Good Quality Santa Fe cigars
Good quality Santa Fe cigars are a tightly rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves that are ignited so that smoke may be drawn in through the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Sumatra, the Philippines, and the Eastern countries. Tobacco leaves are harvested and aged using a process that combines use of heat and shade to reduce sugar and water content without causing the large leaves to rot. This first part of the process is called curing. The second part of the process is called fermentation and is carried out under conditions designed to help the leaf die slowly. Temperature and humidity are controlled to ensure that the leaf continues to ferment, without rotting. This is where the flavor, burning, and aroma characteristics are primarily brought out in the leaf in Santa Fe cigars.
Good quality Santa Fe cigars are still hand-made. Some cigars, especially premium brands such as Santa Fe cigars and honey cigarillos, use different varieties of tobacco for the filler and the wrapper. Santa Fe cigars are composed of three types of tobacco leaves, whose variations determine smoking and flavor characteristics. Each brand and type of cigar tastes different. Whether a cigar or the honey cigarillos are mild, medium, or full bodied does not correlate with quality. Some words used to describe cigar flavor and texture include spicy, peppery (red or black), sweet, harsh, burnt, green, earthy, woodsy, cocoa, roasted, aged, nutty, creamy, cedar, oak, chewy, fruity and leathery.
Good quality Santa Fe cigars as well as honey cigarillos are marketed via advertisements, product placement in movies and other media, sporting events, cigar-friendly magazines such as Cigar Aficionado and cigar dinners. Advertisements often include depictions of affluence, sexual imagery and explicit or implied celebrity endorsement. Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act of 1970 exempted cigars from its advertising ban and cigar ads, unlike cigarette ads, need not mention health risks. Cigars are taxed far less than cigarettes, so much so that in many U.S. states, a pack of little cigars costs less than half as much as a pack of cigarettes
Like other forms of tobacco use, cigar smoking poses a health risk depending on dosage and risks are greater for those who inhale more when they smoke, smoke more cigars, or smoke them longer. But proper handling and cognizance of different ways of smoking make Santa Fe cigars sought after and much appreciated.
