What is the difference between small ring gauge cigars and large ring gauge cigars? Let me start by saying that I love small ring gauge cigars as much as I love many of the large ring gauge cigars. When making a cigar, regardless of size, you should the mix or dosage should be consistent, and the taste should be too.
Smaller size gives you better taste
Many people say they taste the wrapper more on a smaller gauge cigar than on a large gauge cigar. I don’t always agree with this because if you use the right amount of tobaccos in the filler blend you should have a consistent blend regardless of size in a cigar line. That’s why a great blender will make sure it’s done right. But I will admit that smaller cigars sometimes seem more intense, but that’s because they develop a lot more heat due to the tightness in a smaller format.
I think this is a great analogy. Whenever my mother used to make a sauce, of course she always used fresh tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper and garlic. I’m not a big chef, but if she wanted to make a pot for 20 people or a small pot of sauce for two, I guarantee you one thing, they tasted the same. Consistency is the name of the game folks. Of course, with a larger pot, she would add more salt, more pepper, more basil, and more garlic.
The most important thing is that she knows the exact amounts per ingredient for the number of people she is cooking for. Well, it’s the same with a good cigar, with different ring gauges.
If I want to do a line of cigars, let’s say we start with a 44 gauge cigar. We will ship them with a 60 ring gauge cigar; I’m going to put as many light, medium and strong fillers in this little 42 ring gauge cigar. Of course, if I transfer that to the 60 ring gauge cigar, I’ll add more strong tobaccos, more medium-strength tobaccos, and even some lighter tobaccos to ensure that the blends stay the same flavor-wise, regardless of ring gauges. We make sure they taste the same regardless of size.
Smaller ring is hotter than Larger
It takes a lot of time and work to make sure we’re doing these things right. But I can tell you one thing. Cigars with a smaller ring gauge will burn a little hotter because the circumference is smaller. A cigar with a large ring gauge will always smoke a little cooler due to its size, so that’s natural. You’ll have more surface area, which in turn means more oxygen and more airflow. I think that’s one of the main reasons people tend to go for cigars with larger ring gauges like 54, 56 and 60.
Sometimes people ask me, “Why are some of your lines all 50 or 54 or 56?” A good example of this is the Perdomo 12-Year Double Aged Vintage. With this cigar, the only way I could get the flavor I wanted was with larger ring gauges. The reason for this was that the tobaccos I wanted were all too thick and I tried making smaller ring gauges but I couldn’t get the flavor I wanted. Thankfully, that rarely happens.
But when we develop a new cigar we usually start with a 44 or 46 and believe me, as a cigar maker, smaller cigars make more profit.
A great example would be a 6 x 60 ring gauge cigar. It takes 70 pounds to make 1,000 cigars in their filler blend. Add in a five by 50 ring gauge cigar and it only takes between 34 and 35 pounds to make 1,000 cigars. Nothing changes in the costs for the binder and the cover sheet.
Consumer is always right
Let’s say a robusto is $7 and I really can’t charge $14 for the 6×60. Typically, this cigar would retail for somewhere between $9 and $10. As you can see, in most cases, making larger ring gauge cigars is the complete opposite of what many consumers think. But consumers have been asking for larger ring gauges for the past 10 years that I’ve been in the cigar industry. And guess what? I work for you and you are our customer. You put food on our tables and I take your suggestions very seriously. If you smoke a lot of cigars and find that there is a difference in flavor between different sizes, beware as there could be discrepancies in the blend.
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