The 200-Year Tradition of Ladies Withdrawing

"The ladies withdraw" is a 200-year tradition of British gentlemen's clubs. It took shape in British aristocratic dinners in the late 1700s: after dinner, ladies moved to the sitting room (drawing room, whose etymology is "withdrawing room"), while gentlemen remained in the dining room to enjoy Port Wine and cigars.

Core logic: To prevent cigar smoke from contaminating ladies' gowns and etiquette standards - this was a matter of hygiene and manners at the time.

Contemporary evolution:

• After the women's rights movement in the mid-1900s, it gradually became voluntary
• After the 1980s, it became mainstream for ladies to choose to stay and smoke cigars together with gentlemen
• Contemporary gentlemen's club members: ladies withdrawing is not mandatory; it is a display of etiquette rather than a rule. The host should ask female guests for their choice

The 200-Year Rule of Passing Port Wine Clockwise

"Pass the port to the left" is a 200-year tradition of British gentlemen's clubs.

Rules:

• The bottle is first poured for the guest on the host's right
• Then it is passed clockwise in order (each person passes it to the person on their left)
• The bottle does not leave the table (to avoid disturbing the sediment)
• No reverse passing (passing in the wrong direction is a serious breach of etiquette)

Core logic: The etiquette tradition of gentlemen's clubs - the elegance of keeping the bottle on the table, the uniformity of clockwise direction, and the prevention of social friction in advance.

Core Choices for Port Wine

Vintage Port (single vintage) - Industry-recognized golden vintages: 1963 / 1970 / 1977 / 1983 / 1985 / 1994 / 2000 / 2003 / 2007 / 2011 / 2016 / 2017.

LBV (Late Bottled Vintage) - A 4-6 year matured, more accessible single-vintage choice.

Tawny Port 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 year categories - Barrel-aged oxidative style, with nutty toffee flavors.

Cigar Distribution Order: A 200-Year Gentlemen's Club Tradition

Step 1 - The cigar box opening ritual: The host takes cigars out from a Spanish cedar humidor or a Casa Cohiba-style cigar box. Guests visually appreciate them for 5-10 seconds, sensing the ceremonial feeling of the cigar arrangement.

Step 2 - Guests choose cigars first: Starting clockwise from the guest on the host's right, guests choose cigars in order, and the host chooses last - corresponding to the British gentlemen's etiquette tradition of "guests first."

Step 3 - The Spanish cedar lighting ritual: Lighting a cigar with a thin strip of Spanish cedar is the highest-level 200-year lighting ritual of gentlemen's clubs (cedar spill). The secondary choice for contemporary gentlemen's club members: a soft-flame lighter (to avoid contaminating the cigar with a hard jet flame). Taboos: paper matches, Zippo (contains chemical odor), dining table candles.

Moving from the Dining Table to the Study: The Later Ritual of a Gentlemen's Dinner

After dessert, gentlemen move to the study (library) or smoking room (smoking room) - the deeper moment for pairing cigars with Port Wine.

Study vs smoking room:

• Study: bookshelves, classical gentlemanly atmosphere, traditional English preference
• Smoking room: professional smoke extraction system, the contemporary mainstream choice (more practical under modern building regulations)

Core topics - gentlemanly philosophy:

• Allowed: career (without going into details), family, society, culture, philosophy
• Avoid: work details (which undermine the relaxed atmosphere), political disputes (which undermine harmony)

This is the contemporary continuation of the 200-year "topic taboos" of British gentlemen's clubs.

Etiquette Adaptation for Contemporary Taiwan Gentlemen's Club Members

Adjustment 1 - Ladies withdrawing is not mandatory: For contemporary Taiwan gentlemen, it is mainstream for ladies to choose to stay and smoke cigars together with gentlemen. The traditional ritual is a display of etiquette rather than a requirement.

Adjustment 2 - Contemporary flexibility in passing Port Wine clockwise: Tradition preserves the clockwise passing of Port Wine. The passing of Whisky and Cognac is more flexible and does not need to strictly follow the clockwise rule.

Adjustment 3 - Taiwan adaptation of study vs smoking room: Contemporary Taiwan gentlemen have fewer private smoking rooms. The smoking lounge of a gentlemen's club (such as W Cigar Bar 大安總店) has become the mainstream choice - a representative gentlemanly space for contemporary Taiwan gentlemen.

An Advanced Etiquette Understanding Path for Gentlemen's Club Members

Entry level - Awareness of the 200-year tradition of ladies withdrawing: understand its origins in 1700s British aristocracy and its contemporary evolution.

Middle stage - The rule of passing Port Wine clockwise: practice priority for the host's right-hand guest, clockwise passing, keeping the bottle on the table, and no reverse passing.

Deepest level - The ritual of moving from the dining table to the study: after dessert, move to the study or smoking room and go deeper into gentlemanly philosophical topics - this is the most complete gentlemen's dinner etiquette appreciation experience in contemporary gentlemen's clubs.

Gentlemen's dinner etiquette in one sentence: a top gentleman is not merely someone who smokes cigars individually, but someone who carries forward the contemporary continuation of 200 years of etiquette.

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Source of supply: Cuban cigars from four major official channels (PCC authorized dealers, official Cuban state-run stores, Swiss general distributor, Spanish general distributor).

LUBINSKI accessories official website: https://cigarclub.tw/

Venue information: https://share.google/d9NIeFEetij9qWKj0

This site is for adults aged 20 and above only. Smoking is harmful to health. Smoking cessation hotline: 0800-636363.

W Cigar Bar Gentlemen's Cigar Lounge, written and planned by Cigar Prince Wilson Tsai.