Whether you are just getting into the cigar culture or have been a cigar lover for years, learning how to identify cigars can help divide the occasional smoker from the true aficionado.

Parejo:

The parejo is the most common cigar type, with straight parallel sides and most often a round shape. Some of the parejo cigars will have a pigtail finish on the head, the Cuban Trinidad line has pigtalied heads on their entire line. Another parejo stylistic difference is the box pressed cigar, which may be square, a triangle or even pressed flat.

Figurado:

The figurado is a cigar with a shape that does not have parallel sides. The perfecto is a perfect example of a figurado as it has a well rounded body with both the head and the foot coming to points. The torpedo is similar to the perfecto but not as thick through the body, only the head comes to a point and is at its thickest nearer to the head end of the body.

Unusual Shapes:

One of the oddest shapes is the culebra. The culebra is actually three different cigars woven into one. The culebra is gaining some popularity due to its odd look but was originally designed to be given to cigar rollers thus making it obvious whether they were smoking a cigar they were given or one that was stolen.

Another of the unusual shape cigars is the chisel. A chisel cigar has a tapered, round head, but the body and foot are pressed to give it a chisel shape.

Sizes:

Cigar styles also come in a large range of sizes, some come only in certain sizes while others come in a full range of sizes. There are two different size charts, one for domestic cigars and one for Cuban cigars.

Each of these charts list all sizes for the different styles of cigar sold and is quite extensive. The domestic size chart ranges from the “Giant” at 9 inches long, to the cigarillos at about 4 inches in length.