Introduction to Fine Cigars
Summary:
Why the resurgence in the popularity of cigar smoking? Some experts claim it is directly related to the lack of popularity in cigarettes. Marvin Shanken, the editor of "Cigar Aficionado" gives credit to his publication as the main reason. Still others believe it is a stylish trend making a comeback because of the renewed interest in nostalgia.
Whatever the case, premium cigars are now in heavy demand. Between 1981 and 1991, the American market for premium cigars stagnated around the 100 million unit level. The number of units imported in 1997 was over 575 million.
How many times in the past year have you walked into a cigar store, longing for your favorite smoke, only to hear the all-too-familiar "Try me again next week. I hope to have some in by then." So you find yourself trying something that is available -- and guess what? You begin to discover other cigars with different characteristics and tastes. Before you know it, you've become a cigar aficionado yourself. A true cigar lover.
Enjoy the beauty of a hand-made, natural product while you read the rest of this web site -- and remember to smoke responsibly.
Construction:
Cigar makers utilize different tobaccos to try to compensate for nature. They continually seek a blend that will achieve consistency and at the same time create some flavor complexity. A good blend uses tobaccos from different geographic zones, varieties, grades and harvests, so that the cigar will be complete and balanced.
Cigars are handmade products, produced by skilled artisans in quantities anywhere from 100 to 300 a day, depending on the size of the cigar and the manufacturing process. The roller takes the leaves and presses them together in his hand; he then places the leaves on a binder leaf — a flat, somewhat elastic leaf of tobacco. He rolls them together into a "bunch," cuts them to the appropriate length and then places them in the bottom half of the wooden mold. After he puts the upper half of the mold in place, he puts the entire box into a screw press.
Once the worker has pressed the cigar, he returns the wooden molds to the rolling tables. The roller removes the bunch and wraps it with the wrapper leaf -- a supple, very elastic and visually beautiful leaf that has been cut in half. Keeping constant pressure on the bunch and the wrapper, the cigar-maker rolls the leaf around the bunch and applies a bit of vegetable glue to bond the wrapper leaf together at the head so the cigar won't unravel. The cigars are then aged for anywhere from 90 to 120 days to allow the different tobaccos to "marry."
Classifying Cigars:
The identity of a cigar is determined by its brand, wrapper, size and color. The brand is the designation given by the manufacturer to a particular line of cigars. Punch, Partagas, Macanudo, Thomas Hinds and Arturo Fuente are some well-known names. You'll generally find these names on the label wrapped around the "head" of the cigar.
= Claro
= Colorado Claro
= Colorado
= Colorado Maduro
= Maduro
= Oscuro
(Note that, due to different monitor settings between systems, these colors are only an approximation.)
Color refers to the shade of the outer wrapper leaf. Today, there are six major color grades in use: Claro claro (light green), Claro (light tan), Colorado Brown (reddish brown), Natural (light brown to brown), Maduro (very dark), and Oscuro (dark black). Natural and Claro are the two most popular wrapper colors. The tobacco for Claro is usually grown under tents. Natural wrapper leafs are sun-grown. The best wrapper leafs are produced in Connecticut, Cameroon, Ecuador, the Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
Cigar shapes and sizes have two dimensions: Length (either in centimeters or inches) and ring gauge, a measurement divided into 64ths of an inch. A cigar with a ring gauge of 42, for example, measures 40/64ths of an inch in diameter. The shape gives the cigar its unique classification. Straight-sided cigars have the same ring gauge at both the head and foot. They include Churchill, Corona, Corona Gorda, Double Corona, Lonsdale, Panatela, Petit Corona and Robusto. Cigars with irregular shapes and that are typically twisted at the end include Pyramid (also called Figurado or Torpedo), Perfecto, Diademas, Culebra and Belicoso.
