Cigar Dave

David Zeplowitz (nicknamed Cigar Dave and The General), is the creator and host of Smoke This!-- a nationally syndicated radio program devoted entirely to cigar smoking and its accompanying lifestyle.

Biography
Cigar Dave was born in Buffalo, New York, and graduated from Syracuse University in 1986. He currently lives in Tampa, Florida, and "traces his love of cigars to his grandfather, 'Cigar Abe,' who faithfully enjoyed Gold Label Cigars for many years."

History
Cigar Dave hosted the first broadcast of Smoke This! in July, 1995. The broadcast ran for one hour on the Tampa radio station WSUN. The show quickly gained listeners that Dave, The General, refers to as Cigar Lieutenants. In December, 1995, Smoke This! began its two hour long broadcast.

Broadcast time
Smoke This! broadcasts on Saturday afternoons from noon to 2:00 p.m. Eastern time on WFLA, and on Sirius Satellite Radio, XM Satellite Radio, and the overseas Shortwave Radio. The recording is broadcast tape-delayed on over 90 radio stations across the United States via the Talk Shows USA network, and can be listened to live at the Cigar Dave website.

A brief attempt at a "third hour" spinoff, Poker Boulevard, took place on WFLA in 2005, but was effectively cancelled after a short run when an infomercial took the slot.

Content
Cigar Dave opens his show with the greeting "Long Ashes!" and the "national cigar-lighting ritual," a time when both Dave and his listeners light up their cigars. Dave routinely discusses cigars, spirits, and current events with his listeners. The General promotes the enjoyment of cigars and spirits in moderation.

Orwell's 1984
Always "truthful" (as he says) and usually politically incorrect, the General "leads his troops" and "wages battle" in the fight against America's self-anointed "Pleasure Police" and "Big Pleasure." The "Pleasure Police" and "Big Pleasure" are plays on George Orwell's "Thought Police" and "Big Brother" themes from the novel 1984, where governments and corporations combine mass surveillance assets to oversee all aspects of an individual's professional and personal life.

In Cigar Dave's broadcasts, "Pleasure Police" refers to politicians and other public figures who The General portrays as striving to set (and strictly enforce) laws that would outlaw personal pursuit of otherwise legal pleasures-- such as smoking cigars, pipes, and other tobacco products, and imbibing "adult beverages" such as beers, wines, spirits, and even coffee, in public.

"Big Pleasure" refers to employers, insurance companies, and other organizations that, for example, discriminate against employees, customers, or other guests whom might happen to legally smoke or drink, on their own time-- due to the perception of increased health risks to themselves and others they may come into contact with. These "Pleasure Police," according to The General, use outdated, flawed, and repudiated scientific studies to "prove" various health issues claimed to be caused by "second hand smoke," among others.

"Cigar Draft"
One of the features of the Smoke This! broadcast is the annual "Cigar Draft," which mimics the annual sports drafts conducted by Major League Baseball and the National Football League. Listeners to the live program call in to the show, and select their favorite cigar by brand, version, size, shape, and vintage.

Tasting Events
Cigar Dave also occasionally hosts on-air tasting events of various alcoholic beverages, usually accompanied by a professional sommelier, with the idea of pairing beverages with cigars of appropriate strength and character so they complement each other.

Nicknames

 * The King of Coronas
 * The Pope of Panatelas
 * The Rabbi of Robustos
 * The Sultan of Smoke
 * The Professor of Puff
 * The Prince of Pleasure
 * The Cigar Sommelier
 * The Connoisseur-in-Chief.

The Cigar Dave Show
In 2006, Cigar Dave began hosting his own television show called "The Cigar Dave Show." It currently airs on ABC Action News (WFTS) in Tampa, Florida on Saturday nights at 11:35pm and focuses on cigars, fine wines, grilling, and music around the Tampa Bay area.