Tobacco growing country, cigar , Part of cigar, brand of cigar, storage of cigar, service of cigar, c

1. TOBACCO
Statutory Warning:
Consumption or smoking of tobacco and its products
in any form is extremely injurious to health
By Arti Dadhich

2. The tobacco plant is grown commercially for its
leaves and stems, which are:
1. rolled into cigars,
2. shredded for use in cigarettes and pipes,
3. processed for chewing ,
4. or ground into snuff, a fine powder that is inhaled through nose.
Tobacco products contain nicotine , an addictive drug.

3. Major Tobacco growing countries
➢China
➢India
➢Java
➢Borneo
➢Sumatra
➢Japan
➢Central & South Africa

4. After tobacco is harvested it is cured[ dried]
and aged to improve it flavour the four
common methods of curing tobacco
are as follows.
1.Air curing
2.Fire curing
3.Flue curing
4.Sun curing

5. 1.Air curing: It is carried out in a well ventilated barn, where
the tobacco is air dried for 6 - 8 weeks. Air cured tobacco is
low in sugar, which gives the tobacco’s smoke a light sweet
flavour, and it is high in nicotine.
This method is suitable for making cigars.

6. 2.Fire curing: In this method . smoke from a low –
burning fire on the barn floor spreads and passes through
the leaves. This gives the leaves a distinctive smoky aroma
and flavour. It takes about 3 – 10 weeks and produces a
tobacco low in sugar and high in nicotine.
It is suitable for pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco and
snuff.

7. 3. Flue curing: In this method, tobacco is kept in an enclosed barn
heated by hot air from flues. The tobacco is not directly exposed to
smoke. This method produces tobacco that is high in sugar and has
medium to high levels of nicotine. It is the fastest method of curing
requiring about a week. It is suitable for all kinds of cigarettes.
Virginia tobacco that has been flue – cured is also called ‘ bright
tobacco’, because flue curing turns the leaves gold, orange or
yellow.

8. 4.Sun curing: In this method , tobacco is dried uncovered in the sun.
this method is used in Greece, Turkey and other Mediterranean
countries to produce oriental tobacco. Sun – cured tobacco is low both
in sugar and nicotine. It is used in cigarettes.

9. The cured tobaccos are tied into small bundles of
about 20 leaves called ‘ hands’ and then packed into
larger bundles called’ bales’ . The bales are carefully
aged for 18 months to 3 years to improve the
flavour and reduce the bitterness of tobacco.

10. Although cigars are made in many parts of the world , the
best cigars come from Cuba and are names after its capital
“ Havana”. Tobacco is grown all over Cuba and the finest
ones come from
Vuelta Abajo
Partidos
Remedios
Oriente
All four of them produce fine quality tobacco cigar
leaves but the best quality comes from
Vuelta Abajo
Cigar

11. Cigar is prepared from good quality tobacco leaves which are rolled to
various lengths and girths. Havana cigars are regarded the best in the
world . A cigar is made up of 3 constituents parts. They are as follows:
1. Filler
2. Binder
3. Wrapper

12. 1. Fillers: the filler forms the interior[ core] of the cigar and
makes most of the cigar. Tobacco leaves used as fillers can
be rather long or short. Long fillers are made up of whole
leaves which are of better quality , while the shorter ones
are made of chopped leaves which are inferior. A Filler is
made of a blend of leaves from different regions to get
good flavour.

13. 2. Binder: It is good quality leaf with high tensile strength
which holds the filler. 2 – 4 leaves of filler tobacco are laid
end to end and rolled into binder leaf. A filler with a binder
is termed a bunch. Usually , these are tobacco leaves chosen
as wrappers but rejected because of the holes and
blemishes.

14. 3. Wrapper: It is the outside of the cigar and also the most expensive part . a whole
leaf of the finest quality is chosen and it must be elastic, smooth of good colour, and
not too prominently veined. It should also have good aroma since it is the most vital
ingredient in the taste of a cigar. The bunch is laid at an angle across the strip of
wrapper leaf. The wrapper is then wrapped carefully around the binder, overlapping at
each turn till the end of the hook and is stuck with vegetable gum, forming the
rounded closed head. It is then cut at the other end to the length required.

15. Structure of a cigar:
A cigar has two ends, namely ‘ head’
and ‘ foot’. Each cigar has paper band
with its brand name printed on it. The
end closer to the band, which has leaf –
cap , is called the ‘ head’ the end
opposite to the head is ‘ foot’. The foot
end of the cigar is lit while smoking.
The smoker makes an incision or cuts
the cap [ rounded closed end] at the
head of the cigar and draws smoke
from the head of the cigar.

17. Terms used to refer to colour of Wrapper:
The leaf used for wrapper varies in colour which are sorted accordingly and marked on the boxes
to indicate the colour of the wrapper. The term used to demote the colour are as follows:
Claro[ CCC] : Light golden brown
Colorado – Claro [ CC] : Medium , tawny colour
Colorado [ C] : Reddish brwon also called rosado
Maduro [ M] : Very dark brown
Oscuro: Black and oily in appearance, it is also known as double maduro.
Natural: Light brown to brown
Candela: Greenish – yellow in colour, it is also know n as double claro

18. Shapes and sizes of Cigars:
Cigars are grouped according to their sizes and shapes,
which together are known as the Vitola. According to the
shape , cigars are classified into two groups:
a. Parejo: This is a common shape of cigar, has cylindrical body,
straight sides, one end open and round tobacco – leaf cap on the
other end.
b.Figurado: These cigars come in irregular shapes.

19. Brands of Havana Cigars
Romeyo Y Julieta
Punch
Fonseca
Rafael Gonzalez
Bolivar etc.

20. Storage of Cigars
Cigar should be stored at a temperature of [ 15 – 18 C] and a relative humidity of 65 –
70%. Drastic temperature fluctuations, dry heat, smells and dampness damage the cigar.
Cigars are best stored in humidors. Humidors are boxes made of cider wood. A damp
pad is lined inside the lid of the humidor to maintain humidity by moisturizing air if it is
too dry. If the climate is too damp, a dry pad will be used to absorb any excess moisture
in the air. The box had many sections , each holding a different type and size of cigar .
many cigars are individually packed in metal tubes lined with cider wood and these tubes
are hermetically sealed, that is they are sealed tightly to prevent the air from getting in.

21. Preparing and lighting cigar
1. Before a cigar is lit , the ‘head’ of the cigar
which has the tobacco – leaf cap must be opened with
a cigar cutter to allow the smoke to pass through
smoothly .
2. A V – shaped cut or straight cut may be made
according to the choice of the guest, which should be
asked before cutting . The cut should be smooth and
clean and not too large.
3. Piercing the end with match or spike is not
recommended as the small hole , thus created , draws
concentrated smoke and oil which tastes very bitter.
4. The foot end of the cigar is lit with a wooden match,
cider wood strip or gas lighter but never with
sulphur or wax coated matches or petrol lighter
which will spoil the flavour of the cigar. The cigar
should be rotated while lighting and air should be
slowly drawn with gentle puffs.
5. Some guest warm the length of the cigar with a
lighted match before lighting it to remove the
unpleasant tasting glue used for sticking leaves.

22. Cigarettes :
Cigarettes are machine – rolled in a special
paper that burns slowly and evenly .
Most cigarettes have filter to collect impurities
and to make it less harsh to inhale

23. International brands of cigarettes
1.Benson & Hedges
2.Marlboro
3.Chesterfield
4.Kool
5.Salem
6.Camel
7.Dunhill
8.Viceroy