My Favorite Cigar
Mark Wystrach • Country Music Singer • Partagás Serie D No. 5
Mark Wystrach has been the lead singer for country music band Midland for a decade. The double Grammy-nominated band, known for their five-time-platinum-certified hit “Drinkin’ Problem,” has reinvigorated a bygone era of country music. Wystrach’s soothing voice, along with his harmonizing bandmates Cameron Duddy and Jess Carson, delivers a fresh take on the Urban Cowboy sound of the ’80s.
In recent years, the band has turned to cigars to mellow out after big shows amid a hectic touring schedule. But for Wystrach cigars are nothing new. He virtually grew up in a haze of smoke as the son of a cigar-loving Marine.
But it was during the pandemic that cigars became his ion. What was once an occasional source of reprieve soon became a necessary, if almost meditative, ritual to help Wystrach stay grounded in today’s fast-moving world. “Cigars are one of those things, like live music, that forces you into the moment,” he says. “I just feel like cigars find you at a certain time in life when you’re ready for them.”
Wystrach points to the Cuban Partagás Serie D No. 5 as his favorite, but his reason may soon give way to bias. After many months in the making, Midland recently released their own cigar brand called Palomino Longneck, to coincide with the release of their new album, Barely Blue.
