The flavor of a Cohiba is uniquely mild with a very aromatic smoke cloud that floats from its burning end. If you were to ask Buddy why he enjoys that particular cigar, he would most likely look at you like the fool he took you to be, scoff, and walk away--most probably planning your untimely demise for being an idiot.
There have been times, however, that the hardened former mercenary could not get his hands on a Cohiba and searched for a substitute. What he found pleased him, so much so that he periodically ventures from his home in Virginia to Easton, Pennsylvania to purchase en masse those sweet tobacco blends that keep him from assassinating foreign dignitaries as they walked the streets of Washington D.C.
It's at Leaf Famous Smoke-Shop that he finds himself, sitting at a table with his back to the wall sipping a Kentucky bourbon and smoking a Romeo y Julieta from the House of Montague. He most likely orders his favorite dish, the Cordon Bleu sliced ham and Swiss on a pretzel bun because, well, he's a Southern boy. And it's at his table, his keen eyes scanning the room in search of an old adversary, or perhaps someone hired to do the adversary's dirty work, that he takes long pulls on the Romeo y Julieta.
"An old bastard like me can afford some of life's finer pleasures," he mumbles to himself, the secure feeling of the Colt 1911 sidearm tucked just beneath his left arm...just in case.
He closes his eyes and pulls on the cigar again, allowing the smoke to swirl in his mouth, but careful not to inhale. The mild flavor of the tobacco and sweet taste of the rolling paper mingle on his tongue long enough to give him pause, memories of days long past dancing in his mind.
As your author I will tell you that I've visited Leaf before. It's truly a sight to behold and one of those places that a writer, burgeoning with ideas and sensing that he was in a place that could be called upon as a scene in a novel, finds himself taking in everything--the way people dress, the three piece band playing outside, greeting patrons as they enter, the huge walk-in humidor, the smell of cigar tobacco gliding through the air.
Then there's the bar and restaurant, a place with its own feel and vibe, separate from that area where men and a few women comb through shelves of cigars in search of their favorite smoke. Preppies, yuppies, and a few blue collar types sit at tables with friends and family talking about the day's happenings, the possibility of escape from their own repetitious lives something they quietly savor.
These are the places I enjoy: where life meets fiction and fiction becomes a glimmer of reality. If you get a chance to visit Leaf, I encourage you to do so.
Live your own adventure!
