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The parts of a cigar
Every premium cigar is built the same way, from the inside out: a filler blend, a binder leaf around it, and a wrapper leaf around both. The diagram peels each layer back to show the one beneath.
- Head and cap The end you draw on, closed with a cap of wrapper leaf. You cut the cap before smoking.
- Band The maker’s mark, usually near the head.
- Wrapper The outer leaf: thin, elastic and chosen for looks, aroma and an even burn.
- Binder A sturdier leaf that holds the filler in shape.
- Filler The blend at the core: most of the cigar’s tobacco.
- Foot The open end you light, where you can see the filler.
The long middle of the cigar is sometimes called the body or barrel, and the point where the head curves into it the shoulder.
Wrapper
The wrapper is the most carefully grown and selected leaf in the cigar. It has to be thin and elastic enough to stretch around the bunch without tearing, free of large veins and blemishes, and able to burn evenly. Much wrapper tobacco is grown under shade cloth, which keeps the leaves thin and fine-textured.
It is the part your lips touch and the part that burns at the edge of every draw, so the wrapper shapes much of a cigar’s first impression: its aroma, its sweetness or spice, and of course its color. It is also the most expensive tobacco in the cigar, because so much wrapper leaf is set aside for flaws during sorting. For wrapper shades and what they tend to bring, see What gives a cigar its flavor.
Binder
Beneath the wrapper, the binder holds the filler bunch together. It is a coarser, sturdier leaf than the wrapper, chosen for strength and an even burn rather than for looks. The binder adds its own flavor and helps control how the cigar burns. Some cigars use two binder leaves, sold as a double binder.
Filler
The filler is the heart of the cigar and most of its tobacco. A blender usually combines several types of leaf, often from different regions, and also from different heights on the plant:
- Ligero, from the top of the plant: the thickest leaf, with the most strength. It burns slowly, so it usually sits in the center of the bunch.
- Seco, from the middle: brings much of the aroma and flavor.
- Volado, from the bottom: thin and quick to burn, it helps the cigar stay lit.
- Wrapper
- Binder
- Volado filler, outer
- Seco filler, middle
- Ligero filler, center
How these leaves are grown, cured and combined is the subject of What gives a cigar its flavor.
Head, cap and foot
The cap is one or more small pieces of wrapper leaf, cut to shape and fixed over the head with a tasteless vegetable gum. A traditional Cuban-style cigar has a triple cap: three overlapping layers. Some cigars finish the head with a pigtail, a short twist of wrapper.
The foot is usually left open, showing the filler. A covered or closed foot has the wrapper folded over the end.
The band is the maker’s mark. Many smokers leave it on; others slide it off once the cigar has warmed for a few minutes and the gum has loosened, so the wrapper does not tear.
How a cigar is rolled
Premium cigars are made by hand, usually by a team of two: a buncher and a roller.
- Preparing the leaf. Leaves are sorted by size, color and texture, and most of the thick central vein is stripped out.
- Bunching. The buncher gathers filler leaves to the blend’s recipe, folding or rolling them lengthwise so air can pass through, and wraps them in the binder. Some factories use a simple hand-operated bunching device, but the filler is still whole leaf.
- Pressing. The bunches rest in wooden molds under a press so they hold their shape.
- Rolling. The roller cuts the wrapper with a chaveta, a curved blade, stretches it around the bunch in a spiral, and finishes the head with the cap.
- Finishing. Cigars are cut to length, checked for weight, look and draw, and rested in an aging room before they are banded and boxed.
Long filler vs short filler
- Long filler uses whole leaves running the full length of the cigar. It burns more slowly and evenly and holds a firmer ash. Nearly all premium handmade cigars are long filler.
- Short filler uses chopped leaf. It burns faster and its ash falls sooner. Most machine-made cigars are short filler.
- Mixed filler, sometimes called a Cuban sandwich, wraps long filler leaves around a short-filler core.
For more on how handmade and machine-made cigars differ, see Premium vs cheap cigars.
Checking construction
You can tell a lot about how well a cigar was made before and while you smoke it.
- Feel. A gentle squeeze along the length should find it firm with a little give, the same all the way along, with no hard knots or soft spots.
- Look. The wrapper should be intact, with tight seams and no cracks, and the cap neatly applied.
- Draw. Once cut, the cigar should draw with slight resistance: neither plugged nor loose.
- Burn. A well-made cigar burns in a fairly even line and holds a firm ash.
Expect a little natural variation. A handmade cigar is a craft object: small veins and slight differences in color are normal.
Questions
Which part of a cigar gives the most flavor?
The filler is most of the tobacco and carries the core of the blend, but the wrapper has an outsized influence for its size because it burns at the edge of every draw. The binder plays a smaller part.
What is a binder in a cigar?
The leaf between the filler and the wrapper. It holds the filler bunch together and helps the cigar burn evenly.
Should you take the band off a cigar?
It is a matter of taste. If you do, wait a few minutes until the cigar has warmed and the gum has loosened, so the wrapper does not tear.
What does long filler mean?
Whole tobacco leaves running the full length of the cigar, as opposed to chopped short filler.