Where there is smoke there is fire.

More than ever before, man has successfully harnessed the power of fire for his own use. The ancient Greeks believed that fire was stolen from the gods and given to man by Prometheus, a titan. Many Native North American tribes believe that fire was stolen by a hare and given to man. All of these age-old myths consistently serve to point out that the element of fire is quite possibly something truly divine – and that man is indeed very lucky to possess it. Fire built much of what we take for granted in our modern world; electricity is nothing more than harnessing the energy of fire in a different form. With fire necessarily comes smoke, and it is this that we of The Gentleman’s Flavor are primarily interested.

Whereas large facets of the modern world often view smoke as potential pollution or danger because something is aflame, our ancestors saw smoke as a sign of civilization and progress. Generally, where there is smoke there are humans, with the exception of course being wildfires. When archeologists discovered up Ötzi, a five thousand year old copper age mummy in the Swiss Alps, they found his lungs were black with smoke damage. Old Ötzi had the lungs of a forty cigarettes-a-day smoker. The reason for this was he had to stay close to his fire to stay warm and survive. Although we have advanced well beyond this in the ensuing millennium, in our evolution we have perhaps lost our connection with the great sacrifice that was the gift of the stolen fire.

The ancient Greeks believed that fire was stolen from the gods and given to man by Prometheus, a titan.”

Unbeknownst to many, a cigar is a way of reconnecting with the past, for we are quite literally holding fire within our very hands. We use the term ‘burning’ to discuss our desires because the idea is alight in our minds. Money is said to be ‘burning a hole in our pocket’ because of our wish to spend it. The proverbial light bulb that goes off is just a metaphor for the fire of newfound knowledge in our heads. It is in salute to this fire in the head that I think holding fire in one’s hand is a fitting tribute to those who blazed the trail before us, and the sacrifices made to grant us the gift of fire.

Our forefathers struggled for survival, and having fire meant they would not freeze throughout the night. We may no longer face that peril, but a little smoke from time to time helps to remind us where we came from. 

– Sean Douglass