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ADVICE |
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Choosing
your Cigar | Cutting |
The Ring | Lighting |
Tasting
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Choosing your Cigar |
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Of
the many regions in the world that produce cigar, Cuba is by
far the most renowned. Reasons for this supremacy include mainly the tobacco
that is grown on the island, which remains unequaled
anywhere else, and the "torcedores" that have
rolled cigars for generations now. More than 25 brands of
Havanas, an excess of 42 different standard shape "vitolas", different
sizes and shapes, are produced. The same shape may be
rolled for different brands, in different factories with
various blends. To resume, there are hundreds of Havanas, and much
more if we include the cigarillos and the machine made ones.
A large
choice is available from the selection of premium hand-made
Cuban cigars. Many
connoisseurs get confused at times, after a meal or a
special alcohol. Imagine yourself in front of a selection of
2500 to 3000 cigars (according to Zino, it's the minimum
number of cigars a connoisseur must have): Double Coronas,
Cabinets, Churchills, Torpedos, Robustos, très petit
corona, Laguito N°1, etc., not to mention the brand, or the
tobacco type.
Choosing
the right cigar is not an easy task. The choice reflects
the mood of the smoker and his environment. It will be very
simple if we dictate some general principals and advise
rules to follow but we will be misleading.
The choice
of a proper cigar for a proper occasion remains a very
personal choice and can vary with regards to the meal or the
wine you have chosen, the chair you will sit in to relax,
and the digestif you will consume...
Strong or
mild? Long or short? Aged? Belicosos or Torpedo?
Churchill or Corona Gorda? etc.
The answer
is: there are no rules. There are only some basic elements
that all connoisseurs respect. If you smoke more than one
cigar a day, begin with the lightest and move on to the
strongest, because a light cigar will seem insipid after a
strong one. Remember to choose your cigar based on available
time to smoke it, you will not enjoy a " quick cigar
". To appreciate a cigar, you must smoke it slowly, you
must control it. |
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Cutting
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Cutting
allows the smoke to pass through and is vitally important
since it determines the draw of the cigar.
When a
cigar has an ideal humidity level, some smokers use their
fingernail or their teeth to open it. This way was very
common in Cuba. However, if the cigar is not very well
humidified, take care, otherwise, you will damage the
cigar's tip.
Actually,
most Havanas smokers use cigar cutters. These cutters are
designed to make the incision as neat and effective as
possible : knives, scissors, guillotines, etc. The round
bladed scissors do less damage to the wrapper, as the
cutting action works on the whole circumference of the
cigar. Some smokers use special cutters that make a "V"
shaped cut, which I don't personally enjoy.
Usually,
you must try to cut "the minimum". Be careful,
some novices tend to make too big a cut in their cigars.
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The Ring
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Should
you keep it on or take it off ? This debate is as old as the
history of the ring itself. Forget all the fantastic ideas, and hear what Master
Zino Davidoff has to say. If you want to take off the ring
before lighting up, you are taking the risk of damaging the
wrapper. The vegetal natural glue used to put the ring may
sometimes stick to the wrapper.
Smoke at least a third of your cigar before you
remove the ring, since you would have less risk of tearing
the wrapper. You may also leave the ring on, it is not wrong
to do so, and
it is not a characteristic that you are novice: many
connoisseurs leave the ring until the end of the second
third. |
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Lighting
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Before lighting up, take the time to taste your cigar when
it's " raw ", which means unlit. After this, light
up.
Lighting is very important. The flame must embrace the
whole surface of the cigar end, from the first puffs taken.
The flame must be odorless to avoid ruining the taste, so
petrol lighters are forbidden. Only odorless matches and
" gas " lighters are authorized. It's not true
that all the lighters are forbidden, so you may use some of
them, but be sure that they are specifically designed to
light up cigars, or that they deliver odorless flame.
However, it's particularly nice to use long matches made of
cedar, since their elegance brings a certain solemnity to
the occasion.
Lighting is not a show. So take small regular puffs and
don't be husty. Sometimes, you have to make a small "
half rotation " with your cigar, this will help expose
equaly the whole circumference to the flame. |
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Tasting
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After cutting, you may begin by smoking your cigar when it's
" raw ", which means unlit.
Later, after lighting, try to take, slowly, regular puffs.
Your cigar must be controled. If you are nervous, the cigar
will be also. To appreciate your cigar, remember that the
key word is "harmony ".
You are invited to discover by yourself the exquisite
details.
Another capital element : we are totally convinced that
you will not be able to discover a "Vitola " (for
example the Bolivar Belicosos Finos) if you taste only one
cigar. You must smoke at least one box. The taste of a cigar
varies with many elements: circumstances, mood, wine,
cognac, etc. Two cigars (same size and same brand) are
similar but not identical. Like "Grands Crus",
cigars may vary from year to year. Each one of us is
different, cigars too…
You are invited to this unique world of taste, where the
only rule is: your pleasure and your satisfaction, not the
satisfaction of the adviser nor the reporter writing rules…
After tasting, please, don't crush your cigar in an
ashtray to put it out.
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