Lexicon
The vocabulary of the cigar — every term worth knowing.
A
- Aficionado
- Spanish for "devotee" — the established term for passionate cigar connoisseurs.
- Amatista
- A historic glass jar holding typically 50 cigars, sealed airtight and marketed as "factory fresh".
- Añejados
- A Habanos programme in which finished, rolled cigars mature in Cuba for five to eight years before going on sale.
- Anilla
- The Spanish name for the cigar band — the paper ring that identifies the brand and line.
B
- Barberpole
- A cigar wrapped in two different-coloured wrappers spiralled around each other.
- Belicoso
- A figurado format with a short, rounded taper at the head.
- Binder
- The sturdy leaf between filler and wrapper that gives the bunch its shape and structure.
- Blender
- The person who composes the tobacco blend of a cigar — from the filler through to the wrapper.
- Bloom
- A fine, whitish crystalline film on long-aged cigars — harmless and a sign of maturation.
- Boîte Nature
- A plain, untreated cedar box with a hinged lid — no lacquer, no paper, no decoration.
- Bouquet
- The overall aromatic impression of a cigar — from the cold cigar’s scent to the smoke’s flavour.
- Box ageing
- The continued maturation of finished cigars in the sealed box over years.
- Boxpressed
- A cigar with a roughly square cross-section, its angular shape obtained through pressing.
- Bunch
- The roll of filler and binder — the raw form of the cigar before the wrapper is applied.
- Burn
- The burning behaviour of a cigar — how evenly and at what pace it combusts.
C
- Cabinet
- A plain cedar box with a sliding lid in which cigars are stored and aged in loose bundles.
- Canoeing
- A burn fault in which the cigar burns down one side only — the hollowed-out channel resembles a canoe.
- Chaveta
- The torcedor’s crescent-shaped knife for trimming tobacco leaves.
- Churchill (format)
- A long, straight format of around 17.8 cm at ring gauge 47 — named after Winston Churchill.
- Claro
- A light wrapper colour — mild and aromatic, often grown under shade.
- Cold draw
- The test draw on the cut, unlit cigar.
- Colorado
- A reddish-brown wrapper colour in the middle of the scale between Claro and Oscuro.
- Corona
- The classic reference format — roughly 14 cm long at ring gauge 42 to 44.
- Culebra
- Three thin cigars braided together while damp and dried in that form — Spanish for "snake".
D
- Double corona
- One of the longest classic formats — around 19.4 cm at ring gauge 49.
- Draw
- The resistance with which smoke can be pulled through the cigar — neither a straw nor a blockage.
E
- Entubado
- A rolling technique in which the torcedor shapes every filler leaf individually into a small tube.
F
- Fermentation
- The controlled sweating of tobacco in large stacks, which reduces harshness and develops aromas.
- Figurado
- The collective term for all cigar formats that deviate from the straight cylindrical shape.
- Filler
- The heart of the cigar — the blend of folded tobacco leaves that determines strength and flavour.
- Foot
- The open end of the cigar that is lit.
G
- Gordo
- A thick, straight-sided format around ring gauge 60 — the heavyweight among modern vitolas.
H
- Habano
- The protected designation for cigars made entirely in Cuba from Cuban tobacco.
- Head
- The closed end of the cigar that is cut before smoking.
- Hecho a mano
- The declaration "made by hand" — which, unlike "totalmente a mano", may include machine-assisted steps.
- Humidor
- A container with regulated humidity in which cigars are stored and continue to age.
- Hygrometer
- The instrument for measuring relative humidity inside the humidor.
L
- Lancero
- A long, very slender format of 192 millimetres at ring gauge 38 — listed in Cuba as Laguito No. 1.
- Lector
- The reader who recited newspapers and novels to rollers in Cuban cigar factories during their work.
- Ligada
- The blend formula of a cigar — which tobaccos go into the filler, and in what proportion.
- Ligero
- The topmost, sun-nearest leaves of the tobacco plant — thick, oily, and powerful, but slow to burn.
- Long filler
- A cigar whose filler consists of whole, folded tobacco leaves — the standard in premium cigars.
- Lonsdale
- A slender, elegant format of around 16.5 cm at ring gauge 42.
M
- Maduro
- A dark-brown wrapper colour whose depth comes from especially long, intense fermentation.
- Marca
- Spanish for "brand" — the established term for a cigar brand, particularly in the Cuban context.
- Medio Tiempo
- The rare topmost leaf level — two small leaves above the ligero that grow on only some sun-grown plants.
N
- Nub
- The short end piece that remains once a cigar has been smoked well down.
O
- Oscuro
- The darkest wrapper colour on the scale — almost black and correspondingly rare.
P
- Panetela
- A long, notably slender format, typically with a ring gauge of 35 to 39.
- Parejo
- The classic straight cigar shape — parallel sides, rounded head, open foot.
- Perfecto
- A figurado format that tapers at both ends — often with a bulging middle and a nearly closed foot.
- Petit corona
- The smaller sibling of the corona — around 12.9 cm at ring gauge 42.
- Pigtail
- A small twisted finish at the head of the cigar in place of the smooth cap.
- Pilón
- The man-high tobacco stack in which the leaves ferment under heat and moisture.
- Punch cutter
- A round cutter that punches a circular hole into the cap of the cigar.
- Puro
- Spanish for "cigar" — internationally, a cigar whose tobaccos come entirely from one country.
- Pyramide
- A figurado format that tapers continuously from the open foot to a pointed head.
R
- Retrohaling
- The slow release of a portion of smoke through the nose — without inhaling.
- Ring gauge
- The diameter of a cigar, expressed in sixty-fourths of an inch.
- Robusto
- The short, compact format of around 12.4 cm at ring gauge 50 — today probably the most widely smoked in the world.
- Rosado
- A wrapper shade with a distinctly reddish tint — Spanish for "rosy".
S
- Seco
- The middle leaves of the tobacco plant — the most aromatic part and the backbone of many blends.
- Shaggy Foot
- An uncut foot from which the filler leaves protrude freely.
- Short filler
- A cigar whose filler consists of cut tobacco pieces rather than whole leaves.
- Shoulder
- The curved transition zone between the cap at the head and the straight body of the cigar.
- Spanish cedar
- The classic lining wood of the humidor — it buffers moisture and accompanies ageing with its scent.
- Sun-grown
- Tobacco grown in full sunlight — yielding thicker, darker and stronger leaves than under the shade cloth.
T
- Tapado
- The cultivation of tobacco under cloth canopies — the filtered light produces especially fine, elastic wrapper leaves.
- Tobacco beetle
- A tiny pest whose larvae bore through cigars — the greatest threat in the humidor.
- Torcedor
- The cigar roller — the craftsperson who makes a cigar entirely by hand.
- Toro
- A straight format of around 15.2 cm at ring gauge 50 — the elongated sibling of the robusto.
- Torpedo
- A figurado with a straight body and a pointed head.
- Totalmente a mano
- The Cuban declaration for cigars made entirely by hand — the benchmark of the premium world.
- Tube
- A single tube of metal or glass that protects a cigar on the move.
- Tunneling
- A burn fault in which the ember bores a tunnel through the filler while the wrapper remains standing.
V
- Vega
- Spanish for tobacco field or tobacco estate — the plantation together with its drying barns.
- Vitola
- The format of a cigar — the combination of length, ring gauge, and shape.
- Volado
- The lowest leaves of the tobacco plant — thin and mild, but with excellent combustion properties.
- Vuelta Abajo
- Cuba’s most famous growing region in the west of the island — the world reference for premium tobacco.
W
- Wrapper
- The outermost leaf of the cigar — flawless, silky, and a perceptible contributor to the flavour.