Cigar etiquette is polite behaviour when smoking a cigar. For example, in 19th century Havana, it was considered an insult to give another smoker a light from your cigar without first knocking off the ash from the cigar. Another breach of etiquette was to pass on a cigar to a third-party to light up too - loaned cigars should instead be returned with a polite flourish. [1]
Rules of cigar etiquette were published in 1967 by Swiss tobacconist Zino Davidoff in his essay entitled "Zino Davidoff's Guide to Cigar Etiquette." The essay calls for cigar aficionados to do such things as smoke the cigar only halfway, let it burn out on its own, never ask another smoker for a light, refrain from smoking while walking, etc. Davidoff dismisses the elaborate rituals of lighting, says that removing or leaving the band are equally correct, and insists that a gentleman never relights a cigar that is more than two-thirds smoked. [2]
A number of sets of rules of cigar etiquette besides Davidoff's have been compiled and published from time to time. These include:
In a 2005 article in The New York Times , Harry Hurt III suggested four basic rules of cigar etiquette:
Cigar Aficionado's book Cigar Companion suggests two sets of rules: one when among non-smokers, and another when among cigar smokers. One should never smoke except where smoking is appreciated, and care should be taken to minimize criticism from non-smokers from the smell of smoke in one's home or on one's clothes. Among other cigar smokers, it suggests rules governing sharing, cutting, lighting, humidors, women cigar smokers, and gifts. It concludes with one ironclad rule: never give a prank exploding cigar, and do not associate with anyone who does. [4]
A cigar is a tobacco product made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of shapes and sizes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder leaf which holds the filler together, and a wrapper leaf, for appearance and flavor, which is often the highest quality leaf used. Often there will be a cigar band printed with the cigar manufacturer's logo. Modern cigars can come with two or more, highlighting special qualities such as age and origin of the tobaccos used.
Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the resulting smoke. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or simply released from the mouth, as is generally done with pipes and cigars. The practice is believed to have begun as early as 5000–3000 BC in Mesoamerica and South America. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 17th century by European colonists, where it followed common trade routes. The practice encountered criticism from its first import into the Western world onwards but embedded itself in certain strata of a number of societies before becoming widespread upon the introduction of automated cigarette-rolling apparatus.
Cigar Aficionado is an American lifestyle magazine that is dedicated to enjoying the “good life” and the world of cigars. It is a publication of M. Shanken Communications, which also publishes Wine Spectator, Whisky Advocate, Market Watch, Shanken News Daily and IMPACT Newsletter.
A humidor is a humidity-controlled box or room used primarily for storing cigars, cigarettes, cannabis, or pipe tobacco. Either too much or too little humidity can be harmful to tobacco products; a humidor's primary function is to maintain a steady, desirable moisture level inside; secondarily it protects its contents from physical damage and deterioration from sunlight. For private use, small wooden boxes holding a few dozen or fewer cigars are common, while cigar shops may have walk-in humidors. Many humidors use hygrometers to monitor their humidity levels.
Smoking fetishism is a sexual fetish based on the pulmonary consumption (smoking) of tobacco, most often via cigarettes, cigars, cannabis and also pipes, vapes, and hookahs to some extent. As a fetish, its mechanisms regard sexual arousal from the observation or imagination of a person smoking, sometimes including oneself.
Davidoff is a Swiss premium brand of cigars, cigarettes and smoker's accessories. The Davidoff cigarette brand has been owned by Imperial Brands after purchasing it in 2006. The non-cigarette portion of the Davidoff tobacco brand is owned by Oettinger Davidoff AG, which is based in Basel, Switzerland.
A smoking jacket is an informal men's style of lounge jacket originally intended for tobacco smoking. Designed in the 1850s, a traditional smoking jacket has a shawl collar, turn-up cuffs, and is closed with either toggle or button fastenings, or with a tie belt. It is usually made from velvet and/or silk.
Cuban cigars are cigars manufactured in Cuba from tobacco grown within that island nation. Historically regarded as among the world's “finest”, they are synonymous with the island's culture and contribute nearly one quarter of the value of all exports from the country.
No Smoking is a cartoon made by Walt Disney Productions in 1951, featuring Goofy. This cartoon is another short of the "Goofy the Everyman" series of the 1950s. This cartoon begins by tracing the brief history of smoking, including how Christopher Columbus brought tobacco to Europe from the Native Americans, and then moves on to Goofy, as "George Geef" in this cartoon, trying unsuccessfully to drop the smoking habit.
Tobacco products, especially when smoked or used orally, have negative effects on human health, and concerns about these effects have existed for a long time. Research has focused primarily on cigarette smoking.
A tobacconist, also called a tobacco shop, a tobacconist's shop or a smoke shop, is a retailer of tobacco products in various forms and the related accoutrements, such as pipes, lighters, matches, pipe cleaners, and pipe tampers. More specialized retailers might sell ashtrays, humidification devices, hygrometers, humidors, cigar cutters, and more. Books and magazines, especially ones related to tobacco are commonly offered. Items irrelevant to tobacco such as puzzles, games, figurines, hip flasks, walking sticks, and confectionery are sometimes sold.
A cigar bar is an establishment that caters to patrons who smoke cigars. Many serve food and alcohol as well. The prevalence of cigar bars varies by country; some jurisdictions ban smoking in all businesses, while others offer an exemption for cigar bars.
Tobacco harm reduction (THR) is a public health strategy to lower the health risks to individuals and wider society associated with using tobacco products. It is an example of the concept of harm reduction, a strategy for dealing with the use of drugs. Tobacco smoking is widely acknowledged as a leading cause of illness and death, and reducing smoking is vital to public health.
Smoking is a practice in which a substance is combusted and the resulting smoke is typically inhaled to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream of a person. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have been rolled with a small rectangle of paper into an elongated cylinder called a cigarette. Other forms of smoking include the use of a smoking pipe or a bong.
Henry Clay is an American brand of cigars named after the early American politician Henry Clay. The cigars are currently manufactured in the Dominican Republic. The brand is currently owned by the Spanish company Altadis, a subsidiary of Imperial Brands.
Smoking in China is prevalent, as the People's Republic of China is the world's largest consumer and producer of tobacco. As of 2022, there are around 300 million Chinese smokers, and 2.4 trillion cigarettes are sold there every year, 46% of the world total.
Smokingamong youth and adolescents is an issue that affects countries worldwide. While the extent to which smoking is viewed as a negative health behavior may vary across different nations, it remains an issue regardless of how it is perceived by different societies. The United States has taken numerous measures, ranging from changes in national policy surrounding youth cigarette access to changes in media campaigns, in attempts to eliminate the use of tobacco products among teenagers. Approximately 90% of smokers begin smoking prior to the age of 18.
Depictions of tobacco smoking in art date back at least to the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, where smoking had religious significance. The motif occurred frequently in painting of the 17th-century Dutch Golden Age, in which people of lower social class were often shown smoking pipes. In European art of the 18th and 19th centuries, the social location of people – largely men – shown as smoking tended to vary, but the stigma attached to women who adopted the habit was reflected in some artworks. Art of the 20th century often used the cigar as a status symbol, and parodied images from tobacco advertising, especially of women. Developing health concerns around tobacco smoking also influenced its artistic representation.
Zino Davidoff Group is the trading name of Zino Davidoff SA, a Swiss family business that was spun out of tobacco-product company Davidoff in 1980. It is active exclusively in the non-tobacco luxury goods segment and offers a range of upscale products.
Cannabis etiquette is the set of conventional rules of behavior when consuming cannabis.