A cigar is made up of dried tobacco that is rolled in a bundle. This bundle of rolled tobacco is ignited at one end, in order to be smoked at the other. The term cigar has been derived from the Spanish term cigarro. Before the mechanized manufacture of the cigars they were rolled by hand. Infact some cigars even today are rolled by hands and the boxes of such cigars bear the insignia handmade.

The history of cigars can be dated back to as early as the 10th century but it was not until the 19th century that cigar smoking became common. According to a survey conducted in the late nineties there has been a significant increase in the cigar smoking amongst young adult males. It is increasingly becoming popular among university students.

The cigars are composed of wrappers, fillers and binders. A wrapper composes the outer part of the cigar used to bind the filling together. They are made up of tobacco leaves that are the important determinants of the cigars overall flavor and color. The darker the wrapper, the sweeter the cigar will be.Then comes the fillers. The fillers are the dried up tobacco leaves that are filled and wrapped inside the wrapper. The strength of the fillers varies depending upon the quanitity of oil used in the tobacco leaves. The larger the quantity of oil present, the stronger the cigar will be. Different sizes of the fillers are available ranging from long to short fillers. Where the long fillers are of a better quality and consistent the short fillers also known as the mixed fillers are of a comparatively inferior quality and do not burn evenly in the smokers mouth. Cigars that are composed of medium fillers are more commonly used. A sandwich also known as the Cuban sandwich is a popular filler.Whereas as the name suggests the binders are used for performing the function of holding the bunches of fillers together.There are several kinds of cigars, the most common ones being the blunt and the cuban cigars.

Further the cigars are available in several flavors and sizes. Each brand of cigar has a different taste. A cigar can be mild, medium or either full bodied. The popularity of a particular flavor depends on the individual preferences of the smokers. As for the size of the cigar the most common shape is the parejo cigar in which the cigar has a cylindrical body with one end open and the opther closed with a cap, that is sliced off using a cigar cutter.