A little culture... (as promised)

So I like to smoke the occasional cigar. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm eighteen, it's my right. I figure this is a good place for me to educate you, John Q. Public, in the art of fine Cigars.

"Cigar makers utilize different tobaccos to try to compensate for nature. They continually seek a blend that will achieve consistency and at the same time create some flavor complexity. A good blend uses tobaccos from different geographic zones, varieties, grades and harvests, so that the cigar will be complete and balanced.

Cigars are handmade products, produced by skilled artisans in quantities anywhere from 100 to 300 a day, depending on the size of the cigar and the manufacturing process. The roller takes the leaves and presses them together in his hand; he then places the leaves on a binder leaf -- a flat, somewhat elastic leaf of tobacco. He rolls them together into a "bunch," cuts them to the appropriate length and then places them in the bottom half of the wooden mold. After he puts the upper half of the mold in place, he puts the entire box into a screw press.

Color refers to the shade of the outer wrapper leaf. Today, there are six major color grades in use: Claro claro (light green), Claro (light tan), Colorado Brown (reddish brown), Natural (light brown to brown), Maduro (very dark), and Oscuro (dark black). Natural and Claro are the two most popular wrapper colors. The tobacco for Claro is usually grown under tents. Natural wrapper leafs are sun-grown. The best wrapper leafs are produced in Connecticut, Cameroon, Ecuador, the Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba."

--fullerspullers.com

These are the common shapes and sizes that one can purchase:

Petit Corona
Robusto
Torpedo
Corona
Belicoso
Corona Gorda
Lonsdale
Perfecto
Toro
Churchill
Pantella

I have not had the privilege to smoke all these different styles, yet. But I have smoked Coronas, which happen to be the most commonly produced type. Coronas, as well as each other style, do have variations within its respective genus i.e. Toros. There are subcategories that vary in length and ring gauge.

My recommendation for beginners or someone who doesn't like a lot of kick, is to try something thin with a lighter brown wrapper because the lighter the wrapper and thinner the cigar is, the milder the smoke and cigar experience will be. A flavored Chojimar Corona such as vanilla or peach for a flavored treat, or one of my favorites so far, Joya de Nicaragua Celbracion, for a mild real cigar. If you want to be a real man about your smoke then I suggest (at your own rick of blowing $17 on a cigar you might not like that much, I speak from personal experience on this one) then try the Cohiba Extra Vigoroso. It has vigor and o so strong.

--prone