What is Cigars?
A tightly rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco which is ignited to draw its smoke into the mouth is known as cigar. Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern United States are the largest producers of Cigar tobacco.
Composition of Cigars
Cigars are composed of three types of tobacco leaves, whose variations determine smoking and flavor characteristics:
a.) Wrappers
A widest part of the plant is used to make outermost leaves, or wrapper of cigar. Cigar’s character and flavor is determined by its wrapper and its color is used to describe the cigar as a whole. Over 100 wrapper shades are identified by manufacturers, but some common classification are Double Claro, Claro, Colorado Claro, Colorado, Colorado Maduro, Maduro, Oscuro.
b.) Fillers
The majority of a cigar is made up of fillers, wrapped-up bunches of leaves inside the wrapper. Fillers of various strengths are usually blended to produce desired cigar flavors. In the cigar industry this is referred to as a "blend. The more oils present in the tobacco leaf, the stronger (less dry) the filler. Types range from the minimally flavored Volado taken from the bottom of the plant, through the light-flavored Seco (dry) taken from the middle of the plant, to the strong Ligero from the upper leaves exposed to the most sunlight. Fatter cigars of larger gauge hold more filler, with greater potential to provide a full body and complex flavor. When used, Ligero is always folded into the middle of the filler because it burns slowly.
C.) Binders
A tightly rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco which is ignited to draw its smoke into the mouth is known as cigar. Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern United States are the largest producers of Cigar tobacco.
Composition of Cigars
Cigars are composed of three types of tobacco leaves, whose variations determine smoking and flavor characteristics:
a.) Wrappers
A widest part of the plant is used to make outermost leaves, or wrapper of cigar. Cigar’s character and flavor is determined by its wrapper and its color is used to describe the cigar as a whole. Over 100 wrapper shades are identified by manufacturers, but some common classification are Double Claro, Claro, Colorado Claro, Colorado, Colorado Maduro, Maduro, Oscuro.
b.) Fillers
The majority of a cigar is made up of fillers, wrapped-up bunches of leaves inside the wrapper. Fillers of various strengths are usually blended to produce desired cigar flavors. In the cigar industry this is referred to as a "blend. The more oils present in the tobacco leaf, the stronger (less dry) the filler. Types range from the minimally flavored Volado taken from the bottom of the plant, through the light-flavored Seco (dry) taken from the middle of the plant, to the strong Ligero from the upper leaves exposed to the most sunlight. Fatter cigars of larger gauge hold more filler, with greater potential to provide a full body and complex flavor. When used, Ligero is always folded into the middle of the filler because it burns slowly.
C.) Binders
Binders are elastic leaves used to hold together the bunches of fillers. Essentially, binders are wrappers that are rejected because of holes, blemishes, discoloration, or excess veins.
Smoking
To smoke a cigar, a smoker possibly cuts it, lights it, then puts the unlit end into the mouth and draws smoke into the mouth. Some smokers inhale the smoke into the lungs, particularly with little cigars, but this is relatively uncommon otherwise. A smoker may swirl the smoke around in the mouth before exhaling it, and may exhale part of the smoke through the nose in order to smell the cigar better as well as to taste it.
