What is a Cigar?
A cigar is a roll of dried and fermented tobacco leafs meant for tasting, by lighting on fire and slowly puffing (not inhaling). Typical origins of the tobacco are Cuba, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, Southern United States, Philippines, Canary Islands, and a couple countries in Africa like Cameroon.
A hand rolled cigar is made up of three basic parts;
1. Filler - filler is a blend of usually 3 types of tobacco -
Seco, Viso, and Ligero. The important thing to know is each of these tobaccos have a job, combustion regulation, flavour and body.
2. Binder - a binder leaf is needed to hold the filler together, its typically a broadleaf that is thick and strong.
3. Wrapper - Wrapper tobacco, can be the most expensive and delicate part of the cigar. It can be grown under cheesecloth shade or in sun. Wrapper ranges in color from Pale Yellow to Black. It’s job is to provide a beautiful exterior and impart aroma.
A hand made cigar takes on average 3 years to produce from harvest to finished product. It must be harvested, slow air dried, aged, some leafs fermented in round or square bales, graded and sorted, blended, rolled, aged as a cigar for flavours to merry, then boxed, sold and smoked.
Cigar Storage and humidors
We recommend considering your cigar storage in two categories, short term (1month to 1year) and medium-long term (1 year to 20+ years).
Short term - In order to maintain pliability, and flavour you will need to keep your cigars in something that maintains a relative humidity of 65-70%. There is a lot of room for personal preference here. There are 3 types of storage you should consider, and each has it’s benefits and drawbacks.
Airtight - This is the solution most consumers should consider. Airtight has the least maintenance, and most reliability. Airtight can be a glass or plastic tupperware like container or a sealed glass jar. You will need to add humidity via Boveda pack, which is a gel pack in a gore-tex like envelope that is filled with a glycol water mix which maintains a specific RH. These can be purchased in many difference percentages.
Desktop Spanish Cedar Humidor - This is the option that looks best on your desk/mantle/on display. In Alberta the humidity is so low, especially in the winter that a desktop humidor is only usable if you have it at least half full of cigars. Even with the half to 3/4 full they require almost daily maintenance. They use a small sponge that you can soak with distilled water or a glycol solution. These also require a good digital Hygrometer. Almost all desktop humidors come with garbage analog hygrometers. Add $30 to your budget for a digital.
Cabinet Humidor with active humidification - This is a great option for a medium amount of maintenance for a large amount of cigars (100-5000). A cabinet is also the best option for medium-long term aging.