Short answer: a cigarillo is a small, thin cigar — usually under four inches and narrow enough to smoke in fifteen or twenty minutes. Premium cigarillos are handmade with the same tobacco as full-size cigars; the cheap ones are machine made.
Cigarillo, little cigar or cigar?
- Cigarillo: small, no filter, tobacco leaf wrapper or binder, short smoke.
- Little cigar: cigarette-shaped, often filtered, usually machine made.
- Cigar: larger, handmade at the premium end, 45 minutes and up.
Why smoke one
Time. A cigarillo fits a coffee break or a short drive where a robusto does not. The tradeoff is less complexity, since a smaller cigar has less room for the blend to develop.
Premium small formats we carry
Several houses make short cigars that smoke like full ones rather than like cigarillos:
- Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story — 4 x 49, about thirty minutes.
- Liga Privada Papas Fritas — short, and full-bodied.
- Nub 460 — four inches at a 60 ring, which lasts longer than it looks.
- Montecristo cigarillos, when stocked.
Storage
Small cigars dry out faster than large ones, because there is less mass to lose. Keep them at 65–70% humidity like anything else. See our storage guide.
$9.99 flat shipping, free on orders of $125 or more; orders ship within 1–2 business days from Yuma, Arizona. You must be 21 or older.
