What’s in a shape? Cigar shapes & sizes

UPDATE Charts with sizes, factory and common names for different cigar formats are available here:

• Cuban Cigars Size Chart
• Domestic Cigars Size Chart

At first I thought this would be an easy enough task. Just list the range in cigar shapes and sizes. But the more I thought of this, the more work it became. But that’s okay. I want to bring you the reader (all three of you) a comprehensive list of shapes and sizes from both the Domestic and International markets.

I’ll start with general shapes and sizes. I will also discuss more of the unique shapes and sizes available.

Parejo

A cigar with a cylindrical body and straight sides, basically a “normal” looking cigar.

Parejos can also have a pigtail cap. There are often found on lanceros for some reason. The Cuban Trinidad line has all sizes finished with a pigtail cap.

The main sizes within the Parejo shape are (length in inches x ring gauge):

• Corona : 5.5 x 42
• Robusto : 5 x 50
• Toro : 6 x 50
• Lonsdale : 7 x 42
• Churchill : 7 x 48

These sizes are approximate, a lot of manufacturers would still call any cigar measuring 4.5-5.5 inches long, with a ring gauge of 48-52 a robusto.

Also, parejos may be box-pressed, to even such extremes as wafer thin, and even may be triangle-pressed. A good example of a box-pressed cigar is the Padron Family Reserve No. 85, pictured below:

Figurado

A cigar with a non-standard shape. There are several basic styles to figurados. They will be listed below. The sky is the limit on figurados, a lot of manufacturers like to tap into their rollers’ creativity in creating a myriad of shapes from pipe-shaped cigars to baseball bat and chili pepper shaped cigars. (Check out vitolas.net for an array of funky shapes and sizes).

• Torpedo / Belicoso – The most popular of shaped cigars, the torpedo is simply a parejo with a pointed head (pictured above is the Oliva Serie V Torpedo). A torpedo may also be box-pressed.

• Pyramid – The most misnamed of all the shapes. A pyramid is tapered from head to foot. Many manufacturers and smokers falsely name torpedoes as pyramids.

• Perfecto – A perfecto is narrow at the head and foot (usually to a point at both ends) and bulbous in the middle, like the La Aurora Preferidos above. Odd variations of the perfecto look like a snake has swallowed a mouse.

• Diadema / Salomon / Presidente – basically a parejo or a perfecto with a closed foot. Domestically diademas and salamones are most bulbous closest to the foot just prior to the closed tip of the foot. A good example is the Hemingway series from Arturo Fuente, like the Short Story (above).

Unusual shapes

• Culebra – Three intertwined cigars tied together at both ends by twine or string. Culebras have an interesting back story as they are growing in popularity and currently are used in higher end cigars (the most famous being Partagas Culebras, pictured above) but were initially used to ensure that rollers, who were allotted three cigars a day to take home, were not taking any extra with them. The cigars were rolled together so that they would be recognizable outside of the factory. Any rollers smoking a parejo would then be guilty of theft.

• Chisel – I’ve added this size in honor of Litto Gomez who is a true innovator in the industry. The chisel has a head like a torpedo but is pressed in a way that resembles… a chisel. Want an example? Check the La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Chisel.