Band - The ring of paper printed with the name of the cigar brand, usually wrapped near the closed head of the cigar. It may include the country of origin and whether or not it is hand rolled.
Binder - The portion of a tobacco leaf used to hold together the blend of filler leaves called the bunch. With the wrapper and filler, it is one of the three main components in a cigar.
Blend - The mixture of different types of tobacco in a cigar, including up to four types of filler leaves, a binder leaf and an outer wrapper.
Bloom - A naturally occurring phenomenon in the cigar aging process, also called plume, caused by the oils that exude from the tobacco. It appears as a fine white powder and can be brushed off. This should not be confused with mold, which is bluish in color and stains the wrapper.
Box - The container used to package cigars. There are several traditional styles: --Cabinet selection - refers to wood boxes with a sliding top, designed to hold 25 or 50 cigars --8-9-8 refers to a round sided box designed to accommodate 3 rows of cigars. 8 on top,9 in the middle and 8 on bottom. --Flat top or 13 topper is the flat rectangular box most popular today, with 13 cigars on top and 12 on the bottom.
Bulk - A large pile of tobacco leaves in which fermentation occurs.
Bunch - Up to four different types of filler tobacco that are blended to create the body of the cigar. The bunch is held together by the binder. Bundle - A packaging method, designed with economy in mind, that uses a cellophane overwrap. It usually contains 25 or 50 cigars, traditionally without bands. Bundles, often seconds of premium brands, are usually less expensive than boxed cigars.
Candela - A bright green shade of wrapper, achieved by a heat curing process that fixes the chlorophyll content of the wrapper while it's still in the barn. Also referred to as double claro.
Cap - A circular piece of wrapper leaf placed at the head of a cigar to secure the wrapper.
Chaveta (Rollers Knife) - The knife used in a cigar factory for cutting the wrapper leaf.
Claro - A pale green to light brown wrapper, usually shade grown.
Colorado - A medium brown to brownish red shade or wrapper tobacco.
Double Claro - (see Candela)
Draw - The amount of air that gets pulled through a lit cigar. It can be too easy (hot) or too tight (plugged).
Fermentation - After harvest, workers gather the tobacco leaves in large bulks(or piles), moistening the leaves and allowing them to ferment. Temperatures may reach 140 degrees F before the bulk is broken down and restacked until fermentation stops naturally. This process, called working the bulk, releases ammonia from the tobacco.
Figurado - A Spanish term that refers to cigars with exotic sizes, such as torpedos, pyramids, perfectos and culebras.
Filler - The individual tobacco leaves used in the body of a cigar, together called a bunch.
Flag - An alternative to a cap. The flag method of finishing a cigar involves shaping the wrapper leaf at the head of the cigar so that secures the wrapper. Sometimes, it is tied off in a pigtail or curly head.
Foot- The end of the cigar you light. Most often it is pre-cut, except in the case of torpedos and perfectos.
Gum - A vegetable adhesive used to secure the head of the wrapper leaf around the finished bunch.
Hand - Individual leaves of tobacco that are hung together after harvest and tied at the top. These hands are piled together to make a bulk for fermentation.
Hand-Rolled - A cigar made entirely by hand with high quality wrapper and long filler.
Havana - Capital of Cuba. The traditional center of manufacturing of Cuban cigars for export, and a term widely used to designate Cuban cigars. Also refers to the tobacco types grown from Cuban seed in the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Head - The closed end of the cigar; the end you smoke.
Hot - A term used to describe a cigar that is underfilled and has a quick, loose draw. Can cause harsh flavors.
Humidor - A room, or box, of varying sizes, designed to preserve and promote the proper aging of cigars by maintaining a humidity level of 70% and a temperature of approximately 65F to 70F.
Ligero - One of the three basis types of filler tobacco. The name mean "light" in Spanish, but this aromatic tobacco lends body to a blend.
Long Filler - A term used to designate filler tobacco that runs the length of the body of the cigar, rather than chopped pieces found in machine-made cigars.
Machine-Made - A term that refers to cigars made entirely by machine, using heavier weight wrappers and binders, and frequently, cut filler in place of long filler.
Maduro - A term used for a wrapper shade varying from a very dark reddish-brown to almost black. The word means "ripe" in Spanish. The color can be achieved by sun exposure, a cooking process or a prolonged fermentation.
Mold - The wooden for used in cigar making to give shape to a finished bunch. It has two parts, which , when assembled, are placed in a press. Also, a potentially damaging fungus that forms on a cigar when it is stored at too high a temperature.
Oscuro - A black shade of wrapper, darker than Maduro, most often Brazilian or Mexican in origin.
Puro - A Spanish term used to distinguish a cigar from a cigarette. Modern usage refers to a blend of tobaccos from one country.
Ring - Gauge - A measurement for the diameter of a cigar, based on 64ths of an inch(or millimeters). A 40 ring gauge cigar is 40/64ths of an inch thick.
Seco - The Spanish word for "dry", seco is a type of filler tobacco. It often contributes aroma and is usually medium-bodied.
Shade-Grown - Wrapper leaves that have been grown under a cheesecloth tent, called a tapado. The filtered sunlight creates a thinner, more elastic leaf.
Smoking Time - A 5-inch cigar with a 50 ring gauge, such as a robusto, should provide anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes of smoking pleasure. A double corona, a 7 1/2-inch cigar with a 50 ring gauge, may give over an hour's worth of smoking time. A thinner cigar, such as a Lonsdale, smokes in less time than a cigar with a 50 ring gauge.
Sun-Grown - Tobacco grown in direct sunlight, which creates a thicker leaf with thicker veins.
Volado - A type of filler tobacco chosen for its burning qualities.
Wrapper - A high quality tobacco leaf wrapped around the finished bunch and binder. It is very elastic and, at its best unblemished.