Anatomy of a Cigar

A premium cigar looks simple from the outside, but it's built from three distinct layers of tobacco, each chosen for a different job. Once you know what those layers are, the language on a cigar box and the questions from a tobacconist start to make sense.

The filler: the engine

The filler is the bundle of leaves at the center of the cigar, and it carries most of the strength. Premium handmade cigars use long filler, whole leaves that run the full length of the cigar. Less expensive cigars often use short filler, which is chopped tobacco. Long filler burns more evenly and holds a steadier ash.

Filler leaves are graded by where they grew on the plant. Ligero comes from the top, gets the most sun, and is the strongest and slowest to burn, so blenders usually place it in the middle of the bunch. Seco comes from the middle of the plant and brings much of the aroma. Volado comes from the lower leaves, is milder, and helps the cigar burn well. How a blender balances those three goes a long way toward deciding whether a cigar smokes mild or full.

The binder: the frame

The binder is a sturdy leaf wrapped around the filler to hold it together. It's chosen more for strength and burn than for looks, though it still adds to the flavor. Some blenders use two binders to build in more complexity.

The wrapper: the first impression

The wrapper is the outermost leaf, and it's the most expensive tobacco in the cigar. It has to be thin, elastic, and free of blemishes, and it contributes a large share of what you taste, since it's the first tobacco your lips touch and it burns all the way around the cigar.

Wrapper color tells you a lot. From lightest to darkest, the common shades run from candela (green) and claro (pale tan) through colorado (reddish brown) to maduro (dark brown) and oscuro (nearly black). Lighter wrappers tend to taste creamier and milder. Darker wrappers have been fermented longer and usually bring more natural sweetness, with notes like cocoa, coffee, and molasses.

A few names you'll see on bands and boxes:

• Connecticut shade: grown under cloth tents in the Connecticut River Valley, light in color and mild in flavor.
• Connecticut broadleaf: grown in full sun, thick and dark, and a favorite for maduro wrappers.
• Habano: grown from Cuban-seed tobacco, often reddish, with spice and cedar.
• San Andrés: a dark Mexican leaf used for many earthy maduro wrappers.
• Sumatra and Cameroon: thin, toothy leaves known for a slightly sweet, spicy character.

The parts, head to foot

The head is the closed end you put in your mouth. It's sealed with a small round cap made from wrapper leaf, which you cut before smoking. The foot is the open end you light. The paper band carries the brand. If you want to take it off, wait until the cigar has warmed for a while, because the glue loosens and you're less likely to tear the wrapper.

Next time you're in a Tulsa cigar shop, pick up a few cigars with different wrapper shades and compare them side by side. It's the quickest way to see how much the outside leaf changes things.