What is a premium cigar?

The answer to this question lies in the difference between the long filler and the short filler cigar, that is, between hand-rolled cigars made using whole tobacco leaves and machine-made cigars filled with shredded tobacco.

Though the eventual repercussions of making this differentiation could imply a decrease in the demand for short fillers, as it may make them seem less desirable, behind the production process are centuries of tradition. Evidently, prior to the introduction of machines, short fillers were also rolled by hand. Short filler cigars and the Indonesian and Brazilian tobaccos which are most commonly used to fill them, are no worse nor better than long fillers and the Caribbean tobaccos therein, only different; just as a German Riesling is no better or worse than a French Chardonnay.

The designation totalmente a mano represents the supreme discipline of long fillers. The term is stamped on the bottom of all corresponding boxes of cigars. This is also implicit in the term tripa larga (long filler). This term tells you that the cigars were rolled entirely by hand starting with the bunch (also known as the doll, i.e. the filler made of long tobacco leaves plus the binder) to the final rolling of it with the wrapper.

When the term hecho a mano is used, it means that a machine was involved in producing the bunch. The wrapper is then attached by hand.

There are also medium fillers, where the bunch contains a combination of small-cut leaves and whole tobacco leaves. They are normally rolled by hand.

The quality of the tobacco also plays a role in the concept of the premium cigar. In Cuba, for example, the best tobaccos grow in the Pinar del Rio region. Tobacco is also grown in the Oriente region, but it is mainly used for local consumption, or for cigarettes. Of course, there are also differences in quality among tobaccos from Pinar del Rio. For example, tobaccos that will only be used for Cohiba brand cigars.

These aspects are all reflected in the price. To what extent they are reflected in the taste of the cigars, aficionados have to decide for themselves.