Cigar Basics
Handmade/Hand-rolled: A high-quality cigar that is completely bunched and rolled by hand, made from high-quality wrappers and long filler. All premium cigars are handmade.
Machine-made/Mass Market: A lower-priced, entirely machine-made cigar that typically uses short filler tobacco.
Puro: A cigar in which the tobacco used for the filler, binder, and wrapper comes from the same country.
Premium Cigar: A hand-made cigar made with long filler tobacco.
Long Filler: Used in premium cigars, long-filler tobacco is made of whole leaves that run the length of the cigar rather than chopped leaves (short filler).
Short Filler: Consists of chopped tobacco leaves that are often made from pieces of leaf discarded during the rolling of long filler.
Barrel: The main body of the cigar.
Blend: The combination of all tobacco in a cigar, including the filler leaves, binder leaf, and wrapper.
Bunch: The group of leaves that comprise the filler and binder before they are rolled into a wrapper.
Cap: The piece of tobacco that covers the head of the cigar; the end that you will ultimately clip.
Foot: The end of the cigar that you light. Also called the tuck end.
Head: The end of the cigar that is clipped.
Double Claro : Light green to yellow shade wrapper also called Candela. It is achieved by a heat-assisted quick-drying process. Such wrapper is characterized by a very mild flavor and slightly sweet taste.
Claro : Light tan wrapper. To achieve this color, tobacco is usually grown under shade tents, leaves are picked before they mature and are quickly air-dried. As a rule claro cigars are mild and smooth because the wrapper does not make an impact to the flavor.
Colorado Claro (Natural) : Light brown to brown, also called colorado claro, often sun-grown wrappers. They result in a fuller bodied flavor if compared to the Claro.
Colorado : Medium-brown to reddish dark brown. Usually shade-grown and robust and rich in flavor.
Colorado Maduro : Dark brown, aromatic and rich medium flavor. The color shade is between Colorado and Maduro.
Maduro : Very dark reddish-brown to almost black. It is achieved either by "cooking" the leaves in a pressure chamber, or fermenting them for a longer period of time in very hot conditions. The wrapper usually sweet and indicates a strong flavor.
Oscuro : The darkest maduro wrapper, almost black. It means that the leaf was left on the plant and fermented the longest. The cigars are characterized by a full-bodied flavor. As a rule such wrappers are of Nicaraguan, Mexican or Brazilian origin.
Filler: The blend of tobacco leaves that makes up the body of the cigar and contributes to its general taste
Binder: The leaf that is rolled around the filler to hold it together.
Wrapper: The outside layer of tobacco leaf that is rolled around the binder and that determines the color of the cigar