Cigars Information Page 1

Can Tobacco Paradise recommend a cigar for me?
Absolutely. Call us! Cigar preferences and tastes differ greatly, so we recommend you to buy a few different singles (or sampler packs) before purchasing boxes of cigars. The most important thing to determine is whether you like mild, medium or full-bodied cigars. You should also decide what shape of cigar suits you best. See our charts below. (Shape Chart) (Size Chart)

I am new to cigars, where can I learn more?
Our Information section is a great place to start. You can certainly call us at 386-775-3707 and we’ll walk you thru it while trying to select your first cigars. We also recommend a subscription to Cigar Aficionado to get a more sophisticated look at the cigar culture and lifestyle.

I am buying cigars as a gift. Can you help me?
Yes. Please visit our (Gift page). If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at 386.775.3707.

What's the best cigar book?
The best reference guide is (Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars), by Richard B. Perelman, updated every year.
(The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cigars) by Tad Cage is a great book for beginners.

Are there common names for the cigar shapes?
There are some basic shapes that that share common names. These shapes are given names, so that there is some degree of universality in the industry. These descriptive dimensions are approximate, but here are some guidelines: Short is less than 5.5 inches. Long is greater than 6.5 inches. Thin is less than 42 ring size. Thick is greater than 47 ring. Manufacturers also add common adjectives to the shape name. Gorda, grande, gran, larga, extra, doble, or double means they are adding on to the size. Petite, slim, finos, or demi means some sort of reduction to the size

Shape Chart

Petit Corona
Robusto
Torpedo
Corona
Belicoso
Corona Gorda
Lonsdale
Perfecto
Toro
Churchill
Pantella

Size Chart

How do I know what size is right for me?
You should pick a cigar for the amount of time you have available to smoke. If you are at a sporting event or on a golf course, choose a large cigar that will last for a long time. If you are in a cigar friendly restaurant and you want to have a nice after dinner smoke, choose one that will last about 30-40 minutes. As you experiment with different sizes you will find one that you are most comfortable with.

Cigar Basics

How are cigars made?
Cigars are made either by hand or by a machine. A handmade cigar is where the tobacco leaves were picked, sorted, and bundled by an individual, not a machine. The cigar itself was fashioned by a skilled cigar roller using a few simple tools. A machine made cigar is where most or all of the cigar was made from a machine, and many of the processing stages such as picking the leaves, grinding up the filler tobacco, and rolling the cigar were completed by machine.

What is a premium cigar?
A premium or super-premium cigar is a cigar made by hand and should be consistent from one cigar to the next. Premium cigars are constructed from three parts - the filler, the binder, and the wrapper. The filler is the interior of the cigar. When the term "long filler" is used, it means that the filler was constructed from full leaves. These leaves are picked, stored, and aged intact, and are obviously handled with great care. Rolling long filler cigars takes great skill to insure that it burns evenly and smoothly. The second type of filler is short filler. Short filler consists of loose clippings of leaves that are leftover from the long filler production. The next part of the cigar in the binder that consists of several layers of leaves that encircle the spirals of filler. As the name implies, it forms the filler into a circular shape, so that the next, and final component, the wrapper, can be applied.

Drugstore cigars vs. premium cigars?
Most packaged “drug store” cigars are machine made and include non-tobacco ingredients such as paper, saltpeter (for burning) and PG of Glycerin (to prevent them from drying out). Premium cigars are hand made and contain only tobacco. Please see filler in the glossary to learn more about the tobacco within cigars.

What is the anatomy of a cigar?
The Anatomy of a Cigar:

The Truth
About
Cubans!

	Cap
	\|
Flag -	C	- Head
	I
	G	- Body
	A
	R	- Tuck or Foot

Cap, Head or Flag – A loose piece of tobacco applied with natural glue as the finishing touch to the cigar. Offers a nice appearance and, if applied properly, feels good in your mouth and prevents the wrapper from unraveling.

Body – main portion of cigar consists of Filler, Binder, and Wrapper.

Filler – long leaves of tobacco (Long filler) or cut up pieces of tobacco (Short filler) that compromise the bulk of the cigar and deliver most of the flavor.

Long filler – filled with long leaves of tobacco deftly gathered together by a roller. A long-filler cigar is almost always handmade, and all premium handmade cigars are long-filler cigars.

Short Filler – the middle of a short-filler cigar is filled with leaves, stems, and other scraps of tobacco chopped up by a machine, in a machine made cigar.

Binder – tough, coarse tobacco that holds the whole thing together in hand made cigars or ground up tobacco bits that are held together by natural glue in machine made cigars.

Wrapper – A silky leaf of tobacco that makes your cigar look and feel attractive.

Tuck or Foot – The business end of the cigar – the end that you light.

Can I purchase Cuban cigars legally in the US?
In short, no. There are many companies that claim to have genuine Cuban cigars available for purchase. However, they are doing so in violation of United States Office of Foreign Asset Controls regulations -
www.customs.gov/xp/cgov/travel/alerts/cuban_cigars.xml