Editing Cigar (section)

=== Filler ===
[[File:Long-Filler.jpg|thumb|Long-leaf filler as used in a hand-rolled cigar (slightly crumbled during cutting)]]

The bulk of a cigar is "filler"—a bound bunch of tobacco leaves. These leaves are folded by hand to allow air passageways down the length of the cigar, through which smoke is drawn after the cigar is lit.<ref name=Bati27 /> A cigar rolled with insufficient air passage is referred to by a smoker as "too tight"; one with excessive airflow creating an excessively fast, hot burn is regarded as "too loose". Considerable skill and dexterity on the part of the cigar roller is needed to avoid these opposing pitfalls—a primary factor in the superiority of hand-rolled cigars over their machine-made counterparts.<ref name=Bati27 />

By blending various varieties of filler tobacco, cigar makers create distinctive strength, aroma, and flavor profiles for their various branded products. In general, fatter cigars hold more filler leaves, allowing a greater potential for the creation of complex flavors. In addition to the variety of tobacco employed, the country of origin can be one important determinant of taste, with different growing environments producing distinctive flavors.
[[File:Short filler cigar Balmoral sumatra.jpg|thumb|Short or chopped filler]]

The [[fermentation]] and aging process adds to this variety, as does the particular part of the tobacco plant harvested, with bottom leaves (Spanish: {{lang|es|volado}}) having a mild flavor and burning easily, middle leaves (Spanish: {{lang|es|seco}}) having a somewhat stronger flavor, with potent and spicy [[ligero]] leaves taken from the sun-drenched top of the plant. When used, ligero is always folded into the middle of the filler bunch due to its slow-burning characteristics.

Some cigar manufacturers purposely place different types of tobacco from one end to the other to give the cigar smokers a variety of tastes, body, and strength from start to finish.

If full leaves are used as filler, a cigar is said to be composed of "long filler". Cigars made from smaller bits of leaf, including many machine-made cigars, are said to be made of "short filler".

[[File:Largest cigar.jpg|thumb|World's largest cigar at the Tobacco and Matchstick Museum in [[Skansen]], Stockholm, Sweden]]
If a cigar is completely constructed (filler, binder, and wrapper) of tobacco produced in only one country, it is referred to in the cigar industry as a "puro", from the Spanish word for "pure".