Twenty Years of Smoke & Questionable Life Choices

This episode features the Kristoff Veinte 20th Anniversary Cigar from 2024.  We are also featuring this weekend's event the Charleston Smoke Out!  Other mentions in the episode are an Arnold Palmer (the drink, not the golfer), my friend Jonah and my neighbor's dog, Buddy.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Hello and welcome to another episode of Liberty on Nicotine. You ever notice how a really good cigar makes you feel like you've got a that you've really got your life together even when you absolutely do not? Uh that's where I am right now. Front porch, slight breeze, kind that doesn't commit to being helpful but shows up anyway, like a government program. At my feet is Buddy, my neighbor's dog. Free man, well, free dog. He can roam, he can explore, he can chase squirrels, bark at shadows, overthrow small republics, but instead he chooses to sit right here at my feet, watching, observing, judging, which frankly makes him more libertarian than most people. And across the yard is Jonah, my good friend Jonah, working, actually doing something productive, which is offensive to me personally at this moment, because uh I am not. I'm sitting here with a Christoph Viente 20th anniversary cigar, and let me tell you something. This thing feels like a celebration of persistence. 20 years, 20 years of doing something well enough that people keep coming back. And this cigar is from 2024. It's not just a cigar, it's the middle finger to every get rich quick mindset out there. It's the long game. This is uh roll it right, uh, age it right, but don't screw it up. A philosophy, honestly, that could solve about 80% of our national problems if anyone was interested in listening. And I've got an Arnold Palmer in hand, which is the most diplomatic drink ever created. It's like tea and lemonade sat down, had a disagreement, and instead of going to war, they compromised. Imagine that. Peaceful resolution. We should bottle that concept and send it to Washington. But here's what really got my brain spinning. I'm sitting here on my phone, scrolling, looking at this cigar event for this weekend, the Charleston smoke out. Wow. April 30th to May 2nd, and it looks incredible. Like dangerously incredible. This is going to cost you money and sleep and possibly dignity incredible. You've got all these lounges hosting Deluxe Cigar Lounge, Legacy Cigar Lounge, Filthy Palette, which by the way sounds like a place where calories go to die, Cigars of Charleston, King's Leaf Cigars, and Lyanos Dos Palmas handmade cigars. That's not an event. That's a pilgrimage. That's the kind of gathering where wallets get lighter, stories get longer, and nobody remembers what time anything started, and then all the packages. This is where things get interesting. Because now we're not just talking about cigars, we're talking about, well, commitment levels. You've got the basic weekend past, then on top of that, you have a golf tournament, then the down and derby day party, then the cigar festival awards, smokicella, which sounds like coachella, but with more ash and fewer influencers pretending to enjoy it, Car Meet and Gospel Breakfast, which is the most confusing but intriguing combination I've heard all week, and rooftop special, because nothing says questionable decisions like elevation. And I'm sitting here scrolling doing that internal negotiation we all do. Do I have the time? Do I have the money? Uh uh. Do I have the energy? Buddy, I'm debating whether standing up is worth it right now. But the temptation is real because events like that, they're not just about cigars, they're about people. They're about conversations that don't happen anywhere else. You get a bunch of folks together who appreciate something slow, something intentional, something handcrafted, and suddenly nobody's in a rush. Nobody's yelling, nobody's trying to control anybody else's life. It's like a temporary libertarian utopia, but with better smoke. And yet, I already know. I already know I'm probably not going. Because reality exists, responsibilities exist, and budgets, well, they exist. Energy levels exist, and mine are currently operating at retired sloth. Buddy looks up at me and he knows. Like he's thinking, hey man, you don't need all that. You've got a porch, you've got a cigar, you've got peace, and you know, he's not wrong. And the funny thing, we chase these big events, these big moments, and sometimes the best version of life is just this: a quiet porch, a loyal dog that isn't even yours, a friend working across the yard, a drink that figured out a compromise, and a cigar that took 20 years to remind you to slow down. But let me tell you something. If you go to that Charleston smoke out, which is awesome, I want to hear about it. I want the stories, I want the highlights. I just want to know who had the best cigars, who told the worst jokes, who spent too much money, who woke up questioning their life choices because nobody's going to do all those things, probably all in the same day. And that's the beauty of it. Freedom isn't just about making the right choices, it's about having the ability to make the wrong ones too, and owning them. Meanwhile, I'll be right here on this porch with Buddy, who has now decided that my foot is his foot, which feels like an overreach, but we're negotiating. Jonah's still hustling and working, still being productive, still making me look bad, which is honestly impressive at this point. And this cigar, man, it just keeps getting better. Like it knows. Like it's saying, hey, you didn't go to the event, but you didn't miss the point either, because the point was never the crowd, it was never the packages, it was never the hype, it was always this. Taking time, lighting up, thinking a little deeper, laughing at the absurdity of it all, and remembering that life doesn't need to be managed, it just needs to be lived. So here's to 20 years of cigars done right, here's to quiet porches, to loyal dogs, to friends who work harder than you do, and to freedom. And to say no to something incredible, hey, but maybe next year, and still have a pretty incredible night anyway. If you make it to the smoke out, raise one for me. And if you don't, well, pull up chair. There's always room on the porch. This has been Liberty on Nicotine. Try to find out some more of our podcasts at LibertyCrackmedia.com Sun more down, I'm sitting by the shore.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

Got the smoke rising up drifting through my door. Every puff from Human Fall.

SPEAKER_02 11:06

Freedom's the flavor in this smoke of mine.