anything boring and one-dimensional.
8. Tamboril and Cremosa come to mind.

3. Who’s the oldest and who’s the youngest mentally?

1. Huh?
2. Age is relative. And we’re all young at heart. Dustin is the shortest.
3. Yes
4. The great thing about the Team of 11 is that we each bring a different personality and perspective to the table. We all have our areas of expertise and experience and from this we draw on that knowledge in numerous different situations. That being said, I am the youngest and sometimes it shows
5. ?
6. I think we all fall into both really. I mean, were all matured adults, but I think we all have fun on and off the boards. If you have to attended one of our annual herfs, you would understand.
7. That depends on the time of day and the issue at hand.
8. We all channel our inner child and inner anal grampa at times. The collective experience and wisdom is our balance which avoids most problems you can encounter as unpaid community janitors.

4. Favourite celebrity cigar smoker(s)?

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
2. I don’t have a favorite celebrity. Whether or not a famous person smokes cigars or not doesn’t really matter to me.
3. My 10 partners
4. Kelly (Poker). He’s a celebrity in my eyes
5. My 10 partners. Friends mean a lot more than fame to me.
6. I can think of 10
7. Can’t really say that I have any. But I’m pretty sure we can all agree that if Jessica Alba were to start smoking cigars, she’d be the collective favorite.
8. POKER

5. How many cigars in a day/week/month? Is there ever a time when it’s been too much or too little?

1. Average about one a day….now that I smoke in my house, it’s never too little.
2. Approximately 4-6 per week. A few of us herf weekly and I look forward to that a lot. I wish we could meet 2-3 days a week but that is impractical. Too much? Well, at some of the bigger herfs, after 3 or 4 consecutive days of lots of cigars, I look forward to the break.
3. Five a day-no
4. My cigar consumption varies according to work schedule and other social factors but lately I’m in the 2-3 a week category. It used to be much more but alas, life happens.
5. I’ve only ever experienced too many cigars once. A HERF in Vegas where so many cigars were consumed that my palatte was literally fried. I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many cigars were smoked during those few days.
6. Recently, probably 1 every 2-3 weeks. It’s definitely too little, but I just haven’t had time recently.
7. I have tapered my cigar smoking down quite a bit over the years. There are times where I may only smoke 1 cigar a month and other times it could be 3 a week. It all depends where I’m at, who I’m with, and whats going on.
8. Right now, I’m averaging somewhere around 10-12 cigars a week. One a day most days, two-to-four on good days. After 15 or so cigars in a day, I do think they all tend to taste alike–thankfully, I like that taste.
9. Varies amongst us. Average is around 1 per day. At herf times ….. 20 is not unusual and after a few days you start feeling a little “toxic”. When the dog doesn’t want “kisses” is usually a good sign that ashtray breath status has been achieved. A bigger problem for the younger single guys though.

6. Best movie to watch while having a cigar.

1. Scarface.
2. I haven’t a clue. If I’m watching a movie, most likely I am indoors and that is a treat in and of itself.
3. I don’t do media
4. A Clockwork Orange. Nothing gets you ready for the old “Ultra-Violence” like a Partagas.
5. Oceans Eleven
6. Fabulous Story Of The Cuban Cigar (1999)
7. The Godfather (I or II).

I’ll be doing more interviews with various online forums so if you have those burning questions pop me a note. I’m also off to Halifax soon and will probably check out their cigar store in the downtown area.

Since this month’s poll is about community and finding it, I figured I would ask a couple of forums — at least the moderators/admins –  I enjoy reading through now and then about what they expect the future holds for cigars, themselves and some fun questions. The first forum was the Team of 11 at CigarAsylum.com. I’ll post the serious questions today and the not-so-serious ones in a few days. Enjoy.

The Serious Questions

1. Has the growth the forum gone as expected or did it exceed your expectations?

1. I am not sure if the growth exceeded my expectations, but certainly the passion and “ownership” of the members has. They are so involved in making this community succeed, grow and thrive, they make our involvement easy.
2. The initial surge was staggering. I knew we’d have an influx. But the degree was somewhat overwhelming. It’s tapered off and pretty much what we expected.
3. I was hoping for a initial surge and we got that.
4. I think we expected moderate membership numbers but the sheer volume of members we had initially was staggering. After the initial influx of members it was surprising to see the steady growth trend that continues to this day. It speaks volumes about the type of community that our members have created. The bonds of friendship and Brotherhood have made it possible for us to succeed, and for that we are grateful.
5. I was pleasantly surprised with the extent of growth over the first couple of weeks. Since then it is about what I expected.
6. I believe at this point its about what I expected. Initially I think we were all kind of shocked at the rate members were signing up. I mean, I knew we would have a flood of new members, but what we got was absolutely mind blowing.
7. The initial deluge of members was, to me, a pretty awesome thing. We all had high expectations for the quality and quantity of the new board, and I don’t think anyone was disappointed.
8. We had no expectations other than a group desire to create a non-commercial place to call home. The overwhelming response was … humbling. The ongoing high level of activity is all about the people who choose to participate in the forum.

2. Has anything gone not so quite as expected?

1. Not in my eyes….no major glitches, no unsolvable issues.
2. Not really. A few bumps in the road. Nothing we, as a team, haven’t addressed.
3. Not really
4. As with any endeavor there are unexpected challenges that arise. I know for me personally, the biggest challenge was learning the ins and outs of the software. Some of the more tech-savvy of the Team of 11 have definitely helped me out in that respect LOL.
5. Not really
6. Nothing really major. There are members of the admin team that are more comfortable with the software than I am, so anything that comes up they can usually handle with ease.
7. Honestly, we’ve had far fewer issues than I would have anticipated–a very good thing.
8. We had no idea that the site would become so active, so quickly. 1 day before we went live we changed to a dedicated server and gobs of bandwidth out of paranoia and after finding out that it was not all that expensive to do so. Without it, we would have crashed in the first few hours. The biggest unexpected for us as a group has been the demonstration of “family” being more than just a URL.

3. What do you think the future of online cigar forums will be? Will we see a future with more consolidation, commericialization or more home-grown, grass roots growth?

1. I think there is a place for both types of forums, and I think Cigar Asylum will be one of the major players in the latter type. Those who yearn more for a sense of community than for a corporate feel will be drawn more to a place like CA.
2. There is a niche for everyone. Some crave the bright lights, the adverts, the pseudo-bling. Others are more comfortable in a communal type atmosphere. It’s no secret or surprise, we cater to the latter.
3. I’m only concerned with this one personally
4. There are definitely audiences for both types of forums. Initially I see newcomers to the world of cigars seeking out the more commercial sites for various reasons. However, once a base knowledge is gained people will tend to gravitate towards more social sites like CigarAsylum. The tendency will be to share their passion with other like-minded individuals in a friendly atmosphere. To discuss and compare with others is one of the true joys of this obsession we all have for cigars.
5. It takes all kinds, but I’m glad to be involved only with ours
6. That’s hard to say. Possibly both types may show growth, but it really isn’t my concern what happens outside of Cigar Asylum. My focus is what happens inside. That to me is more important.
7. I think there will always be both. In some ways, it may be the nature of the beast in that the typical cigar board is started, owned, and operated by one man. As the board grows, it becomes too difficult/burdensome to handle while, at the same time, offering up opportunities for cash generation. At Cigar Asylum, we’re unique in that there are eleven of us, all equals, sharing the responsibilities. This isn’t a business venture for any of us.
8. The future is what we all make of it. We are all just cigar hobbyists that enjoy the interaction with folks with similar interests. The financial conflict many sites run into regarding ads and sponsors is not an issue for us. We are funded by a grant from J Callahan of Sandusky, OH. There will always be new boards set-up for specialized reasons. They come and most times then fade. The lifeblood of all online communities is ongoing growth in new members. Old members may fade into less active participation and they need to be replaced by new folks starting the journey of exploration or a board starts to die.

4. Is there any intent to start membership fees or get advertising for the forums?

1. None at all.
2. Not at all. Our costs are low enough where the 11 of us can quite easily keep this going. We don’t want it to be a business. It is a labor of love.
3. No
4. As the old adage goes, “Never say never”. However, having said that….Never
5. No
6. Absolutely no plans at this point.
7. Nope. Not gonna happen. See above.
8. No. We all have seen the influence of “for profit” to the extreme on cigar boards. However, there are many boards that seem to be able to balance it with an objective level of content. Given our genesis, it is a hard thing to contemplate us ever accepting any form of “vendor money”. Other than the time we choose to volunteer to administer things, the actual out of pocket cost for even a large board like ours is .. well it’s tip money for Mr. Callahan.

5. Do you think that the SCHIP tax and/or the recent moving of tobacco to the FDA will reduce cigar smoking in general? What will it mean for a forum like this?

1. Cigar smoking is more a passion, a lifestyle than a “habit” like cigarette smoking. I think a reduction on cigar smoking will be minimal, and I think the changes will bring a community like this even closer together.
2. I don’t think it will impact our forum at all. Well, maybe more topics for discussion. But that’s about it.
3. (1)I think it will reduce it some.(2)I think it cause some discussions which is why we exist.
4. I don’t believe it will affect the cigar community as much as it will the cigarette industry. As a generality cigars are more expensive by nature so a certain amount of cost is implied as well as expected by the purchaser. On the whole I believe the effect will be minor to the industry. One thing I think (and hope) will happen is that this will get the ball rolling for a much needed divide to be drawn between the two industries. Too long have cigar smokers been lumped in with the cigarette industry and change has been sorely needed.
5. It will probably slow down those who are “just trying it”, but won’t deter those who are serious much. It will give us something to talk about.
6. I think it may affect or deter the more casual smoker more than the more seasoned cigar smokers in general. The impact it may have on forums like ours I think would be minimal.
7. As passed, I don’t think that SCHIP will make that large of a difference in the premium cigar market. I don’t think many people are going to walk into a store and not buy their favorite cigars because they cost $1.00 more. If they do, they may be tempted to find lower-cost alternatives to what they were smoking, which could actually be good for the Asylum–can you think of a better place to learn about finding some new cigars to try?
8. The future of all tobacco products seems uncertain. Trends can change, but stocking up seems prudent for more than aging purposes for the paranoid.

Fun questions will be posted in a couple of days. Meanwhile, visit CigarAsylum.com if you are looking for more good cigar advice, help or just a place to “hang”.