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| Cigar 101 | • | Piano Guy's Tips | • | FAQ | • | Ask Piano Guy |
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As time goes on, I will be expanding all of these sections to cover as much as I can about anything and everything related to cigars. Even marathons are won one step at a time, so let’s get this started! Table of ContentsDo it yourself instructions
ACC questions answered
How do I choose which cigar to smoke?This all depends on what you’re in the mood for. As you smoke more cigars, you will become more aware of the different flavors, strengths, and complexities that are available to you. For newbies, the usual recommendation is something that is smooth, mild, and creamy. This will generally lead you to try cigars from the Dominican Republic (DR) with natural wrappers (e.g. Romeo y Julieta (regular line, Vintage), Montecristo, Macanudo, etc.), although there are many other solid choices. For more experienced smokers, the palate often craves something with a bit more character, and this is when it becomes more interesting to try fuller-bodied cigars, such as Honduran (Hon) cigars (El Rey del Mundo, Punch, Hoyo de Monterrey, Camacho, etc.), and Nicaraguan (Nic) cigars (Padron, Perdomo, CAO, Torano, etc.). The occasion and the time of day often help to determine what sort of cigar would suit you best. If you are simply working outside in the yard, you will probably want to reach for something mild-medium that is on the cheaper side (perhaps a bundled smoke) so you won’t care as much if you accidentally damage your cigar. You also won’t be concentrating as much on the cigar, so it would be a waste to smoke a super-premium. If you are celebrating a special occasion, you may want to splurge on a high-priced, fuller-bodied, long cigar to savor with your beverage of choice (e.g. Opus X, Padron Anniversary, Davidoff, etc.) The time of day can certainly affect your taste as well. For those that like to smoke a cigar first thing in the morning, a milder shorter smoke generally fits the bill with a nice cup of coffee. In the afternoon, a medium-bodied cigar helps to pass the time very agreeably. After dinner, a full-bodied cigar with a good spirit can give you a sense of completion to your day. The suggestions above are just that – they are by no means hard and fast rules. Eventually, you may get to the point where you know what flavor profile and strength you are looking for at a particular moment. Hopefully, you will also know which cigar will fit the bill and will be able to have it on hand to smoke. If not, just remember that much of the pleasure of this pastime comes from trying new things, and perhaps you will discover a new favorite cigar when you least expect it! Back to TopWhy do I feel nauseous and dizzy when I smoke a strong cigar?Queasiness and dizziness are two sure signs that you’re putting too much nicotine into your system. Other symptoms can include ‘feeling green’, hiccups, and thirst. There are several causes for this, but just as many effective remedies and preventative measures. Always remember that smoking cigars is meant to be a pleasure, not a challenge (unless you’re participating in a dare or something!). Nicotine poisoning from a ‘regular’ cigar (as opposed to a super-strong cigar) could be because of a number of things. First, you might be smoking the cigar too quickly. It has been recommended that you only puff on a cigar about once a minute to let the tars and nicotine burn off and to maintain proper combustion. If you draw from the cigar like a chain-smoker pulls off of a cigarette, the tars and nicotine don’t have the opportunity to dissipate like they’re supposed to. Besides, you’ll be getting an hour’s worth of nicotine in 20 minutes (or less)! This is referred to as ‘hotboxing’ and is causes burn problems with the cigar, as well as with your tongue, the roof of your mouth, your lips, etc. I’ve heard too many stories to ever want to try this myself. Second, if the cigar is too moist, it will not burn properly. The water in the tobacco will turn to steam as the cigar burns, and will dilute the flavor as well as cause difficulties with combustion. Just as with hotboxing, a wet cigar will cause the smoker to try to draw more often and more deeply, and this will often aggravate the burn problems. A bad burn means that the tars and nicotine are not being dispelled properly, and the smoker ends up getting more of it than they’re supposed to. Third, the smoker could be inhaling some (or all) of the smoke. This is a beginner’s mistake, but some regular cigar smokers do this regularly as well. Seeing as there is no filter on premium hand-made long-filler cigars, there is nothing preventing large smoke particles from getting into the lungs. Of course, the lungs are going to pull lots of the tars and nicotine from the smoke and get it into the bloodstream. I’ve heard that a single cigar (I’d guess a churchill-sized mild-medium cigar) contains as much nicotine as 2 packs of cigarettes, so if you’re inhaling every draw from a cigar, you’re going to be feeling it fast. Fourth, it could be a very strong cigar (like El Rico Habano, Joya de Nicaragua Antaño 1970, Camacho Corojo, etc.) and there is so much ligero that it assaults your senses. That hit that makes your lips tingle, your eyes water, and your sinuses burn is the nicotine. Ways to prevent nicotine poisoning include eating before smoking (it helps to pad the system, and the heavier the better), drinking water (it dilutes the nicotine), dryboxing the cigar to bring the moisture content down before smoking, and smoking more slowly to allow the tar and nicotine to burn off properly. Besides, smoking is about relaxing so take your time. It seems that after a little explanation, a little common sense can go a long way... “Eat, drink, smoke, and be merry!” - in that order. Back to Top3. How can I fix a torn wrapper?Here are a few different options that you can try:1. If you have a lot of time, you could mix up a little bit of pectin (found in the jam-making supply aisle at your local supermarket, next to all the mason jars and stuff). This pectin goo is very similar to the glue the rollers use to secure the wrapper. All you would do is wet down the wrapper in the damaged area with the pectin (you could use a small brush, but a finger works just as well), and press the torn part back down on to the cigar. Once it's dry, you're ready to smoke! One packet of pectin makes a LOT of patching material, so you might want to store it in a small jar. 2. If you don't have that much time (you'd like to smoke the cigar tonight, for example), you could use some jam (I've heard strawberry works well!) since it also contains pectin. Just wet it down as described in 1. above. From what I've heard, you won't get a 'fruity' or 'sweet' smoke as a result of using this method, so you don't have to worry about turning a super-premium smoke into a flavored dog-rocket. 3. If jam isn't your thing, then you can always try white glue. The ingredients are all-natural, and is non-toxic to the point where nobody freaks out (that much) if a baby starts eating it. Just make sure it's dry before smoking, and it won't add any off-flavors to the smoke. (Don't try this with epoxy glues or rubber cement - I don't want to have to say, "I told you so"!) 4. If your cigar has been severely damaged (e.g. the wrapper has split all the way down one side, there are several cracks appearing, etc.), you could also use cigarette rolling papers and 'patch' the damaged areas with that. Just moisten the rolling paper (with water or spit), and glue it on to the affected area. Unfortunately, buying rolling papers without the loose cigarette tobacco is illegal in this area, so this is probably the most expensive fix of all. 5. If you've already left home, you're ready to smoke, and you notice that the wrapper is torn, you can try licking the torn area to stick the flap of wrapper leaf back down. It won't hold that long, but it might hold just long enough for you to smoke past that point. Back to Top4. Is there any way to determine exactly how old a cigar is?The year a particular cigar was made can be hard to determine, but some are easier to figure out than others.Cigars made by General Cigar Co. have box codes that tell when the box (not the cigar) were manufactured. The code is in the form of number, letter, letter, such as 6HB or 5DM. The way this works is as follows... The number tells you the year the box was made, with 5=1999, 6=2000, 7=2001, 8=2002, etc. The first letter is either an H (for Cofradia, Honduras) or a D (for Santiago, DR) for the place of manufacture. The second letter is a rotating letter of the alphabet that determines the month of manufacture. This goes from A-Z, then goes back to A, regardless of the year. For example:
5DX = Dec. 1999, from DR 6HY = Jan. 2000, from Honduras 6DZ = Feb. 2000, from DR 6HA = Mar. 2000, from Honduras 6DB = Apr. 2000, from DR This code should allow you to figure out (within a year) about when the cigars were made. Of course, this only works for General Cigar Co. product, which basically consists of:
Bolivar (regular and Fuerte) (H) Canaria d'Oro (DR) Cohiba (regular and XV) (DR) Crème de Jamaica (DR!) El Credito (DR) El Rey del Mundo (H) El Rico Habano (DR) Excalibur (regular and 1066) (H) Flor de A. Allones (H) Hoyo de Monterrey (all lines) (H) JR Ultimate (regular and Cabinet) (H) La Escepcion (H) La Gloria Cubana (regular and Serie <R>) (DR) Macanudo (all lines) (DR) Partagas (all lines) (DR) Punch (all lines) (H) Rafael Gonzalez (H) Ramon Allones (DR) Sancho Panza (all lines) (H) Temple Hall Estates (DR) Most other companies do not write down the date the cigars were made unless they are a super-premium or boutique brand. Sometimes they will include a slip of paper inside the box that lists information like that (e.g. La Aurora Preferidos, Partagas Limited Reserve, Camacho Liberty, etc.) but this is more the exception than the rule. Cuban cigars have a date code that tells the month and year the cigars were produced. A second code is also stamped onto the bottom that tells which factory the cigars came from, but this is a rotating secret code now and is very difficult to crack. With the help of cigar books like "Perelman's Cigar Cyclopedia", it is possible to narrow down the years of manufacture for some cigars that have come and gone. Books like this can tell you if a certain brand hasn't been made for x years, if they have changed factories, blends, box design, box count (25- or 20-ct. boxes), band design, names, etc. By mixing and matching the characteristics of the cigar in question and the book's descriptions, you can often tell which time period any given cigar came from. There are a few things that you can do to figure out the approximate age of a cigar. 1. Check the color of the cellophane. If the wrapper is still completely clear, the cigar is probably less than 2 years old. If the cellophane is starting to yellow, it's probably more like 2-3 years old. If it's almost brown, crackly, and even a little sticky, it's probably 5+ years old. 2. Check the cigar band. If the band is basically riveted to the cigar, it's probably still less than 2 years old. If the band is loose and slides off of the cigar easily, it is probably 2+years old. (Cigars also shrink if they are dry, so using this as an age determinant only works if the cigars have been properly taken care of.) 3. If the wrapper leaf is a little wrinkled, it's probably 3+ years old. These are basically 'stretch marks' from when the wrapper was applied to a thicker cigar. The binder and filler will shrink a bit over time, and the wrapper will have ridges left over as the insides get smaller. It may make the cigar a little less pretty, but it's a good sign that it has aged well. This generally happens to lighter-colored wrappers since they're thinner. 4. If the cigar band is discolored (the gold is dull instead of shiny, everything is darker than it used to be, etc.), the cigar is probably 4+ years old. Back to Top5. What’s the best way to put out and/or relight a cigar?If you want to spend the dough, you could get a "Cigar Savor" which is a plastic tube with a metal plate on the inside. What it does is it extinguishes the cigar quickly and reshapes the foot so it's easier to light the next time. They cost $15-$25, so that might not be the most feasible solution.What you could do instead is to put a flame to the foot of the cigar (while it's still lit) and blow through it to burn off the extra tar & nicotine that's been building up there. (You should look like a human flame-thrower!) Once you can't get a flame to appear any more, just put the cigar down (don't snuff it out or anything). What this does is both clean out the nasties at the foot, but you'll also be blowing out any stale smoke from the rest of the cigar. The cigar should go out within 2 minutes. When you're ready to smoke the rest of the cigar, light it up again as usual, and once it's going again, do the same trick. It won't be quite as good as before (some cigars take to relighting better than others), but it will definitely improve matters. Back to Top6. How can I fix a tight draw on a cigar?Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot you can do that will fix this problem. With that said, here are a few ideas in case you feel you have nothing to lose.1. The Knitting Needle. If you have some extra time on your hands and don't mind setting the plugged cigar aside for a few days while you smoke other stuff, you could try taking a thin knitting needle and CAREFULLY inserting it into the middle of the cigar. When you have skewered the entire length of the cigar (without jamming the tip of the needle through the wrapper along its length), let it sit like that for a day or so. When you remove the needle, it should leave a hole that runs down the middle of the cigar, leaving it with a decent draw. The caveats for this method are as follows: a. The hole that's left behind will tend to make the cigar burn very hot along the hole's perimeter, and will thus create issues like tunneling and a burnt tongue. b. It's extremely difficult to ream a cigar out with a knitting needle without destroying the wrapper in the process. c. If you push to hard at the wrong angle, you could very easily stab your hand as you hold the cigar. There is a device called a "Drawpoker" that can be purchased on the internet that serves this purpose as well. It's much safer than using a needle, but you should still let the cigar sit in its skewered state until it becomes accustomed to its new shape. Hopefully, you won't come across too many cigars with a poor draw these days (the Boom IS over, after all!) but this might be a way to salvage the occasional plugged stogie. 2. Giving the cigar a massage. This one sounds strange, but it sometimes works. Feel along the length of the cigar until you find the hard spot. This is where the draw is being blocked. When you've found it, rub this section like you're working out a knot in someone's back. Just be sure to keep the wrapper from falling apart when you're doing this. This often helps a little bit, but doesn't always work. 3. Cut it out. Big plugs call for drastic measures. If the plug is at the head or the foot of the cigar, the best idea might be to simply snip the cigar on the other side of the hard spot. You might lose an inch or so of the cigar, but it'll be worth it when you can finally get a decent draw from a stick that would otherwise have you pulling like you're trying to suck a golf ball through a garden hose. 4. Pick at it. If the plug is at the head (the end that you put in your mouth), you can sometimes ream it out with a small awl and/or a pair of tweezers. Often, you'll be able to remove a vein (they sometimes resemble twigs), and this might give you enough space to get the air through. Good luck with this though, as you might end up with bits of tobacco in your mouth for the remainder of the smoke and it still only provides limited results. 5. As Pedro Martinez (Don TuTo) mentioned as well, there’s always the possibility
that the cigar is too moist. If the RH is above 70%, the tobacco may swell to the
point where there isn’t any airflow through the cigar. The easiest way to remedy
this is to dry out the cigar gradually in a ‘dry box’ (an empty cigar box, an
unused humidor with no humidification device, etc.). After at least a week
(sometimes it even takes 3 weeks or so), the cigar will shrink back to its originally
intended size, the draw should improve, the burn will be more even, and the cigar
will simply smoke better because the tobacco has had a chance to dehydrate a bit. (I
always tend to enjoy my cigars on the drier side anyway – I can taste more of the
tobaccos’ complex flavors this way rather than getting a whole bunch of steam
or water vapor in my mouth.) Back to TopQuick Tips1. Don’t throw cigar butts into your tomato garden! The tobacco may contain a fungus called “Blue Matrix” that is really bad for tomatoes. Once it gets into the soil, it’s there for good. It shouldn’t affect any other plants though, so feel free to compost the butts. 2. Got bugs in your garden? Take some of your old cigar butts, and soak them in water overnight. Put the resulting solution into a watering can and water your plants with it. The nicotine in the water is extremely toxic to insects, so it will act as a repellant. Of course, this is extremely toxic to people as well, so don’t go trying to drink the solution. If you thought you felt bad reading about strong cigars in Question 2. above, this will pale in comparison! Back to TopPiano Guy
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