The Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products funded a cooperative agreement with the University of Kentucky, Center for Tobacco Reference Products (CTRP) to develop three certified reference cigars. Data from the analyses of physical parameters and harmful or potentially harmful compounds (HPHCs) of commercial filtered cigars (25 products), cigarillos (17 products) and large cigars (11 products) are guiding the design and manufacture of the certified reference in each of these categories. The data highlight the variability inherent in the cigar product category and are used to determine the design parameters for the proposed certified reference cigars. Production of 700,000 certified filtered cigars, 700,000 certified cigarillos and 200,000 certified large cigars is planned. The University of Kentucky has provided reference tobacco products as the standard for non-clinical investigational purposes by tobacco manufacturers, contract and government laboratories, and academic institutions since 1968 and intends to incorporate these certified reference cigars into the CTRP program, including its use as a test piece in proficiency testing.