A cigarillo is a short, thin cigar, usually 3 to 4 inches long, holding about 3 grams of tobacco. Most are machine-made, and many use a sheet of processed tobacco instead of a whole leaf. One burns down in 5 to 10 minutes. A handmade premium cigar takes 15 minutes to over two hours.
What a cigarillo is: size, tobacco and construction
No law or trade body sets one official cigarillo size. Two widely cited references give consistent figures. The National Cancer Institute's cigar fact sheet sorts cigars by how much tobacco they hold, and Wikipedia's cigarillo entry adds length and width.
| Product | Typical size | Tobacco |
|---|---|---|
| Cigarette | about 3 in, 8 mm wide | under 1 g |
| Little cigar | cigarette size | about 1 g |
| Cigarillo | 3–4 in, 6–9 mm wide | about 3 g |
| Large cigar | can pass 7 in | 5–20 g |
Sources: tobacco weights and the little-cigar and large-cigar sizes from the National Cancer Institute; cigarillo and cigarette dimensions from Wikipedia.
Ring gauge is width in 64ths of an inch, per Cigar Aficionado's glossary. So 6 to 9 mm works out to roughly a 15 to 23 ring gauge. A robusto is a 50.
Size is only half of it. Four construction details separate a drugstore cigarillo from a handmade cigar:
- Wrapper. Cigar Aficionado's cigarillo entry says many brands use homogenized wrappers or binders: tobacco ground and pressed into a sheet. A premium cigar wears one whole leaf.
- Filler. Premium cigars use long filler, whole leaves running the length of the cigar. Mass-market cigarillos often don't: Black & Mild is filled with pipe tobacco.
- Machine or hand. Cigar Aficionado calls cigarillos "generally machine-made." Wikipedia adds that machine-making is cheaper than hand-rolling.
- Tip. Some mass-market cigarillos come with a plastic or wood mouthpiece. Black & Mild, a machine-made John Middleton cigar with a homogenized wrapper, is sold with either.
Cheap plastic-tipped cigarillos being sold as "cigars" is my longest-running pet peeve. They are a different product built for a different job.
How long a cigarillo takes to smoke
Holt's Cigar Company's guide, How Long Does It Take to Smoke a Cigar?, puts cigarillos at 5 to 10 minutes. Holt's says they burn fast because they're made from dry-cured tobaccos, which burn hotter and faster. Here is its ladder, smallest to largest:
| Size | Length x ring | Smoke time |
|---|---|---|
| Cigarillo | varies | 5–10 min |
| Petite corona | 4 x 42 | about 20 min |
| Corona | varies | about 40 min |
| Robusto | 5 x 50 | 45–50 min |
| Toro | 6 x 52 | 55–60 min |
| Churchill | 7 x 49 | about 1 hour |
| Double corona | 7.5 x 52 | over 1 hr 15 min |
Pace changes all of this. Cigar Aficionado's smoking-time entry gives a robusto 20 to 30 minutes, far less than Holt's. The National Cancer Institute says large cigars can take 1 to 2 hours. For full-size cigars, see how long a cigar takes to smoke.
Cigarillo vs little cigar vs cigar under US law
Federal law has one definition of a cigar. 26 U.S.C. § 5702 calls it "any roll of tobacco wrapped in leaf tobacco or in any substance containing tobacco." A homogenized sheet counts, so cigarillos and little cigars both qualify.
The split comes from weight, in the federal excise tax at 26 U.S.C. § 5701(a):
| Federal class | Weight per 1,000 | Excise tax |
|---|---|---|
| Small cigar | 3 lb or less | $50.33 per 1,000 |
| Large cigar | over 3 lb | 52.75% of price, max 40.26¢ each |
Three pounds per thousand is about 1.36 grams per cigar. At the National Cancer Institute's typical weights, a 1-gram little cigar lands in the small class. A 3-gram cigarillo lands in the large class. The federal labeling law, 15 U.S.C. § 1332, defines "little cigar" with the same 3-pound line.
Neither statute mentions filters. A filter still matters, because both laws treat a tobacco-wrapped roll as a cigarette if its appearance, filler or packaging make it likely to be sold as one. The FDA describes "little cigars" or "filtered cigars" that resemble cigarettes in size and shape.
State law can draw the line elsewhere. California's flavor ban, Health and Safety Code § 104559.5, exempts premium cigars only. It defines those as handmade, whole-leaf wrapped, $12 or more wholesale, with no filter, tip or nontobacco mouthpiece.
Do premium brands make cigarillos
Yes, a few make handmade ones. The Padrón Series page lists the Corticos at 35 x 4 1/4. It is long-filler, sun-grown and hand crafted, sold in a 30-count box and a tin of 6, natural or maduro.
Padrón doesn't call the Corticos a cigarillo; it is the smallest Padrón Series size, and thicker than Wikipedia's cigarillo range. Our catalog does not list the Corticos yet. The rest of the lineup is on our Padrón brand page.
Cigar Aficionado notes cigarillos are "popular in Europe" and "favored by some aficionados and scorned by others." Famous Smoke Shop's Cigar Advisor size guide says premium handmade cigarillos "couldn't be more different than their machine-made counterparts." Its example is the Cohiba Nicaragua.
The thinnest handmade cigars in our catalog are near the Corticos, not the drugstore rack. None is under a 32 ring gauge:
| Cigar | Size | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Don Pepin Garcia Original Demi Tasse | 4.5 x 32 | $3.30 |
| Romeo y Julieta Julieta | 4.75 x 33 | £31.50 |
| Cohiba Exquisito | 5 x 33 | £13.24 |
| Saga Short Tales Tomo V | 5 x 34 | $6.00 |
Prices: our catalog price for one cigar.
The smallest cigars in our catalog
The examples above retain their recorded currencies; £ and $ prices are not directly comparable. The length comparison below uses 2,938 rated records with positive USD reference prices. Medians range from $6.90 under 4 inches to $10.00 at 6 inches and up. These historical references are not current retailer quotes.
Median catalog price by length
Under 4 inches has the lowest median, $6.90. Six inches and up has the highest, $10.00. Median ratings do not move.
lowest median — $6.90the other 3 length bands
- Under 4 inches$6.90
- 4 to under 5 inches$7.98
- 5 to under 6 inches$8.90
- 6 inches and up$10.00
| Length | Cigars | Median price |
|---|---|---|
| Under 4 inches | 17 | $6.90 |
| 4 to under 5 | 245 | $7.95 |
| 5 to under 6 | 999 | $8.90 |
| 6 inches and up | 1,677 | $10.00 |
Median rating is 4.55 in all four length bands.
Short is not the same as thin. All 21 cigars under 4 inches have a ring gauge of 44 or more. That band includes the Undercrown Flying Pig and the Liga Privada Feral Flying Pig, both 3.88 x 60. The Liga Privada No. 9 Flying Pig is 4 x 60.
Those are stubby, fat cigars. At 60 ring, a Flying Pig is more than twice as wide as a 23-ring cigarillo.
Within the USD-priced sample, 28 records are under 5 inches long and below a 42 ring. Of those, 26 are labelled petit coronas and 22 have reference prices under $10. This is a size filter, not a definition of cigarillo.
Interactive
Is this a small cigar in our catalog
Our catalog does not label any cigar a cigarillo. Small here means length under 5 inches and ring under 42, a set that currently holds 28 priced cigars.
5" × 50: not in the small set.
Cigarillo or small cigar: which one to reach for
My abuelo kept little machine-made cigarillos in the glass case at his Ybor City shop. "Esos no son puros," he told me, then added, "Bueno, they're a little bit cigar." He was right on both counts.
- Five to ten minutes and a simple smoke: a machine-made cigarillo.
- About 20 minutes and you want real leaf: a petite corona or a handmade cigarillo like the Corticos.
- An hour or more: a robusto, toro or Churchill.
- Flavored: federal rules still allow them; the FDA withdrew its cigar flavor ban on January 21, 2025, per the Public Health Law Center. See our flavored cigars guide.
A handmade small cigar dries out as fast as a big one, so store it like one. Our humidor storage guide covers how. For how ring gauge and length change the smoke, see the ring gauge and length guide.
What is a cigarillo?
A cigarillo is a short, thin cigar, usually 3 to 4 inches long, holding about 3 grams of tobacco. Most are machine-made, and many use a homogenized tobacco sheet as the wrapper or binder instead of a whole leaf. Handmade versions exist, such as the Padrón Corticos.
How long is a cigarillo?
Usually 3 to 4 inches (7 to 10 cm) long and 6 to 9 mm wide, per Wikipedia. That width is roughly a 15 to 23 ring gauge. Handmade small cigars run thicker: the Padrón Corticos is 4 1/4 inches by 35.
How long does it take to smoke a cigarillo?
About 5 to 10 minutes, according to Holt's Cigar Company, because cigarillos use dry-cured tobacco that burns hotter and faster. A 4 x 42 petite corona takes about 20 minutes, and a 5 x 50 robusto 45 to 50 minutes.
Is a little cigar the same as a cigarillo?
No. A little cigar is cigarette-sized with about 1 gram of tobacco, per the National Cancer Institute, and is often filtered. A cigarillo holds about 3 grams. Under federal tax law, cigars of 3 pounds or less per thousand are small cigars; a typical 3-gram cigarillo is heavier.
Does Padrón make cigarillos?
Padrón makes the Corticos, a 4 1/4 x 35 handmade cigar in the Padrón Series, sold in a 30-count box or a tin of 6, natural or maduro. Padrón's site does not use the word cigarillo; the Corticos is its smallest Padrón Series size.
Are flavored cigarillos banned?
Not federally. The FDA proposed banning characterizing flavors in all cigars on April 28, 2022, and withdrew that rule on January 21, 2025, per the Public Health Law Center's tracker. State law can differ: California's flavor ban exempts only handmade premium cigars with no tip or filter.
Are short cigars cigarillos?
Not if they are fat. The Undercrown Flying Pig is 3.88 x 60: cigarillo length, but more than twice as wide. Ring gauge, filler and construction matter as much as length.