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Cigars For Dummies

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cigarsEveryone knows what a cigar is – or do they? Most people have heard of and seen cigars but not everyone knows all that much about cigars. If you are one of them and want to know more about cigars, then you are in the right place! Over the next few weeks, we are going to go through a starter course – or a refresher course, if you wish – to get to know cigars. So where do we start?

Anyone can merely go to a cigar store and pick out a box of cigars. That, however, does not guarantee that he will pick out good quality cigars that would suit his taste and preferences. With hundreds, maybe even thousands of choices, the task of picking a cigar “blind” can be quite daunting. So what indicators should one look at?

The color of the cigar is a good place to start. There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to color but the general rule of thumb is that the darker the wrapper of the cigar, the stronger the flavor. So, if you are smoking a cigar for the first time, you may want to pick out one that has a lighter wrapping.

There are many shades of cigar wrappers, here are a few to help you:

Claro – light brown, indicative of a mild flavor
Double Claro – the wrapper has a greenish hue, indicating limited aging
Colorado Claro – the standard brown, stronger than claro but still considered mild
Natural – light brown to brown; this has a fuller flavor
Maduro – dark brown, more aromatic, and range from medium to strong flavors
Oscuro – very dark brown, almost black; very strong flavor.

In the next post, we’ll look at another indicator, which is the size of a cigar.

Originally posted on July 16, 2010 @ 6:52 pm

Cigars For Dummies – Does Size Matter?

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cigars in boxIn the last post we took a look at the different colors of cigars – or their wrappers, if you want to be particular about it. The color of the cigar wrapper generally indicates something about the flavor of the cigar. Yet what about the size of a cigar? Does it have any bearing? If so, what are the implications of the size of a cigar?

The truth of the matter is that the size of a cigar does not have any bearing on its flavor. Neither does it have anything to do with the quality of a cigar. So what does size have to do with anything? Quite obviously, the larger the cigar, the longer you can enjoy its flavor!

Are there hard and fast rules regarding the size of the cigar? Unlike with color, where there are standard terms for the color of the wrapper, there are varying terms when it comes to sizes. You might hear of a cigar being a Churchill and expect it to be a certain size. However, you should not be surprised if you see that one manufacturer’s cigars, which are labeled Churchill can be the same size as another manufacturer’s cigars which are labeled Double Corona.

With experience, though, comes knowledge. After a while, you will get familiar with the measurements of different manufacturers and as such know what size cigars are labeled which. So what is my suggestion? If you are a new cigar smoker, stick with the smaller and shorter ones. You never know if you can finish a “full size” cigar. Stick with Coronas and Robustos to be on the safe side. After a while, move on to bigger ones.

Originally posted on July 23, 2010 @ 1:42 pm