Cigar 101

Before we get to Cigar Dinners, I have to admit something. I’m saddened to say that along with enjoying Premium Cigars, I was a cigarette smoker for most of my life. I can recall seating in the Smoking Sections of restaurants, movie theaters, airports and even airplanes throughout my young life. When I moved to Nevada in 2000 for two years I remember my first trip to the supermarket, grabbing a cart and seeing a small ashtray conveniently mounted on it!

While I generally agree with the regulations and restrictions that have been placed on all smokers; I’ve often felt that those of us who occasionally enjoy a premium cigar have gotten a bad rap. Depending on where you go to smoke, even outside, some people give us a hard time.

From 1993-2000 I held amazing cigar dinners at a variety of restaurants in Long Island NY where I lived. For many years I had quarterly events at the local Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Those were the days! 

Local Shop

I’m sure many of you have settled in with a favorite local cigar shop. Hopefully your place has a lounge. If it does you know how satisfying it is to spend time there with fellow cigar smokers. A nice Cigar lounge is an oasis for us on cold, rainy, snowy and freezing days to enjoy a smoke, watch a game or just getting together to talk with like minded folks. Here in Arizona when Summer comes , enjoying a good cigar outside when its 110 degrees is challenging to say the least!

Many stores  hold cigar events at restaurants that offer outdoor seating venues when weather permits. While traveling around the northeastern states I was fortunate to meet some pretty savvy Cigar lounge owners. Many of them made an effort to have events at their stores highlighting cigar manufacturers they did business with. Special offers, raffles, cigar rolling and the like could draw customers in to enjoy the day; no matter what the weather was outside.

How it went down

I had the chance to meet a great tobacconist with a terrific lounge in the dead of a brutal New England winter. As we discussed the difficulties of organizing a smoking event  at this time of the year a man entered his store asking to speak with him. As he sat down he explained  he was a Chef that opened a new Bistro in town and welcomed us to visit and sample his food. As we read the menu I thought of something and asked,

“How much would you charge per person to put together a selection of appetizers representing your best recipes?”

He thought for a moment and questioned my motive for asking. I went on to explain that if we could put together 20-25 customers to come to the store’s lounge and offer them a special cigar dinners promotion to purchase 3 cigars and his food, they could meet him, sample his menu and would probably return to his place for a meal and become his customers.

“$25.00” was his response.  We then asked him to give us a detailed listing of what he would offer. Within a day we put together a flyer highlighting the chef, his restaurant, the food and the three cigars we selected for an all in price of $49.95. After a week of offering this event to his customer base over 50 people wanted to attend!

How’d it go?

Needless to say the event was a huge success. In fact, the store owner had to hold two sittings because he couldn’t accommodate everyone who wanted to come at one time. The chef get a bunch of new customers during the slowest time of year; he also went on to build an outdoor seating area to accommodate more customers as well as holding full blown cigar dinner and brunch events; including a full menu when the weather turned nice.

Run this concept by the owner of your favorite cigar store. I’m sure there’s no shortage of restaurants looking for new customers. This type of event is easy to put together and is a win win for everyone!

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Ok, relax! As you probably know there are a zillion articles and opinions about cigar Humidors.

When I was brought into the CIGAR THIEF crew I was very honest about how I didn’t want to share my experiences, knowledge and ideas the way other people do. If you’ve read my other submissions you’ll see that I’ve tried to come across in a basic bread and butter manner. I’m a regular person just like you just older! I know what it takes to earn a living and how busy most of us are with work, families and the like. I also know that depending on how much money you want to spend, the choices are endless when it comes to selecting a humidor to store your premium cigars.

Even though I had my own walk in humidor, I still had personal humidors at home. We sold the finest products available at the time. Elle Bleu, Michelle Pernod, Prometheus, Nat Sherman to name a few. 

At this point in time I’m assuming we’re not talking a foreign language and all of you know what a humidor is for and how they work on a basic level. One common description applied to most of these units is that they contain passive humidification systems to keep the humidity level around 70%. This means there is some type of sponge, foam or moisture retaining device either affixed to the inner lid or placed somewhere inside the unit.

Does size matter?

The size and appearance of actual humidors you buy is a personal choice. Just make sure it is at least lined with Spanish Cedar. I have to tell you. From the basic economy models up to the high end ones, the passive  systems they employed to keep cigars fresh were a major pain in the ass to maintain. I realize that these are the most used kinds of products out there. I’m also here to tell you that keeping your cigars fresh and providing an environment allowing them to age is extremely important.

I lost count of how many people had their cigars go bad over the years despite their best intentions with these commonplace products. So let’s talk about the basics.

Tha Basics

First off and most importantly, no matter what you have, you must only use distilled water in the Humidifcation devices. Not Spring water or tap water ever. Why? Distilled water is the water condensed from steam. It has no minerals or bacteria that will cause mold. I’ve heard from many folks that are happy with their humidors telling me they’ve acquired a couple of boxes of cigars they can’t fit in their unit. They don’t want to buy another unit but they want to store these surplus cigars safely. 

Here’s a no money way to accomplish this. Go to Home Depot and get a sealable plastic tub big enough to contain your cigars. Then get the largest cello sponge you can find like the ones used for washing a car. Then get a large zip lock type bag that can fit the sponge inside it. Buy a gallon of distilled water, saturate the sponge, place it in the bag and leave the bag open. Put your cigars in the tub along with the bag/sponge, seal it and forget it. If your paranoid put in a second sponge. Your cigars will be fine.

When I moved to Arizona in July I had six of these types of tubs filled with $5000 worth of cigars. Some boxed , some loose, some packaged. They were in a moving truck for over a month traveling through some pretty hot temperatures as they crossed the country. While they were in transit I was regretting not shipping them them ahead of time. When they arrived I held my breath when I opened up the first tub. The cigars were perfect. They sat in these tubs for another month until I was able to set up my upright humidor cabinet. They stayed perfect.

Buying a Humidor

When it comes to buying a humidor you may settle on a size that fits your needs. Do yourself a favor and get a bigger one. Time is friendly to tobacco. The longer cigars sit in a good environment the better they get. Don’t forget, cigars age well in SPANISH Cedar wood. 

Allowing some of your cigars to age for months or years will be a very rewarding experience when you smoke them. Try taking one of your favorite cigars, let it age for six months and you’ll see what I mean. Now it comes to humidification. We talked about passive systems which most personal humidors are probably equipped with. Do yourself and your cigars a huge favor and buy an small Oasis Humidification machine similar to what’s pictured below. Not only is this type of device maintenance free, it keeps air flowing inside. They’re easy to install and  operate . I rarely endorse manufacturers. Over the last 10 years I’ve dealt with the people at Oasis without any disappointments. WWW.CIGAROASIS.COM

The bigger your cabinet, the large a unit you can install. I have a six foot tall cabinet with two of their largest units inside. It turns out that the lack of humidity in Arizona warranted this. My cigars are fresh and aging perfectly.

If you’re thinking of upgrading to a cabinet style humidor I’ve dealt with a small family owned company: Wood Projections in Miami for many years. 

As always, don’t hesitate to send me your thoughts or questions.

Of course all of us here at The Cigar Thief want you to purchase all of your cigars from us! But we know that every now and again you may wind up in another town, state or country; finding yourself shopping in a cigar store or smoke shop of some kind.

Most cigar retailers want to do the right thing for their customers. They know no one wants to buy a stale or over-humidified cigar.

I remember visiting a large chain of smoke shops to help them reset their cigar cabinets and add new brand selections. Whenever I entered a client’s store I immediately approached whatever type of fixture they had their cigars in to check on the Humidifcation device. As I opened the cabinet doors I gently felt one of the cigars that appeared to be discolored. It was also as hard as a rock.

It was then the store’s manager announced, “The humidifier machine is working”. He was right. The machine was running but after my inspection it appeared that there was no distilled water in the unit’s reservoir to create moisture! Needless to say, every cigar in the cabinet was unsmokable. It is times like this warn “Buyer Be Aware!”.

What to look for…

Be on the lookout for any kind of humidistat gauge to see that the humidity level is around 70% and don’t be alarmed if it’s between 68-70. If you notice the humidity level at over 73% be on the lookout for condensation underneath the cellophane wrappers. Over-humidification can cause moisture to collect under the cellophane which will then seep onto the outer leaf and ruin the cigar. Over humidification will also lead to extremely soft cigars that will be difficult to light up and ultimately be a real bad smoking experience.

Keeping cigars in an environment conducive to ongoing aging, proper humidification and temperature control should be very important to retailers.

We talk a lot about  humidification. Did you know that temperature is equally important? It’s generally accepted that 70% humidity and 70 degrees Fahrenheit is the right ratio for premium cigars to be stored in. When I assisted retailers building cigar stores I emphatically stated that if they didn’t want to install air conditioning, they shouldn’t build a humidor room. When retailers had a wall of display cabinets to sell cigars, I would ask them if they had central A/C and did they use it. If they didn’t ,I made the same recommendation.

What most people don’t know is what can happen when the temperature in a cigar display case or walk in humidor exceeds 78-85 degrees Fahrenheit and humidification levels rise to over 75% for and extended period of time.

The answer: TOBACCO BEETLES!

What about tobacco beetles?

Virtually every premium cigar contains some trace of bug larvae. Most of time it’s so small you can’t even see it but its there. It doesn’t matter if it’s a $3 cigar or a $23 one. When you light up a cigar any trace of this is incinerated and doesn’t effect your smoking experience.

When temperatures get hot in cigar displays a retailer runs the risk of having those tiny bug eggs hatching; hatching into tobacco beetles. When they come to life their sole purpose is to eat tobacco then shit it out behind them and repeat the process. When they travel to the upper leaf they will bore tiny holes and tunnel to the surface. They can jump around like fleas and contaminate an entire cigar inventory very quickly. When this happens most retailers become alarmed and remove the effected cigars only to see additional product become infested soon thereafter.

If you see something like the picture below illustrates, walk away form the store. Also, be on the lookout for a kind of black dust in the bottom of boxes that’s left behind after the bugs have moved on. Again, Buyer Be Aware!

Beetles Example

Over the years I’ve purchase thousands of boxes of cigars from the worlds best manufacturers. On several occasions when I got my delivery I’d open a new box and see evidence of cigar beetles. Why? When cigars are shipped from other countries, they usually travel long distances for extended time through high climates before they ultimately reach a store. Some sit in containers on dock for weeks before they’re cleared by Customs officials.

As I’ve said, the vast amount of cigar sellers understand the importance of storing cigars properly. Don’t let a bad actor’s lack of concern about what they’re selling wind up ruining your purchase.

As a side note, many folks have reached out to me over the years to inquire why a particular cigar felt “hard” even though it was purchased from a reputable source where the cigars were properly stored. How could a cigar being kept in a well regulated humidor be hard if it’s obviously not stale?

What’s the takeaway?

If you find yourself in a store where the cigars are kept in a perfect environment; you may notice  some cigars appear hard to the touch. A hard cigar is not necessarily a stale cigar. The answer is that particular cigar is jammed packed with tobacco as opposed to many others. Partagas Black Label and La Gloria Cubana Series R are two examples. They draw well, burn slow and have very complex flavors. While I can’t guarantee that every “hard” cigar purchased from fine stores are good ones. That after all depends on your taste preferences. At least you know why it may appear hard.

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Many of us have purchased a  premium cigar, sat back, clipped it and lit it up expecting an enjoyable experience. Then only to find out that whoever made it wrapped the contents so tight you couldn’t even draw on it. It’s not an uncommon event. Some folks have made tools to poke through the cigar to clear an opening for the smoke. I kept an ice pick at the ready if it happened to me. This is a great example of a bad cigar.

It happens to everyone

I had a customer in my deli that stopped by every day. He asked us to cut a 2 inch chunk of hard Italian salami to go with the bottle of Guinness Stout he purchased. He’d go out to his car and consume the salami, wash it down with the beer then light up a Punch Double Maduro Rothschild and smoke it down to the ring.

While I have enjoyed many terrific Punch Cigars over the years, the one he favored was always a tough one for me. It’s intense strength and extremely robust flavor didn’t agree with my palate. When I asked him why he preferred it he to told me, “They’re smooth as silk.”

I remember recommending one of my favorite cigars to a new customer in my store. When he returned, I asked him how he liked it. “It sucked” was his quick response.

As you shop around our great site you’ll see a lot of time tested main stream brands as well as new ones. I’ll try to give you as many simply said, unbiased opinions about the companies that make them or the folks that own the brands. Keep in mind an important item……..it’s my opinion. That’s why I’ll keep the thoughts I share with you very broad based. Your opinion of any cigar is all that matters to you. In short, if you like it’s good, if you don’t, you won’t smoke another one.

While I admire and respect most of the cigar based Internet sites, publications and their coverage of all facets of the cigar industry, I’ve often marveled at the complex and intricately detailed reviews such as the one below,

They can get a little crazy

Two of my friends smoked this particular cigar. When I asked them about hints of cocoa, floral scents, vanilla and nuts, one said it was OK the other said it tasted like shit. 

I recently met a fellow cigar smoker in my Arizona car club and noticed he was smoking a Padron.  I commended him on his choice and mentioned a few cigars I’ve similarly enjoyed for a lot less money. “I’ve tried everything and always come back to these even though it cost me $1,200.00 a month to smoke them.”

Wow! What a loyal one brand customer. I then asked him when he stopped trying different cigars  and he said three years ago. When I think of all the great cigars that came to market since then I lose count.

I’ve often said you can’t sleep with a thousand women in your lifetime but you can smoke a lot of different cigars. Don’t be afraid to try new cigars. There are dozens of companies making  new and unique products year after year. Like me, you may very well discover some real contenders to enjoy immensely. Keep your eye out for new cigars on Thecigarthief.com and happy shopping!

Many years ago when I built my first cigar store I was very excited. It was a beautiful shop with a small but elegant walk in humidor. I turned on the Humidifcation unit and loaded up the shelves. Within a few days I saw something that made me panic. As I looked at my cigars, especially the ones in glass tubes; I noticed what appeared to be powdery white spots on many of them. As a young tobacconist with a new store I was afraid. Afraid my customers would think I was trying to sell them bad or defective merchandise. I then began removing the cigars from their tubes and brushing this mysterious substance off.

Doing all this thinking I knew what I was talking about!

During this process I then heard a deep voice from behind me asking, “Is this your first cigar store son?” I quickly turned around to see a very well dressed elderly gentleman looking squarely in my eyes. “Yes it is sir” I meekly replied.

“You’re an asshole young man!” He calmly stated.

He then went on to explain that unlike mold which is green or blue in color, Plume which is the white substance on many of my cigars was a sign that not only were my cigars being stored well,  they were aging perfectly in the right environment. When the oils of the inner leaves rise throughout the cigar and  hit the outer leaf they turn to plume.

“Everyone of those cigars are the best cigars in your store” he emphatically stated. He then went on to direct me to pull the ones with plume and the ones I’d “cleaned off” into a box for him to purchase. For many years thereafter he’d send his secretary on a monthly basis to pick up any cigars with plume no matter what the brand, size or price.

What happened?

Oddly enough as time passed I met many, many “Cigar Aficionados ” that would come to my counters to inform me of the “Mold” on my cigars. I went on to explain that Mold is green in color not white and is caused by either over-humidification or use of regular water in their Humidification systems. Mold can be found on the inner surfaces of cigar cabinets as well. All of them appreciated the lesson. So… IS IT MOLD OR PLUME?

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