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CIGAR 101

A cigar is a tightly rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco, one end of which is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the smoker's mouth through the other end.

The word cigar is from the Spanish word cigarro, which the Oxford English Dictionary suggests is a variation on cigarra, Spanish for "cicada," due to its shape, especially that of what is now called the perfecto. Other sources have indicated that it may be derived from the Mayan word sikar, "tobacco."

Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in such nations as Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua and the United States of America. Cigars manufactured in Cuba are widely considered to be without peer, although many experts believe that the best offerings from Honduras and Nicaragua rival those from Cuba. The Cuban mystique arises from the unique characteristics of the Vuelta Abajo region in the Pinar del Río Province at the west of the island, where a microclimate allows for unequalled tobacco to be grown, and to the skill of the nation's cigar-makers

Composition

Cigars are composed of three types of tobacco leaves, whose variations determine smoking and flavor characteristics:

Wrappers

A cigar's outermost leaves, or wrapper, come from the widest part of the plant. The wrapper determines much of the cigar's character and flavor, and as such its color is often used to describe the cigar as a whole. Colors are designated as follows, from lightest to darkest:

  • Double Claro – very light, slightly greenish (also called Candela, American Market Selection or jade); achieved by picking leaves before maturity and drying quickly; often grown in Connecticut
  • Claro – light tan or yellowish. Indicative of shade-grown tobacco.
  • Natural – light brown to brown; generally sun-grown.
  • Colorado Claro – mid-brown; particularly associated with tobacco grown in the Dominican Republic or in Cuba
  • Colorado – reddish-brown (also called Rosado)
  • Colorado Maduro – dark brown; particularly associated with Honduras or Cuba-grown tobacco
  • Maduro – dark brown to very dark brown
  • Oscuro – black, often oily in appearance; tend to be grown in Cuba, Nicaragua, Brazil, Mexico, or Connecticut

Some manufacturers use an alternate designation:

  • American Market Selection (AMS) – synonymous with Double Claro
  • English Market Selection (EMS) – can refer to any color stronger than Double Claro but milder than Maduro
  • Spanish Market Selection (SMS) – either of the two darkest colors, Maduro and Oscuro

 

Fillers

The majority of a cigar is made up of fillers, wrapped-up bunches of leaves in its interior. Fillers of various strengths are usually blended to produce unique cigar flavors. The more oils present in the tobacco leaf, the stronger (less dry) the filler. Types range from the light-flavored (dry) Seco, through the medium Volado, and on to the strong Ligero. Large-gauge cigars have a greater capacity to contain filler, and thus have greater potential to provide a full body and/or complex flavor.

Fillers can be either long or short; long filler uses whole leaves and is of a better quality, while short filler, also called "mixed," uses chopped up leaves as well as stems and other bits. Recently some manufacturers have created what they term "medium filler" cigars. They do not use whole leaves but part of the leaves. The quality is usuallty much better than short filler cigars because the leaves are not chopped up and there are no stems and bits in the filler. Short filler cigars are easy to identify when smoked since they often burn hotter and the smoker will be spitting out bits and pieces from the smoking end. Long filled cigars of high quality should burn evenly and consistently.

Binders

Binders are elastic leaves used to hold together the bunches of fillers.

Size and shape

Cigars are commonly categorized by the size and shape of the cigar, which together are known as a vitola.

The size of a cigar is measured by two dimensions: its ring gauge (its diameter in sixty-fourths of an inch) and its length (in inches). For example, most non-Cuban robustos have a ring gauge of approximately 50 and a length of approximately 5 inches. Robustos which are of Cuban origin always have a ring gauge of 50 and a length of 4 7/8 inches.

  • Coronas
    • Petit Corona (5" x 42)
    • Corona (5 1/2" x 42)
    • Corona Extra (5 1/2" x 46)
    • Robusto (5" x 50), also called Rothschilds after the Rothschild family
    • Long Corona (6" x 42)
    • Toro (6" x 50)
    • Lonsdale (6 1/2" x 42), named for Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale
    • Grand Corona (6 1/2" x 46)
    • Julieta a.k.a. Churchill (7" x 47), named for Winston Churchill
    • Giant Corona (7 1/2" x 44)
    • Double Corona (7 3/4" x 49)
  • Panatelas – longer and generally thinner than Coronas
    • Small Panatela (5" x 33)
    • Short Panatela (5" x 38)
    • Slim Panatela (6" x 34)
    • Panatela (6" x 38)
    • Long Panatela (7 1/2" x 38)

 

Flavor

Virtually all cigar aficionados enjoy the practice because of the rich and varied flavors one observes when smoking, although some eschew the connoisseurial qualities in favor of other factors. For those drawn by taste, each brand and type of cigar carries different qualities of taste. Generally, cigars with lighter colored wrappers are milder in flavor and have less of a smoky aftertaste. Darker wrappers are typically richer in flavor, although the specific flavors are not unique to any particular style or type of tobacco. Flavors of cigars whether mild, medium, or strong are not indicators of quality. Like all kinds of flavors they are highly personal.

Unlike cigarettes, cigars taste very little of smoke, and usually very much of tobacco with overtones of other tastes. A fine cigar--especially one of Cuban origin prior to 1990--can have virtually no taste of smoke whatsoever.

Some of the more common flavors one observes while smoking a cigar include:

  • Spice
  • Cocoa / chocolate
  • Peat / moss / earth
  • Coffee
  • Nut
  • Wood

Many different things affect the scent of cigar smoke: quality of the cigar, added flavors, tobacco type, cigar age, cigar humidity, production method (handmade vs. machine-made) and more.

Non-smokers subjected to second-hand cigar smoke have many different opinions about the scent of cigar smoke. Some enjoy the cigar smoke, noticing the difference between cigar smoke and the more common scent of cigarette smoke. However, other non-smokers do not appreciate or enjoy the scent of cigar smoke.

The most ardent enjoyers of cigar smoking will sometimes keep personal journals of cigars they've enjoyed, complete with personal ratings, description of flavors observed, sizes, brands, etc. The qualities and characteristics of cigar tasting are very similar to those of wine, Scotch, beer, cognacs and tequila. Within a given specification, there are endless varieties. This dynamic is part of the appeal to which cigar smokers are continually drawn.

Source for all the above information is wikipedia.org

 

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