Cigar Terms and Definitions

There are three types of filler tobacco:

Ligero – The top leaves of the tobacco plant. Dark, full of flavor, and very spicy. Aged prior to rolling. (My Favorite)

Seco – The middle leaves of the tobacco plant. Lighter than Ligero in both color and flavor. Usually aged, but not as long as Ligero.

Volado – These leaves have little or no flavor, but burn well, and are used as filler to hold the more flavorful tobacco.

There is also the Binder and the Wrapper:

Binder: Encloses the filler and gives each cigar its unique shape and size. The leaves for binding material come from the bottom of the plant, where the leaves are thicker and stronger.

Wrapper: The outermost leaf of the cigar. Wrappers and binders can also play a part in the flavors of any cigar. A different filler than the wrapper can account for a very different combination of flavors than using the same type all the way through. (i.e. a Cameroon wrapper around Maduro tobacco.)

There are also many different lengths and thicknesses of cigars, all of which are easier explained through each individual cigar review. There are accepted industry standardized names, which you will see me use, but I have found that the lengths and gauges all really come down to the manufacturer of said cigar.