Amarillo - A yellow wrapper leaf grown under shade.

Amatista - A glass jar containing 50 or 25 cigars, sealed and sold as factory fresh.

Band - A paper ring around the head of most cigars. Legend has it that cigar bands were invented by Spanish nobles to keep their gloves from being stained. Cigar bands are often printed with the name of the brand, country of origin, and/or indication that the cigar is hand-rolled. They often have colorful graphics, which have made them a popular collectors item.

Barrel - The main body of the cigar.

Belicoso - Traditionally a short, pyramid-shaped cigar, 5 or 5 1/2 inches in length with a shorter, more rounded taper at the head and a ring gauge of 50 or less. Belicoso is often used to describe Coronas or Corona Gordas with a tapered head.

Binder - The portion of leaf used to hold together the blend of filler leaves; with the wrapper and filler, it is one of the three main components in a cigar.

Blend - The mix tobacco in a cigar, including up to five types of filler leaves, a binder leaf and an outer wrapper.

Boite Nature - The cedar box in which many cigars are sold.

Book Style (also, Booking) - A rolling method by which the cigarmaker lays the filler leaves atop one another, then rolls them up like a scroll. Book style, or booking, is common in Honduras. The alternate style is based on the old Cuban method called entubar.

Bouquet - The smell, or nose of a fine cigar. A badly stored cigars can lose its bouquet.

Box - The container used to package cigars.

Box-pressed - The slightly square appearance taken on by cigars packed tightly in a box.

Bull's-Eye Piercer - A device for opening the closed head of A cigar before smoking.

Bunch - Up to four different types of filler tobacco blended to create the body of the cigar. The bunch is held together by the binder.

Bundle - A packaging method designed with economy in mind that uses a cellophane overwrap. It usually contains 25 or 50 cigars, traditionally without bands. Bundles, oftentimes seconds of premium brands, are usually less expensive than boxed cigars.

Burros (also called bulks) - The piles, or bulks, in which cigar tobacco is fermented. They can be six feet tall and are carefully monitored. If the heat level inside them gets too high, the burro is taken apart to slow the fermentation.

Cabinet Selection - Cigars packed in a wooden box rather than the standard cardboard or paper-covered cigar boxes. These are preferable when buying cigars for aging.

Candela - A bright green shade of wrapper, achieved by a heat-curing process that fixes the chlorophyll content of the wrapper while it's still in the barn. Also referred to as double claro.

Cap - A circular piece of wrapper leaf placed at the head of the cigar.

Capa - The cigar's wrapper (also called the binder).

Case - In the cigar production process, workers case (slightly moisten) aged tobacco so it will be easy for hand rollers to work with.

Catador - A professional cigar taster who determines a cigar's qualities of taste, texture and aroma.

Chaveta (roller's knife) - The knife used in a cigar factory for cutting the wrapper leaf.

Churchill - A large Corona-format cigar.

Claro - The lightest in color (like milky coffee) wrapper, usually mild and is also sometimes called a "natural."

Colorado - A medium-brown to brownish-red shade of wrapper tobacco. Colorado cigars are usually aromatic and are associated with well-matured cigars.

Corojos - Plants chosen to provide wrapper leaves and grown under a gauze sunscreen.

Corona - The most familiar size and shape for premium cigars: generally straight-sided with an open foot and a closed, rounded head.

Culebra - A cigar made of three Panetelas braided together.

Curing - The process of drying newly harvested tobaccos.

Diademas - A big cigar with a closed and tapered head, generally about eight inches long; the foot may be open or closed like a Perfecto.

Dominican Republic - East of Cuba with a similar growing climate, the Dominican Republic has recently become a major exporter of cigars, mostly to the U.S.

Double Claro - A cigar, greenish brown, from an unmatured leaf that was dried fast. These cigars are mild or bland with little oil. (See Candela)

Double Corona (also called prominente) - A big cigar, generally 7 1/2 to 8 inches by a 49 to 52 ring gauge.

Draw - The flow of smoke from a cigar.

English Market Selection - a color designation for wrapper leaves that are somewhat lighter in color than Maduro, especially selected for taste and bouquet. Also referred to as Naturals.

Entubar - A rolling method that originated in Cuba. Rather than booking the filler leaves, the roller folds each individual filler leaf back on itself, then bunches the leaves together. Proponents of this method say it creates superior air flow through the cigar, which results in a more even draw and burn.

Escaparates - Cooling cabinets in which cigars are kept at the factory for a few weeks after they have been rolled.

Fermentation - After harvest, the tobacco leaves are gathered in large bulks (or piles), then moistenedand allowed to ferment. Temperatures may reach 140°F before the bulk is broken down and restacked until fermentation stops naturally. This process, called working the bulk, releases ammonia from the tobacco.

Figurado - A Spanish term that refers to cigars with shapes sizes, such as Belicosos, Torpedos, Pyramids, Perfectos and Culebras (see our