How to select a cigar blend?

How to select a cigar blend?

Selecting a great cigar for your enjoyment is a simple process. Let your pallet tell you want you desire in a cigar. The first step, determine the strength you desire in a cigar.

Strength:
Cigars range from mild to full body. Strength is an important aspect as to select a cigar that is to strong or to mild for your pallet and your smoking experience will be sub par. To strong a cigar and it could be overwhelming, to mild and you simply will discover an absence of flavor. Many people (not all) who are just starting to savor a cigar may want to begin with a mild cigar.

Sizes:
The cigars size measured by length and ring gauge will so often determine the strength of the cigar although subtle in many cases. Larger cigars usually tend to be slightly milder and smaller cigars tend to be slightly stronger in the same blend. A short “full body” petite cigar will be slightly stronger than a larger ring gauge, longer in length “full body” cigar in the same blend.

A “full body” cigar should not only have the strength but it also should be very smooth and rich in flavor. A “mild” cigar should offer complexity and robust flavor but be a mild smoking experience.

Flavors:
Cigar flavors range from spicy, earthy, peppery, creamy, and on and on. Smoothness, robust flavor are the desired characteristics of a great cigar regardless of the strength of the cigar.  

How to select a great cigar with the flavor you seek?
There are a wide range of cigars manufactured today that offer an array of different flavors. They are usually sold in a number of different (grades) classifications: Premium cigars: a true premium cigar is one that uses quality long fillers and a quality wrapper. These cigars are separated by the amount of time they are aged. The longer the aging (truthfully stated) the smoother more balanced the cigar becomes. Most “Bundled” cigars are made from short fillers and are known as “cheap” cigars.  Most “bundled cigars” use mix fillers and standard grade tobaccos.

The cigar wrapper:
There are so many “wrappers” employed in manufacturing “hand made cigars” cigars. Criollo, Maduro, Connecticut Shade, Sumatra, Nicaragua, Dominican, Honduras etc. The wrapper used along with the “fillers” will determine the flavor. It is best to experiment to find what wrapper and filler combination that pleases your pallet in the grade of cigar you wish to smoke. It is simply your journey to find a cigar or cigars that you thoroughly enjoy. Wrappers vary in quality as do the fillers.

The cigar filler:
The filler is the body of the cigar and a great cigar will employ a blend of highly aged, quality tobaccos. The well aged the fillers and the wrapper will blend together in a synergy of flavor in time. Only true aging will accomplish this task. A great cigar may be blended as an example with a Maduro or Natural wrapper with a variety of other select country’s tobaccos being used for the fillers. If allowed to age properly and constructed properly you will have a great cigar if the blending is special and high quality tobacco is used in the manufacturing process.  

How to determine a great cigar?
There are many cigars that are advertised as “Premium Cigars” when in fact they may not be. There is no industry governing body when it comes to labeling a cigar as a premium cigar. Here are some pointers to look for when determining if a cigar is a “premium Cigar” First of all how long has it been aged? Here again there is no industry oversight. There are cigars that claim to be aged 5 years, 10 years and on when in fact they may not. A great cigar meets all of the expectations of your pallet. It has an even burn. Its flavor begins after the first or second draw and continues to get better as you continue to enjoy it all the way down to the end.

Avoid the ammonia bite.  
The best way in qualifying a great cigar it should have robust flavor regardless if its mild, medium or full body from the beginning to its end. It should have no ammonia bite. You should be able to allow the cigar if so desired to go out half way through your journey and upon relighting there should not be a hint of bitterness or unsavory flavor. Cigars that have this pugnacity on relighting are poorly aged and the unwanted residues in the cigar have not been eliminated via a typical premium cigars required long aging fermentation process.

The cigars draw:
The draw on a premium cigar should ALWAYS be effortless. A small amount of cigar manufactures “draw test” each cigar before the wrapper is applied. This assures the premium cigar lover the opportunity to smoke his or her cigar without the annoying plugging and hard draw requirements. A cigar with a hard draw ruins the cigar smoking experience. It’s so often a result of poor quality control. A great cigar has a great draw!

Consistency in the blend:
A great cigar is one that maintains consistency in the blend year to year. Cigars are made from tobaccos that as everything in nature may slightly vary in taste from year to year, crop to crop (similar to wine). The flavor should be the same and the tobacco strain should remain the same. You may experience an ever so slight change from one crop to another but this change should be very subtle if not detectable. There are some cigars that employ “tricks” to achieve both aging and flavor consistency. Usually they employ alcohol to accelerate the aging process and additives to match the flavor profile from one year to the next.

Great cigars and great wine:
Great cigars and great wine have one thing in common. Flavor! Smoothness! They blend their products with high grade tobaccos or grapes and hold their blends in secret. Blending of a variety of high quality tobaccos brings forth the true essence in a premium cigar. The flavor is robust, distinctive and is coveted as such. Blending is an art and one of the most important aspects of a great cigar.

Bucanero Cigars, The best place to buy cigars online
www.bucanerocigars.com

Premium Cigars

Here are some pointers to look for when determining if a cigar is a “premium Cigar”

First and foremost, how long has the cigar been aged? Here again there is no industry oversight. There are cigars that claim to be aged 5 years, 10 years or more, when in fact they may not be? A premium cigar should meet all of the expectations of your pallet. It should have an even burn; its flavor should begin after the first or second draw and it should continue to get better as you continue to enjoy it all the way down to the end. A premium cigar should not have a drop off in flavor or loss of flavor as you continue your smoking journey.

If a cigar takes half or more in the burning process to achieve its flavor it should not be classified as a “premium cigar”. A true premium cigar, which is well aged, will not do this. It will begin with the entire flavor you desire and have a wonderful finish. A cigar that begins as a “teaser” type cigar with the flavor dropping off as you continue to smoke it is not a premium cigar. Many cigars today have this type of “drop off” and yet are marketed as “premiums”. Always look for complexity in flavor and smoothness regardless of strength in determining if the cigar is truly a premium cigar.

Ammonia Bite:

If you experience a bite in the back of your throat while smoking a cigar this most often is a sign of a cigar that lacks aging and or lacks quality tobaccos or both. This is a sign of poor aging, basically the excessive ammonia that has not been eliminated, thus causing this bite sensation. If the proper aging was used the cigar would be “purge free” as there would be no excess ammonia or biting sensation. Not only is this undesirable but it can also be a concern for your health, as ammonia is toxin. To avoid this ammonia bite, you should look for cigars that have been well aged, are purge free and employee well aged high quality tobaccos thus free from the ammonia bite.

The draw on a premium cigar should ALWAYS be effortless:

A small amount of cigar manufactures “draw test” each cigar before the wrapper is applied. Although costly this assures the premium cigar lover the opportunity to smoke his or her cigar without the annoying plugging and hard draw. A cigar with a hard draw ruins the cigar smoking experience. It’s so often a result of poor quality control. A great cigar has a great effortless draw!

Consistency in the blend year to year:

A great premium cigar is one that maintains consistency in the blend year to year. All cigars are made from tobaccos that as everything in nature may slightly vary in taste from year to year, crop to crop (similar to wine). The flavor should be the same and the tobacco strain should remain the same. You may experience an ever so slight change from one crop year to another but this change should be very subtle if not undetectable. There are some cigars that employ “tricks” to achieve both aging and flavor consistency. Usually they employ alcohol to accelerate the aging process and additives to maintain flavor from one year to the next in their blending of cigars. A number of premium brands today are made in “jobber cigar factories” which gain their business based upon the lowest price to manufacture. Thus you may find the flavor changes and the construction issues from one year to the next. These jobbers use the same cigar band and box but not the same exact blend. It’s a form of cigar manufacturing “outsourcing” predicated on the lowest price to produce.

Buying a great premium cigar should not be based upon price alone:

The “retail” prices of mass produced cigars carry the high cost of advertising, marketing and distribution. In many cases these costs are substantial. The higher the demand, the higher the price, this is predicated on the above advertising, marketing costs. Branding is extremely expensive. Try searching for “true value” premiums. There are many smaller cigar manufactures that offer truly great premiums at a much lower expense.

Big versus Small manufactures:

Just like wine and beer there are some very attractively priced, high quality cigars made by smaller micro-cigar manufactures. Fortunately with a little research most of the smaller manufactures products can be found on the internet or in select retailer’s shops. Seek them out and you may find your favorite premium cigars. There are many “boutique” cigar lines that offer the cigar aficionado great cigars at a great value, while not a name brand, they simply do not have the resources to nationally brand their products. Thus these costs need not be passed on to the premium cigar lover. Many of these small cigar manufactures pour their heart and soul into producing their limited production cigars. They offer hard to find quality tobaccos that deliver the highest form of cigar smoking enjoyment at a great price. They maybe hard to find due to very limited distribution, but they are well worth the journey in discovering and then savoring their cigar lines. These small master blenders offer some of the finest cigars in the world comparable to the best Cuban cigars ever made.

Bucanero Cigars, The best place to buy cigars online

www.bucanerocigars.com

CIgar Shapes

Cigar Shapes

 

Smoking cigars is one of the luxuries that men love to enjoy. The ideal way to categorize cigar is to distinguish it by its size and shape.

 

There are primarily three shapes of a cigar - pajero, figurado and little cigars. In the following lines, we have provided information about the different shapes and sizes of a cigar.

 

First there are the standard cylindrical cigars, called 'Parejos.' These more traditional cigars typically have an open 'foot' (the bit you light) and a closed 'head' (the bit you snip off before putting it in your mouth).

 

Then there are the more exotic and irregularly shaped 'Figurados'. From pyramid shaped to rope to torpedo, the Figurados are all good fun. Different manufacturers use different names, but the below should do you for starters.

 

Parejo Sizes

• Petit Corona: At the incy-end of town, we have the Petit Corona. It's usually only 4 1/2 inches long, with a ring gauge of 40 to 42.
• Corona: This is your stock-standard Parejo. Typical dimensions are 5 1/2 to 6 inches with a ring gauge of 42 to 44.
• Churchill: Essentially just a big Corona, usually 7 inches long with a 48 ring gauge.
• Robusto: Think of it as a stocky Churchill. Becoming increasingly popular, the Robusto is usually 5 to 5 1/2 inches long and has a 50 ring gauge.
• Corona Gorda: Kind of a long Robusto or Robusto 'extra', the Corona Gorda's popularity actually preceded that of the Robusto. Its traditional measurements are 5 5/8 inches long with a 46 ring gauge.
• Double Corona: The name says it all! Standard dimensions are an impressive 7 1/2 to 8 inches long with a substantial 49 to 52 ring gauge.
• Panetela: Like a long and slinky Corona, the Panetela was very popular in the 1990s. Length varies from 5 to 7 1/2 inches and diameter from 34 to 38 ring gauge.
• Lonsdale : Thicker than a Panetela and longer than a Corona, the Lonsdale is usually 6 3/4 inches long with a ring gauge of 42 to 44.

 

Figuardo Sizes

• Pyramid: Aptly named, the Pyramid has a broad, open foot, tapering sharply to a closed head. Pyramids are usually 6 to 7 inches long with a ring gauge of about 52 to 54 at the foot and about 40 at the head.
• Belicoso: The Belicoso used to be a genuine short Pyramid, 5 or 5 1/2 inches long with a slightly more rounded head and a ring gauge of 50 or less. These days, however, many are little more than Coronas or Corona Gordas with a tapered head.
• Torpedo: The imaginatively named Torpedo features a closed foot, a pointed head and a bulge in the middle.
• Perfecto: The Perfecto is similar to a Torpedo, with a closed foot and a bulging middle. The big difference is its rounded head. They vary in length more than just about any other cigar, starting at 4 1/2 inches and going all the way to 9 inches. They also vary considerably in thickness, from 38 to 48 ring gauge.
• Culebra: Somewhat rare, these days, the Culebra (or 'rope') is one of the more exotic Figurados. It's actually three Panetelas braided together and presented as one cigar. But it's not smoked as one; you unbraid it first (perfect for sharing with your two closest cigar-aficionados!!!). Culebras are usually 5 to 6 inches long with a 38 ring gauge.
• Diademas: The big daddy of the Figurado world! Diademas are a tapered cigar, usually 8 inches plus, with a closed head (ring gauge 40) and a foot that's sometimes open, sometimes closed (a hefty 52 ring gauge, or more).

 

Little Cigars

Just as the name signifies, little cigars are small in size and are quite unlike the regular ones. They are more like cigarettes in size, shape, packaging, and filters and weigh less than cigars and cigarillos.

 

If you wish to try some samples of these cigars, Bucanero cigars are very good option. They have nice sampler packs having a total of nine huge cigars of different flavors. All are packed in humidor plastic bags and in pristine condition.

 

References :

Sampler packs at Bucaneros : http://www.bucanerocigars.com/samplerpacks.html

World of Cigars review : http://www.worldofcigarsblog.com/2007/05/sampler-pack-from-bucanero-cigars.html

Cigar Shapes and Sizes

One of the most common ways to categorize cigars is by their shape and size. Although this sounds simple, it can be very confusing. For many years, the cigar industry has been using terms such as Corona and Panatela, which correspond to the approximate length and width of the cigar, not the manufacturer or brand.

The cigar ring size is the cigar's diameter, measured in 64ths of an inch and is usually selected by comfort based on your preferences. A 32 ring cigar will measure 1/2 inch in diameter. Usually the first dimension that customers look for is the cigar length in inches. This usually is selected based on the amount of time you have to smoke. As a general rule to follow, the longer a cigar is the longer it will take to smoke.

You may never have to use the terms that refer to the shape of a cigar, since most of the common names for cigars are usually associated with their size. This is because most cigars are shaped like a cylinder, and are considered as having a parejo shape. A cigar with an irregular shape (e.g. having a cone shaped head) is considered to be a figurado. The technical term to encompass both size and shape is vitola.

The cigars size measured by length and gauge will many times determine the strength of the cigar although subtle in many cases. Larger cigars usually tend to be slightly milder and smaller cigars tend to be slightly stronger in the same blend. A short "full body" petite cigar will be slightly stronger than a larger ring gauge, longer in length "full body" cigar in the same blend. A "full body" cigar should not only have the strength but it also should be very smooth and rich in flavor. A "mild" cigar should offer complexity and robust flavor but be a mild smoking experience.

References:
Bucanero Premium cigars : http://www.bucanerocigars.com
Good size for Cigar Smokers : www.epinions.com/content_1342611588+about+cigar+size&cd=10&hl=en&ct=clnk
Bucanero Don Douglas Review : www.cigarinspector.com/bucanero/bucanero-don-douglas-cabinet-churchill

Cigar Shapes and Sizes

One of the most common ways to categorize cigars is by their shape and size. Although this sounds simple, it can be very confusing. For many years, the cigar industry has been using terms such as Corona and Panatela, which correspond to the approximate length and width of the cigar, not the manufacturer or brand.

The cigar ring size is the cigar's diameter, measured in 64ths of an inch and is usually selected by comfort based on your preferences. A 32 ring cigar will measure 1/2 inch in diameter. Usually the first dimension that customers look for is the cigar length in inches. This usually is selected based on the amount of time you have to smoke. As a general rule to follow, the longer a cigar is the longer it will take to smoke.

You may never have to use the terms that refer to the shape of a cigar, since most of the common names for cigars are usually associated with their size. This is because most cigars are shaped like a cylinder, and are considered as having a parejo shape. A cigar with an irregular shape (e.g. having a cone shaped head) is considered to be a figurado. The technical term to encompass both size and shape is vitola.

The cigars size measured by length and gauge will many times determine the strength of the cigar although subtle in many cases. Larger cigars usually tend to be slightly milder and smaller cigars tend to be slightly stronger in the same blend. A short "full body" petite cigar will be slightly stronger than a larger ring gauge, longer in length "full body" cigar in the same blend. A "full body" cigar should not only have the strength but it also should be very smooth and rich in flavor. A "mild" cigar should offer complexity and robust flavor but be a mild smoking experience.

References:
Bucanero Premium cigars : http://www.bucanerocigars.com
Good size for Cigar Smokers : www.epinions.com/content_1342611588+about+cigar+size&cd=10&hl=en&ct=clnk
Bucanero Don Douglas Review : www.cigarinspector.com/bucanero/bucanero-don-douglas-cabinet-churchill

Categorizing Cigars

There is no definitive single way to categorize cigars. To start with it is important to understand that what are attributes on which cigars can be categorized. So, we'll start with "Categories of cigar classification"

• Cigars by size
• Cigars by shape
• Cigars can be handmade or machine made
• Flavored cigars
• Cigars by country of origin
• Cigars by ring size
• Cigars by wrapper

If there is anything anyone can think of, please feel free to comment!