Pleasure, friendship and sharing...
14.04.2019
During our tasting weekend for Cigar Journal in Florence, I met a lady from Cologne, who is very active in cigars, Claudia Wiemer.
Originally a manager of a food company, Claudia was working on the Cologne Cigar Club, which she had just founded at the time and still heads. In their own words, a meeting of friends brought together by the shared passion for cigars, the group meets once a month to smoke cigars accompanied by delicious food and drink. Claudia, who we know especially from old time movies, was very impressed by the scenes of smoking cigars accompanied by whiskey or cognac after dinner, and she says that she tries to hold such meetings especially in places with ambiance.
When Claudia talks about the reasons why she likes smoking cigars, she talks about the peace she gave her in the first place. Next, he lists the pleasure of exploring different flavor profiles, just like wine, and of course, the sharing and friendship with other cigar lovers he met during this discovery journey. He says that he chooses cigars depending on the time available and whether it is before or after the meal. “Since I am a Cigar Journal Tasting Panelist like you, I do not restrict myself to certain brands and vitolas. `` Although women can still get strange while smoking cigars by men, we also like to smoke cigars with high ring thickness or hardness, '' he adds.
Claudia is also very active on cigars outside of her own club. For cigar tasting, he attends Cigar Journal organizations, participates in the World Cigar Smoking Championship and tries to take part in other local organizations where he can follow and spare time. In addition to this much movement, he was elected president of the European Cigar Rights of Europe as of February.
Underlining that this association was founded about two years ago as a right to restrict the production of cigars and cigars, which has a special place in many cultures historically, with increasing regulations, Claudia stated that she was very honored to be elected as the president. He explains that they are following local and European laws closely through their ambassadors from consumers to producers in many countries and their main goal at the moment is to increase the number of members and their printing capabilities. "This May, there are European Parliamentary elections and we want to make our voices heard by participating in these elections. We continue our work in this direction too. Politics is yet to properly distinguish between cigarettes and cigars, even though they are both tobacco products, and does not regulate the laws accordingly. After the indoor bans, outdoor bans are also increasing. In some countries, smoking is now banned even in cigar parlors. The uniform package is now implemented in Australia and is to be implemented in the Netherlands. We are trying to stand against them. "
Putting aside the political side of the business, I finally ask for his opinion on Cuban and New World cigars. "According to everyone's taste, it is possible to find cigars from every region. However, the price-performance relationship is also very important. Unfortunately, it is not quite right to sell a cigar that is badly wrapped or clogged, just because of high tobacco quality, at excessive prices." I get an answer like.
Along with this question, while I bid farewell to him until the next Cigar Journal tasting, I thank him very much for the interview.