Redprint Resources

Garson Smart asked:


Many novice smokers have embarrassed themselves trying to smoke a cigar with the same frantic, huff-and-puff energy that goes into cigarette smoking. But cigars aren’t cigarettes, any more than cheap beer is fine wine, and just as you’d never guzzle a fine Cabernet Sauvignon, you shouldn’t just inhale a cigar.

The first question to consider is, of course, the quality of the cigar. Handmade cigars are generally considered best. Machine-rolled cigars use scraps and bits of tobacco, rolled together, while handmade cigars use entire leaves, blended with specially-picked filler leaves to create a rich, full, subtle taste. Otherwise, remember the “wrapper rule”: cigars wrapped in darker paper will tend to be sweeter, while lighter wrappers often denote a drier taste.

The second question for many cigar smokers is whether to smoke with the band on or off. The bands, which wrap around the cigar and give the cigar’s brand name or manufacturer, was first introduced in 1850 by manufacturer Gustave Bock to set his high-quality Havana handmade cigars apart from knockoff brands. If you’re smoking in the UK, where smoking with the band on has long been considered gauche, a form of bragging, you’ll want to remove the band. Some smokers also collect bands, as a way of remembering all the different experiences they’ve had with cigars. Otherwise, it’s up to you.

The next step is to cut the cap of the cigar, which must be removed so that air can flow through. Most cigar fans have small guillotines, which cut right across the top of the cigar. (You can usually purchase one from the same place where you buy your cigars - or bum one from a friend.) Some smokers still bite off the top of cigars, an unappetizing and possibly unhealthy alternative. Cigar “punches” and “piercers” (or V-cutters) are also available. Choose the method that’s best for you, and keep your cutter sharpened.

How to light? Steer clear of paper matches, which will only stay live long enough to light a small portion of the cigar. You need a full flame that will cover the entire head of the cigar. Wooden matches may work, though it’s recommended that you let the sulphur burn off the tip of the match before lighting.

Butane lighters are free of odor and taste and are the favorite method for many smokers, as are “torch” lighters. Whatever you prefer, make sure you turn the cigar as you light it (”turn and burn,” experienced smokers say), so that the entire cigar is lit. Some aficiandos believe it’s a bad idea to let the flame touch the cigar and prefer to use a lit cedar strip, but many American smokers argue that this is just a bit of unnecessary European pretension.

Inhaling the smoke is unnecessary and dangerous. Once again, cigars are not cigarettes. You pull the smoke into your mouth and, like a wine taster, allow its flavor to saturate your palate, without allowing the smoke into your lungs. For this reason, cigar smoking is more taste-oriented and less harmful to your health than cigarette-smoking.

The taste of the smoke varies depending on the tobacco type and the sorts of flavors added by the makers, as well as the age of the cigar, the conditions in which it’s been stored, and many other factors. Regardless, the taste is richer, fuller and subtler than that of cigarettes, and many people who don’t enjoy cigarette-smoking have found that they like the taste or odor of cigars.

The cigar can be stopped from burning and “finished” later, though its taste quality quickly declines (like that of an open bottle of wine) the longer it’s left half-smoked. It’s a better idea to wait until you have time to fully savor the taste, beginning to end.

As for the aftertaste, try a drink containing citric acid (such as orange juice or lemon-flavored liqueurs), followed by a hard cheese and, eventually, a good tooth-brushing. (You’d be brushing your teeth anyway, right?) After-dinner mints can help, too.

Most of all, remember what worked this time. Cigar smoking - again, like wine - is a pleasure that should improve with age.



Cigar for Me

Garson Smart asked:


For many cigar smokers, the small paper band encircling their stogy is just a piece of trash, to be discarded along with the shrinkwrap around the box. But for others that cigar band is a bit of history - a collectible that adds immeasurably to the romance and mystique of smoking.

What is the cigar band, and how did it become so important? As is so often true when it comes to cigars, the story begins in Cuba - early-19th-century Cuba, to be exact, when that island nation had already come to be recognize as the cigar capital of the world. At that time cigar packaging was minimal - often no more than a wooden barrel or box, with the manufacturer’s name inscribed. The cigars themselves were generally left blank. This situation, not surprisingly, created a cheat’s paradise, in which cheap European cigars were bundled in boxes with “Cuban” markings on them and sold, domestically, to unsuspecting customers who thought they were getting fine imported Cubans.

Gustave Bock, a Dutch immigrant who owned a cigar factory in Cuba in the 1830s, is credited with being the first to place a paper band around his cigars. (Bock’s “cigar band” was just a paper ring with his signature on it.)

Many other makers adopted this practice, to the point where, by 1855, most Cuban cigar exporters were using them. These bands cut down on instances of counterfeiting while giving cigar manufacturers a way to increase name recognition and loyalty.

The practice spread from Cuba to cigar makers everywhere, and its popularity was encouraged by breakthroughs in printing technology, which developed alongside changes in the economy of Europe and the Americas that favored cigar smoking. Specifically, cheap color printing (through chromolithographic processes developed in Germany) was made widely available during the latter part of the century, and paper-embossing followed in the 1880s.

Between the expansion of the cigar industry and the new possibilities developed by the printing industry, a “Golden Age” of cigar advertising was almost guaranteed, and that’s what followed. Cigar makers began working not only to manufacture their cigars, but to differentiate their products from others. The late 19th and early 20th centuries featured elaborate, distinctive cigar box and cigar band artwork, often produced by highly-regarded commercial artists. These well-wrought bands featured images of famous figures of the day, historical figures, nationalistic imagery, nature scenes and animals. As with today’s postage stamps, special bands would be made to commemorate special events.

And, also like stamps, the bands had that combination of ephemerality and workmanship that so often draws collectors. While they were often well-made, they weren’t intended to last - so they gave collectors a challenge, as baseball cards, comic books and cheap children’s toys would later in the 20th century. And they always gave off a whiff of nostalgia, reminding dedicated smokers of good times shared with a cigar and a friend.

Children also found these bands attractive, since they were often left discarded on streets during the height of cigar-smoking’s popularity. Manufacturers even made “albums” with blank pages in which a person’s cigar band collection could be displayed - the forerunner of those plastic display sheets that every sports-card collector knows so well.

Adding to the boom in band collecting, some cigar makers gave premiums to customers who turned in a certain number of bands - everything from a set of children’s silverware (50 bands) to a Scientific American subscription (600 bands) to a baby grand piano (180,000), according to the American Cigar Co. catalog of 1904. (Those of you who used to collect Marlboro Miles during the 1990s should be feeling deja vu right about now.)

After World War I, cigars fell in popularity relative to cigarettes. Cigar makers stopped putting as much energy into the production of attractive cigar bands, as it became more necessary to cut costs. Cigar bands - at least in the US - grew generic, boring. The cost cut wasn’t enough - many thousands of cigar companies closed up shop for good in the US during the ’20s and ’30s.

Band collecting continues in the US among a hardy group mostly consisting of old-timers and nostalgia buffs, but in Europe it remains a thriving hobby, and cigar makers there continue to print colorful but cheap bands, some of which come as part of a series (again like stamps), others of which are created specifically for collectors.



Order Cigars

Shane Wilson asked:


With every hobby or lifestyle there are certain accessories that are a must have, cigar smoking is no different. To get the full enjoyment out of smoking a cigar you can’t just light one up without the right cutter and lighter. Don’t worry, below are listed the various cigar accessories you’ll need to fit right in at your next social function.

First, you have to get to know a little bit about the cigar your smoking. You can do this by picking up a cigar magazine or by visiting some top cigar sites like Apexcigar.com. There are so many cigars out there to choose from. To get the one you like it really takes a little bit of research and trial and error.

After you have found a brand of cigar you like, next

you’ll want to invest in a cigar humidor. cigar humidors help preserve your cigars by maintaining correct humidity levels and temperature. Usually cigar humidors hold from 20 to 25 cigars but some can hold upwards of 100. You might be surprised, but there are a tremendous amount of types of cigars out there. stick with some of the top brands like CAO and Savoy.

Now, you can’t exactly carry around a cigar humidor with you, there pretty big and bulky in some cases. What you need is a cigar case or pouch. These can fit right into your coat pocket and can hold up to 5 cigars, sometimes more. They are good for transport, keeping your cigars clean and prevent them from being crushed. They also enable you to have a cigar of your choosing whenever you want.

Next your going to want to pick up a nice cigar cutter. Cigar cutters give you a clean end instead of bitting the tip off of one. I mean were not animals here. Cigar cutters can range from a couple of bucks to around a hundred dollars. Just depends on your taste.

Finally, the only way you are going to be able to

enjoy your favorite cigar that you just pulled from

your case is to have a fashionable lighter? Don’t even think about picking up an everyday bic and lighting up either. You need something with a little style and class. There are various types of lighters like the Colibri and the Lotus. Just select a lighter that looks great to you and

that you’ll feel comfortable pulling out and lighting up.

So now you know the cigar accessories that you need to become a professional cigar smoker. Once you have all the right accessories smoking a cigar will be a much more pleasurable experience. So I guess there is only one thing left to do, light

up!

Mike Keesling asked:


Cuban cigars originate from the Caribbean, which has a tropical climate very different to Europe. As a natural product, your Havana cigars need to be kept carefully. They are used to being in a warm climate with a relatively high humidity.

Therefore they will need to be protected from extremes of temperature and humidity (particularly low humidity). This is particularly difficult to achieve in air conditioned and centrally heated buildings, where the air tends to get de-humidified and cigars can dry out very quickly. Some cigars come in aluminum tubes which can help preserve them in dry climates, however they tend to mature at a much slower rate than ‘naked’ boxed cigars.

Maintain a temperature of 16 C to 20 C and a relative humidity of 65% – 70%.

In the UK you will need a humidor to maintain the humidity of your cigars at various times of the year:

Humidity

At the least, keep your cigars in a tight fitting cupboard, drawer or box, away from radiators and other sources of heat. Pick the coolest indoor spot in your house. Leave the cigars in their original boxes as this will help preserve them, stop them from being damaged, and prevent any cross-tainting of flavours between different varieties of cigars stored in the same area. If the humidity in your make-shift humidor is low, a damp sponge in a cup will serve as a basic provider of humidity.

When you purchase your cigars from Tomtom, they will be packed in an airtight zip-loc bag, which will maintain the humidity of your cigars while you transport them from the shop to your humidor. These bags are a very efficient short term humidor, however we would not recommend that you leave your cigars sealed in these bags for more than one month. Although humidity will be maintained, cigars also need to be exposed to some fresh air to allow them to ‘breathe’ and age correctly.

A variety of desk-top and travel humidors can be purchased (see ‘Accessories’) and are an essential item for the dedicated cigar smoker (more information below).

Temperature

The danger of excessive temperature (combined with too much humidity) is that the cigars can either go moldy or be damaged by weavil attack. If cigars go moldy, this is generally not a problem, as long as it is spotted reasonably soon and the mould (or bloom) only appears on the wrapper leaf. The mould can be removed with a soft brush (e.g. a badger shaving brush) and then the cigar can be returned to store in the correct conditions. If mould gets into the end of the cigar, we recommend that you do not smoke it. Weavil, or tobacco beetle, is a more serious problem. If you see any small holes in your cigar, you should take immediate action. Please call Tomtom for further advice. Never store cigars near direct sunlight or for long periods exposed to sea breezes (salt will not enhance your smoke). The lower the temperature, the higher the humidity required to compensate.

Desk-Top Humidors

There is a very wide selection of these humidors on the market. The basic design requirements are that they are sealable (and generally lockable!), but allow the cigars to breathe. This is normally achieved by leaving the base of the box unvarnished: and no portion of the inner cedar box should be laminated. The box contains a fitting, which provides the humidity: this is normally a pad containing a sponge or chalk, which can be dampened. The box may also contain a dial showing humidity and temperature.

As a rule of thumb, the smaller the box, the harder it is to maintain a steady level of humidity within its confines. These humidors do not regulate temperature. The price range starts from about 125 for a plexi glass humidor, which will hold approximately 50 cigars to 2000 and above. A comprehensive selection is shown on our accessory page. Fabulous humidors can also be created out of antique boxes which many families have inherited as writing slopes or medal cases and which have since become redundant. This is a very cost-effective way of storing your cigars in a unique and personal humidor.

Travel Humidors

Ranging in price from 100 upwards. These are not suitable for long-term storage of cigars, however they are essential if you are moving about: the wrapper leaf on a handmade cigar is very thin and delicate and will easily damage. The safest way to prevent this is to keep the cigars in their original box, in tubes or in a purpose-built travel humidor.

Cigar Cases

Generally these do not offer humidification systems built in, but will protect your cigars if you take them in your pocket for the day. There are some metal tubes with hermetically sealed ***** tops that will act in the same way as a cigar tube and seal in moisture. The majority are made from leather and offer protection from damage as well as limited protection from fluctuations in humidity and temperature.

Reviving Dried-Out Cigars

This is not an exact science and not always successful. Dry cigars need to be rehumidified very slowly and with care. We suggest you speak to us

Footnote

We do NOT recommend that cigars are kept in a refrigerator for storage. It is likely that the cigars will be dried out by this process and irretrievably damaged.



Cigar Order

Ann Knapp asked:


For those who do a lot of entertaining, it’s hard to come up with new party themes. But the recent popularity of cigars offers a great creative party idea for stressed-out would-be party hosts.

Putting together a good party is hard - and gets harder as you grow older. In college, it’s easy enough to satisfy your guests with, say, a bowlful of pretzels and a keg of beer, but friends burdened with adult responsibilities - a job to get up for, a child to raise - may not want to drive out to your place just for some stale salt-heavy snacks and a can or two of average quality beer. So you’ve got to come up with fun new ideas. But this gets stressful, complex, and sometimes expensive as well. After you’ve tried out your first two or three great inspirations, you may begin to burn out on entertaining all together.

But there’s hope. Try throwing a cigar-sampler party.

Cigars aren’t just your grandfather’s chosen indulgence anymore - they’ve grown increasingly popular during the past fifteen years or so. After bottoming out during the 1980s, cigars became the break of choice for a well-educated, younger demographic, even as other forms of smoking went into decline. They’re just luxurious enough to feel like the break you deserve, but, since they’re designed to be smoked slowly, one at a time, and in moderation (unlike cigarettes), they won’t break the bank. Their infinite differences in taste offer the pleasures of connoisseurship as well: experienced smokers learn to enjoy the differences between double claro cigars (light and generally dry-tasting, with very tan outer wrappers) and maduros (dark brown in color and sweetish), between the great cigars of Nicaragua and those of the Dominican Republic or Turkey. A cigar-themed party makes sense if your friends are smokers, and it also makes sense for those who aren’t (as long as, you make sure not to invite anybody who’s passionately anti-smoking or allergic to tobacco).

Here are some tips on throwing a cigar-themed party:

1) Buy a sampler or two of premium cigars, until you have enough to cover the number of planned guests. (Keep the guest list small - you’ll have better-quality interactions, and you’ll keep the party affordable.)

2) Cigar samplers are easy to buy online, but be careful. Some cigar stores “lead off” with a too-good-to-be-true deal - an inexpensive sampler labeled “premium.” Usually these cheap “premium” platters actually contain only a few top cigars, and are then rounded out with cigar pawns - cheaply-made knockoff cigars. Make sure that your sampler comes from a high-quality cigar shop or online store, and that you know what you’re getting.

3) Once you have your premium-cigar sampler, assign one cigar to each guest.

4) On the night of the party, serve simple snacks before you serve the cigars. (Cigars tend not to go well with ultra-creamy or rich foods.) Hard cheeses, dark chocolates, fruit, coffee, and fine red wines or beers are recommended. Remember - avoid anything too rich!

5) After folks have eaten and had a few drinks, bring out the cigars. Have everyone head outside with his or her assigned cigar and a drink; light everyone’s cigar, and tell them to smoke up. You’ll have given all your guests something new to talk about.

6) If desired, encourage your guests to bring their own cigars, which can be collected and served as part of a “second round” later. Guests could compare the tastes of their two assigned cigars. You could even encourage one of your guests to bring some non-premium cigars, even off-brand gas-station cigars, as a gaga - though only if you’re going for a second round of smoking!

Experienced cigar smokers will enjoy the chance to share their enthusiasm with others. New smokers and nonsmokers will be trying and enjoying something new.

Remember when lighting to cut the cap of the cigar, then, using a wooden match or a zippo lighter or other full flame (not a paper match), turn the end of the cigar in the flame a full 360 degrees until every part of it is lit. Remind your guests who haven’t smoked cigars before that they shouldn’t inhale - this isn’t a cigarette! Pull the smoke into your mouth and taste it thoroughly without allowing it into your lungs. Remember, it’s about the taste.

Garson Smart asked:


The cigar ratings supplied by publications like Cigar Magazine and Cigar Aficionado form an important part of the modern cigar industry. For cigar smokers, these ratings provide guidance in a crowded market.

As pressed-for-time moviegoers may look to Roger Ebert for guidance at the multiplex, smokers use the magazines’ ratings to cut down on their in-store browsing time. For cigar makers, meanwhile, the ratings can be the touch of life - or the kiss of death. When Cigar Aficionado gave a high rating to a Fuente Spanish Lonsdale cigar, the magazine’s imprimatur helped to cause a run on the brand, rendering it scarce and highly sought-after and increasing the profile of Fuente’s cigars in general. Every cigar maker covets a 90-or-higher rating from these influential judges.

But where do these numbers actually come from? For staffers at Cigar Aficionado, the reviewing process starts at the store. While music and book reviewers are often given free “review copies” of CDs or books (a practice that makes things convenient for the reviewer, but also diminishes his or her independence), Cigar Aficionado tries to buy cigars at close to retail prices.

This leads to big cigar bills for the magazine - but it also means the cigars they review are as much like the ones you buy at the store as is possible. (Unlike CDs or books, of course, every cigar is slightly different in composition and taste.) Sometimes, if a cigar is hard to find in stores, the magazine will request “review cigars”; ditto for cases when the magazine is trying to preview a cigar before it hits stores.

The members of the panel - all of them longstanding magazine staffers - are told nothing about the identity, price range, source, or country of origin of the cigar. A “tasting coordinator” - not a member of the panel - removes the cigar’s band so that it cannot be identified by the panel’s members.

The blank, anonymous cigar is then assigned a number so that its identity can be retrieved after it’s rated. The members of the tasting panel then retire, separately, to their offices to smoke the cigars without consulting each other. Each member of the panel assigns the cigar a certain number of points, based on its performance in any of four categories.

First of all, cigars are rated by APPEARANCE and CONSTRUCTION. Is the cigar visually pleasing? Is the wrapper smooth, or wadded-looking? Is it moist to the touch or dry? Does it stay firm? Is it veiny or soggy? After all, a great-tasting cigar that wilts the minute you take it out of the box, or looks too unappetizing to be placed in someone’s mouth, does smokers no good. Cigars can win up to 15 points in this category for being well-made and attractive.

Secondly, of course, the cigar is rated on its FLAVOR - a category that carries with it 25 of the possible 100 points. Who needs a good-looking but brackish cigar? Cigars should not taste bitter or leave a nasty aftertaste. Both taste and aftertaste should be smooth but full, complicated, and rich.

A maximum of 25 points can be won for various qualities ranged together under the general heading of SMOKING CHARACTERISTICS. How does it burn? Is it hard to light? Does it burn one-sidedly? Will the smoke burn your mouth, or feel cool and comfortable as it should? How hard do you have to pull to get a mouthful? All these questions and more are considered.

Finally, the tasters each give a score (up to 35 points) for OVERALL IMPRESSION. (Flavor counts most here.) Is the cigar good, bad - or great? And the question utmost in any dedicated smoker’s mind - is it worth the money? The panel’s various scores in each category are averaged and a final score is the result.

Ratings, of course, are always subjective, depending on individuals’ taste - even if those individuals have well-developed, highly educated tastes. Your mileage may vary. For any smoker, the ultimate authority should always be your own tastebuds!



Cigar Order

Denis K. asked:


For the young Cigar Entrepreneur, choosing the right smoke can be the most difficult of matters. One has to know what one is looking for, as well as looking at. There is such a wide variety of high-profile cigars on the market today, that one just about has to have some instruction prior to that first purchase.

First, we will cover the subject of flavor. The layman would assume that all cigars are made from the same tobacco, as well as have the same flavor. The truth is, there is a massive variety of tobacco flavors available, each particular flavor having its own level of intensity. Your own personal favorite could very well be one that everyone else despises. Everyone has a different pallet for a cigar. Regardless, the actual mix of tobacco, the time elapsed since the making of the cigar, the condition it is in (storage, humidor, etc) and what you have drank or ate before or during the smoking of the cigar all have a bearing on the actual taste.

As far as only being one flavor of tobacco initially grown, this also is a fallacy. Tobaccos will attain different flavors depending upon the soil in which that particular plant is grown. In addition, different parts of the actual tobacco plant are utilized to define a particular flavor. All of these factors are blended together by cigar gurus who know what will go well with what to produce an original and excellent cigar.

With all this in mind, we can assume that picking that right cigar is going to be difficult at best. It takes more than just a random pick or a glance. It takes knowledge.

First, always refer to a smoker. If you know someone within your circle that enjoys a good high-quality cigar, ask him or her about what they like. Tell them your favorite flavors of food and fruit. This will give them a good idea as to what will lay best on your pallet. If you don’t know a connoisseur of fine cigars, ask the individual that runs your cigar shop. He/She may not smoke, but you can be certain that they know what cigar smokers come back for over and over.

Once you have chosen a cigar for consideration begin your inspection. Before we go too deeply into this, however, let’s discuss the occasional white powdery substance that you may come across on a cigar. Do not let this turn you away, as this is what is called “Bloom.” Bloom is simply the result of ageing on a cigar and is in no way a bad thing. Actually, it may very well be considered a positive aspect. This enhances the flavor. Mold, on the other hand, should be avoided. If a cigar is kept at extreme levels of humidity, it will form a blue-green tint on the packaging. Avoid it at all costs.

Ask yourself if you would prefer a mild cigar, or a more full-flavored smoke. If you would lean more towards the full-flavor option, then choose a cigar with a larger ring. The ring is the actual diameter of the cigar. The larger the diameter, the more intense, and multiple blends you will experience.

Another way to get a feel for the taste of a cigar is the smell. Take a good whiff of it. If the smell is overwhelming, then it will likely be very strong. Take notice that we use the word “likely” in that reference. This is not always the case. Some smokes smell a level or two more intense than they actually taste.

Next, how long do you want to smoke a cigar? Common sense tells us that the longer the cigar, the longer the smoke-time. However, another way to tell is to gently squeeze the cigar ¾ of the way up. If it seems very tight, it will have a more difficult draw and take longer to smoke. If it is loose, the smoke will proceed at a faster rate.

Moving on, we have the construction of the cigar. Does it appear lumpy or feel loose at spots here and there? If so, you probably do not want it. You see, the creation of a good hand-rolled cigar is actually considered a work of art in some circles. The way a cigar looks is at least 40 % of the selling value. If it does not look good, it is far more difficult to move, commercially speaking.

In choosing the right cigar for you, the one and only true manner is to just shop around. Research reviews online. There are a number of very effective and consistently updated review sites, such as Cigar Inspector. These sites will give you individual reviews by people who have tried the cigar. Then, once you pick out one to try, do not go in with the attitude that if you don’t like this one, you will never try another. Expect to invest a little time in finding your perfect cigar. Even then, when you find that perfect Robusto or Maduro, keep shopping. Variety is truly the spice of life.



Best Cigars

Hein asked:


What are the essential accessories you need to smoke a cigar? You may think that you simply have to light the cigar and puff away. However, fully enjoying the cigar and smoking it the right way involves some accessories.

Get to know cigars first. Do this by buying a cigar magazine or getting some information online. Then, go to a tobacconist to check out some cigars. The tobacconist will give you his advice on the cigars he stocks.

Buy a cigar humidor. Humidors are usually made of wood, though I saw a marble one on Amazon the other day, and keep the humidity and temperature in the humidor at a certain level to preserve the cigars. Cigar humidors usually hold 20 or 25 cigars.

Get a cigar holder so that they don’t get crushed or dirty. Some cigar holders hold up to 3 cigars while some hold only 1. Purchasing a cigar holder is a must if you like smoking cigars at any time.

Get a cigar cutter. The best ones are made of stainless steel and feature a double blade design. The blades are extremely sharp so take caution when using it. Cigar cutters usually come in a practical, compact size.

Cigar punchers are great if you do not wish to use a cigar cutter. While the cigar puncher essentially achieves the same goal as the cigar cutter, it is more compact and classy.

Instead of using a match or a conventional lighter to light your cigar, get a proper cigar lighter. They come in a tube shape and are very efficient because you they include a cutter. So, you simply put one end of the cigar in to cut and then flip it around to light it. The cigar lighters use butane and are sold empty.



Order Cigars

Mike Keesling asked:


How to Smoke Cigars

Far be it for us to instruct anyone how to smoke their cigars, but here goes anyway:

Four out of five of your senses have an important role to play in assessing the cigar. Sight, touch, smell and taste. Rolling a cigar next to your ear does not achieve anything useful - you can leave your ears at home.

There are two elements to the process of smoking your cigar. The first is the physical practicality of cutting, lighting and smoking. The second is the effect a cigar has on your senses while you carry out these various functions.

The Physical Practicalities:

Cutting

Once you have selected your cigar (see below - ‘Cigar Sensations’), you will need to cut the closed end. All handmade cigars have a cap (Havanas have a double cap) over the head end - this end goes in your mouth. If you attempt to smoke a cigar the other way around, you will find that half way through it will unravel and take on the appearance of an exploded stick. There are a number of ways of cutting the cap, ranging from the use of a thumb-nail, to portable guillotine cutters (both single and double bladed - see ‘Accessories’ on navigation bar), from cheap to expensive, to the more exotic cigar scissors and table-top cutters.

The cut should be clean and level, or there will be difficulties with the draw and a risk of damaging the wrapper. Cut the cigar so that an eighth of an inch of the cap is left around the cigar wrapper. It is not recommended that you pierce the cap with a pin, as this will interfere with the passage of smoke, make the cigar overheat and lead to unpleasant flavours from residues condensing at the point the cap was pierced. Cap hole-punching devices do work well as long as the diameter of the punch is at least a quarter of an inch. Wedge-shaped cutters are also not recommended, as these have a tendency to cut through all of the band on either side and the cigar wrapper can then unravel.

Whatever you use, make sure it is sharp, and that you expose enough of the filler leaves under the cap to allow the smoke uninterrupted passage.

Lighting Up

When you light a cigar, use either a butane lighter (not one filled with gasoline) or a match. Anything else, such as using a candle, will tend to taint the flavour of the cigar, and will ultimately impede the passage of smoke through the cigar with particles from the flame. Avoid matches with high sulphur or wax contact (don’t use paper matches). Take time and care to light the cigar.

First, hold the cigar horizontally in direct contact with the flame, and slowly revolve it until the end is charred evenly over its entire surface.

Put the cigar between your lips, hold the flame about half an inch away from the end, and draw slowly while rotating the cigar. Its end should now ignite. Ensure an even burn has taken hold.

Gently blow on the burning end to make sure the cigar is fully lit.

Smoking

After five minutes the cigar will have warned up and you will have reached cruising altitude.

Unlike cigarettes, cigars will naturally go out if left unattended. If your cigar goes out, don’t worry. Remove any ash clinging to the previously lit end by tapping the cigar. Blow through the cigar to clear away stale smoke. Re-light as previously described above. As long as the cigar has not been out for too long, the flavour will not be unduly affected. Continuous re-lighting of cigars will affect the flavour, and if a cigar is allowed to cool, then on re-lighting the tastes can become tainted and unpleasant (due to condensation of the smoke in the remaining part of the cigar).

Havanas are made from long filler tobacco leaves (another difference to cigarettes and machine made cigars). This means that the ash on the cigar, if it is a good one, should not fall off the moment it appears. There is no particular merit in keeping a long ash on a cigar, but neither is there any need to continually tap it to remove any excess ash. In assessing the quality of construction of your cigar, a long solid cylinder of ash is a good sign.

There is no need to warm the length of the cigar before smoking it. This was done in the nineteenth century to burn off the rather unpleasant gum used on some cigars made in Seville. Today’s handmade Cuban cigars use a small drop of flavourless, odorless vegetable gum at the cap end of the wrapper leaf.

The “End”

The final third of your cigar will be when the smoke is at its strongest. This is the time to part company before flavours become bitter and the effect of the cigar on your well-being may become detrimental. There is absolutely no need to stub or grind a cigar out to extinguish it. Left in the ashtray it will go out by itself: if you stub it out, it will release foul odours into the room. Once the cigar has self-extinguished remove any ***** and ash from the room before they start to give out unpleasant smells (i.e. before going to bed!).



Cigar Store

Garson Smart asked:


As the 1990s dawned, few industries seemed deader than cigar sales and manufacture.

From its height in the 1850s - when Cuba alone exported 356.6 million cigars - the cigar had fallen into virtual moribundity. Its market had been conquered by cheap, ubiquitous cigarettes. Its image was tarnished in the United States by, among other things, the persistent (and not entirely unfounded) popular association between cigar smoking and the “fat cats” of the Gilded Age - a picture wedged into its place in the popular consciousness by the work of crusading editorial cartoonists.

By the late 1980s, the industry was flatlining, with an aging customer base and few new customers drifting in: the classic example of a product reaching what marketing experts call “old age.” That’s not to say “senility.”

But in 1992 something changed. (Not a bad year for it - with voters decisively rejecting Ronald Reagan’s vice president at the polls and heavy metal yielding to Nirvana, it was a year for change.) The number of imported cigars wafted gently upward during the fourth quarter of the year, yielding a four-percent increase over 1991. The following year, imports rose by ten percent.

The industry was elated. But no one was prepared for what came next - 12 percent growth in 1994, 33 percent growth in 1995, 36 percent first-quarter growth for 1996, shops unable to keep product on the shelves, backorders of 55 million units in 1996, retailers buying shopping-carts full of cigars from distributors and paying retail price just to keep their stores stocked. Women, for the first time, began smoking cigars in large numbers, and prices rose at a fast clip - the $2 premium cigar more or less disappeared over a three-year period. Cigar bars proliferated.

Cigar-friendly restaurants, well, came into existence.

What happened? One observer, Norman Sharp of the Cigar Association of America, told the New York Times in 1996 that the new prevalence of cigar bars goes back to a single Boston restaurant. “It started in the ’80s, when the Ritz-Carlton in Boston hosted a cigar dinner.”

In the same story, Sharp also gave credit to what he called “political correctness,” the all-purpose rhetorical villain of the 1990s. “People are saying they’re tired of being told what to do - or in this case, being told not to use tobacco - and turned to cigar smoking as a way of flipping the bird at well, somebody.

Other observers give some credit to Cigar Aficionado, launched in 1992, a quarterly glossy publication that improved cigars status in society. In Cigar Aficionado, alongside cigar reviews and industry news, you can also read up on new luxury goods, while enjoying interviews with prominent cigar smokers from Jack Nicholson to Whoopi Goldberg. As Runner’s World did for the nascent jogging movement of the 1970s, Cigar Aficionado transformed thousands of isolated cigar lovers into an interest group, simply by addressing them as one.

For another explanation, consider the growth in coffee consumption during the 1990s - the years when Starbucks conquered America. The new prominence of this old, almost stodgy beverage (not unlike the cigar in its public image) could be, and was, traced to the explosion in average working hours during the decade, when a centuries-long trend toward shorter working weeks ground, in the US though not in Europe, to a halt. Bedroom communities grew, while deep social ties grew frayed. American white-collar workers desperately needed something, some small pleasure or indulgence to take the sting out of their epic workweeks. Why not cigars?

Cigar Fox provides the finest cigars that include brands like Cohiba, Montecristo, Gurkha, Macanudo, Rocky Patel, Romeo, Drew Estate, and many more. Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters. For more information, please visit http://www.cigarfox.com.



Order Cigars