Glossary

From UKCFWiki

This page contains a glossary of cigar terms and also a quick reference guide of abbreviations frequently encountered in the cigar world.

[edit] Cigar Terminology

Below are a list of words, terms and phrases often seen used in relation to cigars. Some are Spanish words or phrases, used in Cuba, which have been translated here, others are simply examples of specialized cigar terminology.

General

• Banda Volcano - A fast burning tobacco that is used as a binder
• Binder - A large leaf layer between the filler tobacco and the wrapper
• Blender - A device used to blend the leaves prior to rolling a the cigar
• Body - The part of the cigar held in the hand that is lit
• Box - Cigar boxes are generally made of Cedar wood
• Bunch - The filler part of the cigar which is enclosed in the binder
• Caballeria - A unit of measure used in Cuban plantations
• Canon - A rolled cigar with an unfinished head and foot
• Capa - Wrapper plant
• Capadura - The second harvest of the year
• Capote - Binder
• Casa de tobacco - A wooden hut used to dry the tobacco leaves on
• Centro Fin - The 5th part of the tobacco plant
• Chaveta - A sharp tool used by cigar makers to cut and roll the cigars
• Cigar Cellar - A room sized humidor
• Cigar Cutter - A guillotine used to cut closed cigar heads
• Cigarillo - A cigar made from shredded tobacco leaves
• Cigarito - A cigarette with a tobacco leaf wrapper
• Clarissimo -- The lightest colour of tobacco leaf
• Claro - A light shaded Havana coloured leaf
• Cohiba - Term used by the natives of the Caribbean Islands for tobacco
• Colorado - A reddy-brown coloured tobacco leaf
• Colorado claro - A light brown coloured tobacco leaf
• Coprova - French importer of Cuban cigars
• Corojo - A wrapper plant
• Criollo de sol - The plant used as a binder
• Cubatabaco - A state controlled company that manufactures Cuban cigars
• Curing - The method used to dry tobacco leaves
• Doctor - Plantation managers in Cuba
• Double claro - A very light coloured tobacco leaf
• Escogida - A festival held after the leaves are chosen and graded
• Exhausting - A cigar that has suffered heat loss after fermentation
• Fabrica - Factory where cigars are rolled
• Fabuloso - The biggest cigar
• Filler - The leaves that form the inner part of a cigar
• Finca - A Cuban firm whose sole purpose is to produce tobacco
• Foot - The end part of a cigar that is lit
• Fumar crudo - Holding a cigar in the mouth before lighting
• Gavilla - A sheaf of tobacco leaves
• Guillotine - A straight bladed cigar cutter
• Half-wheel - Another term for a bundle
• Havana - A Cuban rolled cigar
• Hecho a mano -- Hand made
• Head -The end of the cigar that is held in the mouth
• Humidor - A hermetically sealed wooden box, used for storing cigars
• Lancet - Tool used to pierce the closed head of a cigar
• Leaf - The smokeable part of a tobacco plant
• Legero - A fast burning filler tobacco
• Libre de pied - (?free feet?). The two leaves at the bottom of a tobacco plant
• Machine rolled cigar - A cigar that is mechanically rolled as opposed to hand rolled
• Maduro - A browny black coloured cigar leaf
• Maduro colorado - A brown coloured tobacco leaf
• Matt cigar - A cigar with its wrapper coated in a fine film of tobacco
• Matting - Coating cigarillos with a layer of tobacco powder
• Medi tempo - Average burning speed for filler tobacco
• Moho azul - A disease that decimated the Cuban harvest in 1981
• Moistening - Moistening solutions for the second fermentation of tobacco
• Oscuro - The darkest colour of tobacco leaf
• Outer envelope - Another term for wrapper
• Primero Ligero - The fifth stage of the tobacco plant
• Puro - Spanish word for Cigar
• Regalia - Another term for wrapper
• Ring- The printed paper ring placed around a cigar near the head
• Roller - A cigar maker who rolls cigar
• San Juan y Martinez - A famous village in the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio
• Seal of authenticity - A band placed on boxes of Havanas to guarantee origin
• Seco - A slow burning filler tobacco
• Semillero - A tobacco plant nursery
• Stripper -- A female worker who removes the central veins of the leaves
• Tobaco- Spanish word for tobacco
• Tabla de torcer - The working surface of the roller
• Tapado - A field of tobacco
• Tercio - A sheaf of tobacco leaves during their treatment at the factory
• Tripa - Filler plant
• Uno y medio - A single leaf of tobacco plant on the third level of the plant
• Vega - A growing plot
• Veguero - Someone who plants the tobacco
• Vista - -A decorative image placed on the lid of cigar boxes
• Vitole - A wooden board used to grade cigars
• Vitolphilia - The art of collecting Cigar rings
• Volado - A fast burning tobacco filler
• Wilde - A term used for bunch-like cigarillos
• Wrapper - Outer leaf of a cigar

Vitola and Shapes

• Belicoso - A shell shaped cigar made by Bolivar and other brands
• Chico - A slim cigar (60-120mm long)
• Churchill - Large cigar measuring approximately 7" x 50 ring gauge (named for Sir Winston Churchill)
• Corona - A parejo shaped cigar, usually about 5.5” in length
• Corona gigante - Double corona by Bolivar
• Corona grande - An alternative term for a double corona
• Corona major - Upmann tubo
• Corona senior - Partagas tubo
• Culebras -- Novel looking cigars made from three individual, interwoven cigars
• Degado - The smallest cigar (4cm) ever manufactured
• Demi-Tasse - A cigar measuring 7-10cm
• Double corona - A corona cigar measuring 17-24cm in length
• Half corona - Short corona, measuring 7-8cm
• Immenso - A non-standard very large cigar
• Lonsdale - A corona measuring approximately 6.5" x 42 ring gauge (named for the 5th Earl of Lonsdale)
• Magnum - A large potbellied cigar
• Microscopio - Non standard size of small cigar
• Pantela - A cigar with a straight slim body around 120-130mm
• Parejo – Straight sided cigar with rounded cap (see also corona)
• Perfecto - Cigar with a cylindrical body narrowing at the foot
• Pyrmidos - Shell shaped cigar
• Small corona - A corona measuring 9-12cm in length
• Torcedo - A large potbellied cigar

Cigar Specific

• "A" - A 9.25" x 47 ring gauge double corona made by Montecristo
• Belvedere - A corona by Partagas
• Bombone - A cigar made by La Escepcion de Jose Gener
• Cedros - A cigar made by Romeo y Julieta
• Connaisseur - A very high quality range of cigar made by Partagas
• Convicale - Cigar made by Rafael Gonzalez
• Culebras -- Small cigars made from three individual interwoven cigars
• Dom Perignon - The largest Davidoff cigar
• Diadema - Cigar by Punch
• Dulcinea - Cigar by Sancho Panza
• Epicure - Very high quality cigars by Hoyo de Monterrey
• Havana club - A giant double corona that was made by Dunhill
• Jaino - Cigar made by El Rey del Mundo
• Koh-I-Noor - A cigar measuring 1.70m made in Cuba by Henry Clay
• Lancero - The largest cigar made by Cohiba
• Longo - Cigar made by Hoyo de Monterrey
• Lunch Club - Corona by El Rey del Mundo
• Lusitanias - A double corona made by Partagas
• Mille Fleurs – Machine made cigars by Ramon Allones and Romeo y Julieta
• Minuto - Cigar by La Gloria Cubana
• Montecarlo - Pantella by Por Larrnaga
• Palmita - Cigar by Gispert
• Quijote -- Cigar by Sancho Panza
• Sancho - -Cigar by Sancho Panza
• Toscani - A very strong Italian cigar

[edit] Abbreviations

General

• BOTL - Brother Of The Leaf
• CC - Cuban Cigar
• Herf - to smoke a cigar, or a meeting for the purpose of smoking cigars
• NC - Non-Cuban [cigar]
• MRN - Min Ron Nee (author of Illustrated Encyclopedia of Post Revolution Havana Cigars)
• EL - Edicion Limitada (Limited Edition, three to five per year)
• ER - Edicion Regional (Regional Edition)

Brands

• ERDM - El Rey del Mundo
• HdM - Hoyo de Monterrey
• JL - Juan Lopez
• MC - Montecristo
• PL - Por Larrañaga
• RG - Rafael González
• RA - Ramon Allones
• RyJ - Romeo y Julieta
• SLR - Saint Luis Rey
• SC - San Cristobal de La Habana
• SP - Sancho Panza
• VR - Vegas Robaina

Vitola (size)

• DC - Double Corona
• DT - Demi Tasse
• PC - Petit Corona
• PE - Petit Edmundo
• PR - Petit Robusto
• SC - Short Churchill (Romeo y Julieta)

Cigar Specific

• BP - Black Prince (Punch)
• CoRo - Cohiba Robusto
• Epi Esp - Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure Especial
• Exi3 - Romeo y Julieta Exhibicion No.3 (also Exi4)
• PLPC - Por Larranaga Petit Corona
• RASCC - Ramon Allones Small Club Corona
• RASS - Ramon Allones Specially Selected
• SD4 - Partagas Serie D No.4 (also other Serie vitolas eg. SP2)