Cigar Fillers:

Cigars 101 • A Brief History of Cigars • Cigar Components • Cigar Wrappers • Cigar Binders • Cigar Fillers • Cigar Sizes • Selecting a Cigar • Common Misnomers    Cigar Glossary • Common Terms • Sizes • Wrappers

  Cigar filler is grown primarily around The Caribbean, Central and South America, and Mexico. The most treasured leaf comes from the Vuelta Abajo region of Cuba which produces a rich, smooth, spicy, sweet flavor that reflects the volcanic soil found there. Often cigars are blended with leaf from other regions, harvests, and countries to produce a wide variety of flavors and strengths that fit different tastes and moods.

  Jamaican filler tends to be lighter in body and sweet. These tobaccos are found in Temple Hall Estates, Macanudo, and Cifuentes to name just a few.

  Dominican filler, reflecting the wide variety of climates, altitudes, and soils found there, offer perhaps the widest variety of characteristics and flavors. As a rule of thumb, these cigars are medium bodied with sweet undertones. Partagas, Davidoff, and Arturo Fuente are some of the best known Dominican cigar manufacturers today.

  Honduran filler tends to provide a richer smoke with coffee tones. Importation of cigars from Honduras is on the incline and it is now the second most imported cigar into the United States. Such cigars as Hoyo de Monterrey, Punch, and Zino are made in Honduras for the American Market.

  Nicaraguan filler is also gaining in popularity and tends to also be rich with spicy and earthy tones. Joya de Nicaragua and Padron Aniversario are noted cigars manufactured in that region.

  Mexican filler has the reputation of being strong, sweet, and spicy. Although many Mexican cigars do portray these characteristics, much Mexican leaf is actually light in body with creamy sweetness! This leaf is often exported and blended in with Jamaican and Dominican tobacco. TeAmo, San Andreas, and Matacan are well known Mexican cigars.