Cigars in Scotland

I’ve been in Scotland for less than a day, but I already have a sense of what the smoking culture is like here … and I’m not happy about it. Remind me not to complain about the oppressive conditions in New York when I get home. Scotland is extremely unfriendly to smokers. I have learned the hard way that smoking here truly takes a lifestyle commitment.

Simply finding a place to smoke a cigar in Scotland is an absolute nightmare. I am staying a sleek hotel, The Dakota, but I found out upon arrival that it is not smoke-friendly. In fact, it is completely smoke-averse. There are no smoking rooms in the hotel. Bars and restaurants don’t offer an alternative. They’ve all had smoking banned as well. I even went to a small smoke shop in Edinburgh, only to find that I could buy cigars there but had to find someplace else to smoke them. (But, they did have a cool wooden Indian out front, reminding me of my home shop, De La Concha).

So, I smoked my cigar outside. In theory, this isn’t the end of the world. After all, I smoke outside just about every day (even in the winter) when I’m at work. It’s suffering to which I’ve become accustomed. The wind, however, frustrated my efforts. The gusts were extremely potent. I tried to read a newspaper, and that was wasted effort. I had to smoke my cigar tucked into a (relatively) wind-free corner. Later, I tried to enjoy a Montecristo Edmundo while editing my photos from today. I could actually hear the wind rippling through the keys on my laptop.

Of course, the news gets worse. While speaking to a local tobacconist, I learned that cigar retailers are in serious trouble in Scotland. As it is, brutal smoking laws severely restrict where you can purchase and smoke cigars. Apparently, new legislation is being considered that would severely constrict how retailers can display their product to the public. My source says that, in an entire country with no more than a dozen real cigar shops, many tobacconists could be driven out of business.

This is utter insanity. There is no reason for such brutal regulations. It’s bad enough that one can’t smoke a cigar in an environment that is sheltered from the elements. Now, the ability to buy that cigar at all is at risk.