Cigar guides

Cap, head, body, foot. Wrapper, binder, filler. What each part does once it is lit.

Round cigars squared off while still pliable. Soft vs hard press, and how to measure the ring.

Whole leaf against chopped leaf, plus the mixed-filler sandwich. Burn, ash and flavor compared.

Seedbed, curing barn, fermentation pile, rolling bench, aging room. Seven stages from seed to box.

What the FDA, NCI and CDC say about cigar risk and nicotine through the mouth, quoted.

What the NCI, FDA and CDC say about inhaling and not inhaling, quoted.

Pick a first cigar by size, shade, strength and budget. No brands.

Straight cut, V-cut or punch, and how much cap to take off without unraveling it.

Toast the foot, then draw. Why a torch scorches and a cedar spill does not.

Tap the ash, purge the stale smoke, retoast. When a cold cigar needs its char trimmed first.

Plugged, tunneling, canoeing or cracked. What causes each fault and the fix that works.

Lounge and home customs: outside cigars, the band, ashing, and letting a cigar die out.

Let it reach an inch, roll it off once, keep the cone. What the ash says about the cigar.

Guillotine, V-cut, punch, scissors, table cutter: what each blade does and which ring it fits.

Torch jets, soft flame, matches and cedar. Why butane purity matters and how to bleed a lighter.

Choose, cut, light, draw, pace, finish. The retrohale, and what each third brings.

Pinch, pen or flute grip. Hands not teeth, the band, and where to rest it.

Let it die in the tray, never stub it. When the stub is cold enough for the trash.

Humidity, draw, pace or construction. Match the symptom to the fix.

House, car, clothes, hands, breath. Clean the residue; sprays only mask it.

Bring raw cedar up to humidity slowly, so it stops stealing moisture from your cigars.

A sealed container and a two-way pack go a long way. What fails, and why.

Pinholes, dust, a temperature that crept up. How to spot them and what freezing does.

Kept at steady humidity, for years. Left in a drawer, about a week before it shows.

Fuzzy, raised and spreading, or flat dust that wipes clean. The checks, and the humidor clean-up.

Crackle and hot burn, or spongy and tight. Read the signs, then rehydrate over weeks, not hours.

A few hours outside the humidor firms up a damp cigar. How long, and when to stop.

A sealed food box and a 69% pack. Container, pack count, cedar and capacity.

TSA listings for cigars and lighters, quoted from tsa.gov, plus packing and humidity on a trip.

Desktop to walk-in, coolerdor to wineador: capacity, seal and cedar compared.

Damp salt holds 75% RH. Seal it with the gauge for 24 hours, then apply the offset.

Packs, beads, gel, foam with PG, electronic units: one-way vs two-way, refills, tradeoffs.

Strength is nicotine. Body is weight on the palate. They do not move together.

Eleven growing regions, from Estelí to Lancaster County: soil, climate and the leaf each one grows.

Match body to body, then echo or contrast one flavor. Coffee, tea, spirits and soft drinks.

Estelí, the war years, and how Nicaragua became the top US source.

Santiago, Tamboril and the exile families who built the Cibao trade.

Danlí, the Jamastrán valley and Honduras from 1765 to now.

Habanos S.A., the DOP, the warranty seal and same-name US brands.