Aficionados bring cigar culture to Penn State

Video posted April 23, 2012 in News by Matthew D'Ippolito

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        Jokes and laughter abound in the fading golden daylight as a small group of young men eat hot dogs fresh off the grill and enjoy fat, dark cigars, puffs of white smoke rolling from their mouths like waves crashing on the beach.

        Six members of the Association of Cigar Aficionados are present for their Friday evening meeting this week, along with two of their friends from Gongfu Cha Club (dedicated to tea brewing) and one member’s girlfriend. Since the weather is so nice, they have a small George Foreman-style electric grill with them to cook hot dogs and Bratwurst.

        “It’s just a nice way to unwind,” says Paul McNamee, the president and founder of the Aficionados. “It’s relaxing, it’s enjoyable. And it’s a good social time, too. You get a bunch of friends around, you just smoke cigars, cook some wieners and have a good time.”

        McNamee is a senior industrial engineering major with tightly cropped brown hair. His youthful features have earned him the occasional nickname “Baby Paul” among the group. The brunt of organizing club affairs has fallen on him, since the club is essentially his brainchild.
While enjoying cigars outside of Simmons Hall one night almost three years ago, McNamee turned to friend and co-founder Jon Tornetta and mentioned how cool it would be if, among all the other clubs on campus, there was one for students who appreciate cigars. And so the cigar club that would become the Association of Cigar Aficionados was born.

     “Honestly, we just wanted a bigger group of guys to come chill and smoke cigars with,” McNamee explains.

     In its infancy, the club also included finance and technology in its scope. While the club has since dropped its finance aspect, technology remains part of the constitution as a subject of interest. But cigar culture and the taste of the tobacco products remain the focal point at meetings.

     As a student club, they are able to procure funding from UPAC for cigar-related functions. Last year they managed to get enough money to help fund a trip to Tampa Bay, where they toured cigar factories, explored cigar bars and shops and purchased some of the best cigars they’ve ever had. It was an important trip, since it is difficult for them to engage in cigar culture in State College, where there are is no production, few venues and the only local cigar shop, The Cigar Den, has a pricey selection.

     Today, an African dance group is practicing to the beat of loud drums at the gazebo on the HUB lawn where the Aficionados usually meet, so they have set up at an outlet by the entrance to the Robeson Art Gallery, disregarding the signs asking the public not to smoke there. There are public ashtrays directly below the no smoking signs.

     Each member slides his cigar from its container and methodically cuts off the tip of the “foot” of the cigar -- the end he will put to his mouth -- before roasting it a little. Then they begin lighting their cigars, taking short, rapid puffs that make little kissing pops each time as they hold their high quality lighters to the end. Some occasionally blow on the end to ensure it lights evenly.

     Those present at the meeting stand roughly in a circle, some sitting on the concrete steps facing into the broad windows of the art gallery. As they smoke and eat, discussions of what they are smoking, its origin and its flavor stand out in stark contrast to the many jokes and less serious conversations. For every wiener double entendre there is an explanation of the brand and flavor of a stogie.

     “This is pretty rich,” Patrick Penny says of his cigar, an EO brand 601, Habano wrapper. “It’s got a lot of notes of cocoa. It’s got a lot of spice in it, like black pepper and red pepper. And then there’s a nice little nuttiness, like I’d say cashew.”

     Nuances in the flavor of a cigar come from the wrapper, the outer casing of the cigar, Penny explains. Beyond that, the wrapper is simply “meant to look pretty.” Inside is the filler, “where you get the real flavor, the tobacco core,” and the binder, which holds it all together.
While they don’t all like the same flavors, they all prefer full-bodied cigars. That is, they like cigars with a lot of flavor, strength and complexity, those with some real “wow” factor.
While they are bound together by their love of a good smoke, it’s something grander beneath the surface that makes the Aficionado experience special.

     Above all else, it is the culture of cigar club that really defines it. It’s a sense of comradery and comfort that they all love. For many of the Aficionados, it’s a chance to make crude phallic jokes together one moment and have a serious discussion about finance or technology or American business law the next, all while enjoying a wiener and a cigar. Perhaps Aficionado Derek Davis put it best.

     “Here at cigar club, we smoke fine cigars and bullshit,” he said. “We enjoy it. We enjoy bullshitting. And occasional hot dogs.”

The structure of a cigar

Members of Penn State's Association of Cigar Aficionados are interested in more than just cigar culture. They are also very proactive in learning about the contents, production and history of the stogies they love so much. One of the biggest parts of their weekly meetings is a lengthy discussion of the brand and blend of each cigar they are smoking, its tastes and its origin. Aficionado Patrick Penny has studied the structure of fine cigars and the art of making them. This has helped him to better understand the flavors and strength of cigars.