Which end of a cigar gets cut before you smoke it?

Neither. Premium cigars come open.

What is the foot of a cigar?

The flat bottom of a box-pressed cigar

A cigar is called long filler when the filler is made of what?

Leaves aged longer than three years

Why are humidors lined with Spanish cedar?

It holds moisture, resists warping and adds aroma

It kills beetle eggs on contact

You just bought a new humidor. What comes first?

Season the wood before cigars go in

Wipe it with tap water and close it

Leave it open in the sun for a day

How do you hold a cigar while you light it?

At about 45 degrees, turning it as you go

Flat and still, flame touching the leaf

Using a wooden match, when do you bring it to the cigar?

Once the match head has burned off

Only after it has burned down to your fingers

Why is Connecticut shade tobacco grown under cloth?

To diffuse sunlight and hold in humidity

Quiz · 20 questions

Cigar knowledge quiz

This cigar knowledge quiz is 20 multiple-choice questions that run from the cap to the foot: anatomy, sizes, storage, humidity, lighting and growing regions. Every answer is explained and sourced.

By Cigar Primer · Updated October 22, 2026

Twenty questions from cap to foot

All 20 questions with answers

Which end of a cigar gets cut before you smoke it? (Anatomy)
1. The foot
2. The head, where the cap sits
3. The middle, under the band
4. Neither. Premium cigars come open.
Answer
B. The head, where the cap sits. The cap closes the head. Cut or pierce it, or the smoke has nowhere to go. The head is usually the end nearest the band. Source.
What is the foot of a cigar? (Anatomy)
1. The end you light
2. The end you put in your mouth
3. The flat bottom of a box-pressed cigar
4. The ash once it falls
Answer
A. The end you light. The foot is the open end, the one you toast and light. The head is the other end. Source.
Which leaf is the outermost layer of a cigar? (Anatomy)
1. Binder
2. Filler
3. Wrapper
4. Cap leaf
Answer
C. Wrapper. The wrapper, capa in Spanish, is the leaf you see. It is also the most expensive part of the cigar. Source.
What holds the filler bunch together under the wrapper? (Anatomy)
1. A thin glue wash
2. The binder leaf
3. The cap
4. A paper sleeve
Answer
B. The binder leaf. The binder is a sturdier leaf rolled around the filler bunch. The wrapper goes on over it. Source.
A cigar is called long filler when the filler is made of what? (Anatomy)
1. Leaves aged longer than three years
2. Full leaves
3. Chopped scraps
4. Extra-long stems
Answer
B. Full leaves. Long filler means whole leaves. Short filler uses smaller bits of leaf, and many machine-made cigars are built that way. Source.
What does ring gauge measure? (Size)
1. Circumference in millimeters
2. Diameter in 64ths of an inch
3. Length in quarter inches
4. Weight in grams
Answer
B. Diameter in 64ths of an inch. Ring gauge is diameter, counted in 64ths of an inch. Length is given separately, in inches. Source.
How wide is a 64 ring cigar? (Size)
1. Half an inch
2. One inch
3. One and a half inches
4. 64 millimeters
Answer
B. One inch. 64 sixty-fourths make one inch, which is 25.4 mm. So a 50 ring is about 19.8 mm. Source.
Which classic size runs about 7 inches with a 47 to 50 ring? (Size)
1. Robusto
2. Petit corona
3. Churchill
4. Panatela
Answer
C. Churchill. The Churchill, named for Sir Winston Churchill. Long, classic width, built for an evening. Source.
Short and thick, about 4⅞ inches by a 50 ring. Which size is it? (Size)
1. Robusto
2. Lonsdale
3. Corona
4. Lancero
Answer
A. Robusto. The robusto. The name is Spanish for strong or robust, and the shape fits it. Source.
What sets a torpedo apart from a straight parejo? (Shape)
1. It is box-pressed
2. Its cap is pointed
3. It has no binder
4. It is always over 7 inches
Answer
B. Its cap is pointed. A torpedo is built like a parejo except the cap comes to a point. Torpedo names a shape, not a length. Source.
Narrow at both ends, bulging in the middle. What is it called? (Shape)
1. Perfecto
2. Culebra
3. Belicoso
4. Corona gorda
Answer
A. Perfecto. A perfecto. Any irregular shape like it falls under the wider family called figurados. Source.
What relative humidity do most humidor guides aim for? (Storage)
1. 40 to 50%
2. 55 to 60%
3. Roughly 65 to 72%
4. 80 to 90%
Answer
C. Roughly 65 to 72%. Sources land in the high 60s to low 70s. One puts the ideal around 68 to 72%; another says about 65 to 70%. Source.
Why are humidors lined with Spanish cedar? (Storage)
1. It is the cheapest hardwood
2. It holds moisture, resists warping and adds aroma
3. It kills beetle eggs on contact
4. It blocks light completely
Answer
B. It holds moisture, resists warping and adds aroma. Spanish cedar holds more moisture than most woods, does not warp or cup easily when humid, and lends cigars its scent. Source.
You just bought a new humidor. What comes first? (Storage)
1. Fill it with cigars right away
2. Season the wood before cigars go in
3. Wipe it with tap water and close it
4. Leave it open in the sun for a day
Answer
B. Season the wood before cigars go in. Dry cedar pulls water out of cigars. One common method is a small dish of distilled water inside for 1 to 3 days first. Source.
Left out of a humidor, how fast does a cigar settle to the room's humidity? (Storage)
1. Within 2 to 3 days
2. About a month
3. About six months
4. Never. The wrapper seals it.
Answer
A. Within 2 to 3 days. Two to three days. That is why a sealed box or a humidor matters if you keep cigars longer than a weekend. Source.
Lasioderma serricorne is the scientific name for which pest? (Storage)
1. The cedar moth
2. The tobacco beetle
3. The humidor mite
4. The leaf weevil
Answer
B. The tobacco beetle. The tobacco beetle, also called the cigarette or cigar beetle. It is most notorious for eating dried tobacco leaf, and its eggs hatch only between about 15 and 40 °C. Source.
How do you hold a cigar while you light it? (Lighting)
1. Straight down into the flame
2. At about 45 degrees, turning it as you go
3. Flat and still, flame touching the leaf
4. Foot pointing up
Answer
B. At about 45 degrees, turning it as you go. Hold it at roughly 45 degrees and rotate it. The whole foot catches evenly and the burn starts straight. Source.
Using a wooden match, when do you bring it to the cigar? (Lighting)
1. The instant it strikes
2. Once the match head has burned off
3. After blowing it out
4. Only after it has burned down to your fingers
Answer
B. Once the match head has burned off. Let the match burn past its head first. The striking chemicals flare off, and you light with clean wood flame. Source.
Vuelta Abajo, a famous tobacco region, is in which country? (Regions)
1. Dominican Republic
2. Nicaragua
3. Cuba
4. Honduras
Answer
C. Cuba. Cuba. Vuelta Abajo sits in Pinar del Río Province, at the far western end of the island. Source.
Why is Connecticut shade tobacco grown under cloth? (Regions)
1. To hide it from beetles
2. To diffuse sunlight and hold in humidity
3. To keep it legal to export
4. To make the leaf darker
Answer
B. To diffuse sunlight and hold in humidity. The fabric softens the sun and keeps humidity in. The leaf is used mostly as binder and wrapper on premium cigars. Source.

Where most people drop points

Most misses come from three spots: ring gauge, humidity numbers and the match. They sound simple. They aren't, because the habits people pick up at the counter don't always match the definition. Anatomy trips fewer people, and the parts of a cigar guide covers it end to end.

Is ring gauge the width or the circumference?

Ring gauge is the width, the diameter, in 64ths of an inch. A 64 ring is one inch across. A 50 ring is 50/64 of an inch, about 19.8 mm. People guess circumference because a band wraps around the cigar. Wrong dial. If you want the conversion done for you, the ring gauge converter does it both ways.

Length is separate, in inches. So a 6 x 50 toro is six inches long and 50/64 of an inch thick. Two numbers. Always in that order.

Humidity targets differ a little by source

Humidor guidance clusters between about 65 and 72% relative humidity. One reference says 65 to 70%. Another says 68 to 72%. Both are fine. Smokers argue about two points of humidity the way golfers argue about shafts.

What matters more is steadiness. A cigar out in an ordinary room settles to the room's humidity in two or three days. Big swings dry the wrapper, then swell it. That's when wrappers crack. Pick a number in the range and hold it.

Why does the match have to burn first?

A match head carries the chemicals that make it strike. Let it flare and burn past the head, then bring the clean wood flame to the foot. Hold the cigar at about 45 degrees and turn it so the whole foot catches. You get an even burn from the first draw instead of a canoe.

Two regions that turn up again and again

Vuelta Abajo is a tobacco region in Pinar del Río, at the far western end of Cuba. Its leaf has been grown there since about 1830 and its name is shorthand for high-grade cigar leaf from Pinar del Río.

Connecticut shade is the opposite story. It grows in the Connecticut River valley, under cloth that softens the sun and keeps humidity in. The result is a thin, even, pale leaf, used mostly for binders and wrappers. When you see a light, smooth wrapper, that cloth is often part of why.

Questions about this cigar quiz

How many questions are in the cigar knowledge quiz?

Twenty, in a fresh random order each time you play. They cover anatomy, sizes and shapes, storage and humidity, lighting, and two growing regions.

What is a good score on a cigar quiz?

Fifteen or more out of twenty means you know your way around a humidor. Under ten is normal for anyone in their first year of smoking.

Are the answers checked against real sources?

Yes. Each factual answer links to the reference it came from, and the full list sits at the bottom of the page.

Can I see all the answers without playing?

Yes. Open the answer list under the quiz. Every question is there with its options, the right answer and the reason.

Where each answer is checked

Cigar: anatomy, shades, sizes and storage, Wikipedia
Humidor: humidity, Spanish cedar and seasoning, Wikipedia
Lasioderma serricorne (the tobacco beetle), Wikipedia
Vuelta Abajo, Pinar del Río, Cuba, Wikipedia
Shade tobacco (Connecticut River valley), Wikipedia