Rocky Patel 15th Anniversary
July 12, 2010
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Cigar Misconceptions: Which one would you do away with?
This week I’d like to take a short poll of our Stogie Review readers on which cigar misconceptions you would do away with. If it were possible for you to rid the world of a single cigar related misconception, which would one would it be?
If it were up to me, I would do away with the following.
Misconception:
Cigars with dark wrappers are stronger than those with light wrappers
Which Cigar misconception would you do away with?
I would absolutely do away with the whole “Cubans are better” misconception. Although there are some VERY good Cuban cigars out there, I think there are also some GREAT cigars that dont come from Cuba.
Secondhand cigar smoke kills.
HIGH PRICE = QUALITY
A high rating doesn’t always mean a good stogie.
It’s bad for a Presidential candidate to be seen smoking a cigar. Example JFK was a cigar smoker but hide it because it looked unhealthy.
That you have to be old and rich or having a baby to smoke a cigar.
Well if we got rid of the misconception that cigar smoke is smelly, maybey we wouldn’t be getting kicked out of bars and etc.
Smoking even an occasional cigar will give you cancer!
Cheap Cigars = Bad , not true!
Cheap on Price and Cheap (Bad) Cigars are 2 different things.
All house brand cigars are terrible.
That you smoke cigars for the buzz.
Or that Cubans are filled with marijuana/cocaine and that’s why they’re illegal.
Cigar Aficionado is the best resource for cigar smokers.
Smoking a cigar automatically denotes you as a villain. In my case it just happens to be true. (I prefer “smooth criminal” to “villain”.) But generally speaking, false, no matter how many cigar smoking bad guys appear in the movies.
Only guys should smoke cigars.
Only strong cigars have complex flavor profiles.
Bigger isn’t always better…I’ve had many more enjoyable cigar experiences smoking a 44 RG over a 52 or larger ring gauge.
You need to spend a lot of money for a fine cigar.
Cigars are just as harmful as cigarettes.
Cigars = Republican.
That cigars don’t have nicotine. I just can’t convince my friend that they do…jeez…
My opinion is similar to Mike. My Dr.(and any Dr. I’ve ever had) views cigars as a worse alternative to cigarettes.
Any life/health insurance lists me as a “Smoker.” Sure, cigars can’t be physically “healthy,” but to compare them to cigs is ignorant.
LAME!
The cigar store employees are always right and know everything there is to know about cigars…
We smoke cigars because we are addicted to them.
Also the darker the cigar, the stronger.
That second hand smoke is a health risk.
Tom – Every doctor I’ve spoken to has said the health risks from cigar-smoking are negligible.
That Walt enjoys Dominican cigars.
The Brian isn’t in the tank for Arganese
OK, I have had my fun, now for a real post.
That good cigars should be paired with expensive cutters/lighters.
That there is any such thing as pre-embargo tobacco
That “cuban-seed” contributes anything at all.
That strength and taste are somehow correlated.
That Walt can take 3 hours to smoke a petit corona without a single relight (sorry, had to throw in one last joke)
That Brian actually has a pint of rum in his coffee mug, and a strong aversion to Michael Jackson songs such as “Smooth Criminal” (sorry, couldn’t resist again)
Hahahaha tcr!
Misconception: Second-hand smoke isn’t harmful.
(and before someone points out the analysis found on some cigar sites, note that industry documents released under the Tobacco Master Settlement showed the tobacco industry knew and deliberately used bad science to produce a false conclusion, *and* the tobacco industry’s OWN (buried until the TMS) research showed that second-hand smoke is harmful.)
That all the cigars that have a dark wrapper are maduros.
…that cigar smoking is for old men.
As for secondhand smoke, I am sure that there would be some danger from long term exposure, but don’t tell me that I am killing you because you are downwind from me in the park. The trucks, cars, and busses passing by have to be more toxic than my stogie.
That filling beetle holes with peanut butter and smoking said cigar is an acceptible practice (a friend of mine swears her father does this, with cheap, machine-made cigars no less, basically because he’s a cheap bastard who refuses to waste anything).
That cuban seed corojo tobacco grown anywhere but on the original farm in Cuba will taste the same as the original.
It’s is a combination of plant, soil and climate guys!
That most people are scared of getting more harm from smoking a cigar because cigars are bigger than cigarrettes in size.
My pet peeve would be that Cuban cigars are better. Heck, Cuban cigars vary in taste and strength so much that I can’t believe people say this at all anyway.
Dave
I’d like the misconception that cigars MUST be stored at 70 degrees / 70% RH.
The old “70/70″ rule touted by B&Ms for so many years has caused more problems than it has helped.
On average, 70% RH is too much and is the leading cause for draw and burn problems that most people experience, not poor construction as they often attributed to.
Additionally, as you get close or above 70 degrees, the likelihood of tobacco beetle larvae hatching greatly increases.
I think a “65/65″ rule would have done cigar smokers a great justice than the problematic “70/70″ has done.
I hope this helps
~Mark
I agree Mark, while I can’t comment on the humidity, I read in Cigar Magazine that temps of 64 and below will kill any beetle form in 6 weeks.
Amen, Mark!
Since lowering the humidity in my humidors, I’ve noticed an significant decrease in burn issues.
And if it kills beetles as Jon W mentions, even better!
that Gurkha is a Premium Cigar
how do you keep your Huimidor at 65 Temerature unless you have a Walk in Humidor , do you cool your house to 65?
To keep the temperature cool, I use a thermo-electric cooler type humidor “coolidor” if you will. Although in my case, it’s lower then 65 degree F
But it’s solved my dreaded beetle problem for now at least. Bleh.
That being said, there are several video’s here on Stogie Review that show how to set up a coolidor. Walt and Brian have both done some awesome video’s on how to set one up. And they do a MUCH better job then mine is set up to be. Mine runs at 62 degrees F and I keep the humidity a bit higher (72%) becuase it leaks like a bugger. It’s a wine cooler and the door isn’t at all air tight. And here in Sac, the typical humidity is 50% – 70%. With winter being 70% and summers being as low as 35% humidity. So I get some dry cigars rather then over humid cigars.
But the video’s here will show a great job on how to do far better then my pathetic attempt. My house gets up to 80 degrees F easily in Summer and that’s how I got beetles. And it’s too costly to cool my house.
My two cents anyway and I fear those beetles more then mold at this point. I put my cigars in a room temp humidor for two months before smoking them to get them more smokable and so far, that seems to be working out all right.
Dave
I just keep my tupperdore in my basement lol
Consistent temps, and low temps, right at 64-65*
["how do you keep your Huimidor at 65 Temerature unless you have a Walk in Humidor , do you cool your house to 65?"]
I keep my cigars in the basement as well.
Lisa:
“Only guys should smoke cigars.”
Yes, that is an annoying one. Herhumidor.com is looking good, btw.
Not long ago I ran into someone who claimed that all cigars taste alike. That’s definitely a serious misconception.
S – someone who says “all cigars taste alike” obviously isn’t smoking the right assortment of cigars
That ISOM cigars bought in Mexico (or any other Latin country) are not counterfeits.