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Cigar Adviser
Published in: August 1, 1998
Published July/August 1998
The Cigar AdviserQ: When I travel, should my travel humidor go with the checked luggage or should I keep it with me in the cabin? And, is there a rule of thumb for how much of a cigar you should smoke?
Michael Verdi
Auburn, New York
A: While the luggage compartments of planes are pressurized, temperatures are not necessarily kept as constant as you find in the passenger cabin. This can mean extreme fluctuations of temperatures, which when they occur too rapidly can damage cigars. Better to keep them with you in the cabin.
Regarding your second question, there is no set rule, unless you consider the rule "until it stops tasting good" as a guideline. There are some differences of opinion. What follows are some basics regarding a cigar's smoking performance.
A cigar must "get running," or in other words, it must be smoked about a half inch to an inch before you get a true sense of how a cigar will taste. At the outset, the oils aren't warmed up, and it takes a while for that to happen.
Generally, after that first transformation, the cigar will taste the same until just beyond the halfway point. At that juncture, the cigar will often change character again, usually as a result of a buildup of some of the tars, which can sometimes adversely affect the flavor.
Some people enjoy that slightly heartier, more robust stage of a cigar, so they keep smoking until the cigar burns their fingers. But be aware that the cigar does get more potent at that stage. For some full-bodiedcigars, the area beyond halfway is simply too strong for many smokers, and they prefer to let the cigar go out.
Q: I regularly send boxes of Cuban cigars from overseas tobacconists to my colleagues and business associates around the world. Is that legal? If it isn't, does that mean I shouldn't even be buying Cuban cigars when I'm overseas?
Name Withheld
Smithtown, New York
A: Technically, if any funds of an American citizen are used to buy Cuban products, in almost all cases it is a violation of the Trading with the Enemies Act. So, if you order Cuban cigars for your friends and colleagues, even though you are not importing them into the United States, your money has gone to further the economic interests of the Cuban government. That's prohibited.
Practically, there's no way to intervene in that behavior and enforce the law. The same is true if you store Cuban cigars in London while awaiting the end of the embargo. You can do it, because it's virtually impossible to be caught.
Same goes for smoking Cubans when you're overseas. You run virtually no risk of being stopped by a U.S. Customs agent demanding to see your passport as you walk down a London street smoking a Cuban cigar.
Q: Can I store my cigars in my quite elaborate and serious wine cellar?
Douglas Rush
St. Louis, Missouri
A: You can, but I advise against it. The cooler the temperature, the harder it is to keep your cigars properly humidified. It may take up to two or even three times the air moisture content at 57 degrees Fahrenheit to keep a cigar at 70 percent humidity, as it does at 70 degrees. So, it's very hard to keep even a container at that level of humidity.
Better to store your cigars somewhere that's warmer, keeping in mind that you always want to maintain the humidor at about 72 degrees. If you exceed that, you run the risk of hatching the tobacco beetles that are invariably found in some cigars.
Q: Should you stub out a cigar or let it go out?
John Jones
Birmingham, England
A: By all means, let the cigar go out on its own. By stubbing it out, you will release more burned tobacco aromas, and the extinguished cigar will smell more. Who knows? If you let your smoke go out by itself, you may decide to relight it.
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