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The Cigar Adviser
Published in: December 1, 1994
Published Winter 1994
The Cigar Adviser
Q: How long can a cigar be stored in its original box without additional humidification or care? Does it matter if the box has been opened?
Joshua Heimann
Buenos Aires, Argentina
A: Cigars in a box without proper humidification will not retain moisture content for more than five days. If there is a layer of cellophane or shrink-wrap, you can add another five or perhaps six days. But any such wrapper is not designed to preserve the freshness of the cigars. If anything, the process of drying out will be hastened if the box has been opened. Many tobacconists around the country offer storage under varying terms and conditions such as a minimum purchase or a fee.
Q: Is there a rule of thumb for how far down you are supposed to smoke a cigar? It seems that the taste changes dramatically the farther down I smoke a cigar. The taste seems to become bitter. Am I drawing on it in the wrong way or are my taste buds still learning?
Nicholas Condo Jr
Bridgeton, New Jersey
A: There is a simple rule about how far down to smoke a cigar: until it no longer tastes good. I've smoked cigars that I've wanted to burn my fingers with because they continue to taste great even down at the short end. And I've had cigars that "turn" or go sour or bitter with one-third or more of the cigar remaining. In general, most cigars reach a point where the buildup of tars begin to adversely affect the taste. You must be the judge of when you have reached that point. There's also the question of whether the cigar has been relighted. The more times you let a cigar extinguish, only to relight it, the more likely it is to taste harsh as you continue to smoke it.
Q: I would like to respond to the answer given to a question asked by Sam Barnett of Portland, Maine. He was noticing a thin, white, moldlike substance on his cigars. He was told that mold was the direct result of a combination of high temperature and excessive humidity. While this may be true, another source of the problem might be the water he uses in his humidifying unit. I have had this problem. When I substituted distilled water, the problem was completely eliminated.
On a different subject, do you have an E-mail address? Are you involved with America OnLine at all? There are two rather large bulletin boards dedicated to cigars and pipes and they are expanding.
Michael Duval
Lowell, Massachusetts
A: Yes, it is possible that a very high-mineral-content water might be leaving a residue as it evaporates in the closed environment of a humidor. But generally, this takes the appearance of a very fine, white powder with a chalky consistency. Bloom, or plume, the condition we described, is softer and often slightly bluish.
Until now, we have not been participating on the computer- service bulletin boards. Yet it is under discussion, and we look forward to the day when we begin to participate.
Q: A good friend of mine freezes his cigars and leaves them open overnight at room temperature to increase their moisture content. He then refreezes them. He does this periodically and claims it's as good as a humidor. We describe this process as "freeze humid." What is your opinion?
Stephen Honig
Massapequa, New York
A: Sorry, we don't have a very high opinion of that process. On the one hand, we know that people freeze their cigars. Freezing will preserve them, and, if you have suspicions about the presence of any tobacco beetles, it will certainly kill them. As long as you allow a minimum two to three days in a controlled, humidified environment before smoking the cigar, there shouldn't be any problems. But that system does not allow for any kind of slow maturation or aging that requires the interplay of humidity and temperature. And more important, freezing is something that should be done only once to a cigar, and only if that is the sole method you have available to keep your cigars. If you freeze and humidify and refreeze a cigar, you are subjecting it to unnatural stress. If there are any weak spots on the wrapper, or even cracks inside the cigar, the expansion of frozen water particles could break the wrapper or the cigar itself.
Q: How many cigars can legally be exported from Cuba? Also, do you know if Cuban Customs officers usually confiscate the cigars if you carry too many of them?
Martin Fuerst
Zurich, Switzerland
A: According to Cubatabaco sources in Havana, the current legal maximum of cigars that can be exported is 200. That's eight regular boxes of 25 cigars in most cases. Presumably, if you are stopped by Cuban Customs, the excess cigars will be seized. But remember, it is illegal to bring Cuban cigars into the United States if you arrive from any country other than Cuba. If Customs finds Cuban cigars, they will confiscate them and you will be subject to a fine. If you are a journalist or an academic who is eligible for travel to Cuba, you may return with 100 cigars, according to a U.S. Treasury Department circular. However, some Customs officers interpret that to mean $100 worth of cigars; either way, there is a limit on the quantity of Cuban cigars you can bring back into the United States even when you travel to Cuba legally.
Q: In a few of your past cigar tastings you noted that certain Cohiba sizes have lacked consistency. Do you feel there is a general decline in the quality of the Cohiba range in particular and in Cuban cigars in general?
Charles H. Dart
Brookline, Massachusetts
A: Many of the Cuban cigars we have smoked have been of very high quality, with no noticeable decline from their traditional, lofty standards. They have been purchased at reputable merchants around the world.
The Cuban economy and its cigar industry have been suffering through an especially difficult period. Bad weather damaged or ruined tobacco crops and warehouse stocks in 1992 and 1993. The end of the Soviet subsidies in the early '90s virtually eliminated agricultural items such as fertilizers and tarpulins for the shade-wrapper farms. When the products weren't available, Cuba often didn't have adequate foreign cash reserves to purchase them on the market. Therefore, it has become increasingly common for buyers of Cuban cigars to find less than the best quality when they crack open a box.
But there is also an epidemic of factory seconds or rejects and counterfeits finding their way to market. Often when we get complaints from readers about low-quality Cuban cigars, they send in the bands with their letters, and it is immediately evident that they have not been smoking the real thing. Fake Cohibas and Montecristos bear no relation to the real thing. You can protect yourself by recognizing that if someone offers you a box of Cohibas for $60, it's not real. Even the Cubans know how much those cigars are worth on the world market.
Q: How about a pocket-sized book with the world's best retailers and cigar-friendly restaurants?
Rich Strauss
Buffalo, New York
A: This month we will publish both a buying guide for cigars, which includes international cigar retailers who sell Cigar Aficionado, and a cigar-friendly restaurant guide with more than 1,300 entries in it from all over the world. Both books will be available from your local tobacconist.
Q: Why taste Cuban cigars? I realize you want to be thorough, but quite frankly, the average person neither has the chance to sit down with Fidel nor, may I add, to obtain Cuban cigars.
Andrew Ganzi
Glendale, New York
A: Cigar Aficionado is an international magazine that is sold in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Europe and the Far East. In addition, we have found that a very large percentage of our audience travels abroad for business or pleasure. Since Cuban cigars are an integral element of the world cigar industry, we believe it is our obligation to report on them.
Q: My cigar of choice is La Gloria Cubana Wavell (ring gauge 50 by 5 inches). However, this particular size is very popular and, therefore, hard to find. I recently purchased La Gloria Charlemagne (ring gauge 54 by 7 inches). If I cut the Charlemagne in half, will this action result in any taste differences?
Randy Barnhart
Bedford, New Hampshire
A: Absolutely. Cigars are a delicate balance of up to four different kinds of filler tobacco in addition to the binder and wrapper. The blends are selected by a long and exacting process of tasting and reblending until the cigar manufacturers find the exact taste they are looking for. Because the filler tobaccos are of different strengths, a slight change in the percentage of one versus another will affect the taste. In the large Charlemagne size, the tobaccos have been chosen in very different proportions to the Wavell. Cutting the cigar in half leaves you with half a Charlemagne, not a Wavell. In addition, the rolling technique closes the cigar at the head. Halving the cigar means the bottom half will almost certainly fall apart as you smoke it.
Q: I turned over three of my Cuban cigar boxes and found the following codes, which do not correspond with any of Anwer Bati's in his book, The Cigar Companion.
Montecristo No. 3-NISI-VC-2 (purchased in Germany)
Montecristo Especial-O.V.S.N.-02 (purchased in Cuba/Partagas factory)
Quintero y Hno. Puritos-ISONWH or HMNOSI (purchased in Colombia)
All three boxes have the official government seal along with the "Cubatabaco, hecho en Cuba" and "Totalmente a mano" stamps. What do the codes on my boxes mean?
Name & Address Withheld
A: These are secret codes that identify the exact date the cigars were made. The capital letters following the brand names, for instance, NISI in your first example, refers to those dates. You may also find factory designations that appear on boxes--JM for the H. Upmann factory, FR for the La Corona factory, BM for Romeo y Julieta, EL for El Laguito where many Cohibas are made, FPG for Partagas and HM for El Rey del Mundo. Most of these codes are based on the factories' second names, which usually are based on well-known Cuban patriots. The factory code usually precedes the date code, often separated by a dash.
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