My Favorite Cigar
Howard Gordon • Producer & Screenwriter • Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2
“I smoke when I write,” says Howard Gordon. Either literally or figuratively, he’s correct. At the typewriter, he has both enjoyed cigars as well as helped to create such nail-biting television hits as “Homeland” from Showtime and the Fox thriller “24.” The former looked at the world of espionage, while “24” followed the exploits of counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer, and its action played out in real time.
Gordon says a cigar helps anchor him to the chair, and “is a pleasurable ballast to the pain of writing.” The 64-year-old began smoking cigars in the 1990s as a producer of “The X-Files,” where he wrote several scripts. However, his true appreciation came years later. “It wasn’t until ‘24’ that I really discovered the real depth and beauty, the artistry and effort that goes into creating a cigar,” he says.
The three-time Emmy-Award winner lights up, on average, about three times a week, depending on the situation. “My back porch is where I smoke alone or host friends and colleagues,” he says, although he’s also been known to drop in on the Lone Wolf Cigar Co. in West Los Angeles.
