Here I will describe some of the terms used for naming, sizing and leaf used in the production of Cuban cigars.
Please also take time to watch this video, which covers the complete story of Habanos from setting the seed to the cutting, lighting and smoking of the finished product.
Habanos Video
Habanos Cigars
Current Cigar manufacturers.
Bolivar 
Cohiba 
Cuaba 
Diplomaticos 
El Rey del Mundo 
Fonseca 
H Upmann 
Hoyo de Monterey 
Juan Lopez 
La Gloria Cubana 
Montecristo 
Partagas 
Por Larrañaga 
Punch 
Quai D'Orsay 
Quintero 
Rafael Gonzalez 
Ramon Allones 
Romeo y Julietta 
Saint Luis Rey 
San Cristobel 
Sancho Panzas 
Trinidad 
Vegas Robaina 
VeguerosCigar Shapes and Sizes
First the Ring sizes of cigars. That is their girth. We know that the Cubans have a very good educational system but the understanding of cigar sizes almost requires a degree in higher mathematics. The Ring is measured in 64ths of an inch. Therefore one of the thickest ring sizes i.e. 50 is actually 50x64ths of an inch. Then to completely bamboozle us the length of a Cuban cigar is measured in millimetres.
Names and sizes:
Belicoso 4½ x 52
Churchill 7 x 47
Corona 5½ x 42
Corona Gorda 5 5/8 x 46
Corona Grande 6 x 42
Demi Tasse 4 x 30
Double Corona 8 x 49
Lonsdale 6½ x 42
Panatela 4½ x 26
Petit Corona 5 x 42
Pyramid 7 x 36-54
Robusto 5 x 50
Vitolas
Cubans speak Spanish; so your first lesson.
Vitola refers to the unique description of a cigar. Two cigars of the same vitola have similar measurements and form. For instance, a "Julieta" vitola refers to a cigar of measurements 7 * 47 (or, a length of 7 inches and a diameter of roughly 47/64ths an inch). I know, I know I said lengths were in millimetres well to simplify measurements especially for our brothers from across the pond both measures are used. Therefore, the Cohiba Esplendido, the Hoyo de Monterrey Churchill, the Bolivar Churchill, and the La Gloria Cubana Tainos are all Julieta vitolas.
The Leaf
Taken from Wikipedia:
Tobacco leaves are harvested and aged using a process that combines use of heat and shade to reduce sugar and water content without causing the large leaves to rot. This first part of the process, called curing, takes between 25 and 45 days and varies substantially based upon climatic conditions as well as the construction of sheds or barns used to store harvested tobacco. The curing process is manipulated based upon the type of tobacco, and the desired colour of the leaf. The second part of the process, called fermentation, is carried out under conditions designed to help the leaf die slowly and gracefully. Temperature and humidity are controlled to ensure that the leaf continues to ferment, without rotting or disintegrating. This is where the flavour, burning, and aroma characteristics are primarily brought out in the leaf.
Once the leaves have aged properly, they are sorted for use as filler or wrapper based upon their appearance and overall quality. During this process, the leaves are continually moistened and handled carefully to ensure each leaf is best used according to its individual qualities. The leaf will continue to be baled, inspected, unbaled, re-inspected, and baled again repeatedly as it continues its aging cycle. When the leaf has matured according to the manufacturer's specifications, it will be used in the production of a cigar.
Quality cigars are still hand-made. An experienced cigar-roller can produce hundreds of very good, nearly identical, cigars per day. The rollers keep the tobacco moist—especially the wrapper—and use specially designed crescent-shaped knives, called chavetas, to form the filler and wrapper leaves quickly and accurately. Once rolled, the cigars are stored in wooden forms as they dry, in which their uncapped ends are cut to a uniform size. From this stage, the cigar is a complete product that can be "laid down" and aged for decades if kept as close to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius), and 70% relative humidity, as the environment will allow. According to some experts however, long-term cigar aging requires significantly lower storage temperatures (for example, 40 degrees Fahrenheit is recommended for a 50 year storage). The higher temperatures which are usually used in standard cigar storage will cause the deterioration of the cigar after several years, resulting an eventual corruption of the cigar's flavour. Once cigars have been purchased, proper storage is usually accomplished by keeping the cigars in a specialized wooden box, or humidor, where conditions can be carefully controlled for long periods of time. Even if a cigar becomes dry, it can be successfully re-humidified so long as it has not been handled carelessly.
Some cigars, especially premium brands, use different varieties of tobacco for the filler and the wrapper. "Long filler cigars" are a far higher quality of cigar, using long leaves throughout. These cigars also use a third variety of tobacco leaf, a "binder", between the filler and the outer wrapper. This permits the makers to use more delicate and attractive leaves as a wrapper. These high-quality cigars almost always blend varieties of tobacco. Even Cuban long-filler cigars will combine tobaccos from different parts of the island to incorporate several different flavours in low-grade cigars, chopped up tobacco leaves are used for the filler, and long leaves or even a type of "paper" made from tobacco pulp is used for the wrapper which binds the cigar together.
Composition
Cigars are composed of three types of tobacco leaves, whose variations determine smoking and flavour characteristics:
Wrappers
A cigar's outermost leaves, or wrapper, come from the widest part of the plant. The wrapper determines much of the cigar's character and flavour, and as such its colour is often used to describe the cigar as a whole. Colours are designated as follows, from lightest to darkest:
* Double Claro – very light, slightly greenish (also called Candela, American Market Selection or jade); achieved by picking leaves before maturity and drying quickly; often grown in Connecticut
* Claro – light tan or yellowish. Indicative of shade-grown tobacco.
* Natural – light brown to brown; generally sun-grown.
* Colorado Claro – mid-brown; particularly associated with tobacco grown in the Dominican Republic or in Cuba
* Colorado – reddish-brown (also called Rosado)
* Colorado Maduro – dark brown; particularly associated with Honduran or Cuba-grown tobacco
* Maduro – dark brown to very dark brown
* Oscuro – a.k.a. "Double Maduro", black, often oily in appearance; mainly grown in Cuba, Nicaragua, Brazil, Mexico, and Connecticut, USA
Some manufacturers use an alternate designation:
* American Market Selection (AMS) – synonymous with Double Claro
* English Market Selection (EMS) – can refer to any colour stronger than Double Claro but milder than Maduro
* Spanish Market Selection (SMS) – either of the two darkest colours, Maduro and Oscuro
It is often thought, mistakenly, that the darker the wrapper, the fuller the flavour. If anything, dark wrappers add a touch of sweetness and light ones a hint of dryness to the taste.
Fillers
The majority of a cigar is made up of fillers, wrapped-up bunches of leaves inside the wrapper. Fillers of various strengths are usually blended to produce desired cigar flavours. The more oils present in the tobacco leaf, the stronger (less dry) the filler. Types range from the minimally-flavoured Volado taken from the bottom of the plant, through the light-flavoured Seco (dry) taken from the middle of the plant, to the strong Ligero from the upper leaves exposed to the most sunlight. Fatter cigars of larger gauge hold more filler, with greater potential to provide a full body and complex flavour. When used, Ligero is always folded into the middle of the filler because it burns slowly.
Fillers can be either long or short; long filler uses whole leaves and is of a better quality, while short filler, also called "mixed", uses chopped leaves, stems, and other bits. Recently some manufacturers have created what they term "medium filler" cigars. They use larger pieces of leaf than short filler without stems, and are of better quality than short filler cigars. Short filler cigars are easy to identify when smoked since they often burn hotter and tend to release bits of leaf into the smoker's mouth. Long filled cigars of high quality should burn evenly and consistently. Also available is a filler called "sandwich" (sometimes "Cuban sandwich") which is a cigar made by rolling short leaf inside long outer leaf.
Binders
Binders are elastic leaves used to hold together the bunches of fillers.
Parejo
The most common shape is the parejo, which has a cylindrical body, straight sides, one end open, and a round tobacco-leaf "cap" on the other end which must be sliced off, have a V-shaped notch made in it with a special cutter, or punched through before smoking.
Parejos are designated by the following terms:
* Coronas
o Rothschilds (4 1/2" x 50) after the Rothschild family
o Robusto (4 7/8" x 50)
o Hermosos No. 4 (5" x 48)
o Mareva/Petit Corona (5 1/8" x 42)
o Corona (5 1/2" x 42)
o Corona Gorda (5 5/8" x 46)
o Toro (6" x 50)
o Corona Grande (6 1/8" x 42)
o Cervantes/Lonsdale (6 1/2" x 42), named for Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale
o Dalia (6 3/4" x 43)
o Julieta, also known as Churchill (7" x 47), named for Sir Winston Churchill
o Prominente/Double Corona (7 5/8" x 49)
o Presidente (8" x 50)
o Gran Corona ("A") (9 1/4" x 47)
*
Panatelas – longer and generally thinner than Coronas
o Small Panatela (5" x 33)
o Carlota (5 5/8" x 35)
o Short Panatela (5" x 38)
o Slim Panatela (6" x 34.9)
o Panatela (6" x 38)
o Deliciados/Laguito No. 1 (7 1/4" x 38)
Figurado
Irregularly-shaped cigars are known as figurados and are sometimes considered of higher quality because they are more difficult to make.
Historically, especially during the 19th century, figurados were the most popular shapes, however, by the 1930s, they had fallen out of fashion and all but disappeared. They have, however, recently received a small resurgence in popularity, and there are currently many brands(manufacturers) that produce figurados alongside the simpler parejos. The Cuban cigar brand Cuaba only has figurados in their range.
Figurados include the following:
* Torpedo - Like a parejo except that the cap is pointed.
* Pyramid - Has a broad foot and evenly narrows to a pointed cap.
* Perfecto - Narrow at both ends and bulged in the middle.
* Presidente/Diadema - shaped like a parejo but considered a figurado because of its enormous size and occasional closed foot akin to a perfecto
.
* Culebras - Three long, pointed cigars braided together.
* Tuscanian - The typical Italian cigar, created in the early nineteenth century when Kentucky tobacco was hybridized with local varieties and used to create a long, tough, slim cigar thicker in the middle and tapered at the ends, with a very strong aroma. It is also known as a cheroot, which is the largest selling cigar shape in the United States.
Arturo Fuente, a large cigar manufacturer based in the Dominican Republic, has also manufactured figurados in exotic shapes ranging from chilli peppers to baseball bats and American footballs. They are highly collectible and extremely expensive, when publicly available. In practice, the terms Torpedo and Pyramid are often used interchangeably, even among very knowledgeable cigar smokers. Min Ron Nee, the Hong Kong-based cigar expert whose work An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars is considered to be the definitive work on cigars and cigar terms, defines Torpedo as "cigar slang." Nee thinks the majority is right (because slang is defined by majority usage) and torpedoes are pyramids by another name.
Flavour
Each brand and type of cigar tastes different. While the wrapper does not entirely determine the flavour of the cigar, darker wrappers tend to produce a sweetness, while lighter wrappers usually have a "drier" taste. Whether a cigar is mild, medium, or full bodied does not correlate with quality. Different smokers will have different preferences, some liking one good cigar better than another, others disagreeing.
Cigar smoke, which is rarely inhaled, tastes of tobacco with nuances of other tastes. When smoke is inhaled, as is usual with cigarettes, the tobacco flavour is less noticeable than the sensation from the smoke. Some cigar enthusiasts use a vocabulary similar to that of wine-tasters to describe the overtones and undertones observed while smoking a cigar. A fine cigar can taste completely different to inhaled cigarette smoke.
Many different things affect the scent of cigar smoke: tobacco type, quality of the cigar, added flavours, age and humidity, production method (handmade vs. machine-made) and more.
Non-smokers have different opinions about the scent of cigars smoked by others. Some enjoy the cigar smoke, although they may dislike cigarette smoke. Many do not.
Some enthusiastic cigar smokers keep journals of cigars they've enjoyed, complete with personal ratings, description of flavours observed, sizes, brands, etc. Cigar tasting is in some respects similar to wine and cognac tasting.
Cuban cigars
Cigars manufactured in Cuba are widely considered to be the best, although many experts believe that the best offerings from Honduras and Nicaragua rival those from Cuba. The Cuban reputation is thought to arise from the unique characteristics of the Vuelta Ajabo district in the Pinar del Rio Province at the west of the island, where the microclimate allows high-quality tobacco to be grown.
Cuban cigars are rolled from tobacco leaves found throughout the country of Cuba. The filler, binder, and wrapper may come from different portions of the island. All cigar production in Cuba is controlled by the Cuban government, and each brand may be rolled in several different factories in Cuba. Cuban cigar rollers are claimed to be the most skilled in the world.
The label on Machine-made Cuban cigars—"Made in Cuba"
The label on Hand-made Cuban cigars—"Made in Cuba, completely by hand"
Habanos SA and Cubatabaco between them do all the work relating to Cuban cigars, including manufacture, quality control, promotion and distribution, and export. Cuba produces both handmade and machine made cigars. All boxes and labels are marked Hecho en Cuba (made in Cuba). Machine-bunched cigars finished by hand add Hecho a mano, while fully hand-made cigars say Totalmente a mano in script text. Some cigars show a TC or Tripa Corta, meaning that short filler and cuttings were used in the hand-rolling process.
Yours truly with Sir Jimmy Savile at the launch of the new Hoyo and H.Upmann Mag50s
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