Cigars are usually categorized through their size and shape. This is the commonest ways that a cigar review make use of to define one cigar from the other. This may sound so easy to understand but it can be too difficult the very fact that there are thousands of cigars out there.

In the past few years, the cigar industry has been employing the names Corona and Panatela that denotes the rough length and width of the cigar and not the brand or manufacturer. While the vast majority of cigar makers use the typically accepted size names to describe their cigars, the particular size of the specific named cigar may differ among manufacturers.

Now, cigars are available in a array of dimensions that were not provided in the past. More than that, many manufacturers have created their own names for specific cigar sizes. With that being said, it is not a surprise to find 2 cigars with the same size manufactured by different companies, to have different names to define their size. So this suggests that cigar buyers certainly need to recognize the distinction between cigars to be able to effectively evaluate one from the other. That’s why cigar reviews are valuable in order to provide accurate information about the different types of cigars.

This can become challenging but to clear that up, it will be better to identify the cigar’s length and width to describe its size. Commonly, the length is measured in inches while width is measured by ring gauge (the diameter expressed in 64ths of an inch). Most of these inconsistencies regarding cigar names can lead one into chaos as to which cigar to choose. As it turns out, it is more efficient to describe the different sizes and shapes of cigars by name rather than by numbers.

With regards to cigar shapes, many are shaped like a cylinder. This is why they are considered as having a ‘parejo’ shape. Cigars having irregular shape or have cone shaped heads are usually called a ‘figurado’.  Technically, the term used to describe both size and shape of cigars is ‘vitola’.

For additional information on how to categorize cigars and how one differs from the other, check out a good cigar review site.