The Paris Smokeasy “Cigar of the Month”

Photo: Paris Smokeasy Board – From L to R; Stephen Keeling-Treasurer, David Cox-Vice President, Rhonda Jones-Sargant at Arms, Junior  Tucker-Membership Chair Back Row L to R; JD Marrs-President, Gary Flynn-Humidor Master, Bret Holbert-Holder at Arms

With the growth in the Premium Cigar Industry, and more and more cigar shops opening nationwide, eExtraNews is bringing back the Cigar of the Month articles to educate and inform our readers on what’s new, industry issues, and for a monthly recommendation.

The Paris Smokeasy is a cigar club that gets together one night a month to try out and evaluate cigars. It started in November of 2017 with 6 people showing up for the first meeting on the deck at Buffalo Joe’s in Paris. For the first few years, it was a private group that grew by only a few members each month.

The idea behind it was for the novice or rookie aficionados to learn about cigars and to try something new that most members would never have tried or picked up on their own. The club would evaluate that evening’s choice and rate it. Towards the end of 2019 and the announcement that Rigby’s Cigar Lounge was going to be coming to Paris, the club changed its Facebook page to “public” and they welcomed anyone wanting to learn and try new cigars. 

In the first 5 years of the club, they grew to a Facebook membership of 500 and smoked 1055 total cigars at 61 events. Some of those sticks were exceptional, some were good, and some were horrible. What has kept the club going is this group of redneck, rookie, and serious aficionados that have shown up every month with their warped senses of humor and love of a good cigar. What it has evolved into is a family of Brothers and Sisters of the Leaf. Yes, I said sisters as around 15-20% of the club are women and are one of the largest growing groups in the cigar industry. Very few clubs or organizations have the diversity and cross-section of society that this group has. There are blue-collar workers, salespeople, executives, business owners, lawyers, retired folks, cowboys, ex-military, law enforcement, firefighters, well you get the point. It doesn’t matter your race, religion, political affiliation, net worth, or gender, what matters is what you are holding and smoking that directs the conversation. 

Once Rigby’s opened in November of 2022 on the square in downtown Paris, occupancy requirements and the number of people the club could manage for events became an issue. The Board of the Humidor (BOH), the executive committee for the club, voted to limit membership to 75 people and to take their Facebook page back to a private group. The initial members invited were those that showed up over the years at each month’s event. Sometimes in 40-degree blowing cold October wind or on the patio at Joe’s in 106-degree July heat to try that month’s selection. What has happened since the collaboration of the Cigar Club and their host location Rigby’s, is that the cigar representatives and even some of the cigar label owners found out that they can put one of their new cigars in front of 75 average cigar lovers and get true feedback from the end user. So for the majority of this year, we have these labels coming to our events to educate us on their brand, what we are smoking, and to have that Redneck Ratin (our 0-100 point scale rating card) on that stick. None of the cigar reps know of any other cigar group or club anywhere in the entire nation where they can present their product and get a group rating on it at a two-hour event. Unlike these flowery articles by some “know-it-alls” telling us what we should be tasting, this group is the average everyday cigar lover that will potentially buy their product if it fits their flavor lane. So, for little old Paris, TX, we have something special that no one else does, the Paris Smokeasy Cigar Club.

Each month we will publish the Smokeasy article here on what brand was smoked and their history, the specific cigar tried, and the club “Redneck Ratin!” 

To bring you up to date for 2023, here are the cigars we’ve tried and their ratings so far: 

January was the Sancho Panza Double Maduro Toro in a 6” x 52-gauge. Redneck Ratin’ of 87/100 and we had Guillermo Alverez Jr. of Visol Products giving us some cigar education and proper Cut & Light techniques. February’s smoke was the Casa Magna D Magnus II Tiberius 6″ x 54-gauge Eclipse presented by Hector Becerra from Quesada Cigars with a Redneck Ratin’ of 89/100. 

March’s cigar was presented by Ryan Rayford from Drew Estates and was their UC10 Toro in a 6″ x 54-gauge and a Redneck Ratin’ of 89/100.

The first three events of 2023 were sponsored by WeDraw3D-Paris Drafting. 

Two quick disclaimers: Paris Smokeasy Cigar Club is a Private Non-Profit Club and is separate from Rigby’s, they are just our host location for our monthly cigar nights. Second, the club currently has a waiting list of people wanting to join that will be nominated and approved by the BOH as seats become available.

Written by JD Marrs