Cigar
A cigar is a tightly rolled bundle of cured tobacco leaves which is lit for the purpose of inhaling (or merely drawing into the mouth rather than into the lungs) its smoke (see tobacco smoking). The word "cigar" is from the Spanish word cigarro, which is possibly derived from the Maya language word sik meaning tobacco.Usually chopped up tobacco leaves are used for the filling of the cigar, and large leaves used for the wrapper which binds the cigar together. Some cigars use different varieties of tobacco for the filler and the wrapper. "Long filler cigars" are a less common variety of hand-rolled cigar, using long leaves throughout not chopped up. Some cigars use a third variety of tobacco leaf, a "binder", as a layer inbetween the filler and the outer wrapper.
Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in such nations as Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, and the United States of America.
Cigars manufactured in Cuba are considered by many cigar smokers to be the 'best'. While Cuban tobacco seed has been planted in other countries and has produced high quality cigars, differences in soil and other factors effect the flavor. Some United States smokers object to continuing trade sanctions imposed by the government of the USA against Cuban goods.
History of the cigar
The cigar was smoked throughout the islands of the Caribbean Sea and in Mesoamerica for centuries before the Europeans discovered the Americas in the late 15th century.
In the 19th century cigar smoking was common while cigarettes were still comparatively rare. The cigar business was an important industry, factories employed many people before mechanized manufacturing of cigars became practical.
High quality cigars are still made by hand.
The wrapper of cigars are broadly catagorized by their color.
Cigar manufacturing
Cigars and Health
Cigar smokers typically inhale the smoke into their mouths but not deep into their lungs in the manner of cigarette smokers. Cigar smokers consequently have lower incidence of lung cancer and emphysema than cigarette smokers. Some people have mistakenly assumed that cigars therefore pose no health risk, but cigar smokers are statistically more likely to develop cancer of the mouth, tongue, and larynx than non smokers.Types of Cigars
Cigars are commonly categorized by the size and shape of the cigar.
Some varieties include:
Other types of cigars:
