A cigar can be a perfect gift to give to a loved one. Cigar smokers love to try something new, and few gifts can better convey your sense of understanding about a person, and the level of thought that you put into the gifts that you give. However, if you are not a smoker yourself, looking at a large selection of cigars can be completely overwhelming. How are you supposed to know which cigar to purchase when they all look so similar, yet so different?

To begin with, let's discuss a few generalities that are true of many cigars. You can tell a lot about a cigar's favor by simply looking at the outside. This thin layer of tobacco covering the outside of the cigar is called the wrapper. In general, a cigar with a darker wrapper will have a more full-bodied mouth feel, and flavors that are more pronounced. A cigar with a lighter wrapper will be more light-bodied and mild. You can also tell a lot by looking at the wideness (called the ring gauge) of a cigar. When tobacco blenders create a cigar with a higher ring gauge, there is more room to blend many different tobacco leaves, giving you a cigar with a more complex flavor. This doesn't mean that a thin cigar tastes worse; it may simply have fewer distinct flavor notes.

The comparison that you can make between cigar colors is not unlike the one that you can make between white and red wines, and one of the best ways of determining what kind of cigar a person might like is by paying attention to the food, wine, and cocktails that they enjoy, and thinking about how the flavor notes in those foods and drinks might be complimented by a cigar. Some of the flavor notes that you might find in a lighter-colored cigar include spice, nutmeg, cream, and vanilla.

Darker cigars often have wider variety of possible flavors, including coffee, chocolate, cherry, citrus, and sugarcane. A person who eats a lot of chicken or fish would be likely to prefer light cigars, while a steak eater or someone who enjoys full-flavored ethnic food might like a richer smoke.

If your loved one is new to cigars and does not smoke cigarettes or pipe tobacco, you would probably be safest by sticking with lighter-colored cigars and the less complicated flavors they provide.

Fuller-bodied cigars can sometimes be overwhelming for new smokers.

Also, when choosing a size, be careful not to choose a cigar that is too long; the longest cigars can require well over an hour to smoke, and many people can't often set aside that amount of time. Also, do not assume that a female recipient would only like smaller, more "feminine" cigars. Experienced smokers grow to appreciate complex flavors, so choose something with a fairly substantial ring gauge.

If you are completely in doubt, don't be afraid to buy a small assortment. Cigar smokers love a variety. A selection of several different cigars manufactured under the same brand name can give a smoker an opportunity to taste the differences across a cigar maker's product range. An assortment of cigars with different-colored wrappers from the same country of origin can also be a fun gift. Both of these are similar to the ideas behind wine tasting parties. To complete your gift, consider packaging the assortment in a nice travel humidor, which is something that many cigar smokers won't have already.