A lot of new cigar smokers often hear the word “stogie” or “stogies” a lot, a lot of aficionados throw this word around along with a lot sites, blogs and forums, the word is almost always used when talking about cigars even by those who have been smoking for years so its common to assume that stogies mean cigars by a beginner but have you ever wondered what is a stogie exactly?
Stogies are basically cheap thin cigars which are cut on both the sides during manufacture.
Even though the word is almost synonymous with cigars it is far from true though, even though it is used almost always not all cigars are stogies, I made this mistake for quite some time too and thought lets find out exactly what is a stogie!
The most common confusion
A huge debate between those who don’t understand the term is whether stogies are cigarettes or cigars. It’s a common misunderstanding for those who are not familiar with it. If you have just started or have been smoking for sometime you might still be confused.
For cigar beginners to call a cigarette a stogie is a slap on the face by an aficionado. It is highly insulting to the entire industry. Stogies are cigars and not cigarettes, Cigs are just cigs there is no other name for them whereas some cigars are rightfully called stogies because they are whereas you can almost always mention any cigar to be a stogie while using it as a slang.
In short: A cigarette is not a stogie, a cigar is.
What Does a Stogie Refer To?
Stogie – Slang
The term is most commonly used as slang or a cool way of saying cigars. You can almost always call any cigar a stogie just don’t call a Cuban a stogie because that’s just annoying.
In simpler, quicker terms a stogie is a cheap, thin and already cut from both the sides cigar. It is a good cigar for beginners who just want to try it before really jumping into it.
There is more to it though then just a simple line explanation, to really understand the difference between stogies and cigars, you have to understand where they came from.
History of Stogies
The word Stogie is a nickname of Cheroot which was derived from the french word Cheroute which comes from a meaning in tamil for “roll of tobacco” . The french introduced the word Cheroot in there own culture when they were trying to influence the culture of South of India in sixteenth century.
Whereas the word stogie is an abbreviation of the word ‘Conestoga’ which is a town near Lancaster, PA. This is where cheap, self made cigars became popular.
The drivers of Conestoga wagons always had a self made cigar, thin cigar which was tied up with rope for long journeys in there mouths which observers started calling stogies.
Initially the stogie’s reference was for the shoes of the wagon drivers, this was during the time of gold rush and thus the number of wagon’s travelling increased drastically.
The easy way of remembering the wagons was giving them a nickname and the drivers who wore thick sole shoes became stogies.
Later on as the wagon activity slowed down the term stogies got associated with the thin cheap cigar that they smoked. Overtime the shoe reference fell out of history completely and the term stuck around with cigar lovers.
While other cigar’s are from there respective regions, cheroots or stogies are from Asia. Traditionally smoked in Burma and India, they also became part of the British culture as the British power took reign.
Overtime the term became a slang for cheap cigars all over the world and eventually stogies became a nickname to cheroots and became a slang word for all the cigars.
Stogies Popularity
Stogies became quite popular very early on for the fact that they did not taper. Which made them very cheap to produce and thus very cheap to buy.
Along with there price, early t mid 1900’s smoking cheroots was also believed to be a way of staying away from Malaria. Verrier Elwin a missionary and a teacher in India wrote in 1957 in his memoir Leaves from the Jungle: Life in a Gond Village about cheroots immunity like qualities.
Present day researchers and historian believe that it was not the consumption of cheroot but the aroma that mosquitoes disliked and thus avoided a cheroot smoker.
Along with this there were many famous personalities who were cheroot smokers. Mark twain one of the earliest most famous cigar smoker was photographed multiple times with stogies or cheroots.
Conclusion
They are great for beginners as they don’t require too much maintenance such as humidors, neither do they require cutters, are easy to light, and are cheap. They can be purchased online or in any shop nearby to you.
Initially you might have to explain to a few people what do you mean by stogies and if they don’t understand that try referencing them with there official name ‘cheroot’.
Since the term Stogie have become a slang, the aficionados and the shops differentiate between them with its official name Cheroot. I hope that answers your what is a stogie question.
