Cigar Basics

Welcome to cigar basics! Here at Cigars International, we want to provide you with the best cigar experience possible, whether you are seeking to learn about cigars, need help selecting a great cigar to smoke, or just want to find the best deals on cigars, consider us your personal cigar concierge. In this particular article, we are going to walk you through all of the cigar basics, including what makes up a cigar, what are the different parts of a cigar, common cigar terminology, and much more. Without further ado, let’s jump in!

What is a cigar?

A cigar is made up of fermented tobacco leaves which are bunched and rolled into a cylindrical shape. To fully visualize the cigar, we will start with the tobacco seed. Tobacco seeds are planted generally in a tropical environment for ideal growing conditions. Some of the most prominent farming regions include Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, the USA (Connecticut and Pennsylvania), Central African Republic (Cameroon), and Indonesia. The tobacco growing season takes 18 weeks. From seed to cigar, it takes between 2 - 3 years. You can go much more in depth in the process of growing tobacco in our article From Tobacco to Cigar.

Now that we have tobacco leaves, we can start to build the cigar. There are three main components that make up a cigar: the filler, the binder, and the wrapper. The filler is comprised of a group of approximately 6 leaves that are combined in the binder leaf to create a “bunch.” Finally, the wrapper leaf is wrapped around the outside as the finishing touch. Once a cigar is complete, it can be broken down into four parts: the cap (or tip), the head, the body, and the foot. The cap is the part you cut off, and the foot is the part that you light. To learn more about the process of creating cigars, check out our other articles on cigar rolling and cigar wrappers.

Common Cigar Terminology

Here are some of the best terms to get to know as a cigar beginner. Find a full list of the terms and phrases that we have deemed important in our Cigar Vocabulary article.  

Blend - A cigar's "recipe" of individual tobaccos that create a specific character and taste. A cigar blend is typically composed of filler tobaccos in the center, a binder to hold the filler tobaccos together, and a wrapper that encompasses and completes the entire blend. Blends can be made of leaves from different tobacco varieties, different positions on a tobacco plant, and from different regions. 

Frontmark/Vitola - The name of a cigar's size and shape within a particular brand. 

Draw - The measure of how easily air passes through a cigar. 

Finish - The lingering flavors left behind on a smoker's palate after a cigar has been finished. Generally speaking, all cigars are more or less the same in appearance: long and cylindrical. This shape is generally referred to as a parejo, meaning parallel in Spanish. The other shape cigars are categorized in is called figurado. Although many popular figurado shapes (such as Torpedos, Perfectos, etc.) are available, the vast majority of premium cigars sold today are parejos.

We hope this will give you a good jumping off point in the beginning of your cigar journey! But don’t stop here, as there is much more to learn and appreciate about cigars. We recommend checking out Humidors for Beginners or our compilation of articles that explain cigar accessories as these will be the most helpful in getting you fully set up.