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Welcome to cigar basics! Here at Cigars International, we aim to provide you with the best cigar experience possible, whether you are seeking to learn about cigars, need help selecting a great cigar to smoke, or just want to find the best deals on cigars, consider us your personal cigar concierge. In this particular article, we are going to walk you through all of the cigar basics, including what makes up a cigar, the construction of a cigar, common cigar terminology, and much more. Without further ado, let’s jump in!
A cigar is a cylindrical shaped bunch of fermented tobacco leaves. Collecting and smoking cigars is a widespread hobby enjoyed for a variety of reasons including to unwind and relax, to celebrate, to enjoy with a delicious beverage, as part of a social gathering, just because they like to, because they want to collect rare and limited cigars, the list goes on and on.
To fully visualize the cigar, we will start with the tobacco seed. Tobacco seeds are planted generally in a tropical environment for ideal growing conditions. Some of the most prominent farming regions include Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, the USA (Connecticut and Pennsylvania), Central African Republic (Cameroon), and Indonesia. The tobacco growing season takes 18 weeks. From seed to cigar, it takes between 2 - 3 years. Find out more about the process of growing tobacco in our article From Tobacco to Cigar.
Now that we have tobacco leaves, we can start to build the cigar. There are three main components that make up a cigar: the filler, the binder, and the wrapper. The filler is comprised of a group of approximately 6 leaves that are combined in the binder leaf to create a “bunch.” Finally, the wrapper leaf is wrapped around the outside as the finishing touch. Once a cigar is complete, it can be broken down into four parts: the cap (or tip), the head, the body, and the foot. The cap is the part you cut off, and the foot is the part that you light. To learn more about the process of creating cigars, check out our other articles on cigar rolling and cigar wrappers.
The construction of a cigar determines what "strength" it falls under. Both the region that the tobacco plant is grown in and the part of the plant that is used play a factor in the strength of the cigar. You may have heard some of your cigar smoking friends express their love for mellow cigars, or others who only smoke full-bodied cigars. Generally, cigars fall into the following handful of strength categories:
You will run across many cigars in your shopping journey that fall between these three main groups. The in between classifications are generally known as mellow to medium and medium to full.
Flavor profile refers to the subtle nuances that are experienced when smoking cigars. While it can be argued that flavor is subjective, we in the industry use these flavors to group similar "tasting" cigars. Learn more about the different flavor profiles and how to pick up on the nuanced flavors of cigars in Savor the Flavor: Maximizing the Enjoyment of a Cigar.
Here are some of the most common terms you will hear thrown around and are a good idea to get to know as a cigar beginner. You can find a more extensive list of terms and phrases used in Cigar Vocabulary.
There are many ways to approach choosing a cigar to smoke. You can drive the search by price, brand, shape, strength, and really any attribute of a cigar. There are plenty of tremendous cigars to try out there at prices ranging from just over $1 per stick to upwards of $20 or $30 per stick. The easiest answer to this question though is to just start trying different cigars. For beginners who don't have or know their preference or favorite brand, it's common to start by trying some cigar samplers. This allows you to try various different options and brands without investing serious cash into something that you don't know if you will enjoy or not. Find more details in How to Choose a Cigar: The Elements of Great Cigars.
Smoking a cigar is very simple. You need to cut the end of the cigar to allow for a draw, light the cigar, and enjoy! While the process is simple, there are many nuances to how to go about smoking a cigar. How do I cut a cigar? What is the best lighter to use? We've laid out every step in How to Cut a Cigar, How to Light a Cigar, and How to Smoke a Cigar.
We hope this will give you a good jumping off point in the beginning of your cigar journey! But don’t stop here, as there is much more to learn and appreciate about cigars. We recommend checking out Humidors for Beginners or our compilation of articles that explain cigar accessories as these will be the most helpful in getting you fully set up.
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