There are many places where you can purchase cigars. The most common is
probably the neighborhood liquor store.
You may also find them at tobacconists and specialty food stores. Cigars
require humidification to stay fresh and flavorful. Fresh does not mean new in
this case, it means moist and whole. In fact, aging improves cigars because it
allows the various tobaccos to blend and release oils which further develop the
flavor.
Proper humidification and temperature control are critical to the storage of
cigars. Dry cigars crumble and break, causing them to burn unevenly, too quickly
or sometimes preventing them from being smoked at all because the “draw” (or
vacuum of smoke through the tube of tobacco to the mouth) is poor.
Cigar beetle eggs, which exist within the filler, hatch whenever the
temperature exceeds that of 82 degrees and begin eating their way out of the
cigars, leaving small holes randomly throughout.
Therefore, in selecting a cigar it is important to inspect cigars for signs
of dryness and beetle infestation. You may still choose to purchase dry cigars,
knowing that they will require re-humidification before smoking. But beetle
infestations should be avoided at all costs because the beetles will jump from
cigar to cigar, box to box, and eventually destroy all the cigars with which
they come in contact.
When a smoker’s preferences have been established, great discounts on cigars
can be had through the Internet. Stock varies from store to store, so the
purchaser gets the benefit of worldwide inventory which his local shop could not
possibly match. Out of state shoppers may also avoid sales tax, and sometimes
shipping is nominal or even free. The competition for cigar lovers’ dollars is
fierce.
At this point, the one thing that remains is determining preferences, which
can only be done by SMOKING STOGIES!