Dupa ce frunzele au fost recoltate sunt macerate la sursa de caldura si

umbra pentru a reduce continutul de zahar si apa fara a le dezintegra.Acest prim

proces poate dura intre 25 si 45 de zile tinandu-se cont de conditiile climatice dar
si de tipologia plantei folosita.Fermentarea ce are loc dupa se face sub conditii
de umiditate si caldura controlata care are ca scop incetarea din viata a frunzei
dar in termen lung , timp in care savoarea ,aromele dar si calitatile de ardere pa
cera la va dobandi se definitiveaza.Dupa ce frunzele s-au maturat sunt sortate in
functie de calitate ,pronuntie a venelor,culoare si marime.In tot acest tipm se
cauta ca frunzele sa aibe un grad ridicat dar constant de umiditate.
Calitatea maxima o vom gasi oricand in cigarurile facute manual;un cigar
este compus din trei parti si anume :filler , binder , wrapper.
Fillerul este partea interioara constand intr-un manunchi de trei tipuri de
frunze recoltate de pe planta propriuzisa;multi dintr producatori inca cauta cel
mai bun amestec de frunze care este esential pentru ca in acest amestec gasim
plenitudinea de arome specifice casei producatoare sau a tipologiei de cigar ;in
functie de cat de bogate sunt frunzele in substante oleaginoase cu atat fillerul
este mai puternic sau mai slab;impartirea lor pa raport al savorii ar pleca de la
Volado (minim de savoare , frunzele din filler sunt recoltate de pa partea
inferioara a plantei ) , Seco usor aromate (frunzele sunt recoltate de pe partea
mijlocie a plantei respectiv Ligero cu frunze recoltate din zona superioara a
plantei cu frunze cu expunere solara maxima.Atunci cand este folosit , Ligero
este mijlocul filler-ului pentru o ardere mai lenta.Atunci cand intr-un cigar sunt
folosite tipologii de tabac din aceeasi tara mai au denumirea de “puro”.
Binderul format dintr-una sau doua jumatati de frunza de tutun ruleaza
fillerul si tin buchetul de frunze strans omogen.Binderul influenteaza ritmul de
ardere si aroma cigarului chiar daca nu este bogat in arome,totodata trebuie sa
fie intr-o deplina concordanta de struuctura si arome cu fillerul si wraperul.
Si asa ajungem si la parte cea mai delicata si importanta din componenta
cigarului respectiv “wraperul”de multe ori si cel mai scump element si care da
cca 60% din aroma cigarului provenind din partea cea mai deschisa a plantei.

Frunza trebuie sa fie neteda,mai saraca in uleiuri

cu buchet subtil cu vene foarte fine.Aceasta parte de finisare a cigarurilor este si
cea mai pretentioasa ,”rollerul” sau” torcedorul” dupa cum este numit cu
predominanta in Cuba este cel mai indemanatic membru al echipei si numai
dupa 20 de ani de practica poate ajunge un Maestru . Frunzele dupa ce au fost
lasate la maturat la aer pana la 18 luni , mai urmeaza o sortare dar asta dupa
“moja”(proces de umezire efectuat in principiu in primele ore ale diminetii) dupa
care”despalilladoras”(cei care inlatura vena principala a frunzei)selecteaza
frunzele pe pulpa(majorittea sunt femei de unde vine si legenda ca cigarurile ar fi
rulate pe pulpa interioara a domnisoarelor) urmand a lua urma torcedorilor.
 Si nu in ultimul rand pa langa caracterul si aromele pe care la da
cigarului culoarea va face diferenta si catalogarea lor de la deschis la inchis
respectiv:
 Double Claro

– very light, slightly greenish (also called Candela, American Market

Selection or jade); achieved by picking leaves before maturity and drying quickly;
often grown in Connecticut.

Claro – light tan or yellowish. Indicative of shade-grown tobacco.

Colorado – reddish-brown (also called Rosado or "Corojo").
Colorado Claro – mid-brown; particularly associated with tobacco
grown in the Dominican Republic or in Cuba.
Colorado Maduro – dark brown; particularly associated with Honduran
or Cuba-grown tobacco.
Natural – light brown to brown; generally sun-grown.
Maduro – dark brown to very dark brown.
Oscuro – a.k.a. "Double Maduro", black, often oily in appearance;
mainly grown in Cuba, Nicaragua, Brazil, Mexico, and Connecticut, USA.
Some manufacturers use an alternate designation:
American Market Selection (AMS) – synonymous with Double Claro
English Market Selection (EMS) – can refer to any color stronger than
Double Claro but milder than Maduro
Spanish Market Selection (SMS) – either of the two darkest colors,
Maduro and Oscuro
A common misconception is that the darker the wrapper, the fuller the flavor.
This is a poor indicator because flavor mainly comes from the filler. If anything,
dark wrappers add a touch of sweetness, while light ones add a hint of dryness
to the taste.[citation needed]

De mai bine de 150 de ani sunt 7 etape in producerea manuala a

cigarurilor si anume:
 Taierea dupa o forma aparte 2 jumatati de frunza pentru binder –chaveta-
nu are cum sa lipseasca .
 In functie de gust,arome si forma cigarului se aleg frunzele pentru filler si
se ruleaza in binder.
 Se taie si se introduce intr-o matrita spre presare.
 Se taie si se da forma necesara frunzei de tutun pentru wraper .
 Se intinde frunza si se ruleaza cigarul .
 Din aceiasi frunza se taie o forma rotunda pentru capul cigarului.
 Se ataseaza si finiseaza capul cu lipici vegetal (rasina de artar).
Odata rulate se inmagazineaza si de la acest stadiu sunt lasate la
“linistit” pentru imbatranire sau evolutie in ani la 21 G Celsius si 70%
umiditate:pentru o evolutie mai mare de 50 de ani se pastreaza la temperaturi
mai joase respectiv 4 G Celsius.
Historically, a lector or reader was always employed to entertain the cigar factory
workers. This practice became obsolete once audio books for portable music
players became available, but it is still practiced in some Cuban factories. The
name for the Montecristo cigar brand may have arisen from this practice.

Two firms dominate the cigar industry. Altadis, the world's largest cigar producer,
produces cigars in the U.S., the Dominican Republic, and Honduras, and has a
50% stake in Corporación Habanos in Cuba. It also makes cigarettes. Swedish
Match, the second largest producer, produces cigars in Honduras, Belgium,
Germany, Indonesia, the U.S., and the Dominican Republic; it also makes
chewing and pipe tobacco, snuff, lighters, and matches.[1]

[edit] Families in the cigar industry

Nearly all modern cigar makers are members of long-established cigar families,
or purport to be. The art and skill of hand-making premium cigars has been
passed from generation to generation; families are often shown in many cigar
advertisements and packaging.

In 1992, Cigar Aficionado created the "Cigar Hall of Fame" [2] to recognize families
in the cigar industry. To date, six individuals have been inducted into the Hall of
Fame for their families' contributions to the cigar industry:

Edgar M. Cullman, Chairman, General Cigar Company, New York, USA

Zino Davidoff, Founder, Davidoff et Cie., Geneva, Switzerland

Carlos Fuente, Sr., Chairman, Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia., Santiago de los

Caballeros, Dominican Republic

Frank Llaneza, Chairman, Villazon & Co., Tampa, Florida, USA

Stanford J. Newman, Chairman, J.C. Newman Cigar Company, Tampa, Florida,

USA

Angel Oliva, Sr., Founder, Oliva Tobacco Co., Tampa, Florida, USA

Perhaps the best-known cigar family in the world is the Arturo Fuente family.
Now led by father and son Carlos Fuente, Sr. and Jr., the Fuente family has
been rolling their Arturo Fuente and Montesino cigars since 1916. The release of
the Fuente Fuente OpusX in 1995 heralded the first quality wrapper grown in the
Dominican Republic. The oldest Dominican Republic cigar maker is the León
family, who have been making their León Jimenes and La Aurora cigars on the
island since 1905.
Not only are premium cigar-makers typically families, but so are those who grow
the premium cigar tobacco. The Oliva family has been growing cigar tobacco
since 1934 and their family's tobacco is found in nearly every major cigar brand
sold on the US market. Some families, such as the well-known Padrons, have
crossed over from tobacco growing to cigar making. While the Padron family has
been growing tobacco since the 1850s, they began making cigars that bear their
family's name in 1964. Like the Padrons, the Carlos Torano family first began
growing tobacco in 1916 before they started rolling their own family's brands,
which also bear the family name, in the 1990s.

Families are such an important part of the premium cigar industry that the term
"cigar family" is a registered trademark of the Arturo Fuente and J.C. Newman
families, used to distinguish and identify their families, premium cigar brands,
and charitable foundation. Even the premium cigars made by the cigar industry's
two corporate conglomerates, Altadis and Swedish Match, are overseen by
members of two cigar families, Altadis' Benjamin Menendez and Swedish
Match's Ernesto Perez-Carrillo.

Cigars are marketed via advertisements, product placement in movies and other
media, sporting events, cigar-friendly magazines such as Cigar Aficionado, and
cigar dinners. Advertisements often include depictions of affluence, sexual
imagery, and explicit or implied celebrity endorsement.[3] Cigar Aficionado,
launched in 1992, was credited both by cigar companies and readers in
transforming the U.S. cigar smoking market from a small blue-collar segment to
an upscale market promoted in places like luxury hotels and golf courses. The
magazine presents cigars as symbols of a successful lifestyle, and is a major
conduit of advertisements that do not conform to the tobacco industry's voluntary
advertisement restrictions since 1965, such as a restriction not to associate
smoking with glamour. The magazine also systematically presents pro-smoking
arguments at length, arguing that cigars are safer than cigarettes, that life is
dangerous anyway, that (contrary to the evidence discussed in Health effects)
cigar smoking has health benefits, that moderation eliminates most or all health
risk, that cigar smokers live to old age, that health research is flawed, and that
carefully selected health-research results support claims of safety. [4] Like its
competitor Smoke, Cigar Aficionado differs from marketing vehicles used for
other tobacco products in that it makes cigars the focus of the entire magazine,
creating a symbiosis between product and lifestyle. [5]

In the U.S., cigars are exempt from many of the marketing regulations that
govern cigarettes. For example, the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act of 1970
exempted cigars from its advertising ban,[6] and cigar ads, unlike cigarette ads,
need not mention health risks.[3] Cigars are taxed far less than cigarettes, so
much so that in many U.S. states, a pack of little cigars costs less than half as
much as a pack of cigarettes.[6] It is illegal for minors to purchase cigars and
other tobacco products in the U.S., but laws are unevenly enforced: a 2000 study
found that three-quarters of Internet cigar marketing sites allowed minors to
purchase cigars.[7]

Inexpensive cigars are sold in convenience stores, grocery stores, and

pharmacies, mostly as self-serve items. Premium cigars are sold in tobacconists
and other specialized retailers.[8] Some cigar stores are part of chains, which
have varied in size: in the U.S., United Cigar Stores was one of only three
outstanding examples of national chains in the early 1920s, the others being
A&P and Woolworth's.[9] Nontraditional outlets for cigars include hotel shops,
restaurants, vending machines,[8] and the Internet.[7]

[edit] Composition

Cigars are composed of three types of tobacco leaves, whose variations

determine smoking and flavor characteristics:

[edit] Wrappers

A cigar's outermost leaves, or wrapper, come from the widest part of the plant.
The wrapper determines much of the cigar's character and flavor, and as such its
color is often used to describe the cigar as a whole. Colors are designated as
follows, from lightest to darkest:

Double Claro – very light, slightly greenish (also called Candela, American
Market Selection or jade); achieved by picking leaves before maturity and drying
quickly; often grown in Connecticut.

Claro – light tan or yellowish. Indicative of shade-grown tobacco.

Colorado – reddish-brown (also called Rosado or "Corojo").

Colorado Claro – mid-brown; particularly associated with tobacco grown in the

Dominican Republic or in Cuba.

Colorado Maduro – dark brown; particularly associated with Honduran or Cuba-

grown tobacco.

Natural – light brown to brown; generally sun-grown.

Maduro – dark brown to very dark brown.

Oscuro – a.k.a. "Double Maduro", black, often oily in appearance; mainly grown
in Cuba, Nicaragua, Brazil, Mexico, and Connecticut, USA.
Some manufacturers use an alternate designation:

American Market Selection (AMS) – synonymous with Double Claro

English Market Selection (EMS) – can refer to any color stronger than Double
Claro but milder than Maduro

Spanish Market Selection (SMS) – either of the two darkest colors, Maduro and
Oscuro

A common misconception is that the darker the wrapper, the fuller the flavor.
This is a poor indicator because flavor mainly comes from the filler. If anything,
dark wrappers add a touch of sweetness, while light ones add a hint of dryness
to the taste.[citation needed]

[edit] Fillers

The majority of a cigar is made up of fillers, wrapped-up bunches of leaves inside

the wrapper. Fillers of various strengths are usually blended to produce desired
cigar flavors. In the cigar industry this is referred to as a "blend". Many cigar
manufacturers pride themselves in constructing the perfect blend(s) that will give
the smoker the most enjoyment of cigar. The more oils present in the tobacco
leaf, the stronger (less dry) the filler. Types range from the minimally flavored
Volado taken from the bottom of the plant, through the light-flavored Seco (dry)
taken from the middle of the plant, to the strong Ligero from the upper leaves
exposed to the most sunlight. Fatter cigars of larger gauge hold more filler, with
greater potential to provide a full body and complex flavor. When used, Ligero is
always folded into the middle of the filler because it burns slowly.

Fillers can be either long or short; long filler uses whole leaves and is of a better
quality, while short filler, also called "mixed", uses chopped leaves, stems, and
other bits. Recently some manufacturers have created what they term "medium
filler" cigars. They use larger pieces of leaf than short filler without stems, and
are of better quality than short filler cigars. Short filler cigars are easy to identify
when smoked since they often burn hotter and tend to release bits of leaf into the
smoker's mouth. Long filled cigars of high quality should burn evenly and
consistently. Also available is a filler called "sandwich" (sometimes "Cuban
sandwich") which is a cigar made by rolling short leaf inside long outer leaf. If a
cigar is completely constructed (filler, binder and wrapper) of tobacco from only
one country, it is referred to in the cigar industry as a "puro" which in Spanish
means "pure".

[edit] Binders
Binders are elastic leaves used to hold together the bunches of fillers.
Essentially, binders are wrappers that are rejected because of holes, blemishes,
discoloration, or excess veins.

[edit] Size and shape

World's largest cigar at the Tobacco and Matchstick Museum in Skansen,

Stockholm, Sweden.

Cigars are commonly categorized by the size and shape of the cigar, which
together are known as the vitola.

The size of a cigar is measured by two dimensions: its ring gauge (its diameter in
sixty-fourths of an inch) and its length (in inches). For example, most non-Cuban
robustos have a ring gauge of approximately 50 and a length of approximately 5
inches. Robustos which are of Cuban origin always have a ring gauge of 50 and
a length of 4 ⅞ inches.[citation needed]

See also Factory name.

[edit] Parejo

The most common shape is the parejo, which has a cylindrical body, straight
sides, one end open, and a round tobacco-leaf "cap" on the other end which
must be sliced off, have a V-shaped notch made in it with a special cutter, or
punched through before smoking.

Parejos are designated by the following terms:

Coronas

Rothschilds (4 ½" x 50) after the Rothschild family

Robusto (4 ⅞" x 50)

Hermosos No. 4 (5" x 48)

Mareva/Petit Corona (5 ⅛" x 42)

Corona (5 ½" x 42)

Corona Gorda (5 ⅝" x 46)

Toro (6" x 50)

Corona Grande (6 ⅛" x 42)

Cervantes/Lonsdale (6 ½" x 42), named for Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of
Lonsdale

Dalia (6 ¾" x 43)

Julieta, also known as Churchill (7" x 47), named for Sir Winston Churchill

Prominente/Double Corona (7 ⅝" x 49)

Presidente (8" x 50)

Gran Corona ("A") (9 ¼" x 47)

Panatelas – longer and generally thinner than Coronas

Small Panatela (5" x 33)

Carlota (5 ⅝" x 35)

Short Panatela (5" x 38)

Slim Panatela (6" x 34.9)

Panatela (6" x 38)

Deliciados/Laguito No. 1 (7 ¼" x 38)

These dimensions are, at best, idealized. Actual dimensions can vary

considerably.[10]

[edit] Figurado
Cigar shapes

Irregularly shaped cigars are known as figurados and are sometimes considered
of higher quality because they are more difficult to make.

Historically, especially during the 19th century, figurados were the most popular
shapes; however, by the 1930s they had fallen out of fashion and all but
disappeared. They have, however, recently received a small resurgence in
popularity, and there are currently many brands (manufacturers) that produce
figurados alongside the simpler parejos. The Cuban cigar brand Cuaba only has
figurados in their range.

Figurados include the following:

Torpedo - Like a parejo except that the cap is pointed.

Pyramid - Has a broad foot and evenly narrows to a pointed cap.

Perfecto - Narrow at both ends and bulged in the middle.

Presidente/Diadema - shaped like a parejo but considered a figurado because of

its enormous size and occasional closed foot akin to a perfecto.

Culebras - Three long, pointed cigars braided together.

Tuscanian - The typical Italian cigar, created in the early 19th century when
Kentucky tobacco was hybridized with local varieties and used to create a long,
tough, slim cigar thicker in the middle and tapered at the ends, with a very strong
aroma. It is also known as a cheroot, which is the largest selling cigar shape in
the United States.

Arturo Fuente, a large cigar manufacturer based in the Dominican Republic, has
also manufactured figurados in exotic shapes ranging from chili peppers to
baseball bats and American footballs. They are highly collectible and extremely
expensive, when publicly available. In practice, the terms Torpedo and Pyramid
are often used interchangeably, even among very knowledgeable cigar smokers.
Min Ron Nee, the Hong Kong-based cigar expert whose work An Illustrated
Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars is considered to be the
definitive work on cigars and cigar terms, defines Torpedo as "cigar slang". Nee
thinks the majority is right (because slang is defined by majority usage) and
torpedoes are pyramids by another name.

[edit] Little cigars

Little cigars (sometimes called small cigars) differ greatly from regular cigars.
They weigh less than cigars and cigarillos,[11] but more importantly, they
resemble cigarettes in size, shape, packaging, and filters. [12] Sales of little cigars
quadrupled in the U.S. from 1971 to 1973 in response to the Public Health
Cigarette Smoking Act, which banned the broadcast of cigarette advertisements
and required stronger health warnings on cigarette packs. Cigars were exempt
from the ban, and perhaps more importantly, were taxed at a far lower rate. Little
cigars are sometimes called "cigarettes in disguise", and unsuccessful attempts
have been made to reclassify them as cigarettes. Sales of little cigars reached
an all-time high in 2006, fueled in great part by their taxation loophole. [6]

[edit] Cigar cutters

Main article: Cigar cutter

Although some cigars are cut on both ends, or twirled at both ends, the vast
majority come with one straight cut end and one end in a "cap". Most quality
handmade cigars, regardless of shape, will have a cap which is one or more
small pieces of a wrapper pasted on to one end of the cigar with a either a
natural tobacco paste or with a mixture of flour and water. The cap end of a cigar
must be cut off for the cigar to be smoked properly. It is the rounded end without
the tobacco exposed, and this is the end one should always cut. If the cap is cut
jaggedly or without care, the end of the cigar will not burn evenly and smokeable
tobacco will be lost. Some cigar manufacturers purposely place different types of
tobacco from one end to the other to give the cigar smokers a variety of tastes,
body and strength from start to finish. Smoking a cigar from the wrong end may
result in a bad experience.

There are three basic types of cigar cutters:

Guillotine (straight cut)

Punch cut

V-cut (a.k.a. notch cut, cat's eye, wedge cut, English cut)

[edit] Flavor

Each brand and type of cigar tastes different. While the wrapper does not entirely
determine the flavor of the cigar, darker wrappers tend to produce a sweetness,
while lighter wrappers usually have a "drier" taste. Whether a cigar is mild,
medium, or full bodied does not correlate with quality. Different smokers will have
different preferences, some liking one good cigar better than another, others
disagreeing. Some words used to describe cigar flavor and texture include;
spicy, peppery (red or black), sweet, harsh, burnt, green, earthy, woodsy, cocoa,
roasted, aged, nutty, creamy, cedar, oak, chewy, fruity, and leathery.
Cigar smoke, which is rarely inhaled, tastes of tobacco with nuances of other
tastes. Many different things affect the scent of cigar smoke: tobacco type,
quality of the cigar, added flavors, age and humidity, production method
(handmade vs. machine-made) and more. A fine cigar can taste completely
different from inhaled cigarette smoke. When smoke is inhaled, as is usual with
cigarettes, the tobacco flavor is less noticeable than the sensation from the
smoke. Some cigar enthusiasts use a vocabulary similar to that of wine-tasters to
describe the overtones and undertones observed while smoking a cigar.
Journals are available for recording personal ratings, description of flavors
observed, sizes, brands, etc. Cigar tasting is in such respects similar to wine,
cognac and whisky tasting.

[edit] Cuban cigars

The label on Machine-made Cuban cigars—"Made in Cuba"

The label on Hand-made Cuban cigars—"Made in Cuba, completely by hand"

Cigars manufactured in Cuba are considered by many to be the best. Many of

Cuba's top cigar makers have left for other cigar making countries and brought
their Cuban seeds with them.[citation needed] The Cuban reputation is thought to arise
from the unique characteristics of the soil of Vuelta Abajo district in the Pinar del
Río Province at the west of the island, where the microclimate allows high-quality
tobacco to be grown.[citation needed]

Cuban cigars are rolled from tobacco leaves found throughout the country of
Cuba. The filler, binder, and wrapper may come from different portions of the
island. All cigar production in Cuba is controlled by the Cuban government, and
each brand may be rolled in several different factories in Cuba. Cuban cigar
rollers or "torcedores" are claimed to be the most skilled in the world. Torcedores
are highly respected in Cuban society and culture and travel worldwide
displaying their art of hand rolling cigars.[citation needed]
Habanos SA and Cubatabaco between them do all the work relating to Cuban
cigars, including manufacture, quality control, promotion and distribution, and
export. Cuba produces both handmade and machine made cigars. All boxes and
labels are marked Hecho en Cuba (made in Cuba). Machine-bunched cigars
finished by hand add Hecho a mano, while fully hand-made cigars say
Totalmente a mano in script text. Some cigars show a TC or Tripa Corta,
meaning that short filler and cuttings were used in the hand-rolling process. [citation
needed]
Because of the unique status of Cuban cigars, counterfeits are somewhat
commonplace.[13]

[edit] United States embargo against Cuba

According to Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara "A smoke in times of rest is a

great companion to the solitary soldier."[14]

Main article: United States embargo against Cuba

On February 7, 1962, United States President John F. Kennedy imposed a trade

embargo on Cuba to sanction Fidel Castro's communist government. According
to Pierre Salinger, then Kennedy's press secretary, the president ordered him on
the evening of February 6 to obtain 1,200 H. Upmann brand petit corona Cuban
cigars; upon Salinger's arrival with the cigars the following morning, Kennedy
signed the executive order which put the embargo into effect. [15] Richard
Goodwin, a White House assistant to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson,
revealed in a 2000 New York Times article that in early 1962 JFK told him, “We
tried to exempt cigars, but the cigar manufacturers in Tampa objected." [16] The
embargo prohibited US residents from legally purchasing Cuban-cigars on the
market, and Cuba was deprived of its major customer for tobacco.

In the United States, authentic Cuban-made cigars are widely considered to be

"the best smoking experience" of all cigars[citation needed] and are seen as "forbidden
fruit" for Americans to purchase. Upon the expropriation of private property in
Cuba, many former Cuban cigar manufacturers moved to other countries
(primarily Dominican Republic) to continue production.[citation needed] Dominican
Republic's production of tobacco grew significantly as a result. [citation needed] After
reallocation, most Cuban manufacturers continued to use their known company
name, seed, and harvesting technique while Cubatabaco, Cuba's state tobacco
monopoly after the Revolution, independently continued production of cigars
using the former private company names.[citation needed] As a result, cigar name
brands like Romeo y Julieta, Gloria Cubana, Montecristo among others, are
existent in both Cuba and Dominican Republic.[citation needed] Honduras and
Nicaragua are also mass manufactures of cigars. Some Cuban refugees make
cigars in the U.S. and advertise them as "Cuban" cigars, using the argument that
the cigars are made by Cubans.[17]

It remains illegal for US residents to purchase or import Cuban cigars regardless

of where they are in the world,[18] although they are readily available across the
northern border in Canada and the southern border in Mexico. While Cuban
cigars are smuggled into the USA and sold at high prices, counterfeiting is rife; it
has been said that 95% of Cuban cigars sold in the USA are counterfeit. [19]
Although Cuban cigars cannot legally be imported into the USA, the advent of
the Internet has made it much easier for people in the United States to purchase
cigars online from other countries, especially when shipped without bands.

[edit] Cigars specific to other countries

Italy produces the "Sigaro Toscano" (Tuscan cigar), very different from the
Havana style.[citation needed]

The cheroot is traditionally associated with Burma and India.[citation needed]

[edit] Health effects

Further information: Health effects of tobacco

Like other forms of tobacco use, cigar smoking poses a significant health risk
depending on dosage: risks are greater for those who inhale more when they
smoke, smoke more cigars, or smoke them longer.[20] The risk of dying from any
cause is significantly greater for cigar smokers, with the risk particularly higher
for smokers less than 65 years old, and with risk for moderate and deep inhalers
reaching levels similar to cigarette smokers. The increased risk for those
smoking 1–2 cigars per day is too small to be statistically significant, [21] and the
health risks of the 3/4 of cigar smokers who smoke less than daily are not
known[22] and are hard to measure; although it has been claimed that people who
smoke few cigars have no increased risk, a more accurate statement is that their
risks are proportionate to their exposure.[23] Health risks are similar to cigarette
smoking in nicotine addiction, periodontal health, tooth loss, and many types of
cancer, including cancers of the mouth, throat, and esophagus. Cigar smoking
also can cause cancers of the lung and larynx, where the increased risk is less
than that of cigarettes. Many of these cancers have extremely low cure rates.
Cigar smoking also increases the risk of lung and heart diseases such as chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease.[20]

[edit] Popularity

The prevalence of cigar smoking varies depending on location, historical period,

and population surveyed, and prevalence estimates vary somewhat depending
on the survey method. The U.S. is the top consuming country by far, followed by
Germany and the UK; the U.S. and western Europe account for about 75% of
cigar sales worldwide.[1] The 2005 U.S. National Health Interview Survey
estimated that 2.2% of adults smoke cigars, about the same as smokeless
tobacco but far less than the 21% of adults who smoke cigarettes; it also
estimated that 4.3% of men but only 0.3% of women smoke cigars. [24] The 2002
U.S. National Survey of Drug Use and Health found that adults with serious
psychological distress are significantly more likely to smoke cigars than those
without.[25] A 2007 California study found that gay men and bisexual women
smoke significantly fewer cigars than the general population of men and women,
respectively.[26] Substantial and steady increases in cigar smoking were observed
during the 1990s and early 2000s in the U.S. among both adults and
adolescents.[12] Data suggest that cigar usage among young adult males
increased threefold during the 1990s, a 1999–2000 survey of 31,107 young adult
U.S. military recruits found that 12.3% smoked cigars, [27] and a 2003–2004
survey of 4,486 high school students in a Midwestern county found that 18%
smoked cigars.[28]

[edit] Popular culture

Le Premier Cigarre, Les Beaux Jours de la Vie, by Honoré Daumier.

Cigars in culture, from a cigar box label at the Lightner Museum.

Major U.S. print media portray cigars favorably; they generally frame cigar use
as a lucrative business or a trendy habit, rather than as a health risk. [29] Rich
people are often caricatured as wearing top hats and tails and smoking cigars. In
the United States a poor-quality cigar is sometimes called a "dog rocket". [30]
These cheap cigars are often converted into blunts rather than smoked directly.
Cigars are often smoked to celebrate special occasion: the birth of a child, a
graduation, a big sale. The expression "close but no cigar" comes from the
practice of giving cigars as prizes in games involving good aim at fairgrounds.

King Edward VII enjoyed smoking cigarettes and cigars, much to the chagrin of
his mother, Queen Victoria. After her death, legend has it, King Edward said to
his male guests at the end of a dinner party, "Gentlemen, you may smoke." In his
name, a line of inexpensive American cigars has long been named King Edward.

President Ulysses S. Grant of the USA and Dr. Sigmund Freud were both known
for regularly smoking an entire box (25 cigars) a day [citation needed]. Ulysses S. Grant
died of throat cancer. Challenged on the "phallic" shape of the cigar, Freud is
supposed to have replied "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." [31] Freud underwent
more than 30 operations during his life to treat oral cancer.[32]

Winston Churchill (who has been credited with the practice of dunking a cigar in
port or brandy)[33] was rarely seen without a cigar during his time as Britain's
wartime leader; so much so that a large cigar size was named in his honor.

Fidel Castro was often seen smoking a cigar during the early days of the Cuban
revolution, but gave up smoking in the early 1980s as part of a campaign to
encourage the Cuban population to smoke less on health grounds. [34]

Rudyard Kipling said in his poem The Betrothed, "A woman is only a woman: but
a good cigar is a smoke."

Since apart from certain forms of heavily cured and strong snuff, the cigar is the
most potent form of self-dosing with tobacco, it has long had associations of
being a male rite of passage, as it may have had during the pre-Columbian era in
America. Its fumes and rituals have in American and European cultures
established a "men's hut"; in the 19th century, men would retire to the "smoking
room" after dinner, to discuss serious issues.