Pleasure, friendship and sharing...
Queens of the Cigar - Smoqueens
08.03.2019
Smoqueens - I found it appropriate to translate as Queens of the Cigar - a Women's Cigar Club founded by Iris Hols, in Amsterdam, about three years ago. Their aim is to create a pleasant and chatty (or gossiped) environment where women can also enjoy smoking cigars. We met Iris, who is also from the cigar industry and the founder of the Queens Club, in Split, where I went for the World Cigar Smoking Championship final in 2017. Today, we had a pleasant conversation about cigars on International Women's Day.
Iris, working as the Chief Tobacco Thresher at PGC Hajenius in Amsterdam, explained that she started cigars because of her father. He mentioned that his father was a man of pleasure and that he was very fond of wine and cheese. That's why there was always an aromatic fragrance at home, and I grew up writing these aromas in them, he added. Although he was disturbed by the smoke of the cigar at first, he later started to smoke together, then undercover from his first father. He saw the cigar today not only as blowing and blowing smoke, but as a tool that completely turns time into pleasure.
Apart from cigars, Iris mentions that she likes taking pictures, making short films and designing dresses. "I try to be creative in every field and I like to motivate people with this creativity." says.
Well, do you like smoking with women or men the most? I ask Iris. “After having a good time and chatting together, I enjoy smoking with both of them,” he says. However, he still mentions that men who see him smoking cigars look like a dazed duck, but are generally positive.
Saying that the cigar she smokes most often at the moment is the Bespoke Daughters of The Wind, she usually smokes it with a cocktail, and she also refreshed her knowledge by reading magazines such as Cigar Journal, El Gusto and Cigar Aficionada while smoking. He was performing this ritual with pleasure right now in the cigar lounge of Hotel 27 in Amsterdam. "According to my taste and time, sometimes I smoke 2 sometimes 20 cigars a month. When I try to try new cigars, I definitely get an idea from a seller who knows. I am on the sale myself, I realize how valuable the knowledgeable seller advice is". says. Iris says one of the most beautiful aspects of the cigar culture is this information exchange and the joy of smoking together while exchanging information. "That's one of the main reasons I've stayed in this industry for so long," he adds.
Well, I ask if he travels a lot because of the job. "I have trips for business, but even if I go somewhere for vacation, which I have a goal to go to a country I don't go every year, I go to the cigar shops and lounges there and make comparisons," he says.
Before ending the conversation, I would like to finally learn about his preference between Cuban and new world cigars. He underlines that the Cuban cigars have a real and very important history, but today, due to quality control problems and insufficient aging of the leaves, they are in a state of disrepair. However, he states that he loves the limitlessness and variety of blends of new world cigars.
Thanks to Iris for her time, and recently I have been promised to interview other Queens Naomi Bruinenberg and Shannon van den Berg.
Happy International Women's Day to all SOTLs and other women !!!
Enjoyable smoking ...