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Cigar Vocabulary

Cigar Tasting and Smoking

  • Aroma

    - The pleasant and distinctive scent a lit cigar emits.

  • Ash

    - The burnt remains of the tobacco leaves on the end of a cigar.

  • Canoeing

    - The uneven, or one-sided, burning of a cigar. Can be caused by improper construction, uneven humidity, the incomplete fermentation of the tobaccos in the cigar, or improper lighting; rotate the cigar's position to attempt to even out the burn.

  • Cold Taste

    - Sucking air through a cigar after it has been cut but before it has been lit. Cold tasting provides a good indication on how well a cigar will draw.

  • 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.

Cigar Anatomy and Construction

  • 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.

  • Binder (Capote)

    - The tobacco leaf that surrounds and holds the filler leaves together.

  • Box-Pressed

    - The technique that "squares" the cylindrical cigar's shape. Box-pressed cigars are flatter than cigars that are not box-pressed.

  • Figurado

    - Cigars that are shaped and don't have straight sides, such as perfectos, pyramids, belicosos, and culebras.

  • Foot

    - The end of the cigar; the part that is lit. Most premium cigars have an open foot but some feature a closed foot in which the cigar's wrapper completely covers the foot.

  • Filler (Tripa)

    - The central portion of a cigar. Often composed of two to five individual tobacco leaves. The filler tobaccos are rolled together and wrapped inside a binder to create a bunch. Expert hands roll the filler and binder leaves to ensure good draw and burning characteristics.

  • Frontmark/Vitola

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

  • Head

    - The "top" of a cigar. The part that is cut and touches the mouth when smoked.

  • Long Filler

    - The whole tobacco leaves that are used to craft the center of handmade premium cigars. These run the entire length of the cigar and are different from short filler tobacco, which is chopped-up pieces of tobacco often left over from long filler cuttings.

  • Parejo

    - Straight-sided cigars with rounded heads and shoulders, such as corona, Churchill, or toro.

  • Puro

    - Most often indicates that a cigar is made up of leaves from one country. Also used as a generic Spanish term for cigar.

  • Short Filler (Cuban Sandwich)/Picadura

    - The chopped-up cuttings of tobacco leaf that are most often used as filler tobaccos in machine-made cigars. Also used in "Cuban Sandwich" cigars, which contain a mixture of short filler and long filler tobaccos.

  • Size

    - A cigar's physical dimensions expressed in length and ring gauge.

  • Wrapper (Capa)

    - The outside leaf of a cigar, a wrapper is the most expensive tobacco that goes into a cigar blend and it is unblemished to provide the most beautiful appearance. Wrappers significantly contribute to a cigar's flavor characteristics because it is the part of the cigar that contacts a smoker's mouth and tongue.
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Cigar Process (Chronologically from Cultivation to Rolling)

  • Seedling

    - Tobacco seeds that are grown in seed beds until the plant grows to a few inches high. These seedlings are transplanted to the tobacco field where they grow to their full height and the leaves are removed.

  • Primings

    - The tiers of two or three leaves that are removed in stages during tobacco harvesting. Priming begins at the bottom of the plant and continues up the stalk, allowing the upper leaves to receive more sun and nutrients before harvesting.

  • Curing (And Curing Barns)

    - Once the tobacco is harvested from the fields, it is placed in curing barns where air flow naturally "cures" the tobacco, reducing sugar, chlorophyll, and moisture content over time.

  • Pilone

    - The piles of tobacco that are built to allow the fermentation process.

  • Fermentation

    - Heat, water, and pressure work together on tobacco pilones to ferment the leaves, removing ammonia and other unwanted components from the tobacco. The process can take many months to years and is highly monitored. When the interior temperature of a pilone reaches a certain level, the pilone is broken up and reconstructed with the inside leaves moved to the exterior and the bottom leaves moved to the top to ensure equal fermentation for all the leaves.

  • Bale

    - After the tobacco has been cured and fermented, it is stacked inside a wooden crate atop a scale that is lined with burlap or nylon sheets. Once the desired weight is reached, the tobacco is compressed, and the burlap or nylon is sewn around it to create the bale.

  • Aging

    - Tobacco bales are stored inside a warehouse where the tobacco sits for months or years. Aging tobacco naturally creates more refined nuances to the tobacco's flavor characteristics.

  • Buncheros

    - The cigar factory employees who build a cigar's bunch - the combination of filler and binder tobaccos. There are three primary bunching techniques: Entubar, in which the individual filler tobaccos are rolled into cylinders and then the cylinders are rolled in the binder; Accordion, in which the outside of each filler leaf is folded inward and then each leaf is stacked together and wrapped in the binder; and Book Making, in which individual filler leaves are stacked flat on top of each other and then folded to resemble a book before the binder is wrapped around it.

  • Rolleras

    - The employees at a premium handmade cigar factory who apply the wrapper to the cigar bunches.

  • Color Sorting

    - Finished cigars are inspected in brightly lit areas of a cigar factory and sorted by color to ensure that cigars of similar color are assembled to be placed in individual boxes. The color sorting process improves the cigars' uniformity of appearance inside a box. It is also an opportunity to reject cigars that have blemishes or cracked wrappers.

  • Aging Room

    - Lined with Spanish cedar and climate controlled, the aging room is where finished cigars are stored until they are ready to be packaged and shipped out of the factory. The cigar aging process can last from a few weeks to many years depending on the brand's requirements. Aging the finished cigars allows their individual tobaccos to "marry" and refine the cigar's taste profile.

Cigar Packaging

  • Band/Anilla

    - The paper ring that's typically located near a cigar's head. The band often identifies the cigar's brand, manufacturer, logo, and country of origin. Some cigars feature secondary bands that are placed near the foot.

  • Box

    - The container used to package premium handmade cigars. Most often constructed from Spanish cedar, cigar boxes can also be made from other materials such as cardboard.

  • Bundle

    - A packaging style that does not use a box.

  • Cellophane

    - A clear, thin material that's made from cellulose. Finished cigars are often placed inside cellophane for protection from excessive handling at a cigar shop and to prevent a cigar from drying out.

  • Coffin

    - A wooden box with a slide top that holds one or two cigars.

  • Vista

    - The inside of a box lid. Often adorned with ornate artwork and logos associated with the cigar brand and manufacturer.

Cigar Conservation - Storage

  • Spanish Cedar

    - An aromatic wood that's abundant in Central America and the Caribbean that is often used for cigar boxes, in cigar aging rooms, and humidors. Spanish Cedar is also pest resistant and naturally hydroscopic, or able to absorb and retain humidity.

  • Humidor

    - Any container that can provide a sealed environment to ensure appropriate temperature and humidity levels for cigar storage, usually about 70° Fahrenheit and 70% relative humidity.

  • Humidification System

    - The device that generates and maintains proper humidity levels inside a humidor. There are many different humidification systems, and it is important to follow the manufacturer's directions for each. As a general rule, however, when water is used in a humidification system it should typically be distilled water because it does not contain minerals or other components that could affect a cigar's taste.

  • Plume

    - In aging a cigar, white crystals from the wrapper tobacco's natural oils form on the outside of a cigar wrapper. Plume, also known as Bloom, is an indication that the cigar is well-aged. Plume may be wiped off the wrapper and the cigar may be enjoyed normally.
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Related Topics:
Cigar Basics Cigar Basics How to Choose a Cigar: The Elements of Great Cigars How to Choose a Cigar: The Elements of Great Cigars View More
Back To Cigars 101

Cigar Tasting and Smoking

  • Aroma

    - The pleasant and distinctive scent a lit cigar emits.

  • Ash

    - The burnt remains of the tobacco leaves on the end of a cigar.

  • Canoeing

    - The uneven, or one-sided, burning of a cigar. Can be caused by improper construction, uneven humidity, the incomplete fermentation of the tobaccos in the cigar, or improper lighting; rotate the cigar's position to attempt to even out the burn.

  • Cold Taste

    - Sucking air through a cigar after it has been cut but before it has been lit. Cold tasting provides a good indication on how well a cigar will draw.

  • 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.

Cigar Anatomy and Construction

  • 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.

  • Binder (Capote)

    - The tobacco leaf that surrounds and holds the filler leaves together.

  • Box-Pressed

    - The technique that "squares" the cylindrical cigar's shape. Box-pressed cigars are flatter than cigars that are not box-pressed.

  • Figurado

    - Cigars that are shaped and don't have straight sides, such as perfectos, pyramids, belicosos, and culebras.

  • Foot

    - The end of the cigar; the part that is lit. Most premium cigars have an open foot but some feature a closed foot in which the cigar's wrapper completely covers the foot.

  • Filler (Tripa)

    - The central portion of a cigar. Often composed of two to five individual tobacco leaves. The filler tobaccos are rolled together and wrapped inside a binder to create a bunch. Expert hands roll the filler and binder leaves to ensure good draw and burning characteristics.

  • Frontmark/Vitola

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

  • Head

    - The "top" of a cigar. The part that is cut and touches the mouth when smoked.

  • Long Filler

    - The whole tobacco leaves that are used to craft the center of handmade premium cigars. These run the entire length of the cigar and are different from short filler tobacco, which is chopped-up pieces of tobacco often left over from long filler cuttings.

  • Parejo

    - Straight-sided cigars with rounded heads and shoulders, such as corona, Churchill, or toro.

  • Puro

    - Most often indicates that a cigar is made up of leaves from one country. Also used as a generic Spanish term for cigar.

  • Short Filler (Cuban Sandwich)/Picadura

    - The chopped-up cuttings of tobacco leaf that are most often used as filler tobaccos in machine-made cigars. Also used in "Cuban Sandwich" cigars, which contain a mixture of short filler and long filler tobaccos.

  • Size

    - A cigar's physical dimensions expressed in length and ring gauge.

  • Wrapper (Capa)

    - The outside leaf of a cigar, a wrapper is the most expensive tobacco that goes into a cigar blend and it is unblemished to provide the most beautiful appearance. Wrappers significantly contribute to a cigar's flavor characteristics because it is the part of the cigar that contacts a smoker's mouth and tongue.
Girl With No Name Lonsdale by Drew Estate Small Banner

Cigar Process (Chronologically from Cultivation to Rolling)

  • Seedling

    - Tobacco seeds that are grown in seed beds until the plant grows to a few inches high. These seedlings are transplanted to the tobacco field where they grow to their full height and the leaves are removed.

  • Primings

    - The tiers of two or three leaves that are removed in stages during tobacco harvesting. Priming begins at the bottom of the plant and continues up the stalk, allowing the upper leaves to receive more sun and nutrients before harvesting.

  • Curing (And Curing Barns)

    - Once the tobacco is harvested from the fields, it is placed in curing barns where air flow naturally "cures" the tobacco, reducing sugar, chlorophyll, and moisture content over time.

  • Pilone

    - The piles of tobacco that are built to allow the fermentation process.

  • Fermentation

    - Heat, water, and pressure work together on tobacco pilones to ferment the leaves, removing ammonia and other unwanted components from the tobacco. The process can take many months to years and is highly monitored. When the interior temperature of a pilone reaches a certain level, the pilone is broken up and reconstructed with the inside leaves moved to the exterior and the bottom leaves moved to the top to ensure equal fermentation for all the leaves.

  • Bale

    - After the tobacco has been cured and fermented, it is stacked inside a wooden crate atop a scale that is lined with burlap or nylon sheets. Once the desired weight is reached, the tobacco is compressed, and the burlap or nylon is sewn around it to create the bale.

  • Aging

    - Tobacco bales are stored inside a warehouse where the tobacco sits for months or years. Aging tobacco naturally creates more refined nuances to the tobacco's flavor characteristics.

  • Buncheros

    - The cigar factory employees who build a cigar's bunch - the combination of filler and binder tobaccos. There are three primary bunching techniques: Entubar, in which the individual filler tobaccos are rolled into cylinders and then the cylinders are rolled in the binder; Accordion, in which the outside of each filler leaf is folded inward and then each leaf is stacked together and wrapped in the binder; and Book Making, in which individual filler leaves are stacked flat on top of each other and then folded to resemble a book before the binder is wrapped around it.

  • Rolleras

    - The employees at a premium handmade cigar factory who apply the wrapper to the cigar bunches.

  • Color Sorting

    - Finished cigars are inspected in brightly lit areas of a cigar factory and sorted by color to ensure that cigars of similar color are assembled to be placed in individual boxes. The color sorting process improves the cigars' uniformity of appearance inside a box. It is also an opportunity to reject cigars that have blemishes or cracked wrappers.

  • Aging Room

    - Lined with Spanish cedar and climate controlled, the aging room is where finished cigars are stored until they are ready to be packaged and shipped out of the factory. The cigar aging process can last from a few weeks to many years depending on the brand's requirements. Aging the finished cigars allows their individual tobaccos to "marry" and refine the cigar's taste profile.

Cigar Packaging

  • Band/Anilla

    - The paper ring that's typically located near a cigar's head. The band often identifies the cigar's brand, manufacturer, logo, and country of origin. Some cigars feature secondary bands that are placed near the foot.

  • Box

    - The container used to package premium handmade cigars. Most often constructed from Spanish cedar, cigar boxes can also be made from other materials such as cardboard.

  • Bundle

    - A packaging style that does not use a box.

  • Cellophane

    - A clear, thin material that's made from cellulose. Finished cigars are often placed inside cellophane for protection from excessive handling at a cigar shop and to prevent a cigar from drying out.

  • Coffin

    - A wooden box with a slide top that holds one or two cigars.

  • Vista

    - The inside of a box lid. Often adorned with ornate artwork and logos associated with the cigar brand and manufacturer.

Cigar Conservation - Storage

  • Spanish Cedar

    - An aromatic wood that's abundant in Central America and the Caribbean that is often used for cigar boxes, in cigar aging rooms, and humidors. Spanish Cedar is also pest resistant and naturally hydroscopic, or able to absorb and retain humidity.

  • Humidor

    - Any container that can provide a sealed environment to ensure appropriate temperature and humidity levels for cigar storage, usually about 70° Fahrenheit and 70% relative humidity.

  • Humidification System

    - The device that generates and maintains proper humidity levels inside a humidor. There are many different humidification systems, and it is important to follow the manufacturer's directions for each. As a general rule, however, when water is used in a humidification system it should typically be distilled water because it does not contain minerals or other components that could affect a cigar's taste.

  • Plume

    - In aging a cigar, white crystals from the wrapper tobacco's natural oils form on the outside of a cigar wrapper. Plume, also known as Bloom, is an indication that the cigar is well-aged. Plume may be wiped off the wrapper and the cigar may be enjoyed normally.
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