In this series of articles titled, “Picking a Cigar That is Right For You”, we will look at the different things that make a cigar what it is, and help you choose which cigar would best fit your needs and temperament. There are many factors, outside of personal taste, to consider when choosing the right cigar. These include taste, color, side, and filler. Other factors, such as handmade or factory, also should be taken into consideration. This series of guides will do their best to teach you to know what each of these factors truly means, beginning with a very important one: Size.

I will spare you the mandatory does size matter joke, though the question does bare some relevance in this situation. When we speak of size in the cigar world, we are talking diameter, and not so much length. The measurement used to gauge the size of a cigar is, well, ring gauge. Simple enough?

Ring gauge is the thickness/girth of a cigar. It is measured in 1/64 of an inch increments. Therefore, a cigar with a 64 ring gauge would be approximately an inch in diameter. Likewise, a 32 ring gauge is half-an-inch, 16 ring gauges is a quarter of an inch, and so forth. Coming ring gauges are 32, 38, 44, 47, 50, 52, and so on. The majority of cigar sizes are between 32 and 52.

Why Does Size Matter?

Although this may seem like a question with an obvious answer, it isn’t. Length has little to do with the cigar, as stated above; Width on the other hand decides the “coolness” of your smoke, how long the smoke lasts, and how comfortable it feels in your mouth.

Let’s look at each of these features: coolness, slowness, and comfort. The thicker the gauge of a cigar, the easier the draw is. This is because more the filler has access to air. The easier the draw, the cooler the smoke. Again, I want to point to the old milkshake analogy: a thick cigar can be like sipping ice tea, while a cigar that is too thin (if cut improperly) can be like drinking a thick milkshake; tasty, but not smooth.

Because you will not be huffing and puffing on the cigar, it will burn slower, lasting longer.