How To Choose Good Cigars: 7 Essential Tips

Many people do not realize just how popular good cigars are around the world. The total market for cigars is worth more than $36 billion every single year! On top of that, the market continues to grow at a steady rate year by year.

That market might be even bigger if more people knew about how to find a good cigar. Many people do not understand why others love cigars so much because they have never had a great cigar of their own. Even those who enjoy cigars often struggle to find cigars of the right quality.

However, you can apply certain principles to help you identify good cigars and enhance your smoking experience. Read on to learn all about the most important things to pay attention to when you are choosing your cigars!

1. How to Choose a Cigar With the Right Humidity

One of the most important things for bearded men and men without beards to look for in a cigar is humidity. When you expose a cigar to the ambient humidity, it changes the humidity of the cigar. That can decrease the quality of the smoking experience that a cigar can provide.

In fact, your cigar having the right humidity might be the number one most important thing to look for. So what is a good cigar humidity? You are looking for a cigar that has been kept in a constant relative humidity of somewhere around 70%.

To achieve this, good cigar brands are kept in closed humidors. If you see pipes and cigars kept in other kinds of containers, there is a good chance that they will be drier than is ideal.

You should also look for shops that use hygrometers to show you the humidity of quality cigars. If they do not make it easy for you to figure out the humidity of the cigar, there is a good chance that they are not taking care of the humidity properly.

If you don't see a hygrometer in an obvious location, ask about where it is. If they don't have one at all, you should consider looking for cigars somewhere else.

2. Find a Cigar With a Good Wrapper

Both a good cigar for beginners and cigars for experienced smokers have signs on their wrappers that help you judge their quality.

For one thing, you should find wrappers that aren't too loose. After all, a loose wrapper means that there is less inside the cigar.

You should also be looking for pristine wrappers that do not have damage. Cracks are often an indicator that a cigar has become too dry.

There are ways to breathe life back into a dry cigar, but it requires a certain amount of know-how and some tools. In most cases, it is better to avoid dry cigars.

Cracks can also make it harder to get a consistent draw on a cigar. In some cases, they can interfere so much that you cannot even smoke the cigar at all.

Even aside from the direct problems of a bad wrapper, you can also use signs of a bad wrapper as an indication of how well a cigar has been looked after. If the wrapper is dry or has damage, then the cigar probably has not been treated well.

3. Listen to the Sound of a Good Cigar

Cuban cigars and other varieties make different sounds when they are of high quality or low quality. You can roll a cigar between your fingers to listen to the sounds that it makes.

If these sounds are crunchy, that is a separate indicator of a dry cigar. These crunchy sounds can indicate that a cigar is dry even if the wrapper does not have cracks in it.

On the other hand, if a cigar is completely silent, then it may have an excess of moisture. The ideal sound will be somewhere in the middle. You should hear a soft rustle, not cracking or silence.

You should also remember that listening to the sound of a cigar shows that you are checking its quality. Some people consider it rude to do so.

4. Feel the Firmness of a Good Cigar

The ideal cigar will have just a little bit of give when you squeeze it. If it is too hard or too soft, you are not holding a great cigar.

5. Pay Attention to the Smell of a Good Cigar

The smell of a cigar can tell you a lot about it. If it doesn't have a smell at all, then it probably is of very low quality. It is also possible that it is just dry, but that comes with its own problems.

6. Look at the Color of Your Cigar

Look at the color of the wrapper on your cigars. If it has multiple different colors, that can be a problem. White patches can indicate there is mold.

If there are only small green patches, that may be acceptable. But too many of these patches, and you should be looking for other cigars.

7. Look at the Neighboring Cigars

When you buy cigars in a box, the quality of one cigar can tell you about the quality of others. Make sure to examine each cigar individually. If one has serious problems, the others might as well.

Understand How to Choose Good Cigars 

Learning more about how to choose good cigars can revolutionize your cigar experience. Many people have an amazing cigar and then buy more and more, trying to find another good one. Without the right knowledge, finding an equally good cigar can be a shot in the dark.

To learn more about products for men with beards, feel free to check out our other content here!