Are high-quality cigars healthier?

[bobarian]

Originally Posted by shilala

Different outfits use dyes and molasses and other crap in their cigars.
I think I know exactly what you're asking, and I'd absolutely say yes.

To back that up, what's the difference between a CAO Flavours Cherry Bomb pc and a Por Larranaga pc? If anyone can smoke the former the whole way through without dying, they deserve a medal. The second, they'll want another one.

Scott, I would humbly disagree. Flavored cigars are a significant portion of the "Premium" market. Maybe even similar proportion to the "Super-premium" Your statement may apply to some machine made cigars, but even with those the detrimental effects is arguably the same as any other tobacco. Cigarettes are a different animal as they are inhaled. Without inhaling, the absorption of chemicals through the mucous membranes is minimal.

[markem]

In my opinion, it all depends on what you are taking in when you smoke the cigar. Many cigars that people may call "low quality" are pure tobacco. I can't see where there would be much of a health difference between those and higher end cigars except to the degree that that fertilizers may have an affect.

Cigars with additives, well, it depends upon the additive doesn't it? Inhaling smoke with sugar residues could be bad, especially long term.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by bobarian

Scott, I would humbly disagree. Flavored cigars are a significant portion of the "Premium" market. Maybe even similar proportion to the "Super-premium" Your statement may apply to some machine made cigars, but even with those the detrimental effects is arguably the same as any other tobacco. Cigarettes are a different animal as they are inhaled. Without inhaling, the absorption of chemicals through the mucous membranes is minimal.

I think I missed delivering my point. I don't mind a flavored cigar. I actually like the tubos of almost all the CAO Flavours line and recommend them regularly. I also own tons.
The particular one I mentioned (along with all the other flavours coronas) taste like burning tires and chemicals after about two inches. It's a combination of too much "flavour" building up and becoming acrid. If something tastes that foul, it's gotta be bad, to some degree.
Compared to the PLpc I mentioned, which doesn't have a bunch of foreign crap and chemical additives, I think common sense says that the latter would be less detrimental, healthwise, which is how I interpreted the OP's question.
I also believe that food without a bunch of chemicals and additives is better for us, in general. I was using that line of thought, "the worse of two evils", I suppose.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by markem

In my opinion, it all depends on what you are taking in when you smoke the cigar. Many cigars that people may call "low quality" are pure tobacco. I can't see where there would be much of a health difference between those and higher end cigars except to the degree that that fertilizers may have an affect.

Cigars with additives, well, it depends upon the additive doesn't it? Inhaling smoke with sugar residues could be bad, especially long term.

There's a thought.
When tobacco is cured it has to be washed carefully and thoroughly to take the awful tasting sticky resin off the leaves (I forget what it's called).
Poorly processed tobacco could leave that residue, and poor aging can change the properties of tobacco substantially to the negative.

[Drez]

Here's my out look.

What I have come to see a lot with the lower price "bundles" is that they are not really made of cheap tobacco it's they they are made of more bulk tobacco.

What I mean by this is that the tobacco is more mass produced and the strict quality control that goes into farming, harvesting, fermenting and rolling are relaxed a little.

Compair a 3 dollar stick to a 10+ dollar stick. Most of the time the cheaper stick might have a big vein or multiple smaller ones while the Premium stick might have none or minimal. Also the premium stick might be rolled by someone with many years under there belt while the bundle stick might be someone just starting out.

Now I may be completely wrong, right or somewhat right. This is just another "idea" to throw out there. To me I have found quite a few bundle sticks out there that are great.

Maybe if the nicotine is to much a little rest should help smooth them out?

I should not have read this thread. I'll go now. Try to forget. Smoke what I like.

[lenguamor]

Cheap cigars are a false economy.

I'm not talking about good cigars that you can buy inexpensively; for instance, CI currently has La Aurora Cameroons on closeout for around $2 a stick; that's a phenomenal value on a good cigar, not a cheap cigar per se.

But curing tobacco is a process which consumes time, which is money, and considerable real estate, which is more money; then there's expertise, which costs yet more money.

No matter how inexpensively you manage to operate as a cigar maker, there's a floor that you cannot exceed; after that, the only way to cut the final price is to cut corners.

Take that for exactly what it means: below a certain point, you get what you pay for...below that, you get a lot less than what you're paying for.

Smoke a little less; raise your expectations. That doesn't mean super-premiums every day...just not necessarily bad stuff, either.

I think Shilala and Lenguamor just about summed up the answer.
Thanks a lot, guys. I guess I'll keep an eye out for 'good sticks cheap', rather than 'cheap sticks that are bad' for those windy/rainy-day farm chores.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by Diths0er

I think Shilala and Lenguamor just about summed up the answer.
Thanks a lot, guys. I guess I'll keep an eye out for 'good sticks cheap', rather than 'cheap sticks that are bad' for those windy/rainy-day farm chores.

There's a great "Cheap Sticks" thread here somewhere with gazillions of ideas for inexpensive, excellent smokes.
I think it might even be stickied. Try a search, or maybe one of the other brothers knows where it's at.

[Bill86]

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=643

[Taki]

Originally Posted by Remo_5_0

Not sure if you can even put Cigars and Healthier in the same sentence