Cigar Information

A cigar is a tightly rolled bundle of dried, and fermented, tobacco which is then lit so its smoke may be inhaled into one’s mouth. Typically speaking, one does not inhale cigar smoke into his lungs, the smoke is only inhaled into the mouth.

Christopher Columbus is credited with introducing smoking to the masses. History has it that back in 1492, two of his crewmen disembarked his ship in Cuba and smoked tobacco wrapped in maize husks, thereby becoming the first Europeans to smoke a “cigar”.

Today, many mass-market cigars are machine rolled, but quality, higher-end cigars are still hand-rolled, just as they were centuries ago. A cigar roller uses a specially designed, crescent shaped knife called a “chavetas” to form the filler and wrapper leaves in an efficient, uniform manner. The completed cigars are then cut to specific lengths and then stored in a wooden form for the “ageing” process.

Cigars consist of three basic tobacco components; the filler, the binder, and the wrapper. The “filler” tobacco represents the majority of the tobacco used in the manufacturing process, which is rolled into a cigar shape and then held together by the “binder” leaf, which is the most “elastic” of tobacco leaves. The “wrapper” leaf, which is generally the most delicate and highest quality tobacco leaf, is then rolled around the binder to complete the cigar. Most premium cigars use different tobaccos for the filler, binder, and wrapper, which allows different flavors to be introduced into the cigar.

Most cigar manufacturers go to great lengths to develop the perfect blend of tobaccos, one that will deliver the ultimate cigar smoking experience. Different tobacco leaves, including the lightly flavored Volado leaf at the bottom of the plant, the medium flavored Seco leaf in the middle, and the bold Ligero leaf at the top, are carefully blended together to create fillers of varying strength, flavor, and aroma. Fillers are categorized as short, medium, long, and sandwich. Short fillers consist of chopped tobacco leaves, while medium and long fillers consist of longer pieces of the leaf. Sandwich fillers refer to short fillers that are then wrapped in a longer filler leaf.

Cigar manufacturers utilize a wide array of tobacco leaves for the wrapper, which dictates a great deal of the cigar’s taste, aroma, and visual appeal. A manufacturer can combine a particular filler blend with different wrappers, with each type of wrapper creating different nuances in regard to taste and aroma. Wrappers come in different colors and flavors, with the wrapper often being used to describe/categorize the cigar. Many people incorrectly assume that the darker the wrapper, the more powerful/bold the flavor, but the truth is that a dark wrapper generally adds sweetness to the cigar while lighter wrappers tend to add a bit of dryness.

The following is a list of the various categorizes of wrapper leaves, ranging from the lightest to the darkest:

• Claro – light tan or yellowish in color
• Colorado – a reddish-brown leaf that is also referred to as Rosado or Corojo
• Colorado Claro – a medium-brown leaf usually grown in the Dominican Republic or Cuba
• Colorado Maduro – a dark brown leaf that’s usually grown in Honduras and Cuba
• Double Claro – a very light, slightly greenish leaf that achieves is color by being picked before it matures and then being quickly dried. These leaves are also referred to as Jade, Candela, and American Market Selection. These leaves are often grown in the state of Connecticut.
• Maduro – a dark brown to very dark brown leaf
• Natural – a light brown to brown leaf that is usually sun grown
• Oscuro – generally referred to as the "Double Maduro", this leaf is black and oily; usually grown in the state of Connecticut, Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, and Nicaragua

Cigars, and cigar tobacco, are aged to both enhance flavor and mellow any bitterness/harshness. The critical aging process is actually done before the cigar is rolled, as the tobacco is harvested and then carefully aged in a controlled environment under the watchful eye of tobacco experts. This ageing process utilizes both heat and shade to gradually reduce the tobacco leaf’s sugar and water content while also preventing the leaf from rotting. This “drying” process, which is called the curing process, varies from one tobacco growing region to another and is predicated on the type of tobacco, climatic conditions, and the desired color of the tobacco leaf.

The next step in the ageing process is where the tobacco leaf actually dies and is referred to as the fermentation process. This process dictates the final taste and aroma of the tobacco leaf and is conducted in a controlled environment where both temperature and humidity are strictly monitored to allow the tobacco leaf to ferment at a desired pace while preventing rot from setting in. These first two ageing processes can vary significantly in length, with tobacco leaves destined for premium cigars being aged for years prior to the actual rolling process.

Once a cigar has been rolled, it can then be aged for years, even decades, if stored in an environment where both heat and humidity are properly controlled. Generally speaking, most rolled cigars age best when stored in an environment where heat is held constant at 70 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity is held steady at 70%.

Generally speaking, the size and shape of the cigar can actually alter the taste of the cigar. The diameter of the cigar, which is measured in sixty-fourths of an inch and is referred to as the ring gauge, influences the taste of a cigar because it changes the proportion of filler to wrapper. Thicker cigars with a larger ring gauge, such as a 50-gauge cigar versus a 38-gauge cigar, will have a taste skewed more towards that of the filler, as the amount of filler tobacco is far greater than the wrapper leaf. Conversely, the taste of a thinner cigar will be more influenced by the wrapper leaf as the proportion of filler tobacco to wrapper tobacco is much lower.

The length of the cigar also influences taste, as shorter cigars tend to be slightly more intense due to the shorter distance that the smoke is required to travel from the lit end of the cigar to the smoker’s mouth. Conversely, longer cigars tend to allow the smoke more time to cool and mellow as it travels through the body of the cigar.

Most modern cigars are manufactured in the “parejo” shape, which consists of a cylindrical body, one end open, and a tobacco leaf cap on the other end. Non-parejo shaped cigars are categorized as “figurados” and consist of all irregularly shaped cigars, which are considered by some to be of higher quality because they’re more difficult to roll.

When the size and shape of the cigar are taken together its referred to as the vitola. The following is a list of the most common parejo cigar sizes:

Coronas:

• Rothschilds (4 ½" x 50)
• Robusto (4 ⅞" x 50)
• Hermosos No. 4 (5" x 48)
• Mareva/Petit Corona (5 ⅛" x 42)
• Corona (5 ½" x 42)
• Corona Gorda (5 ⅝" x 46)
• Toro (6" x 50)
• Corona Grande (6 ⅛" x 42)
• Cervantes/Lonsdale (6 ½" x 42)
• Dalia (6 ¾" x 43)
• Julieta, also known as Churchill (7" x 47)
• Prominente/Double Corona (7 ⅝" x 49)
• Presidente (8" x 50)
• Gran Corona ("A") (9 ¼" x 47)

Panatelas (longer and thinner than Coronas):

• Small Panatela (5" x 33)
• Carlota (5 ⅝" x 35)
• Short Panatela (5" x 38)
• Slim Panatela (6" x 34.9)
• Panatela (6" x 38)
• Deliciados/Laguito No. 1 (7 ¼" x 38)

These are the most common figurados:

• Torpedo
• Pyramid
• Perfecto
• Presidente/Diadema
• Culebras
• Tuscanian

Generally speaking, Cuban made cigars are considered by most to be the finest cigars in the world. Granted, there are many great cigars made in countries such as Honduras and Nicaragua, and cigar preferences are very subjective, but overall most consider the Cuban made cigars to be made of the finest and best tasting tobaccos in the world. There’s no scientific proof to back this up, or to explain why Cuban made cigars taste so much better to so many people, but the general theory is that Cuba’s climate allows for the growth of the world’s finest quality tobaccos.

Unfortunately, Cuban made cigars are illegal in the United States, courtesy of the U.S. trade embargo with Cuba that was enacted back in 1962. While it’s illegal for any U.S. citizen to purchase Cuban made cigars, they do make their way into this country, with some being smuggled in from Canada and/or Mexico (where they’re sold legally) while others are purchased over the internet and shipped into the U.S.

Yes, cigar smoking, just like other forms of tobacco use, does indeed pose a serious health risk. Cigar smoking can increase the likelihood of both lung and upper digestive tract cancer, as well as nicotine addiction, tooth loss, and oral cancer. As one would expect, these risks increase relative to the amount of cigars smoked and the amount of smoke inhaled into the lungs.

Compared to cigarette smoking, cigar smoking is far less popular. According to a survey done in 2005, approximately 21% of adults smoked cigarettes while only 2% smoked cigars. According to other surveys, the percentage of adults who smoke cigars increased dramatically in the 1990s and 2000s, with some data indicating that the increase was almost threefold.