In The Past…

1. Connecticut Broadleaf, the first great US cigar tobacco, began to be developed in East Windsor, CT in the mid-1830s. 

2. Originating in Cuba, Culebras are three individual cigars braided and tied together. 

3. The phrase, “Close, but no cigar,” originated in the early 20th century when cigars were used as a popular carnival game prize. 

4. In the late 19th century, there were approximately 10,000 operational cigar factories located in Pennsylvania and New York.

5. Winston Churchill once commissioned an oxygen mask that could accommodate cigar smoking during high altitude flying. 

In The Field…

6. There are countless tobacco seed strains in each varietal family that cigar makers experiment with. 

7. Cigar tobacco is often grown within valleys due to the benefit of erosion and irrigation.

8. Sections of the tobacco plant from top to bottom are commonly classified as: Corona, Ligero, Viso, Seco, and Volado.

9. Tobacco seeds are extremely small. Just one flower can hold around 3000 seeds.

In The Factory…

10. Large cigar factories can typically produce up to 100,000 handmade cigars a day.

11. A highly skilled or specifically trained cigar roller is referred to as a torcedor.

12. Cigar makers will often adjust filler tobacco ratios in a particular blend to compensate for various ring gauges.

13. A meticulous tobacco fermentation process, before being rolled into a cigar, accounts for most of the taste, aroma, and combustion qualities of a premium cigar.

14. Zino Davidoff was accredited with creating the first modern humidor after traveling through Cuba in the 1930s, adapting what he saw factories do for the benefit of his customers and their cigar storage.

In The Humidor…

15. Water vapor is lighter than dry air so the humidity inside your humidor will naturally rise before becoming uniform.

16. A properly humidified cigar can age and mature for a lifetime or more.

17. Spanish cedar used inside humidors is typically kiln-dried to prevent the bleeding of sap.

18. Prolonged exposure to light will eventually fade a cigar’s wrapper and evaporate essential oils.

19. Correcting an uneven burn with your lighter will help restore the cigar's performance and assist in projecting its desired flavor profile. The color of a cigar is not an indication of its strength.

20. A cigar box is not intended to be a humidor as it has no means to seal in humidity, nor are they made of humidor-specific materials.