puro

Puro is a term with several meanings in Spanish and in tobacco culture. In Spanish, puro is an adjective meaning pure, clean, or unmixed. It is used to describe things that are not diluted or blended, as in agua pura (pure water) or algodón puro (pure cotton). The word can also emphasize authenticity or simplicity in other expressions.

In the context of cigars, a puro denotes a cigar made entirely from tobacco grown in a single country or region, sometimes from a single harvest or farm. Puros are valued for their uniform flavor derived from a single-origin tobacco, as opposed to multi-country blends that mix tobaccos from different origins. The designation is most associated with Cuban, Dominican, Nicaraguan, and Honduran tobaccos, among others. Some brands market puros as representing terroir or tradition; however, the term is informal and may be used variably in marketing.

The use of puro in tobacco trade reflects a broader biological and cultural idea of purity and wholeness. Related terms appear in other Romance languages, such as Portuguese and Italian, where cognates share a common Latin root purus meaning clean or pure. In modern usage, puro can therefore signal both linguistic meaning and a specific product classification in cigars, depending on context.