How to Find Out if Your Cigar Is Organic

If you enjoy cigars, you likely appreciate their purity, smell, and unique flavor. But there is a huge difference between handmade premium cigars and machine-made varieties. While some cigars can be considered organic, most cannot.

What "Organic" Means

While organic has become a buzzword in marketing, what it really means is that produce or agricultural material is grown and produced without the use of pesticides, genetically modified organisms or radiation.

For a product to be labeled organic, a government-approved representative must inspect the farm and the produce and certify that all requirements are met. It is a rigorous and thorough process, so few farms and producers meet the standards.

Most Cigars Cannot Be Classified As Organic

The best cigars are made out of 100 percent tobacco, while other, cheaper versions main contain paper, preservatives or other additives. Premium cigars are natural agricultural products, like apples or oranges. However, most cigars cannot be classified as organic because of how cigars are made.

How Cigars Are Made

Cigars are either machine-made or handmade. Machine-made cigars are cheaper and may have fillers, or lesser quality tobacco, in order to churn out many cigars quickly and efficiently. Handmade cigars are more expensive, but that's because the process to create them is more time-consuming and the ingredients are purer.

Handmade cigars are made completely of tobacco, including the filler, binder and outer wrapper. Those who enjoy smoking cigars almost always prefer handmade cigars, if they can afford them.

Most Cigars Are Not Organic

However, even handmade cigars made out of 100 percent tobacco can rarely be classified as organic. Tobacco plants can be delicate. And to rid the fields of pests and to fertilize the soil, many farmers must resort to commercial fertilizer and pesticides.

That approach makes an organic classification impossible. But that doesn't mean the cigars are inferior; they are still created at a high standard. Since most cigar companies follow at least some of the procedures for growing and processing premium cigar tobacco organically, the majority of premium handmade cigars might possibly be considered semi-organic.

Plasencia Reserva Organic Cigars 

According to a famous online cigar retailer, there is only one 100 percent certified organic brand of cigars, and that brand is Plasencia Reserva Organic Cigars.

The tobacco used in Plasencia Reserva Organic Cigars is grown on farms that have passed independent organic inspectors' certifications. The companies production capacity is limited to 250,000 cigars a year, a small number.

That's because of how rigorous the farming and production process is to ensure quality, organic cigars. But that also means that Plasencia products are also more expensive than many other handmade brands.

Finding Quality Cigars

connoisseur If you are a cigar connoisseur and organic is important to you, finding a true organic cigar can be difficult. To date, Plasencia is the only producer selling certified-organic cigars. But as more attention is paid to farming practices, it is likely other companies will attempt to reproduce Plasencia's approach and will try to create other organic versions.