Editing Cigar (section)

== Manufacture ==
[[File:Cohiba sigaro.jpg|thumb|An aged tobacco leaf being examined]]
[[File:CigarMakersPR.jpg|thumb|left|Cigar makers in [[Puerto Rico]], c. 1942]]
[[File:InleCigars.webm|thumb|left|Cigars making in [[Inle Lake]] ([[Myanmar]])]]

Tobacco leaves are harvested and aged using a [[curing of tobacco|curing]] process that combines heat and shade to reduce sugar and water content without causing the larger leaves to rot. This takes between 25 and 45 days, depending upon climatic conditions and the nature of sheds used to store harvested tobacco. Curing varies by type of tobacco and desired leaf color. A slow [[fermentation (biochemistry)|fermentation]] follows, where temperature and humidity are controlled to enhance flavor, aroma, and burning characteristics while forestalling rot or disintegration.

The leaf will continue to be baled, inspected, un-baled, re-inspected, and baled again during the aging cycle. When it has matured to manufacturer's specifications it is sorted for appearance and overall quality, and used as filler or wrapper accordingly. During this process, leaves are continually moistened to prevent damage.

Quality cigars are still handmade.<ref name="theCigar">{{cite book |last=Butcher |first=Vernon A. |title=The Cigar |year=1949 |publisher=Standard Press |location=Orange, New Jersey}}</ref> An experienced cigar-roller can produce hundreds of 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.<ref name="theCigar" /> Once rolled, the cigars are stored in wooden forms as they dry, in which their uncapped ends are cut to a uniform size.<ref name="theCigar" /> From this stage, the cigar is a complete product that can be "laid down" and aged for decades if kept as close to 21&nbsp;°C (70&nbsp;°F) and 70% [[relative humidity]] as possible. Once purchased, proper storage is typically in a specialized [[Cedrela odorata|cedar]]-lined wooden [[humidor]].

[[File:CigarEyipantla 05.JPG|thumb|Vendor rolling cigars at the [[Eyipantla Falls]] in [[San Andrés Tuxtla]], Mexico]]

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, called 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 flavors.

In low-grade and machine-made cigars, chopped tobacco leaves are used for the filler, and long leaves or a type of "paper" made from reconstituted tobacco pulp is used for the wrapper.<ref name="theCigar" /> Chopped leaves and a pulp wrapper alter the flavor and burning characteristics of the result vis-a-vis handmade cigars.

Historically, a ''lector'' or reader was employed to entertain cigar factory workers. This practice became obsolete once [[audiobook]]s for portable music players became available, but it is still practiced in some Cuban factories.

=== Dominant manufacturers ===
[[File:Four cigars.jpg|thumb|Cigars (top to bottom) by [[H. Upmann]], [[Montecristo (cigar)|Montecristo]], [[Macanudo (cigar)|Macanudo]], [[Romeo y Julieta (cigar)|Romeo y Julieta]]]]

Two firms dominate the cigar industry, [[Altadis]] and the [[Scandinavian Tobacco Group]].

Altadis, a Spanish-owned private concern, produces cigars in the US, the Dominican Republic, and Honduras, and owns a 50% stake in Corporación [[Habanos S.A.]], the state owned national Cuban tobacco company. It also makes cigarettes. The Scandinavian Tobacco Group produces cigars in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and the United States; it also makes [[pipe tobacco]] and fine cut tobacco. The Group includes [[General Cigar Co.]]<ref name=Rarick/>

The town of [[Tamboril, Dominican Republic|Tamboril]] in Santiago, Dominican Republic is considered by many as today's "Cigar Capital of the World" housing more cigar factories and rollers than anywhere else in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ultimatecigarparty.com/dbl-cigars-by-francisco-almonte/|title=DBL Cigars|last=Almonte|first=Francisco}}</ref> According to ''Cigar Aficionado'' magazine, 44% of the world's most traded cigars come from the Dominican Republic, the world's largest producer of cigars,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tobaccoasia.com/features/best-cigars-not-just-havanas/|title=Best Cigars: It's Not Just Havanas|date=16 May 2017|website=Tobaccoasia}}</ref> especially from the fertile lands of the Cibao capital, where 90% of the factories are located.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://acento.com.do/2015/economia/8243392-santiago-de-los-caballeros-es-el-cluster-del-cigarro-mas-cotizado-del-mundo/|title=Santiago de los Caballeros, clúster del cigarro más cotizado del mundo|last=Peña|first=Alexander|date=25 April 2015|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612163545/https://acento.com.do/2015/economia/8243392-santiago-de-los-caballeros-es-el-cluster-del-cigarro-mas-cotizado-del-mundo/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The area has also been the largest supplier of cigars to the US in the last decades.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/cuban-cigars-will-come-to-us-but-wont-bogart-industry.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402202736/http://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/cuban-cigars-will-come-to-us-but-wont-bogart-industry.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 April 2016|title=Cuban Cigars Can Now Come to U.S. Will Anyone Care?|last=Yakowicqs|first=Will|date=17 March 2016|website=Inc.com}}</ref>

=== Families in the cigar industry ===
Nearly all modern premium cigar makers are members of long-established cigar families, or purport to be, most originally rooted in the historic [[Cuban cigar]] industry. The art and skill of hand-making premium cigars has been passed from generation to generation. Families are often shown in many cigar advertisements and packaging.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/Cigar_Stars_Profile/0,2547,138,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100306190019/http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/Cigar_Stars_Profile/0,2547,138,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 March 2010 |title=The Change at C.A.O. &#124; Cigar Stars |magazine=Cigar Aficionado |date=1 April 2004 |access-date=25 October 2010}}</ref>[[File:ToscanoClassico (orizzontale).jpg|thumb|A [[Toscano (cigar)|Tuscan]] cigar]]
In 1992, ''[[Cigar Aficionado]]'' magazine created the "Cigar Hall of Fame" and recognized the following six individuals:<ref name="hof">{{cite web |url=http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Archives/CA_Show_Article/0,2322,1320,00.html |title=Cigar Aficionado Magazine Cigar Hall of Fame |publisher=Cigaraficionado.com |date=1 December 2002 |access-date=25 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718210237/http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Archives/CA_Show_Article/0,2322,1320,00.html |archive-date=18 July 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Edgar M. Cullman, Chairman, General Cigar Company, New York, United States
* [[Davidoff|Zino Davidoff]], Founder, Davidoff et Cie., [[Geneva]], Switzerland
* Carlos Fuente Sr., Chairman, Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia., [[Santiago de los Caballeros]], Dominican Republic
* [[Frank Llaneza]], Chairman, Villazon & Co., [[Tampa, Florida]], United States
* Stanford J. Newman, Chairman, [[J.C. Newman Cigar Company]], Tampa, Florida, United States
* Ángel Oliva Sr. (founder); Oliva Tobacco Co., Tampa, Florida, United States

==== Other families in the cigar industry (2015) ====
* Manuel Quesada (MATASA Current CEO) Fonseca, Casa Magna, Quesada cigars, Dominican Republic
* Don José "Pepín" Garcia, Chairman, El Rey de Los Habanos, Miami, Florida, United States
* Aray Family – Daniel Aray Jr, Grandson of Founder (1952) Jose Aray, ACC Cigars, Guayaquil Ecuador, San Francisco, CA, Miami Florida, Macau SAR, Shanghai China.
* EPC – Ernesto Perez-Carillo, Founder EPC Cigar Company (2009), Miami, Florida, United States
* Nestor Miranda – Founder, Miami Cigar Company (1989) Miami, FL, United States
* Blanco family – Jose "Jochy" Blanco, son of Founder (1936) Jose Arnaldo Blanco Polanco, Tabacalera La Palma, Santiago, Dominican Republic
* [[Hermann Dietrich Upmann]], founder of the [[H. Upmann]] brand 1844 in Cuba