Most people have no idea what's in a cigar. Most people, mistakenly, think cigars are no different from cigarettes.
And it's because of this ignorance misunderstanding that we find ourselves in our current political environment where the taxes on cigars are skyrocketing. So, today, I'm going to pull back the curtain and show everyone exactly what's really inside a cigar.
What's Inside a Cigar?
Cigars are amazing things. They're little works of art, hand-rolled by experts who've spent years learning their craft. When compared to cigarettes, a cigar is like a dry-aged filet mignon, and a cigarette is like cheap bologna that's been dropped on the floor, picked up, rolled up, and stuffed in a cardboard box.
Cigars are organic. No chemicals ever touch the tobacco leaves. No insecticides, pesticides or anything else will be found on these leaves. Additionally, no chemicals are ever added to the leaves as they're being rolled into a cigar. Cigars will go out if they're not puffed on; no chemicals have been added to keep them lit.
Planted
Cigars are made completely by hand. An expert plants seeds directly into the soil that has been cared for.
The ground has been treated and tilled to have the right amounts of vitamins and minerals crucial to the success of a healthy plant.
Picked
After the tobacco plant has soaked up plenty of natural sunlight and grown to several feet tall, someone cuts off each leaf to let it dry, age, and ferment.
Aged
During the aging and fermentation process, the leaves are kept in stacks, called pilons, so they can dry out and so any minerals added to the soil are drained from the tobacco.
After several months (if not years) of aging, the leaves are organized and sorted by color and flavor.
Blended
Then, a master blender (much like a master winemaker, a.k.a. a vintner), samples leaves to see what recipe he or she wants to create.
Like a chef in a gourmet kitchen, the blender collects his ingredients. Unlike a chef in a kitchen, a master blender of cigars uses only 100% organic leaves in their creation.
So, what's in a cigar?
Tobacco leaves, and nothing else.
Assembled
After the blend has been perfected, a process that can take weeks or months, the “recipe” is given to trusted artisans who will assemble the final product that will eventually be boxed and shipped around the world.
The only thing on or in a cigar that isn't 100% all-natural and 100% organic tobacco leaves is the plant-based vegetable glue used to affix the cap onto the end of the cigar. This glue is also a natural product, often made from dried yucca plants.
Mystery Solved
So, after seeing me open up a cigar and lay it all out, is there anything inside a cigar that you didn't expect? Or, was there something you expected to see inside a cigar that wasn't there?
Let me know in the comments below!