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The Cigar Adviser
Published in: September 1, 1993
Published Autumn 1993
The Cigar Adviser
Q: I placed some cigars in a Tupperware box with a moist sponge recently. It seems to keep them moist, but the other day I noticed white specks on the unwrapped Canaria d'Oros. Is it mold? What can I do about it? Can I cut holes in the Tupperware? Should I be worried?
Ronald Naiditch
New York, New York
A: It may be mold. But it may be something called plume. Plume is a light dust that comes from the oils in a maturing cigar. It can be brushed off or wiped off with a soft, dry sponge.
If it is mold, however, it will leave a spot on the wrapper. No immediate harm is being done to the cigars. But the mold is a sign that you've got problems with your choice of humidor, or at least where you're putting it. Mold becomes a problem when it's too humid or because it's getting too hot. Cutting air holes in the Tupperware box will only speed the loss of moisture and make keeping them properly humidified more difficult. Put the sealed Tupperware container in a cool place, less than 70° F. Consider the refrigerator, which will also reduce the possibility of triggering a tobacco beetle infestation. I keep my humidor at about 65° F and at 70-72 percent humidity.
Q: What are the signs of a cigar that is moist, overmoist, stale, underfilled, overfilled or just right?
A. Williams
Roanoke, Virginia
A: You've covered a lot of ground. I like to pick up and feel a cigar before I smoke it. That's the best way to find out whether it's in good condition. I squeeze it gently, listening for the crackling of the wrapper, which could indicate it's too dry. If it's too wet, it will feel soggy. A stale cigar, which is probably dried out, will most likely have buckles in its wrapper where the bunch has contracted underneath. If it's underfilled, when you squeeze it you'll feel as if you're pressing the two sides together. If it's overfilled, it will feel hard with no give at all the entire length of the cigar. (If it is just hard in one spot, it may indicate that the cigar is plugged.) If it's just right, you'll know.
Q: Have premium cigars available in the United States gotten worse over the past 25 years, or is it just me?
Willie Maas
Nevada City, California
A: Well, Willie, I'd have to say that it's you. In my judgment, the best cigars available in the United States have been produced during the last five years. This is especially true of cigars produced in the Dominican Republic and Honduras. And in the last two years, these premium hand-rolled smokes have gotten even better. There's a trend in the cigar industry to provide fuller-bodied, more complex tasting cigars. And I think we all welcome this development.
Q: I've always felt that Cuban cigars are heavy and bitter. Are these characteristics of all major Cuban cigars or are there milder ones that do not smoke that way?
Mauro Nahoum
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
A: I smoke a lot of Cuban cigars, and for the most part, I've never found them to be bitter. Strong, yes. Cuban tobacco is some of the most full bodied, full-flavored and spicy tobacco on the market today. However, there are some Cuban cigars that are milder, with a more elegant flavor. These are some new Cuban brands that are geared for people who like a lighter smoke. Ask your tobacconist in Rio de Janeiro
Q: A friend told me that I should take more time enjoying my cigars, i.e., to smoke in less of a hurry. Is the time spent with the cigar away from the mouth as important as the time you keep it there?
Mauro Nahoum
Rio de Janeiro
A: You bet. Smokers who puff quickly on a cigar are more likely to turn it into a torch and make it burn hot enough to mask the tobacco flavors. There is a pace to smoking a cigar. Each smoker has his own pace depending on how hard he draws and how frequently. By letting a cigar rest between puffs, you let it cool off and burn more evenly. Above all, take the cigar out of your mouth. Some experienced smokers say a puff a minute is about right.
Q: In a recent magazine article, I saw some cigar brands listed that were not covered in any of your tastings. Do you not consider them worthy of tasting?
N. Jeffrey O'Neill
Overland Park, Kansas
A: In our tastings, we try to be as comprehensive as possible in the specific size chosen for that issue. If a brand is missing, it's because a company doesn't make that particular size. We also avoid cigars that are produced as private label or available only for regional distribution.
Q: Are you aware of any good books on the subject of cigars?
R. Dixon
Palmdale, California
A: There are several. Zino Davidoff's book, The Connoisseur's Book of the Cigar, is well regarded. A French book by Bernard Le Roy and Maurice Szafran called The Cigar: A Living Art has recently been translated into English and will be distributed later this year. Also any cigar bibliography should include the Gourmet Guide to the Cigar, a book published by Paul Garmirian and reflective of his personal tastes in cigars; The Book of the Havana Cigar by Brian Innes and the Guide for the Havana by Gerard Pere et Fils, a Geneva retail outlet. The Cigar Companion, by Andrew Bati, and The Ultimate Cigar Book by Rick Hacker will be available this year.
Q: Could you provide more information about your tastings of cigars? Why can't I detect some of the aromas and flavors described in your notes?
Samuel Barton
Ocala, Florida
A: Each issue, we choose a size for the tasting. Then we buy the cigars at retail outlets in the New York area whenever possible, or in the case of Cuban cigars, in Europe or Canada wherever possible. In cases where we know a cigar is about to be introduced, we contact the manufacturer directly, but we make that clear in the tasting report by the notation :available in month/year." For the blind tasting, the bands are removed, and the cigars are rebanded with numbered white strips so that the tasters cannot identify the brand. For each tasting, four senior editors smoke and rate each cigar blind. Each editor's tasting preferences are different, but it usually takes four to six weeks to smoke about 50 cigars.
Taste and smell are subjective. But professional tasters have educated their palates and noses to detect tastes and aroma that may not seem evident to a lay person. Building a taste-and-aroma vocabulary, however, is part of the excitement of learning about cigars.
Q: I would like to know all about the trademarks and brands that are made in both the Dominican Republic and Cuba. How can I differentiate?
James Lyons
Byron, California
A: The Cuban government says consumers should look for three things on a box of Cuban cigars to determine its authenticity: the seal, the phrase "Hecho in Cuba" (Made in Cuba) and the logo of Cubatabaco. Most Cuban cigars have the word "Habana" printed on the bands. Cigar boxes from the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Honduras usually have the country of origin stamped on the bottom. In fact, if the cigars are being sold in the United States, the boxes must by law include the country of origin. However, cigars from those countries frequently do not have the country name printed on the band.
Q: Why are Macanudo cigars produced in two different countries--Jamaica and the Dominican Republic?
Jeff Calk
Atlanta, Georgia
A: There are two main reasons why Macanudos are manufactured in two different countries. Macanudo were originally all made in Jamaica. When the decision was made to move some production to the Dominican Republic, Jamaica's political situation was unstable. In addition, demand for Macanudos had become so great that more production capacity was needed. Culbro Corporation, the parent company of General Cigar, which owns the Macanudo brand, already had a huge leaf-sorting operation in the Dominican Republic. The facility was expanded to include cigar manufacturing. Today, the production of Macanudos is almost evenly divided between Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. The tobacco for both cigar-making factories comes from the same leaf-sorting facility in the Dominican Republic.
Q: If a cigar doesn't pull really well, how long should it be humidified prior to smoking?
Junaid Alam Peracha
Lagos, Nigeria
A: It's unlikely that proper humidification is going to change the draw on a cigar. If it is, in fact, very dry, it may burn hot but the draw shouldn't be affected. If a cigar is "plugged," or it has a very tight draw, it usually results from poor construction. You can try kneading the cigar up and down its entire length to find the tight spot, and without breaking the wrapper, squeeze the spot in hopes of breaking up the blockage.
Q: If a cigar is long (like a Cohiba Lanceros, for example), I usually relight it when I'm ready for another few puffs. I've been told that is bad cigar etiquette, and, in fact, is bad for the cigar. Is that true?
Junaid Alam Peracha
Lagos, Nigeria
A: Let's get real. We all relight our cigars. I do. I'm often smoking during a busy day, and if I get involved in a meeting or a conversation, my cigar often goes out. Sure, it may not be the best thing for a cigar because in drawing the flame over a burnt end, you suck in some of the carbonized tobacco. And, if you relight it too many times, the cigar will get harsh from the heat alone. One friend suggests that if you know you're going to relight a cigar, blow the smoke out of it before laying it down and then knock off all the excess ash before relighting it.
Remember also that every time a cigar gets cold, the oils and tars saturate the remaining tobacco. When you relight the cigar, those oils and tars are more concentrated, and the cigar can become nicotine-charged. I know some people who, when smoking a cigar late in the day, will leave it in their ashtray overnight and clip off a portion of the cigar behind the ash in the morning, and relight it. It's not the same as a fresh light, but if it's a great cigar, why waste it?
Q: Is there a proper way to keep cigars humidified while traveling?
Roland Beecher
New York, New York
A: Check out the article "Hitting the Road" in Vol. 1 No. 4. The answer to your question is, yes. There are a variety of travel humidors that will keep your cigars ready to smoke when you're on the road.
Q: Is there a limited amount of time that a cigar should be stored, and, if so, how long?
Chuck Jones
Charleston Heights, South Carolina
A: I recently smoked some cigars from 1954. That's 39 years. I've heard of people smoking even older cigars. In general, cigars that old take on some very specific flavors and aromas, usually as a result of being stored in wooden boxes. But I've also had some 30-year-old cigars that were as fresh and moist as if they'd come from the factory within the previous couple of years. That may be an illusion; there's no way a 30-year-old cigar will have the same characteristics as when it was made. The cigar won't necessarily be worse or better, just different. In my personal experience, I've found the older, properly aged cigars are milder and more elegant.
If there's a "right" answer to your question, it is probably that a cigar can be stored for a very long time if it rests in the proper humidity (70 to 72 percent) at the proper temperature (65 to 70°F).
Q: How long should cigars be aged prior to smoking?
Francis Fay III
address withheld
A: I like my cigars to sit in my humidor for at least six months to a year before I smoke them. But some people insist that a cigar right from the factory is ready to smoke right then, and in fact, is at its peak. In other words, it's a matter of personal preference.
Q: Several of the pictures in CIGAR AFICIONADO show wooden humidors with hardware on the inside of the lid. What exactly is the hardware?
Eli Vande Voorde
Coburg, Oregon
A: That's the humidification system. Some companies put in sponges; some use a simple bottle with a porous mouth. Some use a patented mixture of clay and absorbent material that holds moisture well. The Credo system is designed to be inserted in a storage box or a humidor with an inadequate humidification system.
Q: I live in perpetually damp Ireland. I keep my cigars in cedar boxes in an open chest in an unheated room, windows usually open. When I take out a Montecristo that I bought 15 years ago, it tastes as good as the first ones I removed from the box back then, even though I have to brush off a bit of mold. Have my taste buds gone to pot, or do I live in a natural humidor?
D. Harris
County Cork, Ireland
A: The mold does come from excessively high humidity, but given where you live, I doubt it ever reaches serious levels because of the low temperatures. In fact, I assume you rarely see temperatures in the 70s. Therefore, be sure the mold you're talking about isn't just plume (see above). On the other hand, if the temperature consistently falls into the 50s and 40s, your cigars are probably not aging as quickly. If you can keep a box for 15 years, however, you won't have any problems with not having a properly aged cigar.
Q: Are there duty-free shops in London and Paris airports where I can buy cigars, or do you have to buy them at shops downtown and apply for VAT and duty refunds by mail?
Greg Rise
Perham, Minnesota
A: There are fine duty-free outlets at both airports. There are also outstanding cigar stores in both London and Paris. (You can apply for the VAT and duty refund, but in France, for instance, your total purchases must exceed a certain amount before you are eligible.) Beware that in some duty-fee outlets around the world, the cigars are not kept I properly humidified conditions.
By the way, we assume you are talking about buying cigars that are legal to bring into the United States. All Cuban-made imports are prohibited in the United States.
Q: I tried to light up a cigar at my table in La Grenouille in New York City, but we were moved to the bar. In the Spring CIGAR AFICIONADO, it's listed as a place that allows cigar smoking in the dining room? What's up?
Dan Rizzi
Union City, New Jersey
A: When the list was put together, we called every establishment as if we were customers and asked if we could smoke at our table. However, we've discovered that even if an owner or some responsible person at the restaurant responds that way, a waiter or maître d' may object and ask you to put a cigar out. In other cases, a restaurant has simply changed its policy since our first review.
We are putting together a much more extensive and up-to-date directory. In this issue, we list restaurants by city and include telephone numbers, but without any other information because if we did, it would fill more than 10 pages. Look for our restaurant directory later this fall.
Q: If I purchase two or three boxes of Cuban cigars and try to bring them into the country for my personal use, will they be confiscated?
James Hollingsworth
Cinton, Missouri
A: Due to the Cuban trade embargo, it is illegal to bring any Cuban products into the United States. Cigars are included in that ban. Yes, if a customs agent finds your cigars, he will confiscate them.
Q: It's my understanding that there is no nicotine in cigars, because it is naturally removed during the fermentation of the tobacco leaves. Is this true?
Tim Zimberhoff
Sausalito, California
A: No. It is true that levels of nicotine are reduced in properly fermented leaves of tobacco. So cigars don't have the same concentrations of nicotine as, say, cigarettes. But it is virtually impossible to get all the nicotine out of a tobacco leaf and preserve its flavors and aromas.
Q: Many manufacturers wrap their cigars in cellophane prior to boxing. Is there an advantage to unwrapping cigars before placing them in a humidor?
Dana Kelly
Jackson, Mississippi
A: The cellophane serves to protect the cigars in transit and can help maintain the humidity present in the cigar at the time of manufacture until it reaches a humidor. If you have a decent humidor, there's no reason to leave the cellophane on. The aromas of the wood will marry with the tobacco and usually give it a pleasant taste. However, if you're keeping a number of different cigars in the same humidor, it's probably better to leave the cellophane on because the aromas from one cigar can travel to others in the humidor. Some people feel that cigars "marry" and that the combined aroma improves all the cigars. Still others prefer to keep the aromas pure and intact. These people should store their cigars in their original boxes inside a larger humidor.
You also asked about why our cigars don't have cellophane on them. The primary reason we remove the cellophane is that it reflects too much light in photographic sessions, and you can't see the cigars.
Q: What percentage of smokers prefers which kinds of wrapper?
Emmet Wright Jr.
Orange, Virginia
A: In the early 1960s, nearly 90 percent of all cigars sold in the United States had candela or green wrappers. Today, probably 10 percent are candela or double claro, and the balance is divided between natural or brown colorado, which has a slightly reddish hue, and finally maduro which is dark brown to black.
Q: How long can a cigar stay good in a tube, outside a humidor?
Don Vogt
Mercer Island, Washington
A: The staying power of a tubed cigar varies greatly and is dependent upon its condition at packing time. If it is properly humidified, and the tube has an unbroken airtight seal, the cigar should theoretically last for years. We recently smoked some 25-year-old Jamaican cigars that were stored in aluminum tubes and were in perfect shape. Of course, it's better to be safe than sorry. Keeping a tube in a humidor decreases the likelihood that moisture will leak and dry out the cigar. Remember to keep tubes open when stored in a humidor.
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