‘That’s Cigar Love’: Birmingham Women Are Claiming Their Place in the Humidor

Second of Three Parts

By Mia Watkins | For the Birmingham Times

Kristy W. Stewart’s love for cigars started during a snowstorm in Memphis. “The only place that was open for us to take cover was a small cigar shop down the street from the Peabody Hotel,” she said. “They had live music, cigars and everything. The guy came up to me and was like, ‘Do you smoke cigars?’ I said no. He gave me a stick to try. That’s been maybe like 13 or 14 years ago.”

Stewart started her journey with a Tatiana Groovy Blue, which would be akin to Moscato for wine drinkers, featuring a mild and sweet flavor profile with hints of berries, vanilla and honey.

“I call them now the Glade air fresheners of cigars, but to each his own,” Stewart joked. “It was just like, oh, I like this.”

Jeresha Roper, operations manager at The Black Leaf Cigar Company, had a similar experience with the highly popular ACID Blondie cigar with its mild-to-medium-bodied flavor. She first smoked the stick on a date at a cigar lounge.

“My date was walking around and shopping around,” Roper said. “By the time he got back to me, I had smoked the entire cigar.”

Now, she knows to take her time with cigars and not smoke past the band.

Stewart said that cigar smoking allows her to slow down and appreciate the process. It also gives smokers a chance to expand their palettes as they try new sticks. What she smokes depends on her mood.

“It gives you a better appreciation for the stick,” she said. “Personally, it all depends on how you’re feeling that day. If you’re feeling bubbly and upbeat and want a quick little smoke, for me it would be Halftime. If I’ve had a long day, and I just want to relax, there’s one stick that I like that I don’t smoke around other people, the EP Carillo La Historia.”

Both Stewart and Roper call the smoking process therapeutic.

“That first puff as soon as you sit down is like, ‘Ooh, this is good,” Roper said.

“I like the peace that it gives me,” she said. “I like the relaxation. Like golf, it allows me to get away from myself. It allows me to have time to myself. It allows me to relax before I go home to another role as a caregiver.”

Networking on her own terms

Stewart uses smoking, along with bourbon and golfing, as a networking tool in her work in the male-dominated banking industry. But she maintains that her hobbies are hers and not because of the work that she does.

“They see that I do that, but, guess what, I’m not doing it for you, I’m doing it for me,” she said. “But I know that this stick opens a lot of doors for me in maintaining clients and getting new clients. They’ll be like, ‘What do you smoke?’ I’ll say, ‘I’m smoking a Moon Tribe, or my favorite tobacco is from Nicaragua, or my favorite stick is XYZ.’ They’ll say, ‘Oh, you know your stuff.’ I can play with the best of them, and that’s what this stick has allowed me to do.”

Tailored Smoke investor and co-owner Jonathan Hackett said he’s seen an uptick in women smokers, but there’s still ground to cover in Birmingham and nationwide. According to the 2024 U.S. National Health Interview Survey data, only 1% of women smoke cigars.

“I’ve seen the shift in female smokers in Alabama,” he said. “It’s become a norm. It’s slowly but surely getting that way compared to places like Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston and Chicago. When I first saw women smoking cigars, I was in Chicago at an event called The Chosen One. One in three women there were smoking cigars. I was like, ‘Wow.’”

Sisterhood in the Smoke

The Birmingham Times caught up with Stewart and Roper at Black Leaf, where Stewart was unwinding after a long day, and Roper was working. The two met at the cigar lounge two years ago and have developed a sisterhood.

“It’s not how long you’ve known each other, it’s the quality of the friendship,” Roper said.

Stewart agrees. “Cigar culture is a family,” she said. “If you are a true cigar enthusiast, guess what? No matter what lounge you go into, somebody is going to go, ‘Hey, what are you smoking today? How are you feeling? It’s to the point now to go into the humidor like, ‘Hey, a new stick came out. I got you one. That’s cigar love.”

She said that love goes beyond the stick.

“It’s supportive of the businesses, of the people,” Stewart said. “It’s supporting places like Classic Smoke or Bodega. When CMOD comes to me and the financial institution that I work for about a golf tournament, it’s like no doubt. Those are my cigar brothers. No doubt I’m going to share Black Leaf’s post about what cigars we have in today.”

Women looking to get into cigars should ask questions and learn their own tastes, much like wine tasting or culinary hobbies.

“Don’t listen to what everybody else smokes,” Roper said. “Come in. Talk to an aficionado. Meet the owners. Learn your own palate; don’t listen to everybody else. Smoke what you like. Don’t let anyone deter you, whether it’s a sweet and mild. Smoke what your palate likes.”