@Minion-Queen said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@coliver said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
I've found that up to a certain point the more expensive the cigar the "smoother" the flavor. Cheap cigars generally have a bit of a bite to them that you don't get with the more expensive variety.
Good to know.... So hard for me to learn to describe something when I am NOT testing it out 
Corojos can be like that. It's like licking a pepper jar. The real problem with cheap cigars is that you never know what's inside until you open it up. I saw a youtube where a guy takes apart any cigar sent to him an shows what's inside. The cheapest ones are always horrible, and some of them had laundry lint (like from your dryer) as a filler.
Cigars are only 3 pieces: filler, binder and wrapper. The filler is the main part of the cigar, the interior. It's usually a blend of tobacco and that blend, along with the wrapper, is what really gives a flavor, smoke and feel to the cigar. Long, whole leaves of tobacco will burn best in the filler, and the tighter it's packed, the better, and longer that you'll get to your smoke. The binder is usually very neutral and lends almost nothing to a cigar except for structure. The wrapper is critical and lots of people say it's the most important part, though I think it's about equal with the filler.
The tobacco is important, obviously. Unlike cigarettes, cigars aren't processed with a bunch of chemicals. The best cigars have no chemicals added. This is why it's important to have a good humidor and store your cigars in a safe, sunlight-restricted area. I use a Contico ABS locker (https://www.amazon.com/CONTICO-1320-Storage-Locker-Mobile/dp/B0078S8TD2) which I've sealed up and installed an electric humidifier to keep everything consistent. Tobaccos used for cigars are fermented or aged (it's all very proprietary to the manufacturers) before being rolled, and once they're made to be a cigar, they often have to rest or age further. Some manufacturers will age the cigars for a month before shipping to resellers while others will hold them for a year, so it's very similar to whiskey. I think all of the cigars I have are at least 5 years old just in my humidor, without adding their manufacturer's age.
A quality cigar will have tightly packed, long leaf filler and nothing else. Cheap ones could have anything from the tobacco that fell to the floor during production of the good cigars, a practice that's often done in cigarettes, to rat droppings or worse. Cuban cigars in today's market is really no worse or better than a Dominican or Nicaraguan cigar. In fact, some of the cigars from the DR are better! Often, the Cuban cigars are counterfeit anyway, and it really pays to always buy your cigars from a reputable source so that you don't get the counterfeit ones with rat shit.
