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Curiosities
American Indians called the tobacco plant COHIBA. After 1960 this name was given to a renowned brand of Cuban cigars, which for many years was the gift given to diplomatic authorities by the Cuban Government.
In order to make a cigar, 140 separate operations are needed, from soil preparation to the seal of origin affixed on the box.
Cigars went to space in the Soviet spacecraft “Soyuz 38” on September 18, 1980 carried by a Cuban member of the crew. The first cigar in space was a “Corona” type.
The gray color of cigar ash indicates the type of tobacco and the minerals present in the soil where the plant is grown.
The wrapper represents 10 to 15 % of the flavor of a cigar. Dark wrappers tend to produce a distinct sweet flavor as the leaves are aged longer.
Removing the ring from the cigar represents a personal preference. There are two prevailing schools. The British school recommends removing the ring to avoid the appearance of “showing off” an expensive or rare cigar. The American school, on the other hand, proposes maintaining the cigar ring on the argument that cigars are like wine and you do not remove the label from a bottle of wine. In the event you decide to remove the ring, wait until the cigar is very warm as it facilitates removal. Open the ring to remove it. Do not push or pull it as this can damage the wrapper.
Cigars stored for many years can be smoked with pleasure provided that they were stored in ideal temperature and humidity conditions.
The first machine for the manufacture of cigars was developed in 1920. It was used to make cigars from chopped tobacco and used a dry processing system.
It is said that during the early years of Cuban cigar manufacture, a mild and spongy cigar was developed which became quite popular. It was called Panatela, which can mean sponge in Spanish. Today, we have a cigar size with such name that has nothing to do with the original Panatela.
charuto cubano
Tobacco is like sponge: when dry it becomes hard and brittle. Exposed to humidity, it becomes silky and malleable.
The Brazilian and Cuban style of “rolling” the tobacco leaves of the filler is called the “accordion” rolling method. In this case, the leaves are rolled in a way that resembles an accordion or a fan. This type of rolling results in equal burning at low temperatures.
The bigger the diameter of a cigar the fresher is its smoke when burning.
The native Americans gave several names to tobacco. For Aztecs in Mexico it was picciet; in Canada, quiecta; on the east coast of North America, uppowoc; in Peru, sayri; in Brazil, petum; and in Trinidad, vreit.
The main reason for the poor smell of a particular cigar is inadequate fermentation of its tobacco components. If they were inadequately fermented, they would not have released all of the ammonia nitrates present in the leaves.
In the past, a piece of absorbent clay was used as a humidor for boxes and closets.
Some cigars and cigarillos made by machine use as wrapper homogenized tobacco, which is a mixture of cellulose and tobacco powder.
In 2005, distributors of Habanos (Cuban cigars) were invited by Habanos S.A., Cuba, to develop their own special size for their respective markets.
These sizes are known as “ediciones regionals”or regional editions and are produced in limited quantities. In 2005 the United Kingdom was a pioneer with the Ramon Allones Belicoso Fino.
Since then, the concept was refined further with each box numbered and a second ring placed identifying the region for which the cigar was produced. From 2006 to 2011, each region was allotted 2 regional editions per year. This was reduced to one per year in 2012.