How To Buy Cigars

Cigar lovers will be smitten by the number of shops on St. Maarten/St. Martin that sell premium cigars at attractive prices. First-class tobacconists offer their wares on both sides of the island and, for novice buyers, they can share their knowledge about how to choose the right cigar. You'll find brands from the Caribbean's most respected cigar makers-the Cuban Cohiba, Montecristo and Partagas, as well as the best offerings from Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Panama, Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua.

A quality tobacconist will go to special lengths to make sure his inventory is kept at proper temperature and humidity conditions, often devoting a large portion of the store to a walk-in humidor. As a general rule, follow the "pinch test" to check the construction of a cigar. Give the cigar a light squeeze, making sure it is firm, but not hard. If it feels like a piece of wood, or if it has spongy sections, don't buy it.

Cigars are classified by their length and girth, giving rise to such standard names as the Churchill (long and relatively thick) or the robusto (short and thick.) The primary consideration: How strong a cigar do you want? The four main classifications-mild, mild to medium, medium to full bodied, and very full bodied-are a result of both the wrapper and the type of filler used in the cigar. Typical wrappers include claro (pale brown and generally mild), Colorado claro (medium brown), Colorado (red/dark brown and quite aromatic) and maduro (dark brown and very full bodied.)

While many premium cigars use tobacco from a single region, some cigar makers roll cigars with blends of fillers that come from all over the world. In this way, they hope to create cigars that produce the subtle tones-coffee, chocolate, herbal, leather-that make smoking a cigar such a treat.

You can spend days shopping in St. Maarten/St. Martin and not visit the same store twice! So much to buy - so little time... visit our Shopping Guide and get full details about each merchant before you go. Print our shopping maps and take them with you.