Cigar & Pipes Flashcards
What is the standard cigar box or commonly known as cello Boxes?
8-9-8 Eight cigar on top, nine cigars in the middle and 8 on the bottom
What is the smallest concentration of a substance that can be detected by our senses called?
Absolute Threshold
What is Accordion (bunch) rolling?
A bunching technique in which the outer sides of the filler leaves are folded inward, one at a time. The bunched leaves are then placed on top of each other until the bunch is complete and wrapped with a binder leaf to be placed in a cigar mold. This technique allows more air passage through the cigar. Also called a Arrugado and is not as sophisticated as entubado rolling.
Acidic
Having properties of an acid. Flavor is sour and pungent. Cigarette tobaccos are acidic vs cigar and pipe which are alkaline.
What is a active humidifier?
A machine designed to create humidity. They will typically have a fan blowing on or over water to produce a mist. Common in walk in or large cabinets.
Affective Marketing
The process of promoting a product or service in a way that appeals to or influences feeling and emotion in a target audience.
African Block Meerschaum
From Tanzania, Africa, this type of meerschaum differs from the Turkish variety in that it is fired at high temperatures, then stained in shades of brown, black, and yellow.
Air Curing
The process used for cigar tobaccos (dark air-cured) and for Burley tobaccos (light air-cured). After being harvested, cigar leaves are hung in pairs in curing barns, Casas de Tabaco, for approx. 50 days. During this process, the tobacco leaves lose their chlorophyll and 85 percent of their humidity.
Alkaline
Having the properties of an alkali (base). Flavor is bitter, dry and astringent. Cigar and pipe tobaccos are highly alkaline because they have high ammonia content and should not be inhaled.
Alkaloid
Any in a class of naturally occurring organic bases containing nitrogen. Alkaloids include nicotine, morphine, ephedrine, and quinine, among thousands of others. They are of interest mostly because of their physiological effects on humans and animals.
Amarillo
Spanish for yellow. Referring to a color classification of shade grown wrapper leaf.
What is a amatista jar?
A hermetically sealed jar containing 50( occasionally 25) cigars.
What is amber?
It is a fossilized tree sap used to sometimes make pipe stems for Meerschaum or high end Briar pipes.
What is a mixture of Virginia, Burley, and Oriental tobaccos and typically consist of 50% Virginia, 37% air cured Burley and 13% Oriental called?
American Blend tobacco which is used in Cigarettes.
What refers to claro and double claro colored cigars which were popular during the middle of the 20th century in US?
American Market Selection
Ammonia
Is an alkaline compound that exists naturally in the tobacco leaf. Much of the ammonia is expelled as a gas during the fermentation process.
Anejador
The person in charge of anejamiento. The anejador curates the temperature, humidity, and aging standards for the tobaccos and cigars.
Anejamiento
The aging process during which the tobaccos slowly develop and release impurities and ammonia. Tobacco anejamiento pertains to leaves and occurs after fermentation, often going on for years. Anejamiento occurs after the cigar is rolled, while they are curated by a tobacconist, then in a personal humidor until smoked.
Anilladora
The worker who applies the band to the cigar.
Anillo
“ring” also for the band around the cigar
Anniversary
Commemorates a date or event in the world of luxury tobacco, cigars and pipes.
What is a pipe with a round shaped bowl reminiscent of an apple called?
Apple
What is a period of service and learning an art or trade called?
Apprenticeship
What is a distinctive and pleasant smell?
Aroma
Aromatic Analysis
The process of dissecting a cigar to smell the aromas of the individual leaf components. The process is as follows:
- Take the cigar apart gently and separate the wrapper, binder, and different filler leaves.
- The filler leaves will be distinguished by their color and texture.
- Then light the individual components in an ashtray one at a time and smell the aromas.
Aromatic Blend
Blended Virginia and Burley tobaccos that have flavorings or casing added as part of the manufacturing/blending process. Some common casings are chocolate, vanilla, cherry, and rum. Are typically mild and have a sweeter taste+aroma.
What a skilled worker who practices a trade or handicraft, often using traditional methods?
Artisan
Arrugado
Spanish term for accordion rolling
Balkan Blend
Also known as English Blend pipe tobacco
Band
Synonym for cigar ring, traditionally located below the shoulders
What is a term describing a cigar wrapping with two overlapping and color contrasting wrappers?
Barber Poll
What are wooden vessels used to age tobacco leaves?
Barrel
Belicoso
Traditionally, this cigar shape (vitola) was a small pyramid between 5 to 5 1/2 inches long. Today, the size can refer to a pointed/tapered and pointed head.
What is a bent pipe?
Characterized by a curved shank and stem. Bent pipes tend to collect moisture at the bottom of the bowl, below the bend of the of the shank, but can transmit less heat to the palate than a straight pipe.
Betun
A conocoction of water and tobacco residues used to wet down the tobacco before fermentation.
What is a pipe shaped with a slightly rounded bowl and straight stem?
Billiard pipe
Binder
Dense, strong leaves that are applied to the outside of the filler tobaccos. The binder protects and holds the filler tobaccos together in cigar molds and presses.
Biphasic
Having two distinct, and often seemingly contradictory, effects; in the case of nicotine, the effects of both mental alertness and physical relaxation.
Bit
The part of the stem that the lips and teeth rest upon.
Black Cavendish
A pipe tobacco that is steamed, usually with sugars or flavoring in the water, and pressed for an additional aging period. Black Cavendish goes through more vigorous pressing than Natural Cavendish, yielding a darker color and richer flavor.
Blend
The combination of different types of tobacco used to create a specific character and taste. In a cigar, this includes filler, binder, and wrapper leaves from different plants, and different regions. For pipe tobaccos, see Aromatic and English Blends.
Bloom
Is a synonym for plume
Blue mold
Peronospara tabacina, an airborne fungus that can ravage a tobacco field or even an entire plantation in a matter of days. Blue mold flourishes in cool, cloudy, humid weather. The effects are distinguished by small, round blemishes on the tobacco leaves.
Body
The middle part of the cigar, also called the barrel. 2). The breadth and depth of flavor of a tobacco.
Bofeton
A flap of delicate paper used to cover cigars in a box, lying under the lid and over the cigars.
What is Boite Nature?
The classic cedar box in which cigars are packaged.
What is a Bonsack Machine?
Invented by James Albert Bonsack and patented in 1880, the first commercial cigarette injecting machine, which ushered in the age of mass-production cigarettes.
Book(Bunch) Rolling
A bunching technique which involves laying filler leaves flatly on top of one another and then folding them up like a book to complete the bunch. This technique is simpler than both entubado and accordion rolling but creates a less aerated cigar structure. Book rolling is quicker and more efficient from manufacturing perspective and is probably the most popular technique employed today.
Boquilla
Spanish term referring to the cigar’s foot
Bouquet
The smell or “nose” of a cigar or pipe tobacco.
What is a boutique?
1) of a manufacturer, a smaller cigar, pipe, and tobacco company with limited production. In general, boutique companies are more artisan-oriented. 2) in retail, a small store specializing in premium and super- premium products.
Bowl (pipe)
The hollowed out part of a pipe that holds tobacco.
Box Press
Technique which squares off the sides of a traditional “cylinder” shaped cigar. The traditional Cuban Box Press is a by-product of the tight box helping to shape very humid cigars into squares.
What is the name of wood that comes from the French Bruyere and from burls found on roots of the Heath Tree?
Briar
What is bright tobacco?
The lighter Virginia tobacco varietals.
Broadleaf
A dark tobacco varietal family popular for producing wrapper leaves that are enormous, resilient, and thick. These leaves are ideal for creating a maduro colored wrapper. Traditionally, Broadleaf wrapper is not primed, but rather the whole plant is stalk- cut when it matures.
Bulldog
A pipe with an indentation carved into the circumference towards the top of the bowl. Bulldog pipes usually have a diamond shaped stem.
Bunch
The filler tobaccos which are rolled up with the binder leaf. After bunching and pressing the wrapper leaf is applied. The bunch is called enpuno in Spanish.
Bundle
A method of packaging cigars without a box, usually in groups of 25 or 50. Bundles are typically used for less expensive cigars that may not have bands. Typically, cigar makers release their seconds in bundles.
What is a hardened wood growth found on trees?
Burl
Burl grain
A grain pattern found on smooth finish briar pipes that has tight, swirling patterns; also referred to as “bird eyes”
What is a strong, breathable material used to wrap filler and binder leaves for tobacco anejamiento?
Burlap
What is light, air cured tobacco that has a rich, nutty taste with slow, even buring qualities?
Burley
Burros
In the context of the two stage fermentation model that TU teaches, burros are four to six foot tall piles of tobacco that constitute the most intense fermentation period. At critical temperature points, the burros are unraveled and re-piled to prevent burn out.
Caballeria
Unit of area used to measure land in Cuba, equivalent to 33.2 acres.
Cabinet Selection
Cigars packaged in cedar boxes in lieu of paper wrapped boxes. These boxes provide direct contact with the cedar and may be preferable in long term aging.
What is term for a partially smoke and unlit cigar?
Cabo
Cake ( Pipe)
The carbon that develops along the inner wall of the pipe chamber and acts as insulation for the bowl and promotes an even burn. Approx 1/16th in is ideal.
Calabash (Pipe)
Originally made from African gourds, traditionally trained by hand to grow into an “S” shape. Because the gourds are naturally fatter at one end, calabash pipes make for cool smoking instruments. The gourd cannot sustain extreme heat, so calabash pipes generally have a bowl insert made from ceramic, briar, or meerschaum. Today, any pipe that is in a “S” shape is referred to as a Calabash pipe.
Calumet (Pipe)
A decorated pipe made by Native Americans, commonly known as a “Peace Pipe”
Cameroon
The common name for tobacco descended from Sumatran seed and grown in Central Africa. Known for their flavors and aromas, Cameroon Tobaccos are often used as wrapper leaves.
Candela
Also known as double claro, these leaves are flue cured (heat cured) to fix the chlorophyll levels in the leaf and produce the desired green color.
Canoe
The uneven, one sided burn of a cigar, caused by sub-standard rolling, improperly placed filler, uneven humidity, or poorly fermented raw materials
What is the circular piece of wrapper leaf that finishes the head of the cigar called?
Cap
Capa
Spanish term for the cigar wrapper leaf
Capadura
Spanish term for the second growth plant leaves. After the plant has been harvested/primed, the stalk is trimmed down and new leaves are allwoed to grow. This process was common in Cuba where the farmers would allow the plant/leaves to re-grow and use those leaves for their own consumption. Is common when growing Pelo de Oro tobacco varietals.
Capero No 1
A newer Cuban dark tobacco varietal. Grown widely beginning in 2007, Capero No.1 is a cross between Habanos 2000, Corojo ‘99 and Criollo ‘98. It produces an extra 2 to 3 leaves over other hybrids and has very large leaves. Capero No. 1 has been genetically engineered to produce no flowers and therefore no seeds: this will help Cuba maintain control over the plant’s genetics where it is grown. The weakness of this hybrid is that the leaves have not held up well during fermentations.
Capote
1) Spanish term for the cigar binder leaf; 2) a section of the Criollo plant used for fillers and binders.
Carbonization (pipe)
The process by which char changes to carbon and forms cake on the inside of the bowl. This carbonized material, cake, helps protect the briar from the inside out, keeps the bowl cool, and promotes an even smoking experience.
What is the name of the wax that is derived from the palm of the Carnauba tree?
Carnauba- the wax melts at high temperatures and is used to give pipes their final polish.
Carotene
A naturally occurring organic compound found in some plants. When cigar tobacco is air-cured, the chlorophyll which gives the leaves their green color is broken down and the new yellow and orange carotene pigments are exposed.
Casa de Tabaco
Spanish term for the curing barn which has open sides facign East and West for optimal air circulation. Tobacco is placed high up in the Casa de Tobacco after picking/priming to dry out and lose its chlorophyll.
Casing
A top coat of liquid flavoring that is added to pipe tobaccos ( usually aromatics) Flavorings can include honey, liqueurs, extracts etc.
Casquillo
The cylindrical instrument used to cut the round cigar caps from the tobacco leaf.
Catador
Spanish term for “taster” ensure quality control by tasting batches of finished cigars.
Spanish Cedar
Cedrela odorata, Spanish Cedar is neither Spanish nor cedar; its a member of the mahogany family. It is commonly used for cigar boxes and cigar aging because it is naturally pest resistant, hygroscopic, and naturally abundant in Central America and the Caribbean.
Cedro
Spanish term for Spanish cedar
What is cellulose?
An insoluble substance derived from plant glucose; used as a binder in homogenized tobacco leaf.
What are the Centro Fino?
The third level of leaves from the top of the Corojo plant, between the centro gordo and centro ligero.
What are the Centro Gordo?
The second level of leaves from the top of the Corojo plant, just below the top corona leaves.
What are the Centro Ligero?
The leaves on the third level from the bottom of the corojo plant, between the centro fino and uno y medio leaves. Not to be confused with the criollo plant, where the term ligero refers to the top leaves, which are exposed to the most sun.
Cepo
Instrument used to measure the proper ring gauge of a finished cigar. This is usually a piece of wood with the appropriate size hole cut into it.
Chamber (pipe)
The chamber is the inside part of the bowl of a pipe where the tobacco is placed for smoking. Depending on the pipe, chambers vary in size, depth and finish
Char
The partially scorched, pre-ash remnants of tobacco.
What is a chaveta?
A flat metal tool shaped like a half moon, and used for cutting tobacco leaves by torcedores while rolling.
What is the process by which people (and other organisms) respond to chemical stimuli by using their sense of taste and smell?
Chemoreception
Cheroot
One of the oldest known cigar shapes, from the Tamil “curuttu,” literally meaning “roll”. The term usually refers to a mild and inexpensive cigar that tapers gradually from foot to head as is cut at both ends. Also referred as a “stogie”
What are consumers called that scour retail tobacconists looking for hard to find products called?
Cherry Pickers
Chinchal
Popular during the 1800s, this term referred to small cigar factories in Cuba which manufactured cigars for domestic use
Chisel
Figurado cigar with a round foot and a flattened/squared head
Chromolithography
The use of one or more color and stone( up to 25) in lithography
Churchill
A large format cigar, traditionally 7x47 ring gauge (rg)
Churchwarden (pipe)
A pipe shaped with a long, curved stem, also known as a “yard of clay”. Churchwardens were originally made of clay, and were enormously popular in Europe until the introduction of the briar pipe. Churchwardens tend to produce a cooler smoke due to the length the smoke has to travel from bowl to mouthpiece.
Cigar rolling table
a table distinguished by a partial shelf over a standard table top. The partial top shelf creates extra space on top for placing finished cigars, while the space underneath hides the goma, guillotina, water, leaves, and other incidentals.
Claro
A cigar wrapper leaf, pale to light brown in color. Claro leaves are grown under shade to keep their color light.
Clay (pipe)
A pipe made from hardened clay, popularized by Sir Walter Raleigh in the early 1600’s, characterized by a small bowl and a long stem.
Clear Havana
A cigar made with Cuban tobacco in the United States, before the Cuban embargo.
Cloud-grown
Cigar tobacco grown in Ecuador which is naturally shaded by consistent cloud cover. The naturally diffused light diminishes vein size, yields thinner leaves with very consistent coloration, and more subtle taste and aroma.
Cohiba
1) the cigar brand created for Fidel Castro in 1966. 2) the native Carribbean peoples’ term for tobacco
Color ( wrapper leaf)
The general classifications of wrapper colors from lightest to darkest are: Double Claro, Claro, Colorado Claro, Colorado, Colorado Rosado, Colorado Maduro, Maduro, and Oscuro
Condensation Irrigation
Unique moisture produced (in the form of dew) in valleys during early morning hours and night.
Condiment, Tobacco
Tobaccos like Perique and Latakia which are used in small portions to “spice” up blends
Contrast Pairing
The process of pairing dissimilar flavors together to create an interplay which enhances the experience.
Copaneco
A variety of Nicotiana found growing wild in Honduras.
Corncob (pipe)
A traditional American pipe, the corncob’s bowl is made from a dried and hollowed out cob with a reed or hollowed out piece of wood inserted for the stem and mouthpiece.
Corojo
One of the most famous and successful Cuban tobacco see varietals, which is shade grown and commonly used for cigar wrappers. From top to bottom, leaf classifications: Corona, Centro Gordo, Centro Fino, Centro Ligero, Uno y Medio, and Libre de Pie.
Corona
1) The top leaves of the Corojo plant; 2) a cigar 5 1/2 inches long and 44 rg
Corona Gorda
A modern favorite cigar shape measuring 6” long x 50 rg
Criollo
A Cuban Tobacco see varietal grown under direct sunlight and ised for fillers and binders. This varietal produces 6 to 7 pairs of leaves, from top to bottom: Ligero, Seco, Volado, (all fillers) and Capotes ( binders)
Cuban Seed
Dark tobacco seeds that are descended from Cuban origins, but are now typically grown in other countries.
Cubatabaco
Cuban organization in charge of tobacco agriculture, processing, and production; from the 1960’s to the mid 1990’s.
Cube cut
Pipe tobacco that is cut or shredded into small, square pieces that are easily blended and smoked. Burley tobaccos are the most common cube cut.
What are the long wooden lathes used to hold up pairs of tobacco leaves during air curing in Casas de Tobacco?
Cujes
Culebra
Spanish for snake; is the braiding of three loosely filled, thin cigars held together by string.
Curing
The drying of raw (fresh-picked) tobacco. More precisely, curing is the process of altering the chemical and organic properties of the tobacco leaves, converting starch to sugar, oxidizing sugar, losing chlorophyll, moisture. Tobacco leaves contain as much as 85% of their weight in moisture.
Dark tobaccos
The classification for tobaccos that are used to create cigars.
What is the location called in a retail’s tobacconist’s store, all objects have a physical location where they must be at any given time called?
Default position
Dehumidification
The process of drying cigars. Occurs after the second fermentation, the filler and binder gavillas are laid on racks in climate controlled dehumidification rooms for several days to let the leaf recuperate and dry out.
Desbotonar
Another form of pruning; the process of removing the flower buds before they bloom from the tobacco plants. This occurs at least one week prior to harvesting and prevents pollination (thereby preventing the plants from expending energy and resources on the flowers)
Deshijar
Similar to pruning, podar, this process occurs in the fields on maturing plants. Smaller, non-viable leaves are removed to allow nutrients to flow to the larger leaves.
Despalillar
Spanish for stemming. Cigar wrappers have the entire stem removed, yielding two separate parts of the leaf to wrap cigars. Filler leaves have only half of the stem removed from the bottom of the leaf, creating a “pata de rana” shape
What is a cigar called that is approximately 8 inches long and tapered at both ends, pointy at the head, with a bulge in the middle called?
Diademas
Differentiation Threshold
The sensory threshold where we can sense and precieve gradients in the tastes and smells (aromas) of a substance; lighter to heavier, milder to stronger.
What is the slang word for a unpalatable cigar?
Dog rocket
Dog walker
Describes a smaller cigar which is ideal for the short amount of time it takes to walk a dog
Double Claro
Also known as Jade, American Market Selection , and Candela; leaves that have been flue-or -heat cured to fix the chlorophyll levels in the leaf, producing the desired green wrapper color.
Double Corona
A cigar approximately 7 to 8 inches long with a RG of 49 or larger; larger than a Churchill.
Dry cured cigars
Cigars that are slowly baked in an oven after manufacturing. These cigars require only 12-15 percent relative humidity for preservation, approximately the same relative humidity as in a home. Popular and manufactured in Europe, dry cured cigars are usually machine-made with Sumatran, Central African, and/or Brazilian tobaccos.
Dublin (Pipe)
A pipe with a half-oval shaped bowl; this format may have either a bent or straight stem.
The brand name for a hard rubber used in making pipe stems, originally developed to mimic ebony wood?
Ebonite
Ebouchon
The briar burl in its most raw, post-harvest shape; ebouchons are purchased by pipe makers, dried, and stored until they are ready to be carved into pipes.
Enbetunando
The wetting down of tobacco with betun, a mixture of water and tobacco residues to accelerate the fermentation process.
Encallado
A method for growing cigar tobaccos that utilizes vertical tents or cloths as windbreaks.
English Blend
Pipe Tobacco; also referred to as Balkan, English Blends are composed of Oriental, Virginia, Latakia, and Perique tobaccos.
English Cigarette Blend
A cigarette blend consisting almost entirely of flue-cured tobacco, also referred to as Virginia. English blend cigarettes tend to have a fuller flavor than American Blends.
English Market Selection (EMS)
Refers to cigars which have light to medium brown wrapper color-popularized in England during the twentieth century.
Enpuno
Spanish for “bunch” or “fist”; demotes both the bunch as well as where and how the bunch is held by the roller.
Entubado bunching ( entubar)
A rolling format in which each filler leaf is rolled into itself then bunched with other individually rolled leaves. Entubado bunching/rolling, the most complex and difficult rolling method, and therefore the rarest, creates a more firmly packed and balanced cigar by providing an excellent draw.
Escaparte
Also known as an anejamiento room; Spanish for the aging cabinet or room where cigars are stored and married after rolling.
Escogida
Cuban term for “the selection”. In Cuban farming villages, the escogida is a ritual and festival held while the tobacco leaf crop is graded and selected by factory representatives. Escogida can also refer to the color classification system for leaves and the room where this occurs.
What term refers to a specific year’s crop from a specific farm or “estate”?
Estate Vintage
Estrujado bunching
A hybrid of entubado bunching, also known as “lazy entubado”. This technique uses a base of two tobaccos leaves which are folded (semi-scrolled) and the filler leaves are scrolled and placed within it. Lastly, the entire bunch is wrapped with the binder leaf.
Evaporation Humidification
A humidifier that utilizes the evaporative qualities of water; typically, the surface area of the humidifier is proportionate to the size of the box and releases water at a rate that creates a relative humidity of 70 to 73 percent
What is the expulsion of heat and ammonia from the tobacco leaf during fermentation called?
Exhausting
Fabrica
A Cuban term for a cigar factory
Facing
The proper way to display a cigar, with the head facing up and the band facing forward.
