Cigar Sizes and Vitolas: From Petit Corona to Churchill

Compare common cigar formats by length and ring gauge, and learn what a vitola tells you about a cigar.

What a vitola describes

A vitola is the cigar’s format: its length and diameter, and sometimes its shape. Dimensions affect smoking time, burn temperature and the balance of wrapper to filler. Two makers may use the same format name for slightly different sizes.

Reading dimensions

Length is usually given in inches. Ring gauge measures diameter in sixty-fourths of an inch, so a 50 ring gauge is 50/64 inch, approximately 19.8 mm. Check the exact maker specification for an individual cigar.

Common straight-sided formats

Petit Corona and Corona are slimmer formats. Robusto is shorter and wider, often a convenient starting point. Toro generally offers a longer session, while Churchill is longer still. Lonsdale and Lancero are slimmer, and Gordo is notably wide.

Tapered and unusual shapes

Torpedo and Belicoso have tapered heads. Perfecto, Figurado, Salomón and Diadema describe more specialized shapes. A Nub is short and wide. Cutting and lighting technique can differ from a straight-sided cigar.

Compare the actual cigar

Format names alone do not establish strength or quality. Use length, ring gauge, blend and wrapper information together. In the Cigario catalog, each cigar page shows recorded dimensions when available and leaves missing specifications unconfirmed.