Cigars come in a wide variety of sizes. From the cigarette-like "Cigarillos" to the behemoth "Giant". The industry uses size names such as "corona" and "panatella" but there is no standard size matched with each of these names. For example, you can buy two different "Robusto" size cigars from two different manufacturers. One will be 4.5 x 48 and the other will be 5 x 50. Although there are no size standards set, most cigars fall pretty close in size according to it’s name. The following listings will give you an idea as to the sizes available today.

Length is measured in inches. Ring gauge is the cigars girth. It is measured in 64ths of an inch, therefore a 32 ring gauge would be 1/2 inch.

Cigar Shapes:

As with sizes, shapes of cigars vary widely. The following are the most common shapes. While this chart can be used as a rule of thumb, many manufacturers name their cigars differently.

Parejo:
Any straight sided with an open foot for lighting and a rounded head. Cigars falling in this category would be Coronas, Robustos, Churchills, Toros etc.

Belicoso: The meaning of this shape has changed quite a bit over the years. It is currently known as a straight sided cigar with an open foot and a tapered head

Torpedo: Tapered at both ends with a bulge in the middle. A Belicoso is sometimes called a Torpedo.

Perfecto: Rounded head tapering toward the end with a closed foot. (this shape varies)

Pyramid: Usually tapered from 44 at a rounded head head to 50 at the open foot.

Culebra: 3 Panatella sized cigars braided together
 

Filler: The filler is what makes up the body of the cigar. Long filler is a tobacco leaf that runs the length of the cigar. Short filler is usually cuttings and clippings from the manufacturing of long filler cigars.

Binder: The binder is made from a heavier leaf and is wrapped around the filler to start to make the final shape of the cigar.

Wrapper: The finest tobacco leaves become wrappers. These leaves are smooth and silky and are the finishing touches that are wrapped around the binder to give the cigar its final appearance.

These three components all take part in the flavor of a cigar. 

The cigar roller will take tobacco leaves and gently fold them over in his hand to make a basic shape of the cigar. This is referred to as hand bunching. He will usually take leaves from different tobacco blends to acquire just the right flavor for the cigar. Then he will take a binder leaf to wrap around the hand bunched filler. This is rolled and shaped on the cigar rollers table. Then the cigars are placed in a wooden mold and pressed together for a short time. This makes the final shape of the cigar consistent. While the cigars are in the press, the roller will prepare the wrapper leaf. The leaf is dampened, shaped and prepared for the final application. After the cigars are un-molded, each cigar will be individually wrapped and trimmed.