Most cigars are manufactured in the Caribbean and Central America.
Despite many decades of war and revolution in this Central American country, the cigar industry has thrived due to the hard work and tenacity of Cuban exiles to the land such as Plasencia, Padron, Oliva, Ortez, and others. Tobacco has been a force of social stability, and the country is now one of the principal exporters of premium cigars in the world.

Cigar wrapper color varies from green (Double Claro or Candela) to black (Maduro or Oscuro) with a full range of browns in between.
Maduro wrapper can go from dark coffee brown with a reddish tint to blackish brown (the latter also called Oscuro).

The wrapper is the last tobacco leaf to be rolled on the cigar, so it is the one the smoker will see.
Mexican tobacco is very dark and the best leaves can be used as maduro wrappers. In San Andres de Tuxtla (in the state of Vera Cruz), there is a very interesting production of Sumatra seed wrappers. Dark air cured tobaccos are produced in Mexico, mainly in Vera Cruz and Tampico provinces, on the East Coast along the Gulf. There is also some production in Yucatan. Mexico's volcanic soil yields tobacco that is spicy and earthy, with a very distinctive flavor.

The binder is a full tobacco leaf that is used to roll the cigar, binding the filler tobaccos together. 
Ecuador is the perfect place to grow binders, because it is located on the Equator and it has rich soils too. The weather conditions, with a nearly permanent cloudy sky, provide a natural shade, protecting the plants from sunshine and allowing the tobacco to grow thin and light. Ecuador supplies Connecticut and Sumatra type binders to many cigar factory in the world.

Filler is the term used to describe the tobacco inside a cigar or the "guts" of the cigar.

Handmade cigars are completely made by hand from start to finish.

Joya de Nicaragua was founded in 1968, the first factory to make premium handmade cigars in Nicaragua. Located in Esteli and now owned by Dr. Alejandro Martinez Cuenca, the Fabrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua S.A. is 100% Nicaraguan owned and operated.