You are currently browsing: Cigar 101
Glossary Word: Herf
A lively gathering of cigar-smoking comrades who meet in a restaurant, club, cigar store or home to share their appreciation of fine cigars.
Glossary Word: Cameroon
A wrapper leaf grown primarily in Cameroon, West Africa, preferred by cigar smokers for their delicately spicy taste, sweet aroma, excellent burning properties and similarity to native Cuban wrappers. Prime examples of Cameroon wrapper cigars are Partagas, Don Tomás Cameroon Collection, Arturo Fuente and La Aurora cigars.
Glossary Word: Foot
The foot is the end of the cigar you light. Most often it is pre-cut, except in the case of Perfectos and old Havana-style Torpedos.
Glossary Word: Binder
The portion of a tobacco leaf used to hold together the blend of filler leaves called the bunch;
with the wrapper and filler, it is one of three main components in a cigar.
Glossary Word: Sumatra
A wrapper leaf grown in Indonesia sought for its elasticity, minimal veining, mild flavor and pleasing aroma. Some of the best Sumatra leaf used today is grown in Ecuador with Sumatra seed and is often richer in flavor and aroma than the indigenous variety. Good examples of Sumatra-wrapped cigars include Hoyo De Monterrey, Flor De Oliva bundles and C.A.O. eXtreme cigars.
Cigar 101 – Sizes, shapes and shades oh my!
If you’re like most cigar smokers, you must have paced back and forth in front of the display at your local tobacconist, scratching your head, trying to make sense of the cigars there. The names and the numbers for many brands seem designed to confuse buyers, and one company’s Churchill size is another company’s double corona.
There is no real mystery, once you accept the reality that the cigar lexicon is confusing. There are, however, certain basic criteria that can be used as guidelines to decipher the origin of almost any hand-rolled cigar. The parameters are fairly simple: brand, color and size or shape. Read more