Clint Hilbert 
“Smoking cigars is like falling in love.
First, you are attracted by its shape; you stay for its flavor,
and you must always remember never, never to let the flame go out!”
Winston Churchill
It’s a fact — today’s Nicaraguan puro cigars are giving Cuban cigars a run for their money. While it can be challenging for the new cigar smoker to find that “perfect smoke,” it can be even more perplexing to learn how to smoke a cigar properly. Tomiko Cheek and I are the owners of Hiskey Cigars, located on Bassi Ranch in Hightowers, and we are here to help you navigate the cigar world. And coincidentally, with all the tobacco fields in Caswell County, it’s the perfect place to do it. Right?
Our Hiskey family lineage is of Irish descent on my grandmother’s side, and the Anglicized form of Hiskey in Gaelic means “water.” From water came whiskey, and the Hiskeys know their whiskeys. As generations passed, we learned we could not live on whiskey alone — we also needed cigars. So, we searched the world over and found the most meticulously constructed, aged-to-perfection Nicaraguan puro cigars for our smoking pleasure — and yours too.
Besides being made of the finest Nicaraguan tobacco, all-natural and rustically hand rolled in a traditional old-world style, our secret is in the air, and this is HUGE: no liquid flavoring ever touches a Hiskey Cigar. They are not sprayed, infused, or injected like ordinary flavored cigars. Hiskey Cigars are sealed in an empty oak bourbon, whiskey, or rum barrel and vapor permeated slowly over time. Never rush a good thing, and never rush a good cigar.
Yes, we are dedicated to the premium cigar. So, why did we name our cigars after American cities? After traveling and living all over America, we (descendants of the Hiskey Clan) decided to select our favorite cities to represent Hiskey’s original 16 no-band, all-natural cigars. It took a while, but we diligently matched certain cigar shapes and blends to a uniqueness we found in each city. Some matches are obvious, others not so much. But regardless of its city name, every Hiskey cigar comes in its own style, an old-world hand-rolled shape and its own natural tobacco blend.
Every Hiskey cigar has a buttery-smooth smoke with bold tobacco flavors that we believe characterizes the respective city for which it’s named. Behind every great city, there’s a great cigar. The District, representing Washington, D.C. for example, is a Figurado cigar with a beautifully modified Salomon Perfecto shape and barber-pole wrapped with two types of tobacco (Maduro — dark ripened, and Connecticut Shade — light shaded). Aged in a bourbon whiskey vapor, it’s a very distinctive cigar that screams, “Washington, D.C.!” We’ve already nicknamed it the Bipartisan Blend … now all we have to do is send a box to our U.S. Capitol and pray they work.
Let’s face it: you shouldn’t smoke paper cigar bands. So, let’s go totally naked. But, just because we like going commando doesn’t mean we can’t properly band our cigars in style. Boxed, jarred, sleeved, or tubed, Hiskey cigars make an impressive gift for the best of friends, family, clients and parties. So, what are you waiting for? You know what they say: presentation is everything.
Our smaller flavored coronas (short-smokes) are great for the beginning cigar smoker, made with aged picadura, (short-filler) binded by hand with cigarillo paper and wrapped with natural smooth leaf tobacco — a real masterful work of art made exclusively for that perfect thin cigar smoke. Very few cigars can compete with our Hiskey line of petite coronas. If you enjoy the sweet tip of a flavored cigar, then you’ve just hit the jackpot. Start with our two most popular flavored coronas, the Raleigh (cherry rum) and the New Orleans (honey bourbon).
Hiskey Cigars are truly a one-of-a-kind smooth, flavorful cigar. Yes, you will pause with every puff and whisper to yourself, “Wow!”
So that’s our secret. Whether you are a veteran of big, bold taste in a cigar, a casual mild to medium cigar lover, or just an occasional petite corona smoker, our 16 varieties of whiskey, bourbon, and rum vapor-permeated Hiskey cigars will offer the perfect fit for you. From double gordos to petite coronas, take your special private time and work your way through these custom-flavored, hand-crafted cigars to find that perfect fit.
That’s our family story and we’re sticking to it. So, put a Hiskey Cigar on your bucket list, skip the water, and “Have a Hiskey with your whiskey!” Enjoy!
Hiskey Cigars
Bassi Ranch at Hightowers
431 New Castle Farm Road, Mebane, NC 27302
(336) 340-1617
www.HiskeyCigars.com
[email protected]
Clint Hilbert is a licensed private investigator in North Carolina and owner of Corporate Protection Technologies and Distinguished Pistol Outdoor Shooting Range. His wife, Tomiko Cheek, and kids, Clint Jr. and Marina, together operate the DP Cafe, DP Pro Shop, and Hiskey Cigars, all located on Bassi Ranch in Caswell County. Tomiko is a native of Weldon, N.C.; Clint was born in France and raised in Italy. Having traveled all over America, Clint and Tomiko chose to settle down here in Caswell County — where they say, “It’s a little slice of Paradise!”
