Can
Quality Be Judged By Testing Only One Cigar?
Since consistency
is an integral part of the quality of a cigar, reason dictates that
you cannot judge the quality of any type by sampling only one cigar.
But how many cigars should be tested? Statistically, the greater the
number, the greater the accuracy. A true test would be like the skeet
shooter example: 100 cigars, which would naturally take a period of
time. However, to be practical, since cigars traditionally come in boxes
of 25, it would seem that one box of 25 would enable one to adequately
judge. Besides, acquiring 100 cigars of a given size could get too expensive
and, if they do not smoke very well, rather frustrating.
What
Makes Construction So Important?
If a cigar is under-filled,
constructed by skimping on the number of leaves in the filler, it will
draw easily. Now that's often considered a benefit, but the ultra-easy
draw will be offset by hot burning and harshness, because, in an under-filled
cigar, there are too many air pockets causing a fast burn, thus a hot
smoke.
If a cigar is overfilled, it will be hard to draw, sometimes impossible
(plugged). This is the cause of the greatest number of complaints by
premium cigar smokers. A hard-to-draw cigar gives a much lower volume
of smoke, thus much less taste and aroma, and a lot of frustration to
the smoker.
Therefore, good construction is essential to achieving good taste and
aroma. You can use the best, most expensive tobacco in the world, put
together by the most creative and knowledgeable blenders, but if the
cigar is not constructed properly, none of the intrinsic quality of
that tobacco can be brought home to the smoker.
And again, that quality in construction should be there time after time,
if it's a "good" cigar you're smoking.
What
Other Characteristics Of Construction Should Be Considered?
While taste and
aroma are the most important attributes of the consistently well constructed
cigar, there are others as well. Some of these have to do with aesthetics.
All are other indicators of how well a cigar is made.
Assuming the cigar is properly lit, it should burn evenly all the way
down. A terribly uneven burning cigar is a sign of an improper roll.
If it happens with any frequency, the cigar should not be judged highly.
It would be unusual for such cigars to taste good anyway.
The ash should be relatively firm and get to an inch long without difficulty
(except in small ring gauges). A falling ash is not necessarily a sign
of a poorly constructed cigar, but, if your cigars develop a firm, even
ash while you're smoking, it is an indication that they are well made.
And if it happens consistently, your impression will be reinforced.
Anyway, it's really annoying to find a cigar ash in your lap, and a
consistently flaky, loose ash is a sign of a poorly constructed cigar.
The cigar should have good mouth feel. While it is not recommended to
chew the end, the cigar should feel firm and resilient in the mouth.
If it does not, if the cigar is soft and mushy, that's another sign
of poor construction. It won't feel good either, thus affecting your
overall pleasure.
The cigar should look good and feel good to the touch. It should have
some life in it. This does not mean the color itself so much, although
it should not show too many blemishes, but the color of the cigars in
the box should be consistent from one to the other. If they are not,
then the manufacturer did not do his color selecting properly. What
we see when we look at the cigars in a given box is the wrapper, and
wrappers, even from the same crop, can vary over twenty or thirty shades
of color. So a variance in color is not bad in itself. It's just that
a manufacturer who pays attention to detail makes sure that in a given
box all the color shades are the same. Also, the cigars should look
and feel smooth when you roll them in your fingers. This is just another
indication of good construction and reassurance of quality.
How
Do The Aesthetics Reflect Quality?
While DRAW and
BURN are the most important factors affected by construction, the aesthetics
of that construction can provide early warning signs regarding the quality,
taste and aroma of a particular cigar. After all, if a company places
so little importance on aesthetics, then is it reasonable to expect
that it places any importance on quality? Think about it, does a fine
wine taste better from a paper cup or from a beautiful crystal glass?
How
Important Is The Tobacco?
When considering
the quality of a "good" cigar, it's only natural to think first about
the tobacco that goes into it and very often that's the only thing considered.
Hopefully, you now have an appreciation as to why the construction of
the cigar is of equal importance to tobacco in assessing the quality
of that cigar. But certainly, TOBACCO is of great importance. And consistency
most definitely applies here as well.
Not
only must the tobacco be of consistent high quality, but it must also
be correctly processed. If he is to maintain consistency in taste and
aroma in his cigars, a producer must be able to ensure a consistent
supply of the same types of tobaccos that go into the blends. Since
crop years vary as to the availability of the various types of tobaccos
yielded, he must be able to buy a sufficiently large stock of a particular
leaf when the availability presents itself in order to protect against
short supply due to drought, heavy rains, too much or too little sunshine,
political upheaval in tobacco growing regions of the world, etc. This
requires sufficient financial resources, if high quality and consistency
are to be maintained. The alternative is to buy leaf hand to mouth from
whatever becomes available, thus rendering it impossible to keep blends
consistent, and possibly subjecting the cigar to inferior leaf.
Unless a manufacturer has the resources to lay in supplies of high quality
tobaccos, taste and aroma will vary from year to year, even sometimes
from month to month. And, if inferior quality is used, the cigars will
produce a harsh, rough, musty taste with an unpleasant, penetrating
aroma, the kind wives tend to become so vociferous about.
But financial resources are not enough. A manufacturer must also possess
the expertise to know good tobacco from bad when he sees it. This comes
only from experience. The best tobacco men today have been in the business
for decades and travel the world buying leaf stock for their companies.
They know whether to accept or reject an offer and they have their particular
trusted farmers and processors to whom they return year after year.
If, in a given year, one traditional source has had a poor crop, chances
are another will make up for it. If not, the knowledgeable and experienced
tobacco man will have provided the necessary protection in leaf stock
to get his company through to the next crop and enable overlapping one
crop to the other for slow integration. Again, this means a lot of money
becomes tied up in leaf inventory, but it's the only way to ensure having
the supplies of high quality leaf necessary to produce tasty, aromatic
cigars on a consistent basis.
