Flor de Oliva Torpedo is made from Nicaragua. The size of this cigarette is 6 and a half by 52. It has sweet and a mild to medium flavor. Its price is $35 per bundle of 25. Storing it in a humidor for a while improves its taste.
Baccarat Luchadores has a very sweet and mild taste. This cigarette is in fact one of the most chosen brands by beginners and connoisseurs. This cigarette unlike the others however, does not improves its taste after storing it for a while in a humidor. The price is $44 per box of 25 sticks.

Roly #2 Maduro is made my Rolando Reyes one of the manufacturers of Puros Indios Cigars from Honduras. This cigar taste better when it is just freshly taken out side of the package but the flavor does not improve as it age in a humidor. It is then best and advised to store it in a humidor without actually removing its cellophane tubes so to maintain its toasted flavor. The price is $23 for a bundle of $25.

Punch Bolos is also made from Honduras. The cigar has a lovely medium to full flavor which is better for the more developed palate. The size of Punch Bolos is 43/16 x 36 and its price is $29 for 5 tins containing 6 cigars (30 cigars all and all)

Arturo Fuente Curly Head is from the Dominican Republic. This cigar is also good and advised for beginners. It has a rustic appearance and does not have brands placed on it. It has a mild to medium flavor for the price of $60 for a box of 40 which is really already a very good deal.
Te-Amo # 4 is made from Mexico. The cigar is medium in flavor and may not be a good choice for beginners. The size of the cigar is 5 by 42 and its price is $39 for a box of 25.

Romana Robusto has a mild to medium flavor and needs to be aged in a humidor before smoking because it has a raw taste when one smokes it after freshly taking it out of the box. Its size is 4 ½ by 52 for a price of $69 for a box of 50.

The Philippines has been exposed in using and making tobacco long before the Spaniards came. Yet it is of course it is only through the Spanish invasion that tobacco making skills was enhance and the massive production has been made within and outside for the archipelago. The Filipinos being an innate craftsmen and expert with tobaccos still serve the finest tobacco and humidors until today worldwide.

La Flor de la Isabela Don Juan Urquijo Cigars

Made perfect by the one of the master cigarette maker Mr. Alfreado Salinas, the La Floor de la Isabela Don Juan Urquijo Cigar is known to be the most complex cigar in the world having different tobaccos used in a cigar. It has been awarded an excellent rate of 88 by the Cigar Aficionado Magazine and was discribe as “An easy going cigar that will please those who like light cigars” by the Smoke Magazine.

http://www.kabayancentral.com/cigar/laflor/djucigarmenu.html

Tabacalera

The oldest and most popular brand of cigar in the Philippines. It has been for many years defined as the “Manila Cigar” and has been credited as the cigar that made the all the Philippine cigars world famous. Tabacalera has a sweet, mild, and slightly spicy taste with a light, floral smell.

http://www.kabayancentral.com/cigar/laflor/tabcigarmenu.html

1898 Independencia

The most popular Filipino cigar that was launched in 1998 during the mark of the Philippine Archipelago’s 100 years of Independence. 1898 Independencia is made of Isabela Binder, Isabela ‘pais’ filler wrapped in a special Java wrapper giving the cigar a smooth, bold and highlighted flavor. http://www.kabayancentral.com/cigar/tabaqueria/1898cigarmenu.html

Antonio Gimenez

It has a rich blend of Isabella ‘pais’ and Cuban seed filler. This cigar has a strong and rich flavor enhanced by its Java Wrapper and Isabela Binder. Antonio Gimenez Cigars is available in different sizes and may also be purchased on line through http://www.kabayancentral.com/cigar/tabaqueria/agcigarmenu.html.

Flor de Filipinas

This cigar is made out of the finest, rich blend of Cuban Tobacco Seed grown in the Philippines at the province of La Union since the 16^th Century. It is binded using the Philippine binder and wrapped with an Indonesian Wrapper giving its clients a very exquisite, smooth Asian taste. Flor de Filipinas is availabe in all formats in a box of 25 cigar sticks.

http://www.kabayancentral.com/cigar/tabaqueria/fdfcigarmenu.html

Fakes are known for their being of less quality than the real thing. The same thing applies to fake Cuban cigars. The best way to spot them is by checking for defects. Real Cuban cigars are made exactly of the same length. The genuine variety adheres strictly to exact lengths and should come at least 1/16th of an inch from the size specified. Another distinct sign of a fake is its price. Since genuine Cuban cigars are highly sought after, they command high prices. It is very rare for such cigars to be offered at as high as 25 percent discount. When being offered a Cuban cigar at unbelievably discounted prices, one should immediately suspect a fake.

One of the most effective ways of spotting fake Cuban cigars is by actually holding one. A sniff may be able to help one spot a fake. A cigar that smells strongly of ammonia should hint one to a fake Cuban cigar. The texture and character of the cigar to touch may also hint a cigar aficionado to  a genuine or a fake stogie. The unique skill of an experienced cigar roller is the ability to place the exact amount of tobacco in a cigar from its head to its foot. A finished cigar feels uniform to touch, without uneven soft and hard spots. Having hard spots and soft spots in a cigar is a hint of an amateur cigar roller. Such cigars, if sold as Cuban, should be suspected as fake.

Cigar beetles have a four stage life cycle like many other insects. They go from the egg, larvae, pupa and adult stages that can take from 10 to 12 weeks. An adult tobacco beetle lives from two to four weeks on average. It is on their larval stages that these pests are most destructive to tobacco leaves and cigars. Female adult beetles may only chew its way into tobacco and even paper in order to create a warm environments that is suitable for the eggs that they will lay. It is the larvae that devour tobacco in large quantities.

The tobacco beetles have been a threat to a number of tobacco factories since forever. And they continue to infest tobacco farms if care to prevent them from attacking is not undertaken. The best way for cigar factories to prevent infestation is by keeping the premises always spotlessly clean. It seems to be the best way of preventing the tobacco beetle infestation. Aside from that, regular fumigation as well as setting up beetle traps all over the premises will help keep tobacco infestation in check.

Not only do such pests bother cigar and tobacco factories and farms, they also can be a threat to cigar collectors. One infested cigar can easily spread through a cigar collector’s humidor. The best thing to do to prevent an infestation is always trying to check each cigar before putting them with the other cigars in the humidor. Regularly cleaning your humidor with a damp cloth dipped in distilled water would also help. Using pesticides and other chemicals should be avoided since your humidor would absorb them and would ruin your cigar collection.

In case you already find an infestation in your own collection, there is still a way to get rid of them and save the other remaining untouched cigars. What you can do is to try and place your cigar as well as the boxes in the freezer for at least three days. After that, try relocating them into the refrigerator crisper or chiller for about 24 more hours. Don’t try to take your cigars directly into room temperature the rapid change of atmosphere will cause rapid thawing and make your cigars swell and ruin them permanently.

Another factor affecting your taste with a cigar would be its age. A cigar made of properly aged premium tobacco would have a taste perceived as smoother than that coming from a younger batch of aged tobacco. If properly aged, cigars may be able to provide a smoother taste that can even combine well with other similarly aged tobacco blends. Some of the subtle and complex tastes offered by such properly aged premium cigars can be overpowered by the tastes of a young cigar, thereby greatly affecting its taste.

What you pair with your cigar may also greatly affect its taste. Some people often enjoy a cigar along with a favorite drink. The type of drink that you decide to pair up with your cigar would eventually affect its taste. A strong drink can easily overpower the subtle tastes of a cigar. What you may have eaten beforehand may also have an effect on how you might taste a quality cigar later on. The taste of the previous meal can linger in your taste buds and may affect the taste of your cigar afterwards.

The mood that you are in may also have a great effect on the taste of a cigar. The same cigar may be enjoyed at different levels depending in your mood. The reason for this might lie on the discovery that the sense of taste may be linked closely to the brain chemicals which also control human moods. This might be the reason that on a certain mood, you might enjoy a cigar quite nicely one day and not care about it the next. Such factors may also on how you might perceive a certain cigar to be like. Certain perceptions may also affect how a cigar may taste like. Such perception can be a big factor on how a cigar may taste like and how it is enjoyed eventually.

Rating cigars is actually an art. Apart from the accepted rules and standards, there is nothing technical about rating cigars. There is actually no scientific way of how cigars are rated for quality. It mostly depends on the cigar experts five senses and personal judgment. Ratings for cigars are determined by the following general criteria that experts may take note on different levels when checking out different types of cigars.

Overall Appearance
Cigar experts initially take note of how cigars look as basis for their initial quality check. They look into such things like the consistency of the wrapper color and how each cigar is uniformly wrapped. The shine or oiliness of the cigar wrapper leaf may also be considered for rating the quality of the cigar. Smoothness of the cigar wrapper may also score points on the quality scale.

Construction
Cigar experts also try to look how good each cigar is constructed when judging for quality. Expertly rolled or constructed cigars can be readily evident in its appearance and even more so when the experts finally handles one. The feel of the cigar may then come into focus as part of the review. A soft cigar can either mean a loose construction that may affect the cigar’s durability. Even a too tightly constructed cigar may also not be a positive attribute since it may also affect how the cigar actually tastes when burned. More so, cigar wrappers that readily come loose when handled is a proof of poor construction.

Burn Rate
Cigar experts also look into how a cigar burns when judging for quality. A good quality cigar is one that is not hard to keep lit. Consistent burning is also looked into when judging quality cigars. A burning edge that comes thick or bubbled may be an evidence of the tobacco leaves being improperly aged.

Flavor and Aroma
Taste also comes as an important aspect of judging cigar quality. This would ultimately depend on the cigar experts since the flavor is always subjective and may depend on different personal preferences. What cigar experts generally look into is the consistency in flavor that the cigars give as they are being smoked. A change in character in the flavor and aroma of the cigar as it is being smoked can affect how it is judged or rated for quality. This is one of the most important as well as the most difficult area to judge cigars since quality of the cigar may be judged upon a cigar experts own personal preference when it comes to taste and smell.

First of all, when you have a new humidor on hand, you should ensure that it has a tight seal. A well-made humidor is one that has an air-tight seal around it. This will be very important especially if you do have a number of cigars in your collection that you wish to keep for a longer period of time than usually. It is also wise that you try to keep cigars that you may have immediate use for in a separate box.

Before you place your cigars in your new humidor, you should make sure to keep the humidifying device inside the box working. Although it might sound a bit techie, the said device can be nothing more than a dampened sponge placed at the bottom interior of the humidor. Use a sponge dampened in distilled water and then placed inside the humidor. Close the humidor’s lid and let it stay that way for about a day to let the cedar wood lining the insides of the humidor to absorb the moisture. After this is done, you may now put your cigars inside the humidor.

Make sure that you put your well stocked humidor in a cool and dry place to prevent mold or fungus growth that may destroy your humidor as well as the cigars inside. Also remember not to place the humidor in a place where there are sudden changes in temperatures. Find an ideal environment in your home that enjoys steady temperature al throughout to make sure that your cigars are kept and stored well.

With your cigars now on your humidor, it is important that you try to keep the interior always have the ideal humidity for your prized cigars. Try to keep the interior environment of your humidor at about 70 percent humidity. You can use a circular type hygrometer to get the humidity readings. To keep the humidity levels ideal, you should also try to check that the sponge inside the humidor to see if it is still damp. Check it every two weeks and dampen it using only distilled water or an accepted poly-glycol solution on a regular basis. You may need to do this more often during the winter when the air is drier. This also applies for collectors in dry and desert regions in the world.

Bundled cigars first appeared during the 1960’s. They are actually cigars that are made to be sold as unbranded cigars. Some bundled cigars may also be sold as an overrun of a cigar manufacturer for a particular size. Most bundled cigars can be identified at times by the name of the country they came from. You will hear of cigar shops selling Honduran Bundles or Nicaraguan Bundles. There are also times when manufacturers may produce bundle cigars as one time deals due to demand and may be sold with their own bands. This is most especially done by some popular cigar shops that contract a cigar manufacturer to produce house brands for them.

Bundle cigars can be differentiated from those termed as “seconds” in that the latter are usually ungraded cigars that didn’t meet up with the manufacturer’s standards due to some minor flaws. This does not necessarily mean that they are of bad quality. They are also produced in the same manner as the “firsts”, only to have minor flaws later on such as problems with the wrapper or flaws in the cigar construction that is not up to considered standards. These seconds are also sold in bundles and sold unmarked at less cost.

In choosing the best bundle cigars to buy, close inspection might also be needed. If you have found a shop offering bundle cigars up for sale, here is what you should try to look for. First, it is best if you try to shop for bundles by country. This would depend on the blends that you most prefer. If you are more inclined to enjoy Nicaraguan blends, then you can have your choices in buying bundle cigars limited to those originating from that country.

When you find yourself with a bundle cigar that you like, inspecting them one by one may not be possible. Most bundle cigars come packaged and may not offer the same luxury of inspecting boxed cigars which you can inspect a cigar at a time. The best thing that you can do to inspect bundle cigars is to check if the cigars have been bruised, ripped or crushed.

When buying bundle cigars, choose those cigars that contain long leaf fillers. For better quality bundle cigars, you can also choose to buy those that were manufactured as a private blend contracted by a retailer as an exclusive brand. You can be sure that these cigars are made with a little bit more of quality in mind and at more affordable prices. You can also check where the bundle cigars were manufactured. This will be helpful especially if you have a good idea of a number of manufacturers known to produce the best brands and the best cigars out there.

The Dominican Republic is actually just a neighbor to Cuba. It is part of the Caribbean island group and occupies the eastern part of the Caribbean island known as Hispaniola, with the Republic of Haiti occupying the remaining portion. The Dominican Republic is the site of the first European settlement in the Americas, eventually becoming the initial site that began the spread of colonization of the Western Hemisphere by the European explorers. Santo Domingo is considered as the first city and colonial capital founded in the Americas which dates back to its official founding on August of 1498.

The history of the Dominican Republic is strewn with instability and frequent conflicts which somehow limited the country to enjoy continuous progress and development despite its richness in natural resources aside from its many beautiful and picturesque locations. Although the country has gone through a lot of economic hardships, its tobacco industry is one of the main reasons why it is still able to keep afloat.

And because of its large tobacco industry, the Dominican Republic has become one of the largest producers of cigars in the world. Although Cuban cigars may still dominate in the mindsets of cigar collectors, the Dominican cigars seem to provide a credible challenge to the distinction. The Dominican Republic seems to have some certain advantages over Cuba when it comes to cigars. First and foremost, the Dominican Republic offers a great variety of flavors, aromas and colors when it comes to cigars. This is mainly due to a more ideal growing environment that allows farmers to grow a wide variety of tobacco made into cigars.

Dominican cigars may also have some Cuban roots. This is due to the fact that a lot of Cubans fled their country during the early times of Fidel Castro’s rule. Along with those who fled are the cigar makers who found their way into Dominican Republic bringing with the tobacco seeds cultivated in Cuba as well as their cigar making expertise. Dominican cigars may have a lot in common with Cuban cigars in terms of quality with the difference coming only from the tobacco used since they are planted in different soils in different lands.

And because Dominican cigars have helped put the country back into the world map, the people have been doing their best to improve the quality of their tobacco as well as their cigars. Farmers carefully manage and care for their tobacco plantations in order to come up with only the finest leaves that go into the best Dominican cigars today. With this rapidly improving system in tobacco cultivation and cigar making, it won’t be long until the Dominican Republic will be able to earn the highest distinction for their cigars all over the world.

The making of cigars begins with the cultivation of the tobacco plants. They start as plants that are propagated first indoors before they are transplanted in the fields after six to ten weeks. As they plants are grown, they are carefully pruned in order to let the leaves grow to its necessary size. Some of the plants are grown to produce leaves that become the outer wrappers of cigars. These selected plants are usually covered with cloth, especially the leaves to protect them from the sun. It takes about three to four months before the plants are ready and mature enough for harvest.

After the tobacco leaves are harvested, they are made to cure for several days in order for them to develop their characteristic aromas. From being fresh bright green leaves, they are cured until they become dry brown or yellowish. In the curing process, the leaves are made to hang attached to narrow strips of wood called laths. They can either be air cured in dry weather or flue cured if the weather does not permit the former. In flue curing, the laths are hung in a small barn that is heated until the temperatures inside reach 32 to 77 degrees Celsius. The temperature is carefully monitored in order to prevent rapid drying which can damage the leaves.  Sometimes, sawdust or hardwood is burned in the curing barn to impart some aroma on the drying tobacco leaves.

After the curing process, the leaves are then separated by its color and size. The best leaves are usually set aside to become the outer wrapper. Large tobacco leaves are sorted to become the inner wrapper or binder for the cigar while the small or broken leaves become the cigar filler. The leaves are then bundled in groups of 10 to 15 leaves called “hands”. The “hands” are then further packed and placed in boxes called “hogsheads”. This is where the leaves are made to go through a fermentation process. The leaves are kept for a period of six months to five years in these boxes during which, the taste and the aroma of the tobacco leaves develop. High quality cigars usually make use of tobacco leaves that have been fermented for two to five years.

After being fermented, the leaves are carefully sorted and then have the main veins of each leaf removed. The leaves are then stacked in piles called “books” or “pads” which are then wrapped in bales and then stored for another round of fermentation. It is at this point that the leaves may also be shipped. Just as the leaves are finally ready to be made into cigars, they are steamed first in order to restore lost moisture and make them flexible and then sorted again.