The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cigars, 2nd Edition

by Gage, Tad

• ISBN13: 9781592575916
• ISBN10: 1592575919
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-01-02
• Publisher: Alpha

Summary

You're no idiot, of course. But when it comes to lighting up fine cigars, you're completely in the dark. You have no clue how to select the best ones-or how to store, cut, and smoke them...

Author Biography

Tad Gage is a dedicated cigar enthusiast who anticipated the incredible trend with his magazine The Complete Smoker, America-'s first full color cigar magazine.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Lighting Up, Kicking Back	1	(78)
If You Know Just a Little, Start Here	3	(16)
Fire Away!	5	(5)
A Basic Sampling	6	(2)
Lighting Up: It's a Gas	8	(1)
Luck of ``The Draw''	9	(1)
Where Can You Smoke?	10	(1)
Anatomy of a Cigar	11	(2)
Grab Your Wallet: What You'll Pay	13	(1)
What's in a Name?	14	(5)
Where There's Smoke, There's Fire	19	(12)
Desperately Seeking Cigars	20	(1)
Tobacconist or ``Seegar Seller''?	21	(2)
Spirited Sales---Liquor Stores and Cigar Bars	23	(1)
Pasta or Cuban Corona?---Cigars at Restaurants	24	(1)
Cigars: In the Mail, on the Net	25	(1)
Lead Me to Your Humidor	26	(2)
When to Walk Away	28	(3)
Bite a Hot Dog, but Clip Your Cigar	31	(16)
The Cutting Edge	32	(10)
The ``V''-Cut	32	(2)
The ``Pinhole'' Cut	34	(1)
The ``Puncture'' Cut	35	(2)
The Straight or Guillotine Cut	37	(2)
Two Blades: Better Than One?	39	(1)
The Scissors Decision	40	(1)
The Price of a Good Cut	41	(1)
Antique Cutters	41	(1)
C'mon Baby, Light My Fire	42	(3)
Paper's No Match for Cigars	42	(1)
Lighter Fluid: Cigar Arson?	43	(1)
Wood Is Good	44	(1)
It's a Gas	44	(1)
Ashtrays: Give Your Cigar a Break	45	(2)
Ya Gotta Speak Da Language	47	(12)
Basic Cigar Speak---Talking the Talk	48	(1)
The Box Score	49	(2)
Is It a Premium Smoke?	50	(1)
Branded a ``Winner''	50	(1)
Is Wood Always Good?	51	(1)
Boxed In: Feeling the Pressure	51	(2)
Don't Let a Machine Make Your Cigar	53	(2)
Shorted Out---Turn On to Long Filler	55	(1)
Where Was Your Cigar Born?	56	(3)
What You See Is What You Get	59	(20)
Brown Is the Color of My True Love's Cigar	60	(6)
Double Claro, Candela, Jade, or American Market Selection (AMS) Wrappers	61	(1)
Natural or Claro Wrappers	62	(1)
Colorado Claro or English Market Selection (EMS)	62	(1)
Colorado, Corojo, and Habana2000™ Wrappers	63	(1)
Maduro Wrappers	64	(1)
Double Maduro, Oscuro, or Maduro Maduro Wrappers	65	(1)
Size Does Matter	66	(2)
The Size That's Right for You	68	(1)
Eenie, Meenie: Popular Lengths and Shapes	69	(5)
Gigante, Presidente, Immensa	72	(1)
Double Corona	72	(1)
Churchill	72	(1)
Panatela	72	(1)
Lonsdale	73	(1)
Corona Grandes	73	(1)
Corona Extra, Corona Royale	73	(1)
Corona	73	(1)
Petite Corona	74	(1)
Robusto, Rothschild, Toro	74	(1)
Belvedere, Ascot, Demitasse	74	(1)
Daring to Be Different	74	(5)
Belicoso, Petite Belicaso	75	(1)
Culebra	75	(1)
Pyramid	75	(1)
Torpedo	76	(1)
Perfecto	76	(3)
Part 2: In Search of Perfection	79	(88)
What's Inside Your Cigar?	81	(12)
How Your Cigar Is Orchestrated	82	(1)
From Mild to Wild: Work Your Way Up	83	(1)
``Pumping Up'' to a Full-Bodied Smoke	84	(1)
Is This a Strong Cigar?	85	(1)
Finding a Heavenly Body	86	(3)
Honduras	87	(1)
Mexico	88	(1)
Dominican Republic	89	(1)
Strength Is Relative	89	(4)
Havana Cigars	93	(16)
We Don't Blend No Stinkin' Cigars!	94	(2)
Full Body: In the Spanish Style	96	(1)
How Cuban Seed Traveled Around the World	97	(2)
Are Cuban Cigars the Best?	99	(3)
Can a Government Make a Good Cigar?	100	(1)
Habanos SA: The Second Cuban Revolution?	101	(1)
The Name Game	102	(3)
Faking You Out: Know Your Cubans	105	(2)
Was My Cuban Cigar Made by Hand?	107	(2)
The Myth and Magic of Havana Cigars	109	(8)
Cuban Cigar: Still Champion	110	(1)
So You Want to Be a Smuggler?	111	(1)
My Cigar Just Exploded	112	(3)
In Search of Consistency	113	(2)
Pricey Stuff	115	(1)
Have-a-Havana	115	(2)
How the Cigar Becomes a Star	117	(20)
Don't Try This at Home: Creating a Cigar	118	(1)
Awaking the ``Sleeping'' Leaf	119	(2)
Giving a Cigar ``The Look''	121	(3)
The Art of Cigar Rolling	124	(1)
The Roller at Center Stage	125	(1)
Cigar Rolling: A Silky Touch with Steel Muscles	126	(11)
The Art of Filler Bunching	127	(2)
Bonding with Binders	129	(1)
Cigar Molds: Full-Court Pressure	129	(3)
Wrapping It All Up	132	(1)
``Capping'' Off the Cigar	133	(4)
Filler Up, Bind It, Wrap It Up!	137	(18)
Fillers: Bulking Up	138	(8)
Cuba: The One and Only	138	(1)
Smooth Dominican	139	(1)
Honduras: Packing a Punch	140	(2)
Nicaragua: Revolution, Recovery, and Rebirth	142	(1)
Costa Rica and Panama	143	(1)
Doing the Samba in Brazil	143	(1)
Oh, Mexico, the Sun's So Hot	144	(1)
``Hey Mon, Come to Jamaica''	145	(1)
Dutch Treat from Indonesia, Java, and Sumatra	146	(1)
Binders: Keeping It All Together	146	(2)
Ecuador, Java, and Sumatra: Bound by Binder	147	(1)
Stay Outta My Tobacco Patch: Cuba	147	(1)
Honduras and Nicaragua Spice It Up	148	(1)
Mexico: Bound to Be Best	148	(1)
Wrappers: Pretty as a Picture	148	(1)
Snuggled Under a Blanket	149	(6)
The Wrapper King of Connecticut	150	(1)
Cameroon: The African Connection	151	(1)
Wrappers from the East	152	(1)
The Mojo of Mexico and Maduro	153	(2)
Happily Ever After	155	(12)
Why New Cigars Get Married	156	(3)
The Three-Month Wedding Night	159	(2)
Gotta Crush That Bug Right Outta My 'Gar!	161	(1)
Farewell to the Tropics	162	(5)
Totally Tubular Cigars	162	(1)
The Cellophane Debate	163	(1)
Boxed and Ready to Travel	164	(3)
Part 3: Where Cigars Grow Up	167	(58)
I Was Born in a Log Cabin ...	169	(12)
Native Smokes: Close, but No Cigar	171	(2)
``This Is Better Than Gold!''	173	(2)
Aging: It Worked for Wine	175	(6)
What Tobacco Learned from Wine	176	(1)
Tobacco Farming: Getting Your Hands Dirty	177	(4)
From Green Bay to Bombay	181	(8)
You'd Be Amazed Where This Stuff Grows	182	(1)
Tobacco in Europe's Backyard	183	(2)
The World's Most Sensitive Crops	185	(1)
Why Cigar Leaf Is Different	186	(1)
Change the Conditions, Change the Taste	186	(3)
``Growing'' a Good Cigar	189	(12)
The Care and Feeding of Baby Tobacco	190	(3)
Infants in the Nursery	190	(1)
Taking It to the Field	191	(1)
Pinch Me, I'm Budding	192	(1)
Mold and Pestilence at Play in the Fields of Tobacco	193	(3)
The Beetles: Live on Stage	194	(1)
Mold: Good in Blue Cheese, Bad on Tobacco	195	(1)
Pick a Winning Leaf	196	(5)
Fermentation: Sweating the Small Stuff	201	(16)
Airing It Out	202	(2)
Can a Leaf Make the Grade?	204	(2)
Sorting Leaves by Size	205	(1)
Sorting Leaves by Texture	205	(1)
Sorting Leaves by Appearance	206	(1)
Bring on the Heat	206	(5)
A Tobacco-Leaf Striptease	211	(1)
Baling Out: Putting Tobacco to Rest	211	(3)
The Long Sleep	214	(3)
Making a Home for Your Cigars	217	(8)
Gettin' Around the Tropics	218	(1)
Blending in and Around the Caribbean	219	(1)
Location Is Everything	219	(1)
Making a Home for Your Cigars	220	(5)
Too Dry	221	(1)
Too Moist	221	(1)
Too Hot	221	(1)
Too Cold	222	(1)
Just Right: The 70/70 Rule	222	(3)
Part 4: Adding to Your Enjoyment	225	(66)
Keeping Your Stogies Fresh	227	(24)
Top Reasons for Stashing Stogies	228	(1)
Humidors: From Palaces to Plastic Bags	229	(12)
Cigar-Shop, Restaurant, and Cigar-Club Lockers	230	(2)
Zip-Seal Bags and Vacuum Sealers	232	(1)
Plastic Boxes	233	(1)
Tabletop Humidors	234	(3)
Free-Standing ``Vaults''	237	(1)
Built-In Humidors	238	(3)
How Do I Keep These Things Moist?	241	(3)
Help! My Cigar Dried Out	244	(1)
Better with Age: Aging Your Cigars	245	(1)
You Can Take It with You	246	(5)
Cigar Cases	246	(1)
Travel Humidors	247	(4)
Alternative Smokes	251	(12)
Shorties: The Quickie Smoke That Satisfies	252	(2)
Big Cigar Taste, Small Package	252	(2)
Petite but Powerful	254	(1)
Cigarillos: A Cigar of Sorts	255	(4)
A ``Tin'' Pack	257	(1)
What's Dry-Curing?	258	(1)
Sweet Smokes	259	(2)
A Rainbow of Fruity Flavor	259	(1)
A Cigar and a Drink All in One	260	(1)
X-Smokes: Herbs, Berries, 'n' Roots	261	(2)
Baubles, Bangles, and Bands: Cigar Stuff	263	(10)
Bands, Boxes, and Labels	264	(1)
The Cigar Box as an Advertisement	265	(2)
Humidors: The Fancy Stuff	267	(1)
Collectible Cigar Curiosities	267	(4)
Modern Smoking Collectibles	271	(2)
Rating Your Smokes	273	(18)
Going by the Numbers	274	(2)
Scoring Your Cigars	274	(1)
When to Forget a Rating	275	(1)
A Funky, Earthy Taste with a Hint of Berries? Not!	276	(2)
What You Do Taste	277	(1)
How to ``Taste'' Your Cigar's Aroma	277	(1)
How to Describe a Cigar	278	(3)
Prime Factors	279	(1)
Appearance	280	(1)
Lighting and Burning	280	(1)
Construction	280	(1)
Taste	280	(1)
``Dear Diary ...''	281	(10)
Appearance and Presentation	282	(2)
Lighting and Burning Properties	284	(1)
Construction	285	(1)
Taste	285	(2)
Comments and Final Scoring	287	(4)
Part 5: Eat, Drink, Smoke, and Be Merry	291	(34)
Where, When, and How to Smoke	293	(14)
You Can't Tell the Brand Without a Band	294	(1)
Burning Up	295	(4)
A Study in Shrunken Ashtrays	295	(1)
The Attack of Old Cigar Butt	296	(1)
Treatment for the Unfinished Cigar	296	(1)
The Case of the Smoldering Stogie	297	(1)
The Lopsided Patient	297	(2)
The Split-Wrapper Syndrome	299	(1)
``Put Out That Smelly Cigar!''	299	(3)
Smoking on the Home Front	302	(2)
The Smoking Den	303	(1)
Banished to the Dungeon	303	(1)
Clearing the Air	303	(1)
When Kids Are Involved	304	(1)
On the Road With Smokes	304	(3)
A Loaf of Bread, a Jug of Wine, and Cigars	307	(18)
After-Meal Smokes	307	(2)
The Cigar as a Dinner Companion	309	(2)
The Classic Meal	310	(1)
A Lighter Touch	311	(1)
A Little Spice	311	(1)
The Cigar as Dessert	311	(1)
A Drink with Your Cigar	312	(2)
A Jug of Wine	313	(1)
Beer: A Clear Choice	314	(1)
Fortified Wine Has Muscle	315	(1)
Very, Very Sherry	315	(1)
Any Port in a Storm	316	(1)
High Spirits	316	(5)
Brandy and Cognac	317	(1)
Scotch Whiskies and Bourbon Whiskies	317	(2)
Distilled Spirits, Liqueurs, and Mixed Drinks	319	(1)
Nonalcoholic Drinks	320	(1)
A Cigar ``Party''	321	(2)
Poker Party!	321	(1)
Dinner at a Diner	321	(1)
'Gars and Golf Gala	322	(1)
A Roll in the Leaves	322	(1)
Your Place in History	323	(2)
Cigar Speak Glossary	325	(8)
Index	333