CigarCaptain.com

Since there are so many books about cigars rather than randomly picking books from the CigarCaptain.com Recommended Reading List, I decided to start with my Top 3 books about cigars.  For me, selecting the #1 book to review was a difficult choice.  You see, there are two books that I consider necessities.  There are also three books from which I have had a hard time choosing my #3.

After wrestling between the # 1 and #2 cigar books I finally chose the book I refer to most often; the CigarCaptain.com #1 Book About Cigars…

Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars, 2011 Edition

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I selected Perelman’s Cyclopedia as my number one book about cigars for several reasons, mainly for its abilities to teach beginners how to select cigars.  Let me elaborate…

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Cigar Basics

The Cigar Almanac

Handmade Cigars Listing: Listed by Brand

Machine-made Cigars Listing: Listed by Brand

Small Cigars: Listed by Brand

As you can see from the Table of Contents above, Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars is essentially a 726 page index of cigar brands, sizes, and composition.  With 1,473 individual cigar listings, Perelman’s makes it easy to locate detailed information on almost every cigar brand available.

Perelman’s contains just enough information for a beginner to gain the basic knowledge about cigars in the section named “Cigar Basics.”  This part of the book contains information on cigar construction, cigar wrappers, cigar shapes, and cigar sizes; just enough and not too much.

The “Cigar Almanac” lists new brands, brands returning to the market, and cigar “deaths,” brands taken out of production.

The real meat of the book however are the cigar listings, both handmade cigars and machine made cigars.  The 1,400 plus brand entries are arranged alphabetically for quick reference.  Each entry lists where the cigars are made, the origin of the wrapper leaf, the binder and the filler blend.

Detailed information about the cigars listed typically contains the year the brand entered the market, special notes about the tobaccos in the cigar, and interesting facts.  Every brand contains detailed information about the sizes available, most often displayed in an easy to read table format.

The author's copy of Perelman's Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars, banged up from near daily use!

One of my favorite uses of the Perelman’s Cyclopedia is to track cigars that I’ve tried each year.  Whenever I smoke or purchase a new brand or vitola, I highlight the entry in my Perelman’s.  This lets me quickly keep tabs and helps me when it’s time to order a box.  I also use a system of colored tabs to identify cigar brands that I would like to try, brands I’m reviewing, as well as tabs for the size chart and wrapper list found in the “Cigar Basics” section of the book.

In addition to using Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia to keep track brands, it is very useful for beginners as a tool for finding cigars that match their preferences.  For example, someone who likes Macanudo Cafe will find other cigars, such as the 777 Zero Connecticut, that use similar wrappers but different a binder and fillers and offer a slightly different smoking experience.

The only drawback to the Perelman’s Cyclopedia is that it is only published annually.  However, with the number of new cigar brands that are introduced, almost daily, it would be impossible to keep a reasonably current version in print.

All told, the Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars is the one cigar book that I use the most.  I’ve used my copy so often that I’ve for the last four years, I’ve put a protective plastic sheet over the cover and binding!  My copy stays next to my chair so that it’s always within reach when I need it.

Book details:

Title:  Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars, 2011 Edition
Author:  Compiled by Richard Perelman
Pages: 726
Publisher:  Perelman Pioneer and Company
Copyright:  2010
ISBN:  1-893273-12-1

(Author’s note:  There is an Iphone/Ipad app of Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars available through the App Store, but it is based on the 2010 Edition.)

Tags: book reviews, books about cigars, cigar book reviews, cigar how-to, handmade cigars, Premium Cigar books, premium cigars, Selecting a cigar

This entry was posted on Friday, October 21st, 2011 at 9:49 am and is filed under Premium Cigar Book Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.