Cigars vs Cigarillos: A Beginner's Buying Guide

The short answer: a cigarillo is a small, thin cigar — usually around the length of a cigarette, often with a plastic or wood tip, and finished in a few minutes. A full cigar is larger, untipped, and can take anywhere from half an hour to well over an hour to smoke.

How cigars are made

Every cigar has three parts:

• Filler — the tobacco at the core.
• Binder — a leaf that holds the filler together.
• Wrapper — the outer leaf, which sets the cigar's appearance and much of its character.

Premium cigars use whole leaves for the filler ("long filler"). Most machine-made cigars and cigarillos use chopped tobacco ("short filler"), which is why they're more uniform and less expensive.

What is a cigarillo?

Cigarillos sit between a cigarette and a cigar. They're machine-made, slim, sold in packs, and many have a plastic or wooden tip. Lines like Castro, Prime Time and Dumont are cigarillos. They suit people who want something short.

What counts as a full cigar?

Full cigars are larger, have no tip, and are cut before lighting. They're measured by length and ring gauge — the diameter in 64ths of an inch. A cigar with a 50 ring gauge is 50/64 of an inch across. Larger ring gauges burn longer and cooler; thinner cigars burn faster.

Common shapes you'll see named:

• Corona — the classic medium size, around 5½ inches.
• Robusto — shorter and thicker, about 5 inches with a 50 ring.
• Churchill — long, about 7 inches.
• Panatela — long and slim.

Cigars vs cigarillos at a glance

	Cigarillo	Cigar
Size	Small and thin	Larger, many sizes
Tip	Often plastic or wood	None — cut before lighting
Construction	Machine-made, short filler	Machine or hand-made
Time to smoke	A few minutes	30 minutes to over an hour
Sold in	Packs	Singles, packs or boxes

How to choose

• Think about time. If you want something short, start with cigarillos. If you have an hour, a full cigar makes more sense.
• Start with a pack, not a box. Buying a small pack lets you try a line before committing.
• Plan your storage. Full cigars dry out in open air. If you're buying more than you'll smoke in a week or two, read our guide on how to store tobacco.

Do cigars inhale like cigarettes?

Traditionally, cigar smoke is drawn into the mouth rather than inhaled. That doesn't make cigars safe: cigar smoking carries serious health risks, including cancers of the mouth, throat and lungs.

Browse our current range in Cigars. Orders in Greater Sudbury can be delivered the same day when placed before the daily cut-off; everywhere else in Canada ships by tracked Canada Post.

White Birch Post sells to adults 19 and over only. Smoking is harmful to your health. If you're thinking about cutting back or quitting, our responsible use page lists free Canadian support services.