A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into

the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Canary Islands (Spain), Italy and the Eastern United States. The word cigar originated from the Spanish cigarro, which in turn probably derives from the Mayan sicar ("to smoke rolled tobacco leaves" from si'c, "tobacco;"). There is also a possible derivation, or at least an influence, from the Spanish cigarra ("cicada"), due to their similar shape. The English word came into general use in 1730.

How to roll a cigar:

1. Get some cigar tobacco leaf and put it in a plastic bag. 2. Take the conditioned leaf and set it out in a line approximately 3 feet long. 3. Grab a fist's worth of the layered leaf and cut it with scissors about 1/2 to one inch on either side of the fist. 4. For the binder, take a large leaf and make it pliable. 5. Do the same thing with a finer leaf, and there is your wrapper. 6. Make a mixture of 1/4 teaspoon of flour and about 2 to 3 tablespoons of water. 7. Take a binder leaf and set it on your rolling surface with the thick veins (the underside of the leaf) facing up. 8. Twirl the ends, cut them, or put that little piece of cap on the end (like the professionals do).

 Why are cigars so expensive:

A great deal of time, labor and skill go into the making of a cigar, all of which are reflected in its final cost. The process of making a cigar, from the time the tobacco is planted until the time it is rolled into a finished cigar, can take more than three years and can involve several hundred people.

1. At each stage of its development (growing, harvesting, curing, fermentation) tobacco is carefully and constantly monitored by highly skilled experts to ensure consistency and quality in its taste, texture and appearance. Throughout the process each leaf is constantly assessed, graded and sorted on the basis of its color, size and burning characteristics. 2. the tobacco is aged for up to three years or more to attain additional depth and complexity of flavor and then passed on to a master blender who combines several types of tobacco in varying amounts to achieve a specific strength and flavor. 3. The tobacco is then entrusted to the hands of a master cigar maker (atorcedore), a very skilled craftsman who must be able to combine the filler, binder and wrapper tobaccos in such a way that the cigar looks smooth and even in appearance while meeting construction standards that will enable it to burn properly. 4. The finished cigars are again sorted by color (so that all cigars in a box look similar). 5. The cigars are packaged for final sale, finished with cigar bands and packed into cedar boxes that often feature expensive lithographic artwork. Then and only then are the finished cigars shipped by plane or ship to a regional distributor, who must then keep them in a specially humidified room to ensure that they retain their flavor and smoking characteristics.