Decoding Cigar DNA: The Scientific Art of Crafting the Perfect Smoke

A cigar’s final makeup has three defining characteristics: wrapper color, shape, and size. Having basic knowledge of these characteristics will enable any cigar smoker to understand what they are smoking, which in turn makes for a more enjoyable smoking experience.

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Cigar Wrapper Colors:

There are a variety of different variations and shades for cigar wrappers, but these six categories are widely accepted as a way to properly identify cigar wrapper color.

1. Double Claro (aka Candela) (Blonde to green)

2. Claro (Spanish for “clear”, Golden tan)

3. Colorado Claro (Medium brown)

4. Colorado (Brown)

5. Maduro (Spanish for “mature”, Dark brown)

6. Oscuro (Spanish for “dark”, Black)

Cigar Shapes:

There are two categories of cigar shapes, parejo and figurado. A Parejo is the classic cigar shape, which means “flush” or “straight” in Spanish. Anything that isn’t a Parejo is simply referred to as a Figurado. There are specific shapes associated with both categories.

1. Parejo

   1. Parejo

   2. Box Pressed (square-shaped finish)

   3. Culebra (Spanish for “snake”)

2. Figurado

   1. Torpedo (tapered head that curves into a point)

   2. Belicoso (curves to a slight point)

   3. Pirámide (Spanish for “pyramid”)

   4. Perfecto (two tapered ends at both head and foot)

   5. Chisel (head tapers to a straight cut)

Cigar Sizes: Click “Cigar Sizes” to see our Cigar Sizes Graphic.

Underneath the two categories of cigar shapes, parejo and figurado, there are a number of sizes associated with both categories. The two designations for cigar sizes are cigar length (measured in inches) and gauge, i.e. thickness (measured in 64ths of an inch).

1. Parejo

   1. Petit Corona (4.5” x 52)

   2. Gordito (4.5” x 60)

   3. Robusto (5” x 50)

   4. Corona (5.25” x 42)

   5. Toro (6” x 50)

   6. Gordo (6” x 60)

   7. Panetela (6” x 34)

   8. Lonsdale (6.5” x 42)

   9. Churchill (7” x 48)

   10. Lancero (7.5” x 38)

   11. Double Corona (7.5” x 50)

   12. Gran Corona (9.25” x 47)

2. Figurado

   1. Torpedo (6” x 48)

   2. Belicoso (5.5” x 50)

   3. Pirámide (6” x 52)

   4. Salomon Perfecto (7.25” x 57)

   5. Diademas Perfecto (8” x 55)

What's your favorite size?