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MORE INFORMATION ON CIGARS
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Cigar Overview
Though there are several good places to find out information on and about cigars, and the 100's of years of expertise involved, the site link above (Cigar Overview) will give you some general concise background on & about cigars.
Things you NEED to know:
There is a lot of information about cigars you can know, but there are only TWO hard rules for cigars:
1- Smoke what YOU like. It doesn't matter what you read, what anyone else says, what rating they got, whether or not someone else likes or dislikes the cigar(s) you are smoking. They are YOUR tastebuds and YOU either like it or don't.
2- Remember what you like. A good rule of thumb is to take the band off the little gem and put it into your wallet. That way when you come back you'll have the band with you. Some stores may have a customer tracking system to help you out also. The more information you have about what you like the better we will be able to help you.
A FEW MORE BITS OF INFO FOR SELECTING CIGARS-
CONSIDER COLOR- Typically, the darker the cigar is, the fuller bodied (meaning flavor) and stronger (meaning nicotine content) the cigar will be. This is a generality and does not apply to every cigar. For instance, Sun Grown and Corojo cigars are typically lighter in color than Maduros or Oscuros and yet are much much fuller and stronger.
CONSIDER SIZE- You should select a size where you can complete smoking your cigar in a single uninterupted session.
Relighting a cigar (also called "refrying") will tend to leave the remainder harsher, especially if left for an extended period of time.
You can help alleviate the harshness by "backblowing" before you set down your cigar to finish at a later time. This entails, 1st knocking off any ash and then blowing through the cigar, and preferably holding a flame to the end. If your cigar is "green" or "young" you may have a sizable flame produced from this effect. We refer to this as the "Corona Borealis".
CONSIDER SHAPE-The shape of a cigar, especially the ring guage (diameter) will affect the flavor.
A cigar is comprised of 3 basic parts: filler, binder and wrapper. 99.7% of a cigar is filler. The filler is bunched up and held together by, typically, two leaves (the binder), and a single leaf on the outside (the wrapper) to complete the finished product. The wrapper is probably the most important part of the cigar because that is the part that is touching your mouth and tongue.
In larger diameter cigars, the RATIO of binder and wrapper to filler is going to be obviously different than that of smaller diameter cigars. In smaller diameter cigars, you are going to taste more of the binder and wrapper. So if you generally like a specific brand of cigars, try different shapes in that line and smoke the one that tastes the best for YOUR palate.
Specialy shaped cigars like Torpedos, Belicosos, Torfectos, Preferidos will also alter the taste slightly. If a cigar is tapered towards the smoked from end (the Head of a cigar) you will build up flavor faster, and definitely as it gets shorter,than a regular shaped cigar.
Remember, each hand-made cigar is a unique event. No two cigars are exactly the same. Cigar rolling is an art. So even if you're not a big art connoisseur, you are smoking art.
Smoke a variety! There are thousands of cigars out there. Sure stick with your old favorites, but there is a lot out there to explore, and new cigars come out every year.
Below is a simple chart on cigar construction.
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