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Chapter IV
Cigar anatomy
Think of a cigar as a small building. The outer wall must look right and burn. The binder is the beam. The rooms inside need air.
Wrapper
The most expensive visible leaf. It supplies a large share of flavor, especially on thinner cigars, and all of the first impression. Tears, coarse veins, and blotchy color cut the price. See wrapper colors and types.
Binder
It does not have to be pretty. It does have to stretch and burn. Without a decent binder the bunch slumps or dies.
Filler
Long filler stacks whole leaves of different positions. Short filler is scrap. A sandwich blend wraps long leaf around scraps.
Cap and head
The end you put in your mouth. The cap is a small piece of leaf glued on. Cut too much and it unravels; cut too little and it will not draw. See how to cut.
Foot
The lighting end. A parejo is open and flat. A perfecto may be closed at both ends and needs a small face opened first.
Band
Paper, not structure. Some people remove it at once; others wait until the glue warms so the wrapper does not tear. See etiquette.
Related chapters
Wrapper colors and types
From candela to oscuro, and common wrapper families: Connecticut, Habano, Corojo, San Andrés, Cameroon.
Shapes, vitolas, and ring gauge
What a vitola is, how ring gauge is measured, and typical sizes for Corona, Robusto, Churchill, Torpedo, and Perfecto.
Rolling
How a roller builds the bunch, applies binder and wrapper, finishes a triple cap, and why draw tests matter.