Short Filler Cigars, Made from Premium Cuttings

Short filler cigars

What Is a Short Filler Cigar?

A short filler cigar is filled with cut pieces of tobacco leaf instead of whole leaves that run its full length. Those pieces usually come from the cuttings left over when long filler cigars are made, and a binder gathers them into a bunch before the wrapper goes on. In Spanish, short filler is called tripa corta.

At Cigar Co Lab, we make ours by hand in Estelí, Nicaragua. There are two levels: ultra-premium, which is our Cuban sandwich (a mixed filler cigar), and premium, which is true short filler.

Are Short Filler Cigars Good?

Yes, when they’re made from good tobacco. On flavor consistency and on how the flavor develops through the smoke, long filler comes out ahead, and we won’t pretend otherwise. Beyond those two points, neither is better, a little like Cuban and non-Cuban tobacco: each has its own character. Short filler is a different style of cigar at a lower price point, and it can be a very enjoyable smoke.

What goes into the filler matters as much as the format, and not all short filler is made the same way. We’ve heard stories of small bits of trash, and even twigs, turning up in it. Our cuttings come only from premium and ultra-premium tobacco, so a lower-priced cigar can still give a premium experience.

Our Cuban sandwich adds half or quarter leaves, or both, to those cuttings, which brings it closer to long filler.

Short Filler vs. Long Filler Cigars

The main difference is the filler itself. Long filler cigars are built from whole leaves, while short filler is made from cut pieces. That one difference shows up in four ways:

• Flavor. With whole leaves, a long filler cigar can open one way and finish another. Short filler is simpler, and its taste changes less from the first puff to the last.
• Consistency. Blending with whole leaves gives more control, so long filler is easier to keep the same from one cigar to the next.
• Burn. Cut filler tends to burn a little faster and warmer, so a short filler cigar is usually a quicker smoke than a long filler cigar of the same size.
• Price. Short filler costs less, which makes it the value choice of the two.

The Cuban sandwich sits in between, mixing both kinds of filler.

What Is a Cuban Sandwich Cigar?

A Cuban sandwich is a handmade cigar whose filler mixes long filler leaves, or parts of them, with short filler, which is why it is also called a mixed filler cigar. Despite the name, “Cuban sandwich” refers to how the filler is put together, not to Cuban tobacco.

Our ultra-premium short filler is a Cuban sandwich.

Is a Cuban sandwich cigar long filler or short filler?

A Cuban sandwich is a hybrid of the two. We classify ours as short filler, even though it comes closer to long filler.

Some factories sell Cuban sandwiches as long filler. We would rather every cigar be exactly what it claims to be, which is why we sell ours as short filler.

Good tobacco costs real money. If a cigar is sold as long filler at a price that looks far too low, it most likely has lower-grade tobacco, weaker construction, or a filler that isn’t what the label says. When a deal seems too good to be true, it usually is.

How Is a Cuban Sandwich Cigar Made?

A Cuban sandwich is made in layers: whole or partial leaves go in with the short filler cuttings, a binder wraps them into a bunch, and a wrapper leaf is rolled on last. As a Cuban sandwich cigar manufacturer, we build ours by hand in our short filler factory in Estelí, from the inside out, then check them:

1. Cuttings. Premium and ultra-premium tobacco, sorted by strength and blended evenly.
2. Partial leaves. Half leaves, quarter leaves, or both, laid in with the cuttings inside the binder. They add consistency and structural integrity, help the cigar burn evenly, and may let the flavor develop a little through the smoke.
3. Double binder. Two premium binder leaves wrap the bunch, keeping the flavor consistent and the burn steady.
4. Premium wrapper. Leaf from a grade usually reserved for premium long filler cigars. The wrapper gives much of the cigar’s flavor.
5. Quality control. Our team weighs the cigars several times and checks their look and feel.

Who Are Short Filler Cigars For?

Short filler suits smokers who want a good cigar for less, and settings that aren’t ideal for a long filler cigar:

• New smokers. An affordable, enjoyable way into cigars.
• Value smokers. An everyday cigar that’s easy on the wallet.
• The golf course. For example, you set your cigar down between shots, so a well-made short filler often makes more sense than your finest long filler.

For businesses, short filler can mean a house brand for a cigar lounge or smoke shop, a lower-priced line for distributors or an established brand, or custom branded cigars for a club or company golf outing.

Ultra-Premium and Premium Short Filler

We make short filler at two quality levels, set apart by what goes inside the binder, the binder itself, and the wrapper.

• Ultra-premium short filler. Our Cuban sandwich: sorted cuttings with half or quarter leaves (or both), a premium double binder, and a premium wrapper.
• Premium short filler. True short filler: sorted cuttings only, a single binder, and a quality wrapper.

Our Cuban sandwich is priced above our premium short filler and below our long filler.

In our experience, the binder and wrapper set much of a short filler cigar’s flavor. Swap the wrapper or binder tobacco, and the blend can change significantly. To learn what each part of a cigar does, see our cigar tobacco guide.

Your blend can be fully custom (built with you from scratch) or one of our short filler factory blends. Either way, you smoke sample cigars and approve the blend before production starts. The length and ring gauge are your call too.

How We Make Our Short Filler

Every one of our short filler cigars is made by hand, with 100% leaf tobacco from the filler to the wrapper. That sets them apart from many machine-made cigars, which use a binder or wrapper of homogenized tobacco, made by mixing chopped tobacco with a cellulose adhesive and forming it into sheets.

Our short filler tobacco starts as cuttings from premium and ultra-premium production, and we sort them into mild, medium, and full blends.

For exceptionally large orders, we can also bring in sorted short filler in commercial quantities from other large factories in Estelí. Like our own cuttings, it is premium and ultra-premium tobacco only. We get it through standing relationships built over decades, in an industry where trust is hard-won.

Our short filler cigars are made in a factory of their own in Estelí, about 1 km (a little over half a mile) from our long filler factory. It is set up around what this format needs, so the whole operation runs smoothly.

Finished cigars go through our quality control, where they are compared with the reference cigars we keep for each blend.

Bundles, Boxes, and Bands

Short filler cigars usually ship in bundles, in plain wooden boxes, or in lower mid-tier boxes. A plain wooden box gives an old-school look, and your logo can be hot-stamped in foil or burned into the wood. If you choose bundles, you decide how many cigars each one holds. Our custom cigar boxes page shows the full range of styles.

Your cigars can go unbanded (no band at all) or carry a simple to mid-tier band. Our custom cigar bands page walks through the options. The boxes and bands come from our vetted partners, and we manage that work for you.

Working with Cigar Co Lab

We’re tobacco guys at heart, and we work best with clients who care about the leaf and the process. New to it all? We’re happy to teach.

The cigar business can be a wild one, and we learned much of it the hard way, so you get the benefit of those lessons. And we’ll always give you a straight answer.

You can order any service on its own, but the best value comes from letting us manage all of it. As a full service manufacturer, we can act as your chief operations officer (COO) in Nicaragua, running the blend, cigars, bands, boxes, and shipping while you concentrate on selling and smoking. Planning your first brand? Begin with our guide, How to Start a Cigar Brand.

Short Filler Cigar Questions

What is a double binder cigar?

A cigar made with two binder leaves instead of one. The binder sits between the filler and the wrapper, holding the bunch together and helping the cigar keep its shape. On our ultra-premium short filler, the second leaf adds another layer of flavor, keeps the taste consistent, and helps the cigar burn more evenly.

Can you make Cuban sandwich cigars for my brand?

Yes. You can choose our Cuban sandwich for your short filler project, whether it’s a private label line, a house brand, or a club order.

How big is a first short filler order?

For brands launching private label cigars, the typical first order is somewhere between 5,000 and 25,000 cigars. For companies, clubs, events, and private collectors, around 1,000 cigars is a typical start.

How long does a short filler project take?

Starting from zero, a project normally takes 6 to 9 months; with your logo and artwork already done, it’s usually 4 to 8 months. That window includes the rest newly rolled cigars need at the factory: we recommend giving every run at least 90 days.

Can I buy short filler cigars from you?

Not as a single box or bundle. Every cigar we produce goes to a client project, whether that’s a brand, a shop, a club, an event, or a private collector. Like all our cigars, they’re for adults 21 and over.