Some cigars satisfy almost any craving, with flavors of vanilla, rum and even strawberry. Some cigars have a relaxing effect; some give an incredible buzz.
“I have cigars that would make you wonder why you ever smoked pot,” Fine Cigars Northwest owner Steve Colbert said. “They will roll your eyes back in your head and relax you completely.”
Colbert has been a cigar smoker since he was 17 years old, and he said he started with the big green cigars that were sold in restaurants. He said his favorite part of cigar-smoking is the flavor.
He added that he enjoys owning the two-year-old cigar store because he gets to try all the cigars.
“I smoke everything that goes in (the store),” he said. “If I don’t like it, it doesn’t get to go in.”
He hopes to bring in some better brands of cigars and plans on starting a cigar club soon.
“We try to keep our prices down,” he said. “One of the reasons we opened the shop was because there’s some places in town that charge way too much for cigars.”
Out of all the brands he carries, Drew Estate is one of the most popular because it has reverted to more traditional cigars.
One of the more interesting cigars that Drew Estate makes is the Medusa.
According to a Drew Estate brochure, the Medusa is spawned from an old cigar-maker tradition. At the end of each day, the cigar-makers were given one cigar as a treat for their day’s work.
In order to maximize on their bosses’ generosity, the cigar-makers learned to roll several cigars together to create one massive cigar.
Drew Estate took this idea and now rolls three cigars together to create the Medusa.
Another one of its interesting cigars is the Egg. This cigar boasts a full two hours of smoking. It starts out small like a normal cigar on each end, then it climaxes in the middle in the shape of an egg.
Colbert warned that even with the best brands, most boxes will have a bad cigar in them.

He said when cigars are being rolled, a leaf sometimes gets turned backward. When a leaf is turned the correct way, the smoke runs against the grain of the leaf and it prevents the smoke from escaping. When the leaf gets turned around, smoke can escape, causing a bad cigar.
University senior Derrick Lau, an occasional cigar-smoker, smoked his first cigar in high school and continues to do so for certain celebrations such as birthdays.
“There’s kind of a novelty in it,” Lau said.
His first smoke was a Cuban cigar that his sister’s boyfriend brought back from his experience in the Army. He said he thought it was “dang good.”
Although no one specifically taught him how to smoke, Lau said he mostly learned from movies like Scarface.
If someone is considering picking up cigar smoking, Colbert said they would be glad to give anyone a lesson in cigars at his shop.
“One of the things people like about our shop is that we will bring you in here and talk to you,” he said.
Lau, like Colbert, said he enjoys the flavor of cigars.
“There’s something about it,” Lau said.
He said he enjoys the aroma and texture of most cigars, and his favorites are the big cigars because they have a fuller flavor.
“It is definitely an acquired taste, and some people think it smells like bunghole,” he said. He agreed that the after-smell isn’t very appealing.
He added that there is a sort of stigma or stereotype associated with smoking cigars.
“It makes me feel like I should be playing Texas Hold’em poker or pool with the guys,” he said.
Colbert said that someone would be “surprised at who smokes cigars.”
“Everybody has a vice,” he said.