Posts Tagged ‘cigars’

When curious about the ideal humidity for storing cigars, much of the time 70% tends to be the magical number. However, there are others who have quickly discovered (much to their dismay) that 70% is still much too wet.

Instead, try not to focus on what others tell you about the ideal relative humidity for cigar storage. Stop stressing over the perfect level of humidity and focus on how your cigars feel and taste when smoking them at varying degrees of humidity. Certain cigars may easily fare better at different levels. You can either use a few different humidors for your different cigar brands, or you can work on finding the one percentage that works best for all of them. Your main goal should be to keep things stable and use what you like.

If you do enjoy all your cigars at 70%, then by all means go for it. If you prefer your cigars at lower levels or higher levels, then that is up to you as well. Overall, cigars can fare anywhere between 60% and 72%. Feel free to ask the retailer of your favorite cigars what percentage he or she uses to store them and mimic that number. Or tweak your own numbers and use what works for you. As long as you like how your cigar comes out right before and during smoking it, you’re good as gold.

The internet is a fantastic place – especially for cigar lovers. If you have just moved to a new area, you can easily use a search engine to seek out the location of a cigar merchant nearby. It’s faster and easier than combing through a (possibly outdated) phone book. Likewise, finding people to ask can be tricky with so few smoking these days – much less those that smoke cigars. With just a click of the mouse, you should be able to find plenty of places you can go to purchase some of your favorite cigars.

If there are no locations nearby, fear not! The internet is still the best place to be. With so many merchants available around the globe, you can easily purchase some of your favorite cigars – and maybe even a few new ones to sample – with a few clicks. Quality cigar merchants will include contact information, allowing you to phone or email them if you ever have any questions. Check their mailing address to see how close they are – that way you may be able to choose a merchant that is closer to where you live, thus allowing you to get your cigars faster.

For anyone who thinks that the art of smoking a good cigar is long gone, then it’s time to think again. High quality sellers still offer great products for cigars – and they’re definitely selling to somebody. If you already smoke cigars, you probably already know that you’re not alone in your enjoyment of them. But who are some of the red carpet smokers? You may actually be surprised at how many Hollywood names still like to kick back now and then with an intoxicating cigar in hand.

Jack Nicholson is one of those guys that can easily turn holding a cigar into an art form. He knows what he likes and he looks great doing it. Antismoking laws at some of his favorite venues, like Lakers games, haven’t slowed him down at all.

Ron Perlman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sylvester Stallone fall into the category of tough guys who know a good cigar. In fact, it makes you wonder – during movies where they smoked cigars, were they faking it, or weren’t they?

Chris Noth and John Travolta are two smooth, stylish guys who like to kick back and enjoy themselves, with a good cigar in their fingers, of course. No doubt they have their favorite cigar haunts.

Other famous cigar smokers: Robert DeNiro, John Wayne, Mel Gibson, Whoopi Goldberg, Demi Moore, Pierce Brosnan, and James Woods (and that’s just a small sampling!)

In the past, all cigars were made by hand.  A simple concept of the right tobacco rolled the right way to make for a relaxing and completely enjoyable smoking experience.  Today, many people still prefer the cigars they buy to be handmade.  They prefer the result of a cigar that is taken care of, given close attention, and carefully crafted to be the best possible.

But there is another alternative.  Machine made cigars.  With today’s technology, machines have been engineered to craft just about anything we can think of, and that includes cigars.  Some people scoff at the idea of a machine mindlessly rolling out cigars and tend to disdain their quality.  But machine made cigars allow others to enjoy cigars that can easily be of the same quality as many handmade cigars.  Likewise, machine made cigars are available at lower costs because they can be made more quickly, thus producing more product for purchase.

In the end, the choice of machine or manmade cigars will depend upon your taste.  Some people purchase cigars and never know what made them – a person or a machine.  What really matters, though, is how much you enjoy the cigar.

For the person who loves to smoke cigars, you may feel at a loss as to what you should buy for them.  But there are actually more options out there than you may think.

Of course, the most obvious choice is to find out his or her favorite cigar brand and wrap up a box of them for Christmas.  This might be a little harder if you don’t already know, and may require you to come up with some subtle conversation hints.

If you don’t know, you can always get creative and hand over a sampler pack.  These packages include several different cigars that the recipient can try.  This can be an especially good gift if the person doesn’t yet have a favorite cigar.

Accessories are always a great choice.  There are high quality cigar cutters, lighters, ash trays, and travel cases and tubes that you can purchase or have monogrammed.  For truly great quality, be prepared to spend a decent amount of money.  But the look on their face will be well worth it.

If they have everything, try a book about cigars or a magazine subscription.  Enthusiasts of everything always love to add to their knowledge and collections.