Which cigar should i start smoking

On the craft side, rolling the perfect handmade cigar is an artisanal skill, and one that takes many years to fully master. Blending tobacco is as much art as it is science, and because tobacco is subject to the whims of nature, the blender must be able to work effectively with an ingredient that can change from year to year due to crop variations.

Like wine, some vintages are better than others, but cigarmakers will do everything in their power to ensure that their product is consistent, even though crop quality is highly dependent on the weather. As with any handmade product, no two premium cigars will be exactly alike. The finest, most sincere cigars are natural expressions of both the cigarmaker and the soil from which the tobacco was grown. Some claim the number is even higher. Suffice to say, every time you light up a cigar, many, many people with many different skills all contributed to bring you the ultimate handmade product.

It starts with seed selection and greenhouse cultivation. Cigar tobacco starts as a tiny seed, most often planted in a tray and grown in a greenhouse. At full height and maturity, the leaves are removed by hand, harvested and hung in a curing barn to dry and turn brown. The cured tobacco is then taken to a facility, unpacked and piled up for fermentation. When fermentation is complete, the tobacco pile is separated and laid on drying racks to air out.

After a few years, the aged tobacco is unpacked again, rehydrated in a special misting room and categorized for color. The outer wrapper leaves will also undergo destemming or despalillo , a process where the thick, central vein is removed from the leaf. Sometimes that step is done completely by hand, other times the tobacco is fed through a stripping machine. For filler, a worker will remove part of the stem by hand, leaving the rest intact. More hands. The blend is formulated of exacting proportions of very specific tobaccos to impart a very particular smoking experience—a formulation that puts more hands on your cigars.

Finished cigars are sorted for color consistency, then sent to the aging room. This is the basic chronology of how a cigar is made. There are, of course, plenty of other quality-control steps that vary from operation to operation, and nearly all are completed entirely by hand, but the point is this: a single hand-rolled cigar is a massive human effort that requires hands-on expertise on every level.

Fermentation is common to producers of wine and spirits, defined as a process that converts sugars in organic material to alcohol, often with the use of yeast. No alcohol is produced in tobacco fermentation, but the process releases heat as it changes the chemical composition and physical traits of the leaf through humidity and oxidization.

Tobacco undergoes fermentation for one simple reason: it makes the tobacco taste better. The process affects the flavor and smell of tobacco, making it less astringent and reducing bitterness while bringing out its more floral, nutty and sweeter aspects.

Fermentation is fairly simple. The only thing added is water. The weight of the piles produce pressure while the enzymatic and microbial breakdown produces the heat. The piles are checked daily and the temperature is monitored. Ideally, tobacco is piled and fermented according to size and type. Different-sized leaves and different tobacco varietals will ferment at different rates, so the pile must be as homogenous as possible.

The idea is to naturally alter the taste of the tobacco and transform it from its raw, bitter state to something smokeable and pleasant. Underfermented tobacco will often have a harsh aftertaste and smell like ammonia. Aging tobacco plays a vital role, both before and after the cigar is made.

Tobacco leaves are aged after fermentation. During aging, the leaves are packed up into tight parcels called bales where they undergo a slow, steady breakdown of carotenoids, which helps to bring out the desirable properties in the tobacco. Ever smoke tobacco that tastes like freshly cut grass or raw green beans? Some people, however, find the whole business of cigars dauntingly impenetrable. Expensively dressed men and, increasingly, women talk of the smoothness of the draw, the origin of the wrapper compared to the binder, coronas and panetelas and robustos, and it can seem like a tightly sealed club.

Cuban cigars have a rarity value and a certain illicit cachet in America, which has a much more active cigar culture than we do.

There are, however, excellent tobacco growers throughout central America: Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Brazil all produce very fine leaf, and, consequently, some first-class cigars. Cigars, much more than cigarettes, are a social experience, and sharing a good smoke and perhaps a carefully chosen drink with friends who are similarly inclined is a glorious thing.

You can compare notes on the flavours of the tobacco — no two people will taste the same thing — but there is something elusively meditative about the experience of inhaling, savouring and exhaling repeatedly.

Through some bio-chemical wizardry, nicotine acts as both a stimulant and a relaxant, giving you a mild, pleasurable buzz. If it goes well, you will find yourself both relaxed and suffused with good-feeling towards the world. Selecting a cigar for the first time can be a challenge as there are so many brands, shapes, sizes and wrapper colours of cigars to choose. For a novice smoker, this can make the decision a bit overwhelming. It is best to start with mild cigars because the strength of a full-bodied cigar can be too much for beginners and may put you off.

But the quality experience of a slightly more expensive, expertly hand-rolled cigar could be just the thing for you! To help you on your journey, take a look at the best cigars for beginners. A vitola refers to the shape, length and ring gauge of your cigar. There are a variety of standard sizes for cigars , which each have their own name, as seen below. This means that a 64 ring gauge cigar would be an inch in diameter — although most are smaller than this! Each vitola has a very similar length, ring gauge and shape, so you will know what size the cigar is by its name alone.

A question that many new smokers have is how much they should be paying for a cigar. There are a number of factors which will affect the price of a cigar, such as the brand it is from, how long the tobacco used to make the cigar was aged, how big the cigar is, how many you are buying, and any taxes that may be added!

Because premium cigars are so desirable, there is, unfortunately, an issue with counterfeit cigars , especially Cuban smokes. To avoid receiving a disappointing, fake smoke, it is important to buy from a reputable seller, such as Havana House. Genuine Cuban cigars feature several stamps and seals that ensure the cigars are genuine and are certified as being of a high quality for the English market.

The first step in cigar preparation is to cut the cap with a cigar cutter. Removing this part allows you to draw through the cigar and puff through it. Using a knife or your teeth! It is important to use a quality cutter with a sharp blade to ensure a clean cut.

Using a blunt, or low-quality cutter can cause damage to the wrapper, which you want to remain intact. The cap is a small piece of wrapper that has been glued to the end of the cigar. Only mm of this needs to be removed with the cutter. Use a strong, quick motion to chop off the end, as this will prevent the wrapper from tearing. For those new to smoking, a double-bladed guillotine cutter is the best bet.

This is a matter that is debated back and forth between even the most advanced aficionados out there, so as a beginner, it is fine to be unsure of the protocol regarding band removal! There are a number of arguments for and against removing the band. Firstly, if you smoke a cigar with the band still on, and the band begins to burn, your cigar will just taste like burnt paper, which is not good! To prevent this from happening, some remove the band as a preventative measure.

On the other hand, the band is usually affixed to the cigar with a small amount of gum adhesive. Sometimes too much of this is used, and the band can become fused to the wrapper leaf. This means that when the band is removed, a small amount of the wrapper will come away too, which can impact the structure of the cigar. It can be best to start smoking for a few minutes and allow the heat of the cigar to soften up the gum, allowing you to easily undo the band! A silky Connecticut-seed wrapper grown in Ecuador embraces a vintage interior of premium Nicaraguan long-fillers to deliver a consistent, medium-bodied profile of cedar, white pepper, and nuts with creamy aroma and a delightful finish.

Elegancia is rated 91 points by the critics in Cigar Aficionado , and is popular cigar for new cigar lovers who want to branch out from mild Dominican blends. Montecristo is one of the most famous Cuban-legacy brands in the world. There several blends to consider today, but none compare to the original Montecristo. A golden Connecticut Shade wrapper conceals a magnificent amalgam of premium Dominican long-fillers blended and handmade in the Dominican Republic in several traditional shapes. A touch of sweetness blesses the palate with notes of cedar, grass, and glazed nuts.

Plenty of beginner cigar smokers will eventually try the iconic Torpedo, Montecristo No. Brand founder Nick Perdomo is well known for making high quality, consistent cigars for a great price. A creamy Ecuador Connecticut wrapper encloses a hearty blend of Nicaraguan long-fillers blended in several bigger ring gauge sizes. Nutty and smooth notes of coffee with cream, cedar, and nuts carry a plethora of Nicaraguan spices that satisfy without overwhelming your palate.