A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder leaf which holds the filler together, and a wrapper leaf, for appearance and flavor, which is often the highest quality leaf used. Often there will be a cigar band printed with the cigar manufacturer's logo. Modern cigars can come with two or more, highlighting special qualities such as age and origin of the tobaccos used.
The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) is an American tobacco manufacturing company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and headquartered at the RJR Plaza Building. Founded by R. J. Reynolds in 1875, it is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Reynolds American, after merging with the U.S. operations of British American Tobacco in 2004.
British American Tobacco plc (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, England. As of 2021, it is the largest tobacco company in the world based on net sales.
The Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) is a Japanese diversified tobacco company. It was established in 1985 as a tokushu gaisha that inherited the right to monopolize and manufacture cigarettes from the Japan Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation and required the government to hold at least 50% of its shares. In addition to tobacco, JT diversified its businesses, establishing the pharmaceutical research institute in 1993 and making a full-scale entry into the food and beverage industry in 1998. In 2008, it acquired the food manufacturer Katokichi, now TableMark, as a wholly-owned subsidiary, integrating its food business.
Imperial Brands plc is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in London and Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco and the world's largest producer of fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers.
Swedish Match AB is a Swedish multinational tobacco company headquartered in Stockholm. The company manufactures snus, nicotine pouches, moist snuff, tobacco- and nicotine-free pouch products, chewing tobacco, chew bags, tobacco bits, cigars, matches, and lighters, with operations in Sweden, Denmark, the United States, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, the Netherlands, and the Philippines. The company's origins can be traced back to 1868, and Ivar Kreuger. Swedish Match has played an important part in Sweden's industrial development.
W.D. & H.O. Wills was a British tobacco manufacturing company formed in Bristol, England. It was the first British company to mass-produce cigarettes, and one of the founding companies of Imperial Tobacco along with John Player & Sons.
Liggett Group, formerly known as Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company, is the fourth largest tobacco company in the United States. Its headquarters are located in Durham, North Carolina, though its manufacturing facility is 30 miles to the west in Mebane, North Carolina. The company is a subsidiary of holding company Vector Group.
John Player & Sons, most often known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. In 1901, the company merged with other companies to form The Imperial Tobacco Company to face competition from US manufacturers. The company also released several series of association football trading cards in the 1930s under the Player's brand.
Gallaher Group was a United Kingdom-based multinational tobacco company which traded on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, prior to its acquisition by Japan Tobacco in April 2007. Japan Tobacco trades in the United Kingdom as Gallaher Ltd.
Shag, also known as rolling tobacco or loose tobacco, is fine-cut tobacco, used to make self-made cigarettes by hand rolling the tobacco into rolling paper or injecting it into filter tubes. It got its name from the finely cut strands appearing like 'shag' fabric and was originally considered poor quality. Various types of cut are used; most shag blends use a simple mixture of cutting styles, consisting mostly of loose cut but also krumble kake, ribbon cut and flake may be used. Some shag blends use cuts reminiscent of pipe tobacco. These were imported to the United Kingdom by Rory Innes following the Virginia tobacco plantations in North America.
Drum is a Dutch brand of fine-cut handrolling tobacco, or shag, introduced in 1952. It was originally produced and distributed by the Douwe Egberts corporation. Douwe Egberts was purchased by the Sara Lee Corporation, which sold Drum to Imperial Brands, the current British producer.
Altadis is a Spanish-French multinational purveyor and manufacturer of cigarettes, tobacco and cigars. It was formed via a 1999 merger between Tabacalera, the former Spanish tobacco monopoly and SEITA, the former French tobacco monopoly. Through its international holdings, including ownership of the former Consolidated Cigar Holdings and half ownership of the Cuban state tobacco monopoly, Habanos S.A., Altadis was the largest producer of mass market and premium cigars in the world, as well as the fourth largest producer of tobacco products.
Golden Virginia is a hand-rolling tobacco brand manufactured in Nottingham, England by Imperial Brands and sold throughout Europe. It is a blend of fine-cut Virginia, burley, and oriental tobaccos. Golden Virginia first appeared in the United Kingdom in 1877, and it is currently sold in 30g and 50g pouches. The pouches have a zip-lock seal to keep the tobacco fresh along with a sticky tab and a packet of Rizla hand-rolling papers with a 30g pouch, and two packets with a 50g pouch.
State Express 555, known as 555 (Three-Fives), is a Westminster, London-based luxurious cigarette originally manufactured in the United Kingdom by the Ardath Tobacco Company. The overseas rights to the brand excluding the United Kingdom, were acquired by British American Tobacco (BAT) in 1925. 555 cigarettes was British commonwealth in the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Canada, Grenada, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Bangladesh, Uganda, Kenya, Mauritius, India, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. In the United Kingdom, 555 cigarettes are registered and manufactured in Westminster, City of Westminster, London. This brand was officially slogan, motto and tagline is Smoothness Above All Else.
Turkish tobacco is a small-leafed variety of tobacco. Its plants usually have a greater number and smaller size leaves than American tobacco, and are typically sun-cured. These differences can be attributed to climate, soil, cultivation and treatment methods. Historically, it was cultivated primarily in Thrace and Macedonia, now divided among Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia and Turkey, but it is now also grown on the Black Sea coast of Turkey, in Egypt, in South Africa and elsewhere.
Prince Albert is an American brand of hand-rolled-cigarette and pipe tobacco, introduced by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in 1907. It has been owned since 1987 by John Middleton Inc.
Scandinavian Tobacco Group is a manufacturer of cigars and traditional pipe tobacco. The city company is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is a publicly listed Company on Nasdaq Copenhagen.
JTI - Japan Tobacco International is the international tobacco division of Japan Tobacco, a leading international tobacco product manufacturer. The holding company is JT International SA and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and sells its brands in 120 countries.
