Wrapper Colors and Definitions

• Commonly Used Terms:
  • Claro              –         green
  • Natural          –         brown
  • Maduro           –         dark brown

• In-depth Terms:
  • Double Claro                        -           very green
  • Claro / Jade / Candela          -           green
  • Natural Claro                        -           khaki
  • Natural / Colorado                -           brown
  • Natural Maduro                   -           light-dark brown
  • Maduro                                 -           dark brown
  • Oscuro / Maduro Maduro    -           black                                                 

How Wrapper Effects Cigar Taste

• Claro Wrapper:
  • This type of tobacco leaf wrapper is harvested prematurely and therefore has a low sugar and oil content. Due to the low amounts of sugar and oil, these cigars tend to be very mild in flavor. The fact that the wrapper does not have much oil content means that the cigar tends to burn faster.

• Natural Wrapper:
  • The Natural tobacco leaf wrapper matures on its own and is hung in a barn to dry. The leaves have a medium amount of oil and sugar content. The increase in oil and sugar causes these cigars to have more flavors. Cigars wrapped in a Natural Wrapper burn slowly and have a very flavorful taste.

• Maduro Wrapper:
  • The Maduro tobacco leaf wrapper matures in the fields and gets the most sunlight of all the wrapper types. The high amount of sunlight causes the Maduro wrapper to sweat natural oils and increases sugar content. Cigars wrapped in Maduro leaves have tremendous flavor. These cigars burn very slowly and command wonderfully full taste.

Cutting Your Cigar:

• When cutting your cigar always make sure you have the appropriate tools.
  • Guillotine or Flat Cut
    • Place the head of the cigar through the cutter-hole to the point where the end begins to curve to its peak (the head).
    • Cut the top of the cigar off, leaving the bottom of the curving peak (head) intact.
    • The Guillotine cut allows for an easier draw and cooler smoke.
  • V-Cut
    • Using a V-Cutter, place the head of the cigar flush against the cutter-hole.
    • The V-Cut will leave the head of the cigar intact.
    • The V-Cut prevents any tar from touching your tongue.
    • This cut allows for an easy draw and cool smoke.
  • Bullet Cut / Bulls-Eye-Cut
    • Place the end of the bullet cut flush with the tip of the cigar’s head.
    • Slowly turn the cutter into the head in a “drilling motion”.
    • Once the bullet’s blade is fully in, gently pull the cutter out, still using the “drilling motion”
    • The Bullet Cut leaves the head intact and allows for a cool, easy smoke. 

Lighting Your Cigar:

• When lighting your cigar, make sure you hold it at a 45 degree angle with the end away from your mouth pointing down.
• Place the flame gently underneath the end of the cigar. Do not touch the flame to the cigar; this will cause the end to light up too quickly. Rotate the cigar slowly in your fingers and lightly char the end. Smell the smoke as the first aromas rise from the leaves.
• Now that the cigar is giving off a small amount of smoke, place the cigar in your mouth.
• With the cigar in your mouth, hold the flame below the end, still making sure that the cigar and the flame never touch.
• Slowly pull the smoke in and out of your mouth while gently rotating the cigar.
• Now that the end of the cigar is evenly lit – sit back and enjoy the moment.  

Humidors – Optimal Temperature and Humidity:

• Temperature:
  • Keep the temperature between 60˚ and 70˚ Fahrenheit.
• Humidity:      
  • 70% is the ideal humidity. Between 65% and 75% humidity will work well too. 

Humidors – Set Up and Proper Care

• Before storing your cigars, make sure to follow these steps:
  • Wet a sponge with distilled water (distilled water can be purchased on at www.Tinderbox.com).
  • With the wet sponge, wipe down the cedar interior of your humidor.
  • Make sure there is no standing water in your humidor
  • Place the damp sponge on a piece of plastic and sit it at the bottom of the humidor
  • Let the sponge sit for 24 hours.
  • Check the sponge for moisture. If the sponge is dry, add more water and place in the humidor for another 24 hours.
  • If the sponge is wet, this means that the cedar has absorbed all of the moisture that it needs.
  • Check the humidity in your humidor using the hygrometer.
  • Once the hygrometer gives you a reading of 70% humidity (+/- 5%), you are good to go.
  • Store your cigars with confidence is your humidor.
  • Check the humidity levels from time to time.
  • When the humidity level dips below 65%, make sure to add more distilled water to the humidification device.

Ways to Light Your Cigar:

• Paper Match
  • Not the best way to light your cigar due to the high sulfur taste the match will give off when lit.
• Wood Match
  • Wood matches are better that Paper Matches because the sulfur burns off very quickly.
• Fluid Lighters (i.e. Zippos)
  • These will work in a pinch, however the lighter fluid may cause the cigar to have a gasoline-like taste.
• Butane Lighters
  • One of the best ways to light your cigar. Butane has no taste or smell and therefore will not interfere with your cigar’s aroma. You can find a great selection of Butane Lighter in the Accessories area of www.Tinderbox.com.
• Cedar Match
  • Another great way to light your cigar. Break off a piece of cedar from your cigar box and use this strip to light the cigar. The cedar will light the cigar well and will not harm its tastes and aromas.

Cigar Lengths, Ring Gauges, and Average Smoke Times

How to Break in Your New Pipe:

• Begin by wetting your pipe bowl with a mixture of water and honey.
• Fill your bowl with either a full or partial load of tobacco.
• We at Tinderbox.com recommend a full load of tobacco. This will eliminate the possibility of scorching the inside of the new bowl with a lighter or match.
• Important – smoke the tobacco all the way to the bottom.
• SMOKE SLOWLY.
• Tamp and relight as often as necessary.
• If your pipe gets too hot, let it rest awhile. Tamp the ash and relight.
• You can test if the pipe is too hot by placing it against your cheek – be careful.
• A carbon cake in the heel (bottom) of your pipe is the desired goal.
• The carbon cake will act like a grate in a fireplace to improve the draft and insure complete combustion.

Common Pipe Problem – Tongue Bite:

• Tongue Bite is caused by one or more of the following issues:
  • Improper cake, or no cake in the heel, causes a briar pipe to “smoke hot”.  Hot smoke causes tongue bite.
  • A poor-quality, uncured varnished and/or painted pipe. A poor filter system will trap bitter fluids in the shank of the pipe.
  • The tobacco is too tightly packed in the heel. This leaves no air pockets for good combustion.
  • Low quality, commercially packaged tobaccos containing preservatives and other artificial ingredients. Artificial flavoring agents congeal in your pipe, leaving a damp mass in the heel.
  • Not tamping evenly or often enough.
  • Smoking or puffing your pipe too fast. Cigarette smokers tend to smoke quickly when initially switching to a pipe.