Born As Seed Vanished As smoke

                                     Cigar    

The word cigar originally derives from the Mayan sikar ("to smoke rolled tobacco leaves"—from si'c, "tobacco"). The Spanish word, "cigarro" spans the gap between the Mayan and modern use. The English word came into general use in 1730.

The origin of cigar is unknown . 

Historians generally believe that the cigar was invented by the ancient Mayans, who would wrap the tobacco in a palm or a plantain leave and smoke it. Archaeologists have even discovered an ancient Mayan pot from the 10th century that depicts a Mayan man puffing on one of these very early cigars. When Christopher Columbus came over to the New World he was one of the first Westerners to discover tobacco. The local Indians showed him how they smoked the tobacco leaves and Columbus and his lieutenants quickly adopted the habit. When they brought the idea back home, smoking became quite popular in Spain and Portugal. The French ambassador to Portugal, Jean Nicot, popularized cigar smoking in France and nicotine was named after him. It was around this time that manufacturers in Spain started wrapping the dried tobacco in papers rather than leaves. After that, many companies started to grow tobacco and mass-produce cigars

Cuba's fertile land and favorable climate allowed all three types of tobacco leaves used in a cigar — the wrapper, filler and binder — to be harvested on the island, and sailing ships were soon distributing Cuban tobacco from Europe to Asia. Columbus had claimed Cuba for Spain, and the Spanish soon cornered the nascent industry, mandating in the 17th century that all tobacco for export be registered in Seville; they later tightened their stranglehold on the market by forbidding Cuban growers to sell the crop to anyone but them — a monopoly that persisted until 1817.

 everything is explained in ppt

Selection and smoking

 * Cigar boxes should be opened carefully with a blunt instrument.

*  To extract a cigar, press the rounded head and the cigar will tilt upwards for easy extraction.

* Cigars should not be handled before selection. Rolling a cigar near the ear, sometimes called

‘listening to the band’, says nothing at all about the cigar and simply damages it.

* The appearance of a cigar should be smooth, firm and even to the touch. It should always

be the same size and colour as its partners in the box. The wrapper (outer leaf) should have

a healthy glow to it and the open or cut end should be smooth and even.

* The band or identification tag should only be removed if the customer requests it. If it is to

be removed it should be done carefully as moving it up and down can damage the cigar.

Even if peeled off gently, it can still rip the tobacco leaves.

* When cigars are not pre-cut a V-shaped cigar cutter is required to cut the end, thereby

facilitating maximum free draught and ease of smoking. Do not make a small hole with a

match or cocktail stick, as this will leave a moist tar concentrate, which imparts a very bitter

flavour as the end of the smoke is approached.

* To light a cigar use the broad flame of a long match, a cedar wood spile, or a gas lighter,

rotating the cigar to achieve even burning and periodically moving the cigar through the air

to encourage burning.

FACTS ABOUT CIGARS 

• By the late early 1900 s there was an 10,000 cigars company's operating in U.S
• The first Spanish cigar company was established in Cuba.
• Did you know that in 2017, more than 330 million cigars were imported into the United States? 
• It took a long time to harvest and manufacture the cigar your smoking. It takes between 40-60 days to harvest tobacco plants. After this period, the tobacco is cured. While the curing process imparts flavor into your cigar, it can take up to five years to finish.