Cigars and Tobacco Buying Guide
Cigar Anatomy - The core of a cigar which lends all of its taste is the filler.
- The binder , composed of coarse tobacco, holds everything together.
- The wrapper is the outer layer composed of silky leaves.
- The quality of a cigar is often noted in the look of the head or cap. This is the part that you will need to cut off in order to smoke it.
- The cigar industry has made a vocabulary to describe the color, from double claro to maduro obscuro.
- The size is often referred to as the ring size. The combination of ring sizes and length identifies most common cigars like the double corona - the biggest, the churchill, the robusto, the corona, and the petit-corona, one of the smallest.
Things to Consider- Size and Shape
- Thicker ring guages smoke cooler and tend to be more flavorful and complex, since the "torcedor" (roller) can fit several types of filler leaf into the blend.
- As to length, that's pretty much determined by how long you want your cigar to last. Shorter ones can last a half hour to 45 minutes, while longer ones can last up to 1.5 hours.
- Flavour
- Dominican Republic and Jamaican are milder.
- Honduran are the most full-bodied.
- Mexican fall in between.
- The darker the colour of the wrapper the stronger the flavour.
- Construction
- The wrapper should be smooth, shiny, oily and free of tears.
- It should have a little give, but not be too soft because underfilled cigars will smoke hot and quick. On the same token, a cigar that is rock hard may not draw well.
Tips for Smoking
The first thing anyone should do when buying a cigar is make sure it's fresh. Cigars tend to dry up in less than 24 hours after their removal from the humidor.
The second step is to cut the cap of the cigar. Cutting the cap will permit you to have a good draw; cutting too little makes the cigar hard to smoke, and cutting too much makes the wrapper unwind.
Third, but not the least, never light a cigar with paper matches or a gas burning Zippo, since both of them may give the cigar a bad chemical taste. The best way to light a cigar is with wooden matches or a butane lighter.
Accessories
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Custom Cigar Samplers  |
Cutters
There are many techniques to cutting a cigar, the use of a single or double-blade guillotine being the most common. This type of cutter ranges from 2$ to 300$ for deluxe models. It's also possible to puncture or make a pinhole with special tools. |
Hygrometers |
Humidors |
Lighters |
Other Tobacco Products
Pipes
External Links
http://www.essortment.com/all/buyingcigars_rtrb.htm
http://www.askmen.com/money/successful/success16.html
http://cigars.about.com/cs/bg.htm
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