The ultimate guide to cigar terminology: Speak like a true aficionado

[JohnS]

The Manual is a Lifestyle website. For enthusiasts like us, the information may seem a little 'generic' when they have articles on cigars. Nonetheless, here's their latest article on cigar terminology...

The ultimate guide to cigar terminology: Speak like a true aficionado

The ‘I definitely know my cigars’ cheat sheet. You're welcome. 

By plukens - Published August 6, 2025 4:00 AM 

Social ButterflyMMG / Pixabay

You’re not the only one who has felt out of your league talking cigars with someone who obviously knows his stuff, trust me. To everyone else, the cigar world is a secret society with its own language—a mix of tradition, craftsmanship, and ritual that may as well be code to the onlooker. But here’s the secret–you don’t need years of puffing to sound like an aficionado.

This guide explains cigar jargon in the most approachable way possible. No BS, no elitism, no jargon— just straight talk in plain, everyday words. You’ll learn the basic structure of cigars, how to describe what you’re tasting, and how to talk shop without sounding like a rookie. Whether you’re sparking up at a lounge, perusing a humidor, or just kicking back, having the lingo effortlessly rolling off your tongue will elevate your cigar game instantly.

Let’s get you sounding like you’ve been at this for years.

Why cigar terminology matters

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It’s like going into a wine bar and ordering ‘the red stuff’. Not ideal, right? The same goes for cigars. Knowing the right language helps you:

•     Pick a cigar that suits your preferences: You can accurately describe what you like (mild, spicy, sweet, full-bodied) and understand what retailers or other cigar smokers recommend to you.
•     Understand the craftsmanship: Once you know what goes into the construction of a cigar—from the wrapper to the filler—you appreciate it more.
•     Join the conversation: Whether online or in a cigar lounge, knowing how to talk cigars helps you engage in discussions, ask informed questions, and get better recommendations.

Plus, it pays homage to an age-old art and keeps you from spending money on cigars you don’t like anyway.

The culture of cigar lovers

Arian Fernandez / Pexels

Cigars are intensely social. Unlike cigarettes, which you tend to quickly indulge in isolation, cigars beckon you to relax, linger, and enjoy. Understanding cigar speak leads to:

•     Lounge camaraderie: Most cigar lounges aren’t just retail shops—they’re community hubs. They bring people together to light up and connect over a passion for cigars. Knowing the language allows you to fit in and participate actively.
•     Shared rituals: From cutting and toasting to discussing flavor notes, cigar culture includes rituals many smokers take seriously.
•     Events and herfs: A “herf” is a casual cigar gathering where people swap stories, cigars, and knowledge. Speaking the lingo makes you feel like part of the tribe.

The anatomy of a cigar

Guilman / Pexels

Cigars have three main parts. They all influence how the cigar tastes, burns, and rests in your hand.

The wrapper is the outermost leaf. It provides the cigar with the bulk of its flavor and appearance. Wrappers are chosen not just for their look, but also for how they pair with the filler blend. They can vary from light tan (Connecticut Shade) to almost black (Maduro).
Shade-grown wrappers (like Connecticut) are grown under cloth to produce smoother, thinner leaves. Sun-grown wrappers (like Habano) are exposed to full sunlight, often resulting in thicker, more flavorful leaves.

The binder is a leaf that sits right beneath the wrapper. Its job is to bind the filler tobacco and help the cigar maintain its shape. And even though it typically doesn’t add much flavor, it is also essential in the burning of the cigar.

The filler is the heart and soul of the cigar. It’s a mix of all long tobacco leaves, and the mix of types, regions, and aging it determines the cigar’s strength, complexity, and burn rate. Fillers can be single country or blended from multiple (a “multi-country blend”).

Size and shape 101

The size and shape of a cigar are called the vitola. Both can affect the taste and the overall smoking experience.

Ring gauge is the thickness of the cigar, measured in 64th-of-an-inch increments. A 50-ring gauge indicates that the cigar is 50/64 inches thick. Thicker cigars (60+ ring gauge) tend to burn cooler and grant more space for an intricate filler blend.

Length is simply how long the cigar is, measured in inches. Shorter cigars burn faster. Longer cigars also provide more burn time for flavors to explode and develop. If you’re pressed for time, opt for something like a Robusto. Looking to relax for an hour or so? A Churchill suits better.

Common vitolas

•     Robusto: 5 inches by 50 ring gauge. A great all-rounder.
•     Corona: Around 6×42. A bit more cultivated, softer to the touch.
•     Toro: 6×50 or 6×52. A popular modern size.
•     Figurado: Any cigar that isn’t a straight cylinder. Think torpedoes or bellicosos. They’re more difficult to roll and usually more expensive, but worth it for their unique flavor delivery.

Types of packaging

Cigars are presented to consumers in different forms:

Box-pressed: Cigars that are pressed into square shapes while being boxed. Some claim they smoke cooler or burn longer.

Bundle: A low-cost way to buy cigars. They’re sold with no frills boxes, wrapped in cellophane, and typically sold in bulk.

Cabinet: A large wooden box used for aging or storing cigars, especially at factories or shops. 

Basic cigar terminology

doodleroy / Pixabay

Draw: Indicates how freely air moves through the cigar when you puff. A nice draw translates into even, unbroken airflow. A cigar with a tight draw is like sucking on a clogged straw.

Burn: It’s all about how the cigar gets consumed by fire. A good cigar burns on an equal line all around. If one side burns faster, it’s called canoeing. If the cigar tunnels, it’s burning inside unevenly.

Ash: What’s left of a cigar after a burn. A long, hard ash is an indication of a well-built cigar. Gray or white ash is the most common. If it flakes and falls apart immediately, the tobacco could be too dry or badly rolled.

Strength: That’s the nicotine’s potency. A mild-strength cigar will not buzz you. A full-strength cigar can knock your socks off if you’re not prepared.

Body: This refers to how heavy or intense the smoke feels in your mouth. Full-bodied cigars taste thick and rich. Light-bodied ones seem ethereal and soft.

Flavor: This is the taste profile. Consider chocolate, leather, wood, spice or coffee. It has nothing to do with how powerful the cigar is.

Hand-Rolled: These are made by skilled workers and often use long-leaf tobacco. They’re more expensive, but they taste and burn way better.

Machine-Made: Mass-produced in a factory, often with short filler (chopped tobacco). Inexpensive and efficient, but you sacrifice complexity and artistry.

Retrohale: Exhaling softly though your nose to capture nuances. The nose is more delicate than the tongue, so you can frequently smell additional notes.

Finish: This is the flavor that remains in your mouth after the puff. A fine cigar is never short on the finish. Bad ones wear off quickly or taste sour or unpleasant.

Complexity: A complex cigar has shifting flavors as you smoke. Maybe it’s sweet up front then spicy, and then earthy as you go along. It keeps your palate interested.
Buying and storing cigars

Humidor: A box that stores cigars at proper humidity (70-ish%) and temperature (70-ish degrees Fahrenheit). This maintains cigars fresh, flavorful, and burn-ready.

Hygrometer: Measures your humidor’s internal humidity. Analog ones are cool, but digital ones are generally more accurate.

Seasoning: Hydrating the humidor wood using Boveda packs or water before use. This prevents the humidor from leaching moisture from your cigars and drying them out. 

Cutting: Using a proper cutter, V-cutter, or punch to snip off the head (the closed end) to allow airflow. Be sure to snip off just enough, or the wrapper will unravel.

Toasting: Lightly warming the foot (the open end you light) before puffing. This helps your cigar light evenly and avoid harsh flavors.

Lighting: Setting the end of the cigar on fire. The best way to do this is to use a butane lighter or wooden matches with slow, circular motions. Avoid Zippos or lighter fluid of any kind—they taint the flavor.

Smoking etiquette

Tim Mossholder / Pexels

Lounge lingo

Herf: A casual, fun, social cigar-smoking get-together.
Tight draw: When it’s hard to puff.
Burn even: When the cigar is burning perfectly along the edges.
Nubbing: Smoking the cigar to its very end.
Dog rocket: A really bad cigar.

Good-to-knows

Sammy-Sander / Pixabay

Plume is a white, powdery bloom made from natural oils. It’s completely natural and a good sign of aging.
Mold is green, blue, or fuzzy and bad. Toss the cigar.

Aging: Letting cigars rest for weeks or months in a humidor, while monitoring them, to allow the tobacco to mellow and the flavors to intensify.

Cuban vs. Non-Cuban: Cubans are cigars from Cuba. They are classic yet expensive, rare, and difficult to get in certain countries. Non-Cuban cigars from Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic have earned serious respect, often matching Cubans in flavor and quality.

A quick recap:

Aging: Resting cigars to boost flavor
Binder: Leaf that secures the filler
Draw: How easy it is to pull smoke
Figurado: A weirdly-shaped cigar (non-cylindrical)
Foot: The end you light
Humidor: Keeps cigars humid and fresh
Plume: White crystals from aging
Ring Gauge: How thick the cigar is
Wrapper: The outer leaf that defines the look and taste

Why it all matters

Aleksandar Andreev / Pexels

Mastering cigar terms smartens you up into an articulate smoker. You’ll pick authentic, superior cigars that you actually like, appreciate them more, and tap into a vibrant culture that celebrates craftsmanship and wind-downs.
Talk the talk, and every toke is more than just smoke – it’s a tale, a bond, an adventure worth relishing.

Source: https://www.themanual.com/culture/cigar-terminology-guide/

[my happy place]

8 hours ago, JohnS said:

Plume is a white, powdery bloom made from natural oils. It’s completely natural and a good sign of aging.
Mold is green, blue, or fuzzy and bad. Toss the cigar.

Sooo plume is powdery bloom

[Fugu]

8 hours ago, my happy place said:

Sooo plume is powdery bloom

Haha, yep right, this ‘case’ has been settled to the greatest possible extent, thanks to FOH.

Meanwhile, even HSA acknowledges these findings eventually. From their current website:

“Prolonged wetness rots tobacco, but you are much more likely to encounter 'bloom'. This is a white, powdery mould that occurs naturally on a Habano when it is subjected to a sudden increase in humidity. It is a sign that the cigar is alive and well and should simply be removed with a brush.“

[my happy place]

6 hours ago, Fugu said:

Haha, yep right, this ‘case’ has been settled to the greatest possible extent, thanks to FOH.

Meanwhile, even HSA acknowledges these findings eventually. From their current website:

“Prolonged wetness rots tobacco, but you are much more likely to encounter 'bloom'. This is a white, powdery, mould that occurs naturally on a Habano when it is subjected to a sudden increase in humidity. It is a sign that the cigar is alive and well and should simply be removed with a brush.“

I've been enjoying the FOH Mould Study thread. Was impressed to see pipe tobacco included in the study.

[BoliDan]

"Plume is a white, powdery bloom made from natural oils. It’s completely natural and a good sign of aging.

Mold is green, blue, or fuzzy and bad. Toss the cigar."

We're still printing this in publications? I think we can get over that A- It's always mold and B- all mold isn't always bad and even used in food like cheese or dry aged steaks.

[Glass Half Full]

I couldn't even finish reading the opening of this. F'ing bs. It's part of what gives us all a bad name. Why be so exclusive??

[joeypots]

I've never been to a herf and I'm not going to one. I'd rather meet up with a few friends and smoke a cigar.

[Chibearsv]

8 hours ago, joeypots said:

I've never been to a herf and I'm not going to one. I'd rather meet up with a few friends and smoke a cigar.

Agree. The last live herf I attended, I didn't even smoke. Mid 60s BlackHawks game at the Chicago Stadium. Photo below (not mine) gives an idea of the cloud. I can still remember the smell today 😁

[Ruggerpgh99]

PLUME?!?!?!?!

[Ford2112]

I probably set cigar smoking back 100 years with my lack of etiquette. Bunch of foo foo hacks online perpetuating this false cigar culture where you have to rotate your cigar counter clockwise, wave it in the air in circles, then cut it. Pair it with a foo foo drink and wear pink clothes. 

I am just some dude who likes cigars. 

[Chibearsv]

1 hour ago, Ford2112 said:

I probably set cigar smoking back 100 years with my lack of etiquette. Bunch of foo foo hacks online perpetuating this false cigar culture where you have to rotate your cigar counter clockwise, wave it in the air in circles, then cut it. Pair it with a foo foo drink and wear pink clothes. 

I am just some dude who likes cigars.

Yep. Try cigars you can afford, identify ones you like or dislike. Smoke the ones you like. Chat with a few people that like cigars too. Or don't. Ta Da! 

I'm with you Robert. And honestly, I don't get too upset with these posts or even videos from what's his name or the other what's his name, since I don't give them any attention. I'm not looking for their culture. Like you, I've found my own. I smoke cigars, listen to music, play some golf, and sometimes I enjoy spending a little time chatting with others doing the same. Cheers Brother!

[MagicalBikeRide]

23 hours ago, JohnS said:

Dog rocket: A really bad cigar.

Unfortunately, where I’m from - a dog rocket is what we call the physical change in a male dog prior to getting the ride. Sometimes elaborated into “the little red dog rocket”. I’d much prefer to smoke a bad cigar than a dog rocket. 

[Chas.Alpha]

2 hours ago, MagicalBikeRide said:

Unfortunately, where I’m from - a dog rocket is what we call the physical change in a male dog prior to getting the ride. Sometimes elaborated into “the little red dog rocket”. I’d much prefer to smoke a bad cigar than a dog rocket. 

I dunno. I’ve had a few that made that li’l red rocket seem almost appealing…

[Chas.Alpha]

21 hours ago, BoliDan said:

"Plume is a white, powdery bloom made from natural oils. It’s completely natural and a good sign of aging.

Mold is green, blue, or fuzzy and bad. Toss the cigar."

We're still printing this in publications? I think we can get over that A- It's always mold and B- all mold isn't always bad and even used in food like cheese or dry aged steaks.

I’m not going too far on this, but when you are enjoying the finest Brie or Camembert, that lovely bread-like crust is actually pure mold. I use a strain called Penicillium Candidum, though many prefer a Geotrichum Candidum or a kitchen made mix of both.

i guess, if your cigar has a thick, bready crust of white plume, you should either discard it or serve it slightly chilled with rice crackers.

CAH

[Montezüma]

22 hours ago, Glass Half Full said:

I couldn't even finish reading the opening of this. F'ing bs. It's part of what gives us all a bad name. Why be so exclusive??

Alot of people wanna get into cigars but find it daunting, these articles are supposed to help, whether they are effective or not is anyone's guess. We don't feel it because we are accustomed and perhaps so much so to the extent where we have established our own position, our own critique. But imagine delving into the world for the first time, it can be rather alienating, especially in a cigar lounge setting where the scene is cigar-oriented. I have come across unusual questions from colleagues new to cigars, such as whether they should twist the band in order to loosen it so that they can slide the band over the head of the cigar to remove it. None of us want to be perceived exclusive because we want more people into cigars, but there is a learning curve nonetheless and might be difficult to see it from the eyes of a seasoned aficionado.

[my happy place]

I understand lounges can have different rules and etiquette can vary. From what I've experienced, the most important rule is don't be an asshole (and that also goes for the lounge owners/managers). Just sticking to that will cover 90%

Are influencers trying to create a cigar "culture"? I'm all for inclusion, but that's annoying. All I want is to enjoy my cigars and maybe the company I'm smoking with.

 

[Glass Half Full]

1 hour ago, Montezüma said:

Alot of people wanna get into cigars but find it daunting, these articles are supposed to help, whether they are effective or not is anyone's guess. We don't feel it because we are accustomed and perhaps so much so to the extent where we have established our own position, our own critique. But imagine delving into the world for the first time, it can be rather alienating, especially in a cigar lounge setting where the scene is cigar-oriented. I have come across unusual questions from colleagues new to cigars, such as whether they should twist the band in order to loosen it so that they can slide the band over the head of the cigar to remove it. None of us want to be perceived exclusive because we want more people into cigars, but there is a learning curve nonetheless and might be difficult to see it from the eyes of a seasoned aficionado.

I hear you and am all for making the hobby more fun for all folks.  And no doubt I overreacted a bit.  

I just don’t care for the promotion of a cool or an “in the know” aspect that, to me, has nothing to do with at least why I enjoy cigars (and music and food, etc.).  To me, this is all about engaging all of our senses more fully, most often thanks to insights from friends with whom you gain even more from these small life experiences.  And in turn you engage more fully with friends.  

…And places like FoH and Alex’s cubancigarwebsite.com provide all the answers and guidance one new to the hobby could possibly need — but with none of the false bravado.  

It’s just about sharing flavors and engaging with good folks.  No secret codes.  

To be sure, there’s a place for nomenclature — using correct terms can help create better understanding. But not knowing all the terms shouldn’t be a barrier.  

You don’t have to be a sommelier to enjoy wine.  And if the house wine is what makes you happy, then ask for a “glass of the red stuff.”  In cafes in France, Italy or Spain I’ll often do exactly that — the “vino tinto por favor” — it’s often delicious and a perfect pairing for lunch.  ‘nuff said.