We have all heard of the risks associated with smoking cigarettes, but what are the risks of cigar smoking? Are the risks of smoking cigars just as dangerous, or more so? According to the National Cancer Instituted, regular cigar smoking can result in a major health threat. Scientific research has linked cigar smoking with cancers of the larynx, lungs, esophagus, and oral cavity. Newer research also indicates that cigar smoking may be strongly linked to the development of cancer in the pancreas. Doctors also caution that individuals who regularly inhale while enjoying a cigar are also at greater risk of developing lung disease and heart problems.

The health threats of cigar smoking appear to increase dramatically in those individuals who smoke regularly and inhale while smoking. Someone who smokes three to four cigars each day will him or herself at eight times the risk of developing some kind of oral cancer than a nonsmoker. Unfortunately, we do not yet know the health risks of smoking the occasional cigar. It seems clear however that smoking cigars on a daily basis can pose serious health risks.

Many individuals wonder if cigars are as addictive as cigarettes. Many wonder why, for instance, so many people become addicted to cigarettes, and not cigars? The truth is that any tobacco product can become addictive because it contains nicotine. Witness the effects of smokeless tobacco products on individuals. These products, such as chewing tobacco, can become very addictive, simply because they contain tobacco, which in turn contains nicotine. Many cigar smokers do not inhale deeply, thus causing the nicotine to be inhaled superficially. Cigarette smokers tend to inhale, causing the nicotine to be absorbed faster and more readily by the lungs. Even though most cigar smokers inhale the nicotine more superficially, it is still possible to become addicted if the user smokes cigars on a regular basis.

If nicotine is so addictive, why don’t more cigar smokers smoke more often? It appears that more people avoid becoming ‘hooked’ on cigars for several reasons. The most obvious reason is that the nicotine is inhaled much more superficially than in regular cigarette smoking, causing less nicotine to be absorbed by the body. Also, cigars are not as readily accessible as cigarettes. They are viewed by most as a luxury item, saved for special occasions and used infrequently. However, when cigars are smoked on a regular basis, they can become addictive. The health risks of any kind of smoking increase dramatically as frequency of use increases.

I know smoking cigarettes people usually inhale them, but people say that when you smoke cigars you dont inhale them. How exactly do you smoke a cigar the correct way? What exactly do people do with cigars if they dont inhale them?
What happens if you do inhale them??

Veterinarian and rodeo favorite Barcelona dead at 84
Dr. Tony Barcelona, who, with his trademark cowboy hat, soggy cigar and Texas A&M-maroon motor scooter, addressed the medical needs of farm animals at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo for more than 50 years.

Read more on Houston Chronicle

Arizona Cigar Company Gets Calls from Illegal Immigration Law Supporters
In an effort to show support for Arizona business and to counteract the boycotts of Arizona, an Arizona cigar company has been getting calls from around the United States. (PRWeb May 13, 2010) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/05/prweb4000284.htm

Read more on PRWeb

Arizona Cigar Company Gets Calls from Illegal Immigration Law Supporters
In an effort to show support for Arizona business and to counteract the boycotts of Arizona, an Arizona cigar company has been getting calls from around the United States.

Read more on PRWeb via Yahoo! News

I am looking to purchase some kind of Cigar accessories for my boyfriend. I am looking at Humidor Sets at the moment. I have seen them range from $70 to over $300. My questions is who makes a good humidor and are the accessories (lighter, cutter) a lower quality in the sets?

Any other accessories I could purchase for him? He is just getting into them and doesn’t have much at the moment…

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

http://www.lightersdirect.com/Gift_Sets.37/Colibri_Cigar_Humidor_Set.9803.html

This is the one I am currently interested in..

A great place to smoke where you can meet other cigar lovers and learn more about them is at a cigar lounge. It is a place to learn about the culture of smoking, etiquette, and immerse yourself with knowledge about cigar brands, flavors, trends, and family names. A lot of people that are members of a lounge go there to relax and it is their place away from home to enjoy what they are smoking. If you have never been to a lounge before there is a certain etiquette that you should know about before becoming a member or spending the day in a lounge with a cigar.

If you are a cigar aficionado or have mastered the techniques of properly smoking, do not point out faults in other smokers. Smoking is a personal preference and everyone has their own way to smoke and enjoy a stick. You should never tell someone how to smoke unless you are asked. Do not interrupt someone mid-puff and tell them they are inhaling wrong, and do not stop someone while they are lighting their stick and give them pointers for example.

Another important rule of etiquette in a lounge is to not be on your cell phone allowing others to hear your conversation. If you have to make or take a phone call, do it outside. Most lounges are fairly quiet and it is a place to relax and get to know fellow cigar lovers. If you are there to work on your laptop or conduct business, please put the sound very low or have it muted.

Part of knowing the etiquette of a certain lounge is knowing the people who are members. It is helpful to get to know the staff and smokers so you will know what is acceptable or not. Some lounges have televisions and computers for you to use, so it would be ok for you to bring in a movie or request a show to watch. Also, some members of a lounge set up weekly poker games or card games. How people act in a lounge will help you to interact with the staff and other members.

Keep in mind that when you are trying to get to know people, do not steal every conversation or interrupt. It is proper etiquette in any situation to allow people to finish talking and to not jump into a conversation and trying to change the topic.

Another rule of etiquette is to not be boastful, especially in a cigar lounge. You do not want to suggest to other members that your cigars are better than theirs or that you have the best humidor. Smoking cigars is very personal because we each have our own preferences for strengths, flavors, shapes, sizes, and brands. Let each cigar smoker enjoy and love what they have chosen to smoke.

There are cigar lounges all over the world and they are great places to smoke. It is a place to be surrounded by all things cigar related. You can make friends, talk about cigars, and learn more about the culture of smoking. It is a place for both men and women so ladies, do not be afraid to join one. When you are joining a lounge, be sure to remember these rules of etiquette.

Cigar smoking is all about shared pleasure. After all, it swept Victorian England and became a national pastime in part because it gave men something to do with their hands while they talked after dinner. And it took off during the so-called “cigar boom” of the 1990s in part because new publications, online forums, cigar clubs, and other social venues allowed cigar smokers to talk about their passion.

So it’s no surprise to find cigar-related events all over the social calendar of smokers around the world. In addition to the lavish, expensive Big Smoke conventions put on by Cigar Aficionado magazine – at least two a year, in Las Vegas and New York City – there’s the Ybor City festival in Tampa, Florida, free and open to the public. And that’s just November. Check out a few other, more-exotic possibilities from all over the globe.

The Dominican Republic is the world’s largest source of premium cigars, surpassing even Cuba (from which many of the country’s cigar-making families and technologies emigrated during the years after Castro). La Aurora, Davidoff, Arturo Fuente, and La Gloria Cubana, among many others, all operate there, and as of 2007, it has its own yearly cigar festival as well! Taking place in Santiago, the two-day Procigar Festival (the first of which took place March 5-7, 2008) featured cigar factory tours, visits to tobacco fields, chances to hobnob with some of the world’s greatest cigar makers, and cigar-and-liquor matchups. Companies such as La Aurora, General Cigar Co., and Tabacalera de Garcia, among others, participated, and the inaugural bow was successful enough to motivate a second – to be held February 16-20, 2009.

While you’re there, if you go, you may want to check out some of the other sights offered by this important Latin American cultural capital. The Dominican Republic was the first place permanently settled by Europeans anywhere in either American continent – the oldest cathedrals, universities, and European-made roads can all be found there. Santo Domingo, the country’s capital, butts up against its southern coast, offering breathtaking views (the Procigar Festival takes place far further north, in Santiago, but the country is not super-large in total area). Four mountain ranges decorate the country; the Cordillera Central (“Central Mountain Range”) approaches Santiago, so visitors to the Procigar Festival could also schedule a day trip to see Pico Duarte, the jewel of the Cordillera Central and the highest peak in the West Indies (over 3000 meters). And, of course, Santiago is itself located in the Cibao valley – between the Cordillera Central and Corillera Septentrional (“Northern Mountain Range”), which run parallel to each other – and it’s this rich and fertile area that houses most of the country’s farms, including its tobacco farms.

Or you could follow in author James Joyce’s footsteps and visit Zurich, Switzerland, where the expatriate Irish modernist polymath-writer completed large sections of his surreal novel Finnegans Wake, and where the Whiskyship sails every November. (What is it with November and cigar events?) This whisky-tasting event, which also offers three hundred premium cigars for the sampling, allows those with sharp noses and tastebuds to enjoy single malt whiskies from all over the world, and to enjoy the companies of folks with similar tastes. The 2008 Whiskyship will be the tenth such event. Switzerland, of course, features all sorts of other attractions – among other things, there’s the James Joyce Foundation, but also, you know, mountains and pristine lakes and thousands of years’ worth of European scenery – and would be worth a visit regardless.

Another possibility – albeit somewhat closer to home, at least for North American smokers – is the Nebraska Cigar Festival in Lincoln. Taking place in late November (which pits it against the Ybor City Festival and the two CA Big Smokes in drawing the attention of Midwestern cigar fanatics who don’t feel like going to Zurich), the one-evening event brings in cigars, munchies and a pair of drink tickets for those willing to shell out the admission fees and deal with early-winter Midwestern cold.

Incoming search terms:

• nebraska cigar festival 2012

The right moment for the right cigar is a statement that brings to mind times when the stock market is flourishing. It also brings to mind times when the stock market is crashing miserably and it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work plotting out new pathways to survival, new pathways to prosperity.

The moment for the right cigar is FDR lighting up a stogie while planning how to rend America away from the chaos of the Depression in a dustbowl-plagued America of the 1930’s and 40’s.

The right moment for the right cigar is Winston Churchill working all hours of the day and night in his underground command headquarters in the London of the blitz.

The right moment for the right cigar is a soldier, a man or woman, who has just walked the gauntlet through a landmine in the field of battle and lived to tell the tale.

The right moment for the right cigar is a different kind of battle, when a producer has a hit after corralling writers, directors, actors and musicians, all of whom have lived their lives in artistic uncertainty, and now because of him, they have a secure future.

The right moment for the right cigar is the end of a championship game of billiards or poker. It’s also the end of a championship game of football, or baseball, or soccer, or basketball…and your side has just won.

The right moment for the right cigar is a revolution of any kind, whether you caused it, fought in it, or just escaped from it.

The right moment for the right cigar is when you realize the difference between pleasure and hedonism, and the difference between desire and necessity.

The right moment for the right cigar is when a lawsuit is over and you just won.

The right moment for the right cigar is when your little girl is crying because she’s been left out of playing with the older kids, she joins you on the back porch, you put the band from a fine cigar on her finger…and she smiles.

The right moment for the right cigar is when your teenaged son is escorted home by the police because he went to them and told them that he didn’t think he could drive safely.

The right moment for the right cigar is just after you attended the ceremony for your kid graduating from, or receiving honors for, any worthy endeavor.

Those are some of the right moments, and the right cigar for those moments may be obtained at purveyors of great cigars. So pick your moment…the right cigar awaits.

Perhaps the movies are to blame. All those scenes where the powerful businessman or politician says to the ingenuous hero, “May I offer you a cigar,” then-without missing a beat-brandishes a gold-embossed cigar case. A case with no humidity controls. A case that is not a humidor.

Whatever the reason, many casual cigar smokers-and even fairly committed lovers of premium cigars-don’t realize how important it is to store your cigars in a humidor.

In fact, if you’re like many smokers, you’re asking yourself what a humidor is, and why you should use one. A humidor is, basically, a box that’s designed to maintain your cigars at a certain level of humidity (near seventy percent) and a proper temperature (seventy degrees or below) when you’re not, you know, smoking them.

Why exactly is that near-seventy-percent humidity figure so important? To answer this question, we have to remember what a cigar is-a set of cut, dried, cured, fermented, rolled-together leaves. When the cigar maker picked these leaves, allowed them to dry, and cured them, etc., it put those leaves on a process that ends in the death of the leaves, and the death of their flavor. In the open air, these leaves can easily dry out completely, and the cigar loses its taste. In a too-humid environment, on the other hand, they get moldy. Basically, the moment you purchase a cigar, you are in a war with the elements; your job is to keep the cigar’s flavor alive, while the elements (air, bacteria, etc.) want your cigar to be spoiled.

Humidity is your ally in that battle. The tobacco plant has evolved to thrive in an environment near seventy percent humidity-the condition in which you’ll most often find it in nature-and if you can replicate that humidity, your cigars are in good shape. The best humidors use Spanish cedar or Honduran mahogany to trap that moisture, and they have a hygrometer-a device that controls and allows you to monitor moisture levels.

Now that you know why you need one, here are some tips on the care and feeding of humidors. First of all, new humidors need to be “seasoned.” When you buy your humidor, before using it, wipe the interior wood with a moist cloth, then leave a small, closed container of water inside the humidor for 12 hours. After those twelve hours are up, check to see how much of the closed vial of water the humidor has “drank.” If it’s nearly empty, then repeat the process for another twenty-four hours. Repeat this process until the water stops evaporating; now the humidor is ready for your cigars!

You’ll also need to fill the hygrometer (the device controls humidity levels). Use distilled water-or a humidifying solution (the humidor should come with instructions regarding this choice). Let the excess water drip from the hygrometer into a sink, and wipe off the outside of the device. Put it in the humidor. Another option should you choose not to use a hygrometer, is a new product that many veteran keepers of the stick have turned to: Bóveda Packs. Bóveda Packs are an amazing invention. Each pack is rated for a certain humidity level, either 72%, 69% or 65%.

Simply place the correct number of Bóveda packets inside your humidor to maintain a precise relative humidity. Each Bóveda packet consists of a specially prepared saturated solution of pure water and natural salt. This saturated solution is contained within a water-vapor permeable reverse osmosis membrane. Within a closed desktop humidor Bóveda maintains a predetermined level of (RH) by releasing or absorbing purified water-vapor-as needed-through the membrane. Boveda Packs are only to be used once, they are not refillable. They become very stiff when the contents are spent. These amazing packs last around 2 months in an average humidor.

Another recommendation: don’t keep your humidor near any home appliances that tend to affect home humidity, or any places in the home where these appliances tend to be stored. These might include heaters, air conditioners, vents, fans, and windows. Keep it away, also, from sustained direct sunlight; pay attention to the way that sunlight exposure changes throughout the seasons, too, because some “safe places” in your home might be less safe during the summer, when the sun’s rays creep further in and stay longer.

And lastly, know what to do if, in spite of all your preparations, your cigars suffer an attack of tobacco beetles. This irritating species preys on tobacco and, in some cases, can bore through a humidor. First of all, remember not to let the temperature in your humidor go too high-tobacco beetles flourish at temperatures over 75 degrees. (So a tobacco-beetle infestation means you haven’t monitored that humidor carefully enough!) Take out the cigars that have been infested and keep them in your freezer for 48 hours. Refrigerate them for another day after that. Now they should be safely returnable to the humidor-which, in the meantime, should be thoroughly cleaned, checked for structural integrity, and if necessary, replaced. Spanish-cedar humidors, by the way, are slightly better for keeping these nasty beetles out in the first place.

For that extra-special celebration.

Many people wonder if a cigar guide is truly necessary for a smoker to find what they are looking for. Necessity is not the issue here; expediency is. A guide of any kind makes a search of any kind easier to pursue, and more likely to pay off in the end.

In this case, a cigar guide provides cigar smokers with all kinds of information that pertains to both cigars themselves and the general world of cigar smoking as a whole. Things such as local bans on smoking, information on humidors, new and exciting cigar packs as gift items, cigar accessories you may not have thought of, and cigar etiquette for cigar lounge aficionados are all explained in sufficient detail to make good decisions and to act appropriately.

Much needed advice for beginning smokers is almost always included. After all, we were all once beginners, and none of us would have stuck with it had there been someone or something to give us the basics of brand and etiquette. New smokers will also gain from these publications (both print and online) a wealth of information about cigar products like humidors, cigar cutters, how to prepare and install humidifiers, and helpful tips about health and legal issues that relate to cigars.

A cigar guide is a resource for the inquisitive, but somewhat shy, new smoker who does not want to risk embarrassment by asking too many questions at a cigar lounge.

Much to their surprise, the average beginner tends to be a little shocked at how truly different smoking a cigar is in comparison to a cigarette. For instance, a cigar has to be cut a certain way before it is smoked in order for a person to draw smoke from the end. This is not necessary with a cigarette. Another difference is the way a person has to light a cigar. The end must be lit deliberately and evenly, otherwise, the cigar will not burn evenly. Perhaps the greatest difference, however, is the way a person actually smokes a cigar. Cigar smoke is drawn into the mouth and tasted, but it is never inhaled like cigarette smoke.

Making these mistakes in a cigar lounge can be so embarrassing a person tries a cigar once and never tries one again. That is, unless he or she learns NOT to make them by reading a cigar guide first. With a little bit of motivated self-study, one soon learns that the world of cigars is not about being an elitist, but rather being confident and classy in a way that silently communicates that you know what you are doing no matter what you are doing or where.

This is also the best place to find information on how individual brands of cigars are made. Most seasoned smokers prefer to smoke hand-rolled cigars. Machine-rolled cigars are considered cheap. The cigar connoisseur needs to know up front what he or she is buying before money is actually put on the table.

Cigar aficionados also care a great deal about cigar country of origin. Nations like Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic are world famous for their cigar quality. A cigar guide can and should give as much information on where a particular manufacturer grows the tobacco used in its cigar fillers and wrappers.

Cigar guides will often publish news on the latest developments in the cigar world, also providing information on what is happening in the worlds top cigar companies.