Let's Talk Cigar - A Glossary of Cigar Terms

| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M |

| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |

Aging: The period when newly finished cigars are held in humidity controlled, cedar lined aging rooms.

Amarillo: A yellow wrapper leaf grown under shade.

American Market Selection: AMS, a term which designates claro colored wrappers

Amaltista: A glass jar containing 50 cigars (occasionally 25), sealed to be sold “factory fresh.”

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Band: Paper ring at the head of most cigars showing brand, country and whether a cigar is hand-rolled.

Barrel: The main body of cigar.

Belicoso: Short, pyramid-shaped cigar, 5” of 5 ½” rounded taper head and ring gauge generally 50.

Binder: The portion of the tobacco leaf used to hold together the blend of filler leaves called the bunch.

Blend: Mixture of tobacco types in cigars, up to five filler leaves, binder leaf and an outer wrapper.

Bloom (plume): A fine white powder (caused by oils from tobacco) that is easily brushed off.

Blue mold: Pernonospara tabacina; airborne fungus that can a tobacco crop.

Bolte nature: The cedar box in which many cigars are sold.

Book style: A roll method, the filler leafs are laid atop one another, then rolled up like a scroll.

Bouquet: The smell, or “nose”, of a cigar; improperly stored cigars lose their bouquet

Box: Containers used to package cigars:

Box-pressed: Slightly square appearance taken on by cigars packed tightly in a box.

Bull’s-eye piercer: Cigars cutter that creates a circular opening, like a target’s bull’s eye.
            Bulk: Large pile of tobacco leaves in which fermentation occurs.
            Bunch: Up to four types of filler tobacco blended to create the body of the cigar.
 
Bundle: Inexpensive packaging method using cellophane wrap, usually 25 to 50 cigars, without bands.

Burros: Piles, or bulks, that cigar tobacco is fermented in; monitored to insure heat levels exceed 110 F.

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Candela: Bright green shade of wrapper.

Cap: A circular piece of wrapper leaf placed at the head of the cigar to secure the wrapper.

Capa: The cigar’s rapper.

Carotene: A naturally occurring compound found in a aged cigar.

Case: Slightly moist, aged tobacco, easier to work and roll into cigars.

Chaveta: The knife used in a cigar factory for cutting the wrapper leaf.

Churchill: Large corona, traditionally 7’ with a ring gauge of 48.  This strong, full bodied cigar is named for Winston Churchill.

Cigarillos:  Three-inch cigars, generally machine-made using homogenized wrappers.

Curing:  The process of drying newly harvested tobacco. 

Claro:  Pale-green to light –brown wrapper, usually shade-grown.

Clear Havana: A cigar made in the United States prior to the embargo using Cuban tobacco.

Colorado: Medium-brown to brownish-red shade of wrapper tobacco.

Corojos:  Plants that are chosen to provide wrapper leafs and are grown under a gauze sunscreen.

Corona:  Cigars that generally have strait sides, an open foot with closed, rounded head.

Cuban seed:  Plants grown in non-Cuban countries from Cuba.

Cubatobacco:  Formally, the worldwide distribution company for Cuban cigars; now called Habanos S.A.