Cigars
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Wikipedia-Article "Cigars"
- This page is about the tobacco product; for other meanings, see Cigar (disambiguation).
A cigar is a tightly rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco, one end of which is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the smoker's mouth or lungs.
The word cigar is from the Spanish word cigarro, which the Oxford English Dictionary suggests is a variation on cigarra, Spanish for "cicada", due to its shape, especially that of what is now called the perfecto. Other sources have indicated that it may be derived from the Maya language word sikar, "tobacco".
Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in such nations as Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua and the United States of America. Cigars manufactured in Cuba are widely considered to be without peer, thanks both to the unique characteristics of the Vuelta Abajo region in the Pinar del Río Province at the west of the island, where a microclimate allows for unequalled tobacco to be grown, and to the skill of the nation's cigar-makers.
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History
Origins
The indigenous inhabitants of the islands of the Caribbean Sea and Mesoamerica have smoked cigars since at least the 900s AD, as evidenced by the discovery of a ceramic vessel at a Mayan archaeological site in Uaxactún, Guatemala, decorated with the painted figure of a man smoking a primitive cigar. Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus is generally credited with the introduction of smoking to Europe, an action which is often termed the "discovery" of smoking, despite his having borrowed the practice from the indigenous Americans.
Two of Columbus's crewmen during his 1492 journey, Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres, are said to have disembarked in Cuba and taken puffs of tobacco wrapped in maize husks, thus becoming the first European cigar smokers.
In the 19th century, cigar smoking was common while cigarettes were still comparatively rare. The cigar business was an important industry, and factories employed many people before mechanized manufacturing of cigars became practical. However, all modern cigars of high quality are still rolled by hand; some boxes bear the phrase Hecho a Mano, "Made by Hand", as proof.
U.S. embargo on Cuba
The cigar became inextricably intertwined with political history on February 7, 1962, when United States President John F. Kennedy, intending to sanction Fidel Castro's communist regime, imposed a trade embargo on Cuba. Americans were thus prohibited from purchasing what were at the time considered the finest cigars on the market, and Cuba was deprived of a large portion of its customers. According to Pierre Salinger, then Kennedy's press secretary, the president ordered him on the evening of February 6 to obtain a thousand Petit H. Upmanns Cuban cigars; upon Salinger's arrival with the cigars the following morning, Kennedy signed the executive order which put the embargo into effect. [1]
Cigars obtained prior to the embargo are not considered contraband, and became known as "pre-embargo Cubans". As of 2005, it remains illegal for Americans to purchase or import Cuban cigars. As is usual with embargoes, there exists a lively smuggling trade, coupled with elevated prices and rampant counterfeiting.
Due to the increased use of home computers and the advent of the Internet, it has become much easier for people in the US to purchase illegal cigars online from neighboring countries such as Canada where there is no embargo against the communist regime. The full impact of computers and the Internet on the embargo is not known. As with all illegal activity, there does exist a higher risk of being taken in a scam, either by receiving counterfeit goods or nothing at all.
Revival of interest
During the mid- to late 1990's in the United States, numerous cultural phenomena caused the popularity of cigar smoking to skyrocket. Lavish dinner events, or "smokers", were held in virtually every metropolitan area of consequence across the United States. Celebrities, radio and television talk-show hosts, politicians, blue-collar workers, and even a large number of women – a fact surprising to some observers – were drawn to the allure of the cigar. The sudden resurgence in cigar smoking created demand that was difficult to supply. Additionally, the significance of America's Cuban trade embargo – imposed some 30 years earlier, before many of the new aficionados were born – suddenly became very evident. Cigar retailers, a good number of them new establishments looking to capitalize on the craze, could name their price on virtually every type and brand of cigar. Some even refused to sell any one customer an entire box at a time, regardless of the fact that only a very few could afford to, as a courtesy to their other customers.
In the rush to meet demand, the quality of many premium cigars suffered for brief periods of time. Eventually, consumer demand so far outpaced supply that many of those who took it up had to cease the practice altogether. For many, this was mainly due to either lack of supply or overinflated prices. For others, the newness of the fad had simply worn off. By 2005, cigar prices have descended to reasonable levels, and supply of the best brands is abundant for those who continue to enjoy cigar smoking – even in the face of public scrutiny and disapproval.
Manufacture
Tobacco leaves are harvested, and aged using a process that combines use of heat and shade to reduce sugar and water content without causing the large leaves to rot. This first part of the process, called curing,takes between 25 and 45 days and varies substantially based upon climactic conditions, as well as the construction of sheds or barns used to store harvested tobacco. The curing process is manipulated based upon the type of tobacco, and the desired color of the leaf. The second part of the process, called fermentation, is carried out under conditions designed to help the leaf die slowly and gracefully. Temperature and humidity must be controlled to ensure that the leaf continues to ferment, without rotting or disintegrating. This is where the flavor, burning, and aroma characteristics are primarily brought out in the leaf.
Once the leaves have aged properly, they are sorted for use as filler or wrapper based upon their appearance and overall quality. During this process, the leaves are continually moistened and handled carefully to ensure each leaf is best used according to its individual qualities. The leaf will continue to be baled, inspected, unbaled, reinspected, and baled again repeatedly as it continues its aging cycle. When the leaf has matured according to the manufacturers specifications, it will be used in the production of a cigar.
The creation of a quality cigar is still performed by hand. An experienced cigar roller can produce hundreds of exceptional, nearly identical cigars per day. The rollers keep the tobacco moist - especially the wrapper, and use specially designed crescent shaped knives to form the filler and wrapper leaves quickly and accurately. Once rolled, the cigars are stored in wooden forms as they dry, in which their un-capped ends are cut to a uniform size. From this stage, the cigar is a complete product that can, to the best of anyone's knowledge, be kept indefinitely - under the proper conditions. (Indeed, Sotheby's recently auctioned off cigars kept in the damp basement of an Irish castle for centuries. Reportedly, they still smoked well.) Cigars are known to have lasted for decades if kept as close to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and 70% relative humidity, as the environment will allow. Once purchased, this is usually accomplished by keeping the cigars in a specialized wooden box, or humidor, where conditions can be carefully controlled for long periods of time. Even if a cigar becomes dry, it can be successfully re-humidified so long as it has not been handled carelessly.
Some cigars, especially premium brands, use different varieties of tobacco for the filler and the wrapper. "Long filler cigars" are a far higher quality of cigar, using long leaves throughout. These cigars also use a third variety of tobacco leaf, a "binder", between the filler and the outer wrapper. This permits them to use more delicate and attractive leaves as a wrapper. These high-quality cigars almost always blend varieties of tobacco. Even Cuban long-filler cigars will combine tobaccos from different parts of the island to incorporate several different flavors.
In low-grade cigars, chopped up tobacco leaves are used for the filler, and long leaves or even a type of "paper" made from tobacco pulp is used for the wrapper which binds the cigar together.
Historically, a lector or reader was always employed to entertain the cigar factory workers. This practice became obsolete once audio books for portable players became available, but is still practiced in some Cuban factories. Legend has it that it was because of one of these lectores' choice of reading material that one of the best known brands earned its name. At the H. Upmann factory in Havana, the lector had the custom of reading the works of Alexandre Dumas. So loved were Dumas' works by the workers, that they asked the factory owner to let them produce a cigar as homage. The new cigars were branded Montecristo, in reference to The Count of Monte Cristo, and the boxes that carried them bore the image of three swords, in reference to The Three Musketeers. The Montecristo brand continues to be one of the most popular in the world to this day. (See Cigar Brands).
In fact, the Montecristo brand was created when Alonso Menendez purchased the Particulares factory in July 1935, as Min Ron Nee documents in "An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars." In that book, he reproduces an August 1935 issue of Habano magazine which announces the purchase of the factory and the launch of new cigar brand, Montecristo.(The first Montecristo cigars were made in the Particulares factory, not H. Upmann. The magazine does not mention the romantic story of the workers demanding a homage to Dumas. The logo (three swords surrounding a fleur de Lis) was designed by a British cigar importer John Hunter Morris and first appeared in print in August 1936. The cigar was made, for a time, in the H. Upmann factory, after Menendez bought it in 1937.
Composition
Cigars are composed of three types of tobacco leaves, whose variations determine smoking and flavor characteristics:
Wrappers
A cigar's outermost leaves are its wrappers, which come from the widest part of the plant. It determines much of the cigar's character and flavor, and as such its color is often used to describe the cigar as a whole. Colors are designated as follows, from lightest to darkest:
- Double Claro – very light, slightly greenish (also called Candela, American Market Selection or jade); achieved by picking leaves before maturity and drying quickly; often grown in Connecticut
- Claro – light tan or yellowish. Indicative of shade-grown tobacco.
- Natural – light brown to brown; generally sun-grown.
- Colorado Claro – mid-brown; particularly associated with tobacco grown in the Dominican Republic or in Cuba
- Colorado – reddish-brown (also called Rosado)
- Colorado Maduro – dark brown; particularly associated with Honduras or Cuba-grown tobacco
- Maduro – dark brown to very dark brown
- Oscuro – black, often oily in appearance; tend to be grown in Cuba,Nicaragua, Brazil, Mexico, or Connecticut
Some manufacturers use an alternate designation:
- American Market Selection (AMS) – synonymous with Double Claro
- English Market Selection (EMS) – can refer to any color stronger than Double Claro but milder than Maduro
- Spanish Market Selection (SMS) – either of the two darkest colors, Maduro and Oscuro
Lighter colors indicate earlier picking and milder flavor; darker colors indicate later picking, stronger and sweeter flavors due to the presence of sugars and oils, and longer fermenting.
Fillers
The majority of a cigar is made up of fillers, wrapped up bunches of leaves in its cigar's interior. Fillers of various strengths are usually blended to produce unique cigar flavors. The more oils present in the tobacco leaf, the stronger (less dry) the filler. Types range from the light-flavored (dry) Seco, through the medium Volado, and on to the strong Ligero. Large-gauge cigars have a greater capacity to contain filler, and thus have greater potential to provide a full body and/or complex flavor.
Fillers can be either long or short; long filler uses whole leaves and is of a better quality, while short filler, also called "mixed", uses chopped up leaves as well as stems and other bits.
Binders
Binders are elastic leaves used to hold together the bunches of fillers.
Size and shape
Cigars are commonly categorized by the size and shape of the cigar, which together are known as a vitola.
The size of a cigar is measured by two dimensions: its ring gauge (its diameter in sixty-fourths of an inch) and its length (in inches). For example, most non-Cuban robustos have a ring gauge of approximately 50 and a length of approximately 5 inches. Robustos which are of Cuban origin always have a ring gauge of 50 and a length of 4 7/8 inches.
Parejo
The most common shape is the parejo, which has a cylindrical body, straight sides, one end open, and a round cap on the other end which is cut off before smoking. Parejas are designated by the following terms:
- Coronas
- Petit Corona (5" x 42)
- Corona (5 1/2" x 42)
- Corona Extra (5 1/2" x 46)
- Robusto (5" x 50), also called Rothschilds after the Rothschild family
- Long Corona (6" x 42)
- Toro (6" x 50)
- Lonsdale (6 1/2" x 42), named for Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale
- Grand Corona (6 1/2" x 46)
- Julieta a.k.a. Churchill (7" x 47), named for Winston Churchill
- Giant Corona (7 1/2" x 44)
- Double Corona (7 3/4" x 49)
- Panatelas – longer and generally thinner than Coronas
- Small Panatela (5" x 33)
- Short Panatela (5" x 38)
- Slim Panatela (6" x 34)
- Panatela (6" x 38)
- Long Panatela (7 1/2" x 38)
Figurado
Irregularly-shaped cigars are known as figurados and are sometimes considered of higher quality because they are more difficult to make. Figurados include the following:
- Torpedo - Like a parejo except that the cap is pointed.
- Pyramid - Has a broad foot and evenly narrows to a pointed cap.
- Perfecto - Narrow at both ends and bulged in the middle.
- Presidente/Diadema - shaped like a parejo but considered a figurado because of its enormous size and occasional closed foot akin to a perfecto.
- Culebras - Three long, pointed cigars braided together.
Arturo Fuente, a large cigar manufacturer based in the Dominican Republic, has also manufactured figurados in exotic shapes ranging from chili peppers to baseball bats and American footballs. They are highly collectable and extremely expensive, when publically available. In practice, the terms Torpedo and Pyramid are often used interchangeably, even among very knowledgable cigar smokers. Min Ron Nee, the Hong Kong-based cigar expert whose work "An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars" is considered to be the definitive work on cigars and cigar terms, defines Torpedo as "cigar slang." He adds, "In the old days, [torpoedo] could mean a perfecto or a pyramid shape cigar. After the [Cuban] Revolution the meaning leans toward the pyramid rather than the perfecto. Some cigar authorities insist that the correct meaning of a torpedo should be referring to a perfecto and not a pyramid. The majority of people [who use torpedo to mean pyramid] have got it wrong. I find it rather funny that a slang word can be incorrectly misunderstood by the majority." In other words, Nee thinks the majority is right (because slang is defined by majority usage) and torpedoes are pyramids by another name.
Flavor
Virtually all cigar aficionados enjoy the practice because of the rich and varied flavors one observes when smoking, although some eschew the connoisseurial qualities in favor of other factors. For those drawn by taste, each brand and type of cigar carries different qualities of taste. Generally, cigars with lighter colored wrappers are milder in flavor and have less of a smoky aftertaste. Darker wrappers are typically richer in flavor, although the specific flavors are not unique to any particular style or type of tobacco.
Unlike cigarettes, cigars taste very little of smoke, and usually very much of tobacco with overtones of other tastes. A fine cigar - especially ones of Cuban origin prior to 1990, can have virtually no taste of smoke whatsoever.
Some of the more common flavors one observes while smoking a cigar include:
- Leather
- Spice
- Cocoa / chocolate
- Peat / moss / earth
- Coffee
- Nut
- Apple
- Vanilla
- Honey
The most ardent enjoyers of cigar smoking will sometimes keep personal journals of cigars they've enjoyed, complete with personal ratings, description of flavors observed, sizes, brands, etc. The qualities and characteristics of cigar tasting are very similar to those of wine, Scotch, beer, cognacs and tequilla. Within a given specification, there are endless varieties. This dynamic is part of the appeal to which cigar smokers are continually drawn.
Popular culture
Cigars are often presented as stereotypical rich man's accessory. Cigars are often smoked to celebrate good fortune, especially the birth of a child. Some buy and keep a cigar 'for luck' with regard to a bet, with the intention of smoking it after winning the bet.
King Edward VII enjoyed smoking cigarettes and cigars, but his mother, Queen Victoria, did not like smoking. After her death, legend has it, King Edward said to his male guests at the end of a dinner party, "Gentlemen, you may smoke". In his name, a line of cheap American cigars has long been named King Edward.
It is perhaps important for the cigar smoker to ritualize their habit and to smoke fine and expensive cigars, for the addictive element of cigarettes is also present in the cigar: nicotine. The smoker can minimize their risk of addiction, and resulting cancers, by treating the cigar as a special occasion, and as noted above logging their smokes. This comes closest to the Native American use of the tobacco plant.
The risk of addiction is lowered by today's anti-smoking forces which would not have credited the smells and the litter of a midcentury American railway "lounge" car, nor that of a home where the paterfamilias had his favorite Sunday afternoon cigar, and cigar smoking today returns to its ritual origins because of anti-smoking pressure.
Two men who died during the zenith of the cigar's popularity owing ultimately to nicotine addiction and the consequent oral cancer were President Ulysses S. Grant of the USA and Dr. Sigmund Freud.
Although Grant was able for the duration of the Civil War to stop drinking, he was most often seen with a cigar and after his Presidency, Grant contracted cancer. Not wishing to leave his wife Julia penniless, Grant decided to write and publish his memoirs while in great pain.
Freud likewise succumbed in the 1930s to a habit which he seems to have been reluctant to psychoanalyze. Being challenged on the "phallic" shape of the cigar, Freud is supposed to have replied "sometimes, a cigar is only a cigar".
Interestingly, two famous men with the name Marx were cigar smokers. Karl Marx and Groucho Marx were both heavy cigar smokers.
Famous quotes about the cigar include not only Freud's but also "a woman is only a woman: but a good cigar is a smoke" and "what this country needs is a good five cent cigar". The cigar was also a staple for vaudeville jokes and slapstick, from the overexcited new father who says "have a baby, my wife just had a cigar" to the exploding cigar which may have been a coded proletarian gesture of resistance to the cigar, which with the top hat and tails was the semiotic for "capitalism" in the early 20th century.
Several storylines in Seinfeld revolve around or pay regard to a box of Cuban cigars in season 4.
Since apart from certain forms of heavily cured and strong snuff, the cigar is the most potent form of self-dosing with tobacco, it has long had associations of being a male rite of passage, as it may have had during the pre-Columbian era in America. Its fumes and rituals have in American and European cultures established a "men's hut"; in the 19th century, men would retire to the "smoking room" after dinner, to discuss "serious" issues.
Also, the third installment of Hideo Kojima's famous Metal Gear Solid series, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, features a brief portion in which the main character describes why he thoroughly enjoys cigars, somewhat awkwardly describing the experience as "almost sensual".
A large variety of fictional characters have smoked cigars:
- Numerous characters from Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo, including the title character, Albert de Morcerf, and Baron Franz d'Epinay
- Bender from Futurama
- Archie Bunker from All In The Family
- Cosmo Spacely from The Jetsons
- James Bond, in both Live and Let Die and Die Another Day
- Franz Sanchez, villain from the Bond film Licence to Kill
- Xenia Onatopp, female henchwoman from the Bond film GoldenEye
- Boss Hogg from The Dukes of Hazzard TV series and movie.
- Pops Racer and Inspector Detector from Speed Racer
- Boss from Hamtaro (although the cigar is brushed out in American edits of the anime)
- Jayne Cobb of Firefly (smokes a cigar as he plays snooker during the opening of Shindig)
- Jet from Cowboy Bebop
- John Hannibal Smith and Faceman from The A-Team
- Big Boss from Metal Gear Solid 3
- Tony Soprano from "The Sopranos"
- the Man with No Name from "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
- Toby Ziegler from The West Wing
- Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld
- Columbo played by Peter Falk
- J. Jonah Jameson from Spider-Man
- Alan Shore (James Spader) and Denny Crane (William Shatner) of Boston Legal
- Dr. Gregory House from the television series House
Health issues
Cigar smokers typically do not inhale the smoke, instead puffing it into their mouths, not reaching their lungs, unlike cigarette smokers. Cigar smokers consequently have lower incidence of lung cancer and emphysema than cigarette smokers, but still higher than that of non-smokers.
Some people have mistakenly assumed that cigars therefore pose no health risk, but cigar smokers are statistically more likely to develop cancer of the mouth, tongue, or larynx than non smokers. The extent of the additional risk is disputed. The health consequences of occasional cigar smoking (less than daily) are not known, and there are few peer-reviewed and published scientific studies that address the issue of increased risk posed by cigar smoking either to its users or to bystanders. However, a number of scientific studies suggest the link between cigarette smoke and various maladies, including lung cancer.
See also
External links
- Internet Cigar Community - Friendly cigar forum, cigar reviews, cigar trading, hot cigar deals and more
- Fuji Publishing Cigar Page - Collection of the best online cigar pages - One of the first cigar portals
- Cigar Cyclopedia - Online news and commentary site on cigars by the publishers of Perelman's Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars
- cigarzilla - chat online, in realtime with other cigar smokers
- Cigar Envy - Cigar ratings and reviews, feature articles, news, and information for novice and veteran cigar smokers
- Stogie Fresh - The Art and Science of Storing and Aging Cigars
- My Cigar Blog - A Malaysian's journey in search of the perfect cigar!
- Cigar&Co. - Another interesting blog about cigars
- Cigar Group - organization of cybersmokers
- eHERF - Your Friendly