THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CIGARS BY FAMOUS SMOKE SHOP | MAY 2010 11 0 0 C ONR OY PL

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CIGARS BY FAMOUS SMOKE SHOP | MAY 2010 11 0 0 C ONR OY PL A C E • E as to n PA 18040 • 800-564-2486 THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CIGARS People have been enjoying cigars for centuries, and the wealth of knowledge on the subject could fill volumes. It is best to think of the information below as a complete overview of cigar basics. It is everything you need to know in order to open the door to the world of cigars. But once you have stepped inside, you will realize that the realm of cigar enjoyment is far vaster than you ever could have imagined. Part 1: History The history of cigars is essentially the history of tobacco. Native Americans had been smoking tobacco either through a pipe or rolled up in a large leaf for centuries before Christopher Columbus “discovered” tobacco in 1492. Columbus can be credited with bringing tobacco and cigars to Europe though. But still, Native Americans were the first people to wrap scraps of tobacco up in a larger leaf and smoke it. This is still the essence of a cigar, as we will see when we break down cigars into distinctive components. Part 2: Parts of a Cigar In order to properly appreciate a cigar, the smoker needs to be able to identify where the flavors are coming from. Most cigars have three separate parts: wrappers, fillers and binders. Very small cigars will forego the binder altogether, but they are the exception to the rule. Wrappers The wrapper is the outermost part of the cigar and it is one of the first things you will notice. They are made from leaves on the widest part of the tobacco plant. The type of wrapper used to make a cigar can determine a lot of that cigar’s distinguishing flavor and characteristics. Cigar manufacturers have come up with more than 100 different wrapper shades. How- ever, there are seven general classifications that are the most common. Here they are, from the lightest color to the darkest: FA M OU S S M OKE S HOP T HE C OM PL E T E GU I D E TO C I GA R S 1 · Double Claro – This cigar is also commonly known as an American Market Selection, a Candela, or a jade. The leaf is very light and a little bit green in color. They take on this shade because they are picked before reaching full ma- turity, and they are dried quickly. The Double Claro was once an extremely popular cigar, but they are increasingly rare nowadays. · Claro – The Claro is another light wrapper. They come in light tan, beige or an almost yellowish color. They are oftentimes shade-grown from Connecticut. The Java Claro Robusto is an example of a Connecticut Claro. · Colorado Claro – This category can include Natural and English Market Collection cigars. They are medium brown. · Colorado – The straight-up Colorado is more common and has an easily identifiable reddish-brown color. They are also known as Rosados or Corojos. A good example is the Royal Nicaraguan Colorado Robusto Natural. · Colorado Maduro – These are a darker brown. Often they have a wrapper from Cameroon, or else a Honduran or Nicaraguan wrapper that was grown from a Cuban seed. · Maduro – These cigars are dark brown or black and grown in Connecticut, Mexico, Brazil, and Nicaragua. The Nestico Test Flight is a nutty and peppery- Final Blend is a rich-tasting, full-bodied example. · Oscuro – The Oscuro dropped in popularity for a long time but has experi- enced a resurgence lately. It is marked by an oily and extremely dark black ap- pearance. Oscuro wrappers are primarily grown in Connecticut, Cuba, Nicara- gua, Brazil and Mexico. The La Flor Dominicana Cabinet Oscuro L-500 is a rare example from the Dominican Republic. Generally speaking, the darker the wrapper, the sweeter the flavor. Conversely, the lighter you go, the dryer the taste. A fair estimate is that the wrapper imparts up to 40 460 percent of the flavor from a cigar's flavor comes from the wrapper, and the rest comes from the filler and binder. FA M OU S S M OKE S HOP T HE C OM PL E T E GU I D E TO C I GA R S 2 Binders The binder holds together the filler. Most of the time, binders are made from wrappers that were rejected because they had holes, discoloration or other blemishes. Fillers The filler makes up the majority of the tobacco in a cigar. Typically, they are made from a blend of tobaccos of varying strengths to make up the flavor. The part of the tobacco plant itself can have a big impact on the overall flavor of the ci- gar. Volado has a weak flavor and comes from the bottom of the plant. Seco leaves are dryer and come from the middle. Lingero leaves are from the top of the plant and have a strong flavor because they get the most access to sunlight. The bigger a cigar is, the more room there is for a variety of leaves, resulting in a more complex flavor. Some fillers are made of long leaves while others are made from short chopped up bits. Long leaves burn slower, and if they are of high quality, they should burn slowly and consistently. There are also “medium filler” cigars that are, aptly, in the middle. Part 3: Terminology Before we delve into different cigar categories, it is worth going through some common terms used to describe the various aspects of cigars that may be commonly misunder- stood by beginners. · Strength: This is simply a measure of how much nicotine is in a cigar. Strong cigars have more nicotine and mild cigars have less. This is also known as the cigar’s “kick.” Cigars will mellow out and lose nicotine over the years. · Flavor: This doesn’t refer an artificially flavored cigar like vanilla or strawberry. Pure flavor comes from the soil and the climate where the tobacco plant is cultivated. Aging, blending, and storage are other factors that contrib- ute to a cigar’s natural flavor. · Scent: This is how a cigar smells before you light it. Again, soil, climate and aging all combine to create the scent. FA M OU S S M OKE S HOP T HE C OM PL E T E GU I D E TO C I GA R S 3 · Aroma: This is how a cigar smells after you light it. Aroma is the smell of the smoke itself. Part 4: Shapes and Sizes Wrapper color is one way of categorizing cigars. Size and shape is another. Below are some of the most common shapes and sizes: Parejo Parejos are the most familiar shape of cigar. They are sometimes called coronas. Parejos have a long, straight body with an open end and a cap on the other end that the smoker must cut off. You can also just punch a hole in the tobacco-leaf cap. Below is a list of the most common categories of parejos, their typical approximate sizes (length x width), and common examples for the more popular styles. It’s important to note that specific cigars mentioned below are not necessarily the exact size listed. Those cigars are simply meant to serve as good examples of that particular style. The sizes below are averages for the particular styles, and are good estimations estimates. Variances can and will occur. · Rothschild – 11 cm x 19 mm4 1/2" x 50 – Tabamex Rothschilds have a rustic look but with a smooth draw and a light taste. · Robusto – 11 cm x 20 mm5" x 50 – Famous Dominican 4000 Robustos are contain a mild blends of Dominican Cuban-seed Dominican longfillers. · Small Panatela – 13 cm x 13 mm5" x 33 – Mosaico Small Panatelas are avail- able in a variety or wrapper shades and flavors. · Petit Corona – 13 cm x 17 mm5" x 42 – The Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 Petite Corona is a short and stocky cigar with a dark and rich flavor. · Corona – 14 5 1/2"cm xx 17 m m42 – The La Floridita Corona Gigante is a long-lasting smoke made of Dominican and Nicaraguan longfillers. · Corona Gorda – 14 cm x 18 mm5 1/2" x 46 – The CAO Gold Corona Gordas are handmade. They produce smoke with a creamy texture and a hint of sweet spice. FA M OU S S M OKE S HOP T HE C OM PL E T E GU I D E TO C I GA R S 4 · Panatela – 15 cm x 15 mm6" x 38 – The Garcia Y Vega Panatela Deluxe is a smooth and mild cigar that makes a great everyday smoke. · Toro – 15 cm x 20 mm6" x 50 – The Romeo Y Julieta uploads/Geographie/ cigars-guide.pdf

• Détails
• Publié le Sep 05, 2022
• Catégorie Geography / Geogra...
• Langue French
• Taille du fichier 0.5858MB