BASIC CIGAR SPEAK – TALKING THE TALK!

Cigar Speak is a different language…but don’t let it throw you a curve. Let’s start with the basics:

• Handmade Cigar: When you see a cigar that says “made by hand” you can generally count on the fact the tobacco leaves were picked, sorted, and bundled by people, not machines. The cigar itself was fashioned by a skilled roller using a few simple tools.
• Machine-made cigar: Most, or all of the cigar was made by a machine and many of the processing stages such as picking the leaves, grinding up the filler tobacco and rolling the cigar, were made by a machine.
• Premium or Super Premium Cigar: The cigar is made by hand and it’s a brand that’s consistent from one cigar and box to the next. Because you can’t “taste-test” a cigar before you buy it, selecting a premium cigar is one way to improve your odds of getting a great product every time.
• Short-Filler: The middle of a short-filler cigar is filled with scraps of tobacco; so if you see this phrase on a box you know it is at least partially machine-made.
• Long- Filler: Long-filler cigars are filled with long leaves of tobacco, deftly gathered together by a roller. A long-filler cigar is almost always
  handmade and all premium cigars are long-filler.
• Ring Gauge: This is the way to measure the thickness of your cigar. Cigar thickness (diameter) is measured inch 1/64 inch increments. So a 50 ring cigar (like the one featured today) is 50/64 inch. A 64 ring gauge cigar would be 1 inch in diameter.
• Length: The length of your cigar is measured in inches. So the 5.5 X 50 description of today’s featured cigar means it is 5.5 inches in length and 50/64 of an inch in diameter.
• Shape:
  For all intents and purposes the shape of a cigar is the length balanced with a particular ring gauge.
• Color:
  The only part of the cigar’s tobacco that you can see without cutting it open, is the wrapper. Color refers to the shade of the leaf used to wrap your cigar, which can range from light green to black.
• Strength or Body: The relative strength or body of your cigar, from mild to full-bodied, is one of the most important things to know and is one of the
  most challenging. You can’t tell how strong a cigar is by where it is made.
• Blending:
  Most cigars are blended – which means manufacturers use tobacco from all over the world to achieve the desired balance of flavor and strength.
• Ultimately, let your good taste guide you!

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