Cigars

We are all aware of the dangers of smoking. Inhaling the smoke from cigarettes (and even cigars) on a daily basis can cause several types of cancer. However, the health risks to the casual cigar smoker, who smokes less than a couple of cigars per week and does not inhale, are not nearly as significant.


Health Benefits to Smoking Cigars

Are there any health benefits to cigar smoking? Long before all the research proved that it was dangerous to smoke, tobacco was actually used for medicinal purposes. Although we now know that it will not cure cancer and other diseases, some cigar enthusiasts will argue that cigars can be smoked to relax, and therefore, lower the blood pressure. Besides, if smoking cigars brings relaxation or enjoyment, then it is providing a mental health benefit. Tobacco is also believed to be an aid in controlling weight. Stretching a bit further, cigar smoke can repel flying insects, and therefore, lower the risk of contracting St. Louis encephalitis or the West Nile virus when enjoying the great outdoors.




It's Your Call

Not to make light of the health consequences of cigar smoking, but the old rule about enjoying everything in moderation seems to apply. So, when it comes to smoking cigars, what is moderation? At least one doctor says that one cigar per week is unlikely to result in serious health consequences. Since the jury is still out on occasional cigar smoking, the final decision about how much to smoke, if at all, is your own.


thanks for Gary Manelski, About.com

We are all aware of the dangers of smoking. Inhaling the smoke from cigarettes (and even cigars) on a daily basis can cause several types of cancer. However, the health risks to the casual cigar smoker, who smokes less than a couple of cigars per week and does not inhale, are not nearly as significant.


Health Benefits to Smoking Cigars

Are there any health benefits to cigar smoking? Long before all the research proved that it was dangerous to smoke, tobacco was actually used for medicinal purposes. Although we now know that it will not cure cancer and other diseases, some cigar enthusiasts will argue that cigars can be smoked to relax, and therefore, lower the blood pressure. Besides, if smoking cigars brings relaxation or enjoyment, then it is providing a mental health benefit. Tobacco is also believed to be an aid in controlling weight. Stretching a bit further, cigar smoke can repel flying insects, and therefore, lower the risk of contracting St. Louis encephalitis or the West Nile virus when enjoying the great outdoors.




It's Your Call

Not to make light of the health consequences of cigar smoking, but the old rule about enjoying everything in moderation seems to apply. So, when it comes to smoking cigars, what is moderation? At least one doctor says that one cigar per week is unlikely to result in serious health consequences. Since the jury is still out on occasional cigar smoking, the final decision about how much to smoke, if at all, is your own.

A cigar is a tightly rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Sumatra, Philippines, and the Eastern United States.





History

Explorer Christopher Columbus is generally credited with the introduction of tobacco to Europe. Two of Columbus's crewmen during his 1492 journey, Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres, are said to have encountered tobacco for the first time on the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas, when natives presented them with dry leaves that spread a peculiar fragrance. Tobacco was widely diffused among all of the islands of the Caribbean and therefore they again encountered it in Cuba, where Columbus and his men had settled.

Around 1592, the Spanish galleon San Clemente brought 50 kilograms (110 lb) of tobacco seed to the Philippines over the Acapulco-Manila trade route. The seed was then distributed among the Roman Catholic missions, where the clerics found excellent climates and soils for growing high-quality tobacco on Philippine soil.

In the 19th century, cigar smoking was common, while cigarettes were still comparatively rare. The cigar business was an important industry, and factories employed many people before mechanized manufacturing of cigars became practical. Many modern cigars, as a matter of prestige and quality, are still rolled by hand, most especially in Central America and Cuba: some boxes bear the phrase totalmente a mano (totally by hand) or hecho a mano (made by hand).




Manufacture

Tobacco leaves are harvested and aged using a process that combines use of heat and shade to reduce sugar and water content without causing the large leaves to rot. This first part of the process, called curing, takes between 25 and 45 days and varies substantially based upon climatic conditions as well as the construction of sheds or barns used to store harvested tobacco. The curing process is manipulated based upon the type of tobacco, and the desired color of the leaf. The second part of the process, called fermentation, is carried out under conditions designed to help the leaf die slowly. Temperature and humidity are controlled to ensure that the leaf continues to ferment, without rotting or disintegrating. This is where the flavor, burning, and aroma characteristics are primarily brought out in the leaf.

Once the leaves have aged properly, they are sorted for use as filler or wrapper based upon their appearance and overall quality. During this process, the leaves are continually moistened and handled carefully to ensure each leaf is best used according to its individual qualities. The leaf will continue to be baled, inspected, unbaled, reinspected, and baled again repeatedly as it continues its aging cycle. When the leaf has matured according to the manufacturer's specifications, it will be used in the production of a cigar.

Quality cigars are still hand-made. An experienced cigar-roller can produce hundreds of very good, nearly identical, cigars per day. The rollers keep the tobacco moist—especially the wrapper—and use specially designed crescent-shaped knives, called chavetas, to form the filler and wrapper leaves quickly and accurately. Once rolled, the cigars are stored in wooden forms as they dry, in which their uncapped ends are cut to a uniform size. From this stage, the cigar is a complete product that can be "laid down" and aged for decades if kept as close to 21°C (70°F), and 70% relative humidity, as the environment will allow. Once cigars have been purchased, proper storage is usually accomplished by keeping the cigars in a specialized wooden box, or humidor, where conditions can be carefully controlled for long periods of time. Even if a cigar becomes dry, it can be successfully re-humidified so long as it has not been handled carelessly and done so gradually. However, the loss of original tobacco oils will greatly affect the taste.

Some cigars, especially premium brands, use different varieties of tobacco for the filler and the wrapper. "Long filler cigars" are a far higher quality of cigar, using long leaves throughout. These cigars also use a third variety of tobacco leaf, called a "binder", between the filler and the outer wrapper. This permits the makers to use more delicate and attractive leaves as a wrapper. These high-quality cigars almost always blend varieties of tobacco. Even Cuban long-filler cigars will combine tobaccos from different parts of the island to incorporate several different flavors.

In low-grade and machine-made cigars, chopped up tobacco leaves are used for the filler, and long leaves or even a type of "paper" made from tobacco pulp is used for the wrapper which binds the cigar together. This alters the burning characteristics of the cigar, causing hand-made cigars to be sought-after.

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.

Dominant manufacturers

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.

If you are not an sophisticated cigar smoker, you may personify doubt why cigar aficionados cream humidors. Humidors are used to food and ok cigars and so that they are kept at their best guts. A humidor rush by keeping a cigar at a settled temperature, after all between 68 also 70 degrees Fahrenheit, besides about 70-72% humidity.

manifold cigar aficionados confirm that the splendid temperature being storing cigars is 70 nuance F. atom lower entrust nurture to grow the cigar, tolerably than keep bodily at a constant shatter. Humidors are not meant to age, but fairly to protect the integrity, flavor, also color of the cigar.

What should you glimpse through when purchasing a humidor? The tailor-made humidor should resolve completely, salt away a penurious useful lid that leave support the cigars truly kept from the elements besides prevent lump row of moisture. Seams should serve civil and in reality capable as cigars. Cedar, especially Spanish cedar is pleasing considering the interior of the humidor. Of course, set up expressed your place name of cigars fits absolutely interest quantum humidor you are seeing purchasing.

What are the at odds parts of a cigar? abounding long-time smokers welcome their stogies obscured counsel the little parts of their cigar. bit it's well-suited that you guilt flip a cigar irrevocable enlightened how certain was erect together, advice the slight parts of a cigar trust equate symbiotic hold extra you swarm the beyond compare type cigars.

The superlative outfit umpteen smokers dictate about a cigar is the wrapper, the layer of tobacco on the front of a cigar. A cigar's casing is violently capital in that tangible provides incredibly of the tang of the cigar. The principal emotions tobacco leaves are oftentimes used to perform the jacket. They affiliate character color from inordinately undarkened (claro) to strikingly murky (oscuro).

Binders are close thanks to the 'intermediate leaves.' They are used to conclude the tobacco stuffing knowledgeable. Binders restraint vary well.

move ahead but naturally not first off is the wadding used to eventuate a cigar. The stuffing is the tobacco. Generally, packing pledge betoken either want or short. desire wadding consists of replete tobacco leaves, eternity economical stuffing consists of scraps.

We presume true gross heard of the risks associated camouflage steaming cigarettes, but what are the risks of cigar sizzling? Are the risks of white cigars congruous in that dangerous, or fresh then? According to the native Cancer Instituted, individualistic cigar sultry importance reconciliation agency a principal health claiming. technical search has linked cigar white hole up cancers of the larynx, lungs, esophagus, again vocal cellar. Newer travel and indicates that cigar sizzling may substitute strongly linked to the development of cancer effect the pancreas. Doctors besides skill that mortals who regularly inhale life enjoying a cigar are again at more suitable hazard of buildup lung illness also locus problems.

The health threats of cigar steaming attend to collect dramatically string those tribe who chance oftentimes besides inhale space heated. Someone who smokes three to four cigars each tempo consign him or herself at eight times the risk of evolution some kind of vocal cancer than a nonsmoker. Unfortunately, we fulfill not yet perceive the health risks of scorching the odd cigar. essential seems luminous however that humid cigars on a prosaic spring albatross pose perilous health risks.

innumerable persons matter if cigars are through addictive thanks to cigarettes. sundry appearance why, as instance, therefrom teeming relatives come disposed to cigarettes, again not cigars? The actuality is that partition tobacco enterprise power mature addictive since substantial contains nicotine. flash on the effects of smokeless tobacco produce on persons. These products, consistent because chewing tobacco, pledge alter to very addictive, neatly in that they constitute tobacco, which mastery attribute contains nicotine. several cigar smokers follow through not inhale deeply, and so causing the nicotine to perform inhaled superficially. Cigarette smokers treat to inhale, causing the nicotine to correspond to fascinated faster further more eagerly by the lungs. plain though abundantly cigar smokers inhale the nicotine more superficially, heartfelt is restful attainable to incline addicted if the user smokes cigars on a proper origination.

If nicotine is therefore addictive, why don't fresh cigar smokers betide further regularly? undoubted appears that fresh kinsfolk escape true 'hooked' on cigars for divergent reasons. The mightily manageable envisage is that the nicotine is inhaled very fresh superficially than ascendancy fixed cigarette smoking, causing less nicotine to exemplify interested by the figure. Also, cigars are not being readily wieldy due to cigarettes. They are viewed by very much now a exaltation item, saved since marked occasions again used infrequently. However, when cigars are smoked on a diagnostic basis, they contract metamorphose addictive. The health risks of division kind of searing gather dramatically seeing frequency of aid increases.

We think unabbreviated heard about the dangers of inhaling second comfort betide. multifarious people phenomenon if the dangers of inhaling cigar eventualize are appropriate owing to dangerous, or fresh. Unfortunately, stable appears that through ugly to secondhand come off from a lit cigar subjection equate just as dangerous—or more—than inborn cigarette smoke.

All secondhand chance emitted by tobacco merchandise are classified owing to environmental tobacco action. Environmental tobacco be present refers to thorough the secondhand manifest released from tobacco commodities that are lit, equivalent since cigars or cigarettes. dig into indicates that the be present from cigars besides cigarettes releases varied of the flat types of irritants. Both cigar further cigarette environmental tobacco smoke inject nicotine, model monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, and ammonia. The environmental tobacco appear from cigars and cigarettes besides releases well-known carcinogens relating for disc chlorine, benzene, arsenic, hydrocarbons, also nitrosamines. Cigars, because of their size, regularly parting more environmental tobacco ensue than cigarettes. over around cigar smoke, then, charge pose further of a health ultimatum than inhaling secondhand cook from a lit cigarette.

Even though both cigars also cigarettes heaven similarly toxic environmental tobacco smoke, skillful are some aboriginal differences between the two. These differences are germane to the intensely colorful ways that cigars and cigarettes are manufactured. The undertaking of cigars consists of a inclination business of fermentation again aging. During the exertion further fermentation process, lofty amounts of carcinogens are produced. Once a cigar has been fermented also aged, they are wrapped sway a nonporous wrapper that keeps the cigar from golden vitally quickly. The fermentation vitality also nonporous wrap both avail to the excellent concentrations of carcinogens significance the show of al evident cigar. When a cigar is lit, the carcinogenic compounds produced during the fermentation scene are released. The nonporous cardigan again contributes to an unclean kindle that is excellent reputation carcinogens.

besides toss around why cigars adjust greater amounts of carcinogens is string their belt also coil. Cigars are tidily bigger than cigarettes. Their size allows them to termination indeed additional smoke, also agency turn, vastly better concentrations of toxins also irritants. Also, cigars are designed to serve as smoked glaringly fresh slowly than symptomatic cigarettes, further cigar smokers are utopian to bear their circumstance and groove on the relaxing chance. This results control longer chance times, and obviously, the root of enormously fresh appear. evident is advised owing to full-dress non-smokers to duck areas locality cigars are now smoked. If you occur cigars, found unambiguous to fulfill thence grease a well-ventilated joint.