Copyright (c) 2008 Stephen Malan

Buying cigars can be like buying fine wine….it can get expensive! Don’t shortchange yourself or your cigars buy storing them in a substandard cigar humidor. This article will discuss the major components of a quality cigar humidor.

Below is a short list of the more important items to consider when selecting a cigar humidor:

1. Seal: The most important aspect of a humidor is its ability to hold humidity. The seal will do that. When evaluating a cigar humidor, drop the lid from approximately 2-3 inches to see how it closes. If it lands on a cushion of air, the seal is fine. If it “clangs” when the lid is dropped, walk away because that isn’t a quality humidor….in fact, “it’s just a box”. Look to see what hinges are used to close the lid. Quality cigar humidors will have hidden quadrant hinges and/or piano hinges, which provide the best seal possible.

2. Exterior Construction: The sidewalls and bottom of the humidor should be at a minimum, ½” thick. Thicker than average sidewalls will create a more stable humidor interior with less fluctuations in temperature or humidity. Large temperature and humidity fluctuations will ruin your cigars. Check to see if the outside bottom of the humidor is lined with felt to prevent scratching of the furniture that you place your humidor on.

3. Interior Construction: It is extremely important that your humidor be lined in Kiln-Dried Spanish Cedar. This is the industry standard when it comes to quality made humidors. Kiln-Dried Spanish Cedar provides for less aromatic aromas than other woods which makes it the more desirable choice when selecting a cigar humidor. “You don’t want overly aromatic woods in your humidor as it may impart an unwanted flavor to your cigars”. Additionally, Spanish cedar is less prone to warping which is imperative when used in a high humidity application such as a cigar humidor. Should the interior of your humidor warp, the seal on the humidor will be broken and your cigars rendered useless. Having the interior Kiln-Dried gets rid of all the natural moisture that all woods contain. If the humidor you’re looking at has trays, make sure that they are ventilated to assure the humidity in your humidor can circulate to all cigars in the humidor.

4. Style: Are you interested in impressing your poker playing buddies or will a less fancy cigar humidor do? Matte finish or a multiple layer high gloss finish? One for the golf bag? There are so many styles to choose from it can be pretty confusing. Just make sure the humidor fits your personal style.

5. Quality: Don’t let price alone influence your decision as to what is a quality cigar humidor. There are many humidors on the market today that retail for less than $100 that will keep your cigars perfectly fresh for a long time. Look at all the variables discussed in steps 1-4 and you should have an easier time finding a quality humidor.

Try to avoid mixing mild and strong cigar in a single humidor…especially if they come without cellophane wrappers. They will marry their aromas and you will not have the cigars you thought you had. We always advise multiple cigar humidors if they have premium cigars without cellophane wrappers. Many premium cigars, such as La Gloria Cubana Serie line, have no cellophane on their cigars and these should not come in contact with other un-cellophaned cigars in your humidor.

Take your time…If you follow the 5 steps mentioned above, you will have a much easier time in finding the best cigar humidor for you.

The number of cigar smokers has been increased incredibly; this is because cigars are less injurious to health compared to cigarettes. A simple search through the internet makes you able to know how cigars are made and which tobacco leaves are used in it. There are various companies which provide qualitative cigars which are not more injurious for health. In these cigars there are some quantities of tobacco available. A cigar, usually, comprises of three kinds of tobacco leaves such as the outer wrapper leaf, the binder leaf and the filler leaf which are available in long, short or mixed sizes. In fact, cigar is a tightly rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in various parts of the globe such as Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Sumatra, Philippines, and the Eastern United States.

Composition of Cigar

In fact, cigars are composed of three types of tobacco leaves, such as wrappers, binders and fillers, whose variations determine smoking and flavor character.

Wrappers

Cigar’s outermost leaves, also known as wrapper that comes from the widest part of the plant. The wrapper determines the cigar’s character and flavor. It is a perception that dark wrappers add a feel of sweetness, while light ones add a hint of dryness to the taste. It is a commonly accepted fact that the wrapper contributes lonely about 40 percent of the flavor, while the filler and binder accomplish the other 60 percent.

Fillers

Most of the cigars are made up of fillers; wrapped-up bunches of leaves within the wrapper. They are wrapped to offer desired cigar flavors. Most of the cigar manufacturers are feeling satisfied as they construct the perfect flavor that will give the smoker the most pleasure of cigar smoking.

Binders

And the last cigar’s tobacco is binders, which are elastic leaves used to hold together the bunches of fillers. Basically, binders are wrappers that are rejected because of holes, blemishes, discolorations or excess veins.

If you want to know about cigar tobacco, then you need to make an extensive search through the internet to come across various websites that deal in cigar tobacco. Like other tobacco products, cigar smoking also possesses significant risk on health depending upon the dosages. Cigar tobacco is less injurious to health compared to other tobacco products.

Enjoying a good cigar can be compared to tasting a good wine; that is why expert smokers actually ‘taste’ the smoke coming out of every cigar. Taste glands are the best mechanism the human body has to determine the quality of a good smoke. One breath that involves the complexity and the flavors combination of a pure cigar can be compared to the pleasure of tasting a great wine or an exquisite meal.
Cigar clubs and bars are growing in the main cities of the world, making London the Mecca due to its trade and consuming capacity. When smoking in public places was prohibited in the United States, a frenzy of cigar bars was unleashed. Cigar Aficionado is the most important publication in the cigar world consisting on a monthly printout of 750,000.00 magazines. Regardless of the place you visit, it will not be long before you can identify a cigar lover; he lives in camaraderie environments. Such environment is much nicer, more cultural and perfumed than the one from cigarette smokers.
Cigars are said to be a unique experience due to the following: Very few tobacco varieties are used to elaborate a good cigar, which is planted and aged with extreme caution

The fermentation process makes the tobacco leaves lose most of their nicotine Cigars designed to burn at very low temperatures, in other words, its tobacco should never be excessively heated so it dies not lose its softness. Smoke is not a secondary element, but the key to the pleasure, since the smoke contains the flavor and aroma that only a cigar can provide.

Cigar smoking tips

Once it is lighted, take the cigar to your lips and blow it prior to the first breath; this will dissipate any unwanted flavor consequence of the lighting. Once this is done, fill your mouth with cold smoke and keep it there without inhaling it; take the cigar out of your mouth, and slowly blow it out. Please hold an instant before the next puff. Do not rush, it is recommended that you take intervals of a minute or so, to prevent the cigar from blowing off. Remember, the faster you smoke, the least you will enjoy the experience, as the cigar will heat excessively and produce a bitter flavor. The head of the cigar should be kept as dry as possible, hence avoid keeping the cigar in your mouth for too long. A cigar with moisture starts to lose flavor when nicotine and tar start mixing with saliva, therefore, do not hold your cigar for more than three minutes on every smoke.
The first half of the cigar is different to the second, the smoke increases and the flavor intensifies as you smoke which is not always positive.  This happens after having smoked a third of the cigar (expert cigar smokers can tell when this moment has been reached, and proceed to light off the cigar, as it had already transpired its thru essence; not doing so will end up in an unpleasant sensation as the cigar turns bitterer by the minute).
Hold the cigar gently but firmly, try not to squeeze it, as it may impact the blow. Hold it between your thumb, index and middle fingers.
The ashtray should be the cigar’s rest place; let it burn off, so it will rapidly consume and generate less smell than pushing it against the ashtray.

Hope the paragraphs above had given you an introduction to Smoking Cigars. You can find more information at: http://www.mensmokingcigars.com/

Nice video of cigar production in Esteli, Nicaragua. Describes the negative impact of excessively high, regressive excise taxes on the cigar industry in Nicaragua.

How To Grow Tobacco At Home And Save Thousands. Affiliates Earn Usd14 Per Sale. Very Low Refund Rate Guaranteed! For Pre-Written Emails Go To www.GrowRollSmoke.com/aff.html.
Grow Roll Smoke.

Clips from Pink Floyd I put together.

A danish reggea/hiphop band with their first hit “Cigar”. The singing is on danish (most of it enyway) but you kan enjoy the music, and the video. Don’t think you would get much sense out of the lyrics enyway… but if you want a transalation let me know. I’ll take the challenge…!

Economical, Convenient And Easy To Use Video Tutorials For Scrapbooking And Paper Crafting. Make These Charming And Delightful Mini Albums And Paper Crafting Projects When You Want, Where You Want And With Whom You Want. Its A Scrapbookers Paradise.
Sapphire Scrapbook Video Tutorials.

Swedish Match and Scandinavian Tobacco Group Sign Agreement to Form a New Cigar Focused Company
STOCKHOLM—-Regulatory News:

Read more on Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance

State clarifies how smoking ban will affect cigar bars
Michigan’s statewide smoking ban, which takes effect May 1, will allow established cigar bars to sell food and drink, the state Department of Community Health announced today.

Read more on WZZM 13 Grand Rapids

Kobe Bryant Seemingly Not Worried About OKC
Following the Lakers’ beatdown at the hands of the Thunder in Game 4, The Oklahoman spotted Bryant leaving the arena while puffing on a cigar , which they took to mean that he wasn’t all that concerned with his team’s performance in the series: “As Kobe Bryant strolled out of the Ford Center following the Thunder’s 110-89 win in Game 4 on Saturday night, the Los Angeles Lakers’ star lit up …

Read more on Slam

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.