Making Sense of Cigar Terminology

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Making Sense of Cigar Terminology

Making Sense of Cigar Terminology

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Home Page > Shopping > Fashion > Making Sense of Cigar Terminology

Making Sense of Cigar Terminology

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Posted: Nov 13, 2010 |Comments: 0
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For people who are new to cigar smoking, the terminology, definitions, and lingo can be a bit overwhelming. Ordering a box of cigars isn't like asking for a pack of cigarettes at a 24-hour convenience store. Cigarettes have standard sizes, shapes, dimensions and ingredients. Cigars do not. These subtle distinctions can be the difference between a two dollar cigar and a two hundred dollar cigar. In this article, we'll introduce the terms that every beginning cigar smoker should know.

As a general rule, most cigar terms refer to the size, shape, wrapper color, or filler of the cigar. These are the questions that you will be asked when you stroll into your friendly neighborhood cigar shop. The owner will definitely ask you which size you want, and he will expect you to know the significance of the different wrapper colors, shapes and fillers. So, let us begin with the first question.

Size

The size of the cigar is the single most important consideration for new smokers. As you might expect, the longer and fatter the stogie, the more time it will take to smoke. Both the length and diameter contribute to the smoking time. The diameter of the cigar is indicated by its ring size or gauge. The measurement is based on 64ths of an inch, which means that a cigar with a 50 ring gauge has a diameter of 50/64ths of an inch.

What does this mean for the beginning smoker? A tyro should always start out with a smaller cigar. The robusto is a popular choice for new smokers because it is only five inches long with a 50 ring gauge. This will provide about half an hour of smoking pleasure. Lighting up a 9 ¼-inch Gran Corona with a 47 ring gauge, on the other hand, would be a big mistake for any newbie. A stogie like that will take well over an hour to smoke, and few new smokers have that kind of stamina.

The Robusto, Belicoso, Churchill, Corona, Double Corona, Grand Corona and Lonsdale are the most popular cigar sizes that every smoker should know. Lengths and ring gauges for each of these cigar types are fairly standard. For example, the Belicoso is a short cigar that is typically 5 or 5 ½ inches long, with a ring gauge of 50 or less. The fact that the cigar is short and fat also, obviously, has an effect on its shape. Belicoso is said to resemble a pyramid because it has a wide head (the end you smoke) and a tapered foot (the end you light). Pyramids, perfectos, culebras and torpedoes are the most popular cigar shapes. The shape of the cigar has an effect on the smoking time and the draw.

Wrappers

It is often said that forty percent of the flavor of the cigar comes from the wrapper, which is simply the widest part of the tobacco plant. The color of the wrapper is so important that it is often used to describe the cigar itself. This can be quite confusing for new cigar smokers, because there are well over one hundred different wrapper shades. Fortunately, only a handful of them are commonly used. This includes the Colorado, the Maduro, the Claro, the Double Claro, the Candela, and the Oscuro.

A blindfolded smoker with a refined palette could easily tell the difference between each of these wrappers. As a general rule of thumb, the darker the cigar, the sweeter the taste. While light-color cigars like the Claro tend to have a fairly dry taste.

Filler

Since the wrapper contributes forty percent of the flavor, the remainder comes from the filler. The filler is made up of individual tobacco leaves that are dried out, cut up, and rolled in the cigar wrapper. A fine, handmade cigar typically has between two and five different types of filler. These blends often include the three basic types of filler tobacco—Ligero, Seco, and Olor. The proportion of these blends depends on the strength of the cigar. A mild cigar, for example, will likely have quite a bit of Ligero filler in it because Ligero is a medium-bodied tobacco.

The filler is the main reason why handmade and machine-made cigars differ in price and quality. A machine-made cigar uses something called short filler, which is short scraps of tobacco leaf. This filler burns much faster and results in much shorter smoking times. The average machine-made cigar lasts for about half as long as a fine, handmade cigar. Not to mention the fact that short filler is not blended, which means that there is very little complexity to the taste.

The filler that is used in handmade cigar is called long filler. As we mentioned, it often contains up to five different types filler, each of which add their own special flavors and aromas. Because they contain whole tobacco leaves and not scraps, a handmade cigar takes much longer to smoke and has more flavor than a machine-made one.

Take these helpful tips into consideration before you add another fine cigar to your collection.

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Joshua Correia -
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Joshua Correia is a freelance writer who writes about shopping and finding cigars online

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