Choosing the right Cigar

Choosing the right cigar can be hard, sometimes it’s best to try a few different ones to see which ones you prefer. In the meantime, here is a great guide to help you get started or to help you buy a cigar for someone.

Type of Cigar Based on Size

Cigars come in many different styles, including size, shape, strength, country of origin and the way they are manufactured. The most common and well known way to categorize the cigar is by size, which is the length (measured in inches) and the ring size (cigar diameter measured in 64ths of an inch). The different sizes and lengths have their own names, some of which may be familiar to you. The different sized cigars are Corona, Panatela, Torpedo, Toro, Churchill, Perfecto, Cigarillo, Lonsdale, Robusto and the Giant.

Colors, Shapes, and Hand-Rolled

After choosing the size that you’d like, it’s time to select the wrapper type, color and the shape of the cigar. The basic shapes are flared, tapered and pyramid. The best cigars are hand rolled, and are always favored over machine rolled and tend to cost more. If you’re going to smoke a cigar, you may as well smoke a hand rolled one to get the most pleasure and joy from the cigar.

Start with Mild-Flavored Cigars

If you or whom you may be buying for is a novice cigar smoker, you should start off by buying mild cigars to start out with, and move your way up to stronger flavors slowly. The benefits of starting off with milder cigars are that they don’t cost as much money as the stronger ones, you may not have experience in cutting cigars, and it is better to practice cutting on less pricey cigars that won’t be as bad if you ruin! Also you must learn the best way in storing cigars as they can quickly dry out if not stored properly.

Get the Most Out of Your Cigars

Here are a few tips on how to get the most out of your cigars and smoking experience:

• There are various types of cigars. Experiment with new sizes and flavors.

• Don't inhale cigar smoke when puffing.

• Keep the smoke in your mouth for the shortest length of time.

• Unless you buy cigars that were single sticks and stored in a humidor, age your cigars by stripping off packaging and placing them in a humidor for a few months before they are smoked.

• Throw away partially smoked cigars; do not place them back in the humidor.

• Choose the right drink to go with your carefully chosen cigar. Try some strong-flavored drinks to enhance the flavor of your cigar, like Scotch or Port.

• Always use a sharp cigar cutter to cut the ends of your cigars off before smoking them.

• Use butane lighter to get the best taste out of your cigar. If you use wooden matches then let the match burn for a few seconds before lighting.

• Don’t stub out the cigar once finished as it can leave an unpleasant smell. Let the cigar burn out in an ash tray.