Cigar Blog

Happiness is a good cigar

Make Your Own Cigar Box Guitar

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Copy_of_Shanes-588x440This is no child’s toy, although one might think that. Truth be told, when I first heard of cigar box guitars a long time ago, I thought that my friends were pulling my leg. Why would I want to make one?

Then I did some reading and I found out that cigar box guitars were actually used by “real” musicians! According to Dr. Tony Hyman, the curator of the National Cigar Museum, cigar boxes prior to 1840 were actually crates. These crates could hold up to 100 cigars at a time. As time went by, manufacturers realized that the crates were not an efficient means of transporting cigars. Hence, smaller cigar boxes were created.

Along with the proliferation of cigar boxes, the popularity of cigar smoking increased as well. Naturally, a lot of smoked cigars meant a lot of empty cigar boxes. At this point, enterprising people started picking up those empty cigar boxes and started making good use of them. From guitars to banjos and fiddles – empty cigar boxes were turned into useful things.

Whoever got started on this probably didn’t have any idea of what was in store for these nifty little things. Well known musicians like Carl Perkins, Jimi Hendrix, George Benson, Ted Nugent, BB King, and Ed King of Lynyrd Skynyrd have all, at one point, played with cigar box guitars!

So it may be easier to buy guitars these days, but if you have some spare time and you want to let your creativity flow, why don’t you try your hand at making a cigar box guitar? Check out this video at Walyou.

Cigars are not Cigarettes!

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For the normal cigarette smoker, shifting their smoking agenda towards the field of cigars should not be intertwined. There are totally different smoking materials. For one, cigarettes are smaller in size and not manufactured and prepared in the way that cigars are done.

Secondly, cigars are entirely expensive compared to one pack of cigarette. For some cigars such as Cuban or Havana manufactured cigars, the price of one piece of cigar may be equivalent or even more expensive than one pack of cigarette. This is largely due to the materials used in making one cigar roll. Tobacco leaves and storage is different and this can be attested to once they are given the chance to try them out.

The manner of smoking is different. For cigarettes they have filters and are inhaled. For cigars, it does not follow that people will inhale them all the time. Chances are they may even get dizzy if they inhale cigar fumes, but there are people who do so, probably because they have been accustomed to doing so with cigarettes beforehand.

The Origin of Cuban Cigars

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Mention cigars and a person would instantly associate it with Cuban cigars. Cuban cigars are acclaimed to be the best hand rolled tobacco in the world, being the preferred country where such finely prepared tobacco leaves are found. Cigar production is controlled by the Cuban government where they are rolled in the various cigar factories that are existent in the country of Cuba.

Cuban Cigar Manufacturing

Habanos SA and Cubatabaco are known to be the leading groups that handle the manufacturing and distribution of their finest roles produced. Such produced cigars are usually known to be hand made although there are some who also use machines to be able to produce bulk cigars bundles.

Ironically, Cuban cigars where introduced in Europe by the very same person who discovered America, Christopher Columbus. He is credited with this distinction from his numerous voyages, something that people are familiar with today. It is amazing that he too is responsible for making cigars known in Europe.