Why is there a stem in my cigar?

Why is there a stem in my cigar?

Stop, don’t pull it out, it’s probably supposed to be there.

You are probably inspecting your new, premium cigar that you’ve just received, or have just fished one out of the humidor to smoke. Before lighting, you’ve notice a thick stick or stem in one end of the cigar, so rushed straight to Google to ask, what is this stick in my cigar and is it supposed to be there?

The short answer is, yes, it’s supposed to be there, and it is a stem (sort of). Smoke and enjoy.

Cigars are made from full leaves, and the structure of the leaf includes veins which help to transport the nutrients to the rest of the leaf. For leaves destined to be cigar wrappers, the veins are stripped out creating 2 wrappers from 1 leaf. These full leaves are wrapped around the filler and binder to create the smooth finished look. But for some of the filler leaves, the veins are left in to add extra flavour to the blend, or change the burn rate of the cigar. These leaves are then bunched together, leaving some veins running through the length of the cigar, and then bound in place by the binder, which is a mix of pressed leaves.

If your cigar is plugged and won’t draw, removing one of these veins could help, but is not advised as you could completely ruin the cigar. The vein is probably not the route cause of the plug. You can read more about plugged cigars in our article here.