Phase 1: Core Six
The Complete Beginner's Guide to Cigars
Finally, a cigar book that actually makes sense. Nearly three decades of factory knowledge, blind-tasting data, and straight answers. No gatekeeping. No pretension.
Tobacco Science & Origins
Phase 1: Core Six
Tobacco Science & Origins
Understanding Where Cigar Flavor Actually Comes From
Miguel Solano spent nearly three decades learning tobacco the hard way. He has walked priming crews at dawn in Estelí, stood in fermentation warehouses in Santiago where the heat made his eyes water, and watched master rollers work in Danlí with precision that makes you hold your breath. This is what he wishes someone had told him twenty years ago.
Launches 2026-04-28. Drop your email and we will tell you the day it goes live on Amazon.
Inside this book
- Why soil, climate, and elevation change everything about flavor
- How priming, curing, and fermentation transform raw leaves into premium tobacco
- What Ligero, Seco, Viso, and Volado actually contribute to a blend
- Why wrappers matter (but not as much as you think)
- How Cuba went from dominance to crisis and Nicaragua rose to replace it
- What blenders actually do when they're 'creating' a cigar
- How aging works at the molecular level and why most people get it wrong
About the author
Miguel Solano
Lead Author, The Modern Cigar Library
Miguel Solano started smoking cigars in 1997 when his friend Augusto Reyes handed him a Fuente Hemingway Short Story at a lounge in Coral Gables. That cigar changed his life. Since then he has built a career in the premium cigar industry that has taken him to factories in Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic, to fermentation warehouses in Cuba, and to every PCA trade show since the late 1990s. He consults with boutique producers, maintains relationships with distributors and retailers across the Americas, and writes the books he wishes had existed when he was learning. He lives in South Florida with his wife Liliana, who manages the spreadsheets that track his cigar spending, and their cigar friends who fill the screened porch his late father Gerardo used to sit on every night.
More about Miguel SolanoOther books in the Phase 1: The Core Six series
Phase 1: Core Six
Lifestyle & Culture
Cigars aren't just about tobacco. They're about people. The lounge conversations, the herfs, the community, and the culture that forms around a shared ritual.
Phase 1: Core Six
Brands & Pairing Guide
There are over 1,000 cigar brands. Most are mediocre. Some are exceptional. A few are legendary. This guide is the filter.
Phase 1: Core Six
Storage & Collecting Manual
Most cigar storage advice is outdated, overcomplicated, or flat-out wrong. This manual is the system Miguel wishes he had read twenty years ago.
Phase 1: Core Six
Industry Intelligence Report
The premium cigar industry is a $10 billion global market most people don't understand. This report tells you what's actually happening and why it matters.
Get launch notifications
Drop your email and we will tell you when Tobacco Science & Origins goes live, plus updates on the rest of the series.