Central Cigars's Page

Smoking History
The Best Aged Cigars, From 30 to 60 Years Old are Refined, Stylish Powerhouses of Flavor


by James Suckling

The cigar's wrapper has an opulent dark brown color; its texture is silky and flawless. A large band, slightly yellowing and oily like the surface of an old painting, encircles it with the name "Belinda" printed in block letters. Perhaps most striking is its ornate style with a red background and a gold crest of a leaping lion, a key and three bricked towers, which speak… Continue

The Last Word on Tobacco Beetles


By Jason Sheftell

It eats like a pig, breeds like a bunny, lives fast and dies young. It worships tobacco and heat. It's cosmopolitan. It's Lasioderma serricorne, better known as the tobacco beetle, and it loves nothing more than to hatch in your humidor and feast on your cigars.

No bigger than a pinhead, the tobacco beetle makes cigar lovers around the world tremble. One generation of its offspring can take a sizable bite out of a manufacturer's tobacco inve… Continue

Restoring Dry Cigars

You discover a box of your favorite cigars that you left in a closet for six months, and the cigars are as dry as a bone. What do you do?

First, have patience. Put the cigars in a humidor that hasn't been charged in the previous week. Let them rest in the slightly dry humidor for a few days so the cigars absorb some humidity. Then, partially fill the humidification system, letting the cigars rest for another week before fully charging the humidity regulator. This process w… Continue

Storing Cigars

In the two previous installments of Cigar Aficionado's cigar education series -- excerpted from editor and publisher Marvin R. Shanken's Shanken's Cigar Handbook -- we examined cigar shapes, colors and sizes as well as proper cutting and lighting techniques. In this installment we explore the ways cigar aficionados can maintain the freshness of their cigars.

In many ways, fine cigars are like wine, orchids or humans traveling in space. They are natural, organic and sensitive to… Continue

Cigar Tobacco-Growing Regions

Cuba
Cuban tobacco is acknowledged as among the finest in the world. Cuba's best tobacco-growing area is in the Vuelta Abajo, part of the Pinar del Rio region area in western Cuba. In general, Cuban tobacco is strong and full-bodied, with spicy and aromatic flavors. It is also renowned for its suppleness. Most factories of premium hand-rolled cigars are located in or near Havana, the capital city.

Dominican Republic
The quality and variety of cigar tobacco from th… Continue