The Best-Selling Cigar Sizes In America
If there’s any doubt in your mind that Americans like their cigars on the thicker side, let us disabuse you of that notion. The results of our Cigar Insider retailer survey are clear: cigar smokers in the United States, by and large, prefer toros. Robustos and grandes too, but the toro format was the clear winner, as 75.8 percent of the retailers polled by Cigar Insider reported the toro as their best-selling size. For many years, it was the robusto, but toros have supplanted these shorter smokes as the most popular format. At Cigar Insider and Cigar Aficionado, we define toros (which are also known as corona gordas) as any cigar measuring 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 inches long, with ring gauges from 46 to 59.
The huge demand for toros is illustrated by the vast difference between the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in our survey. Robustos came in at a distant second, with only 13.6 percent of retailers naming the size as their most popular. Next is the grande, an ultra-thick cigar named by 9.1 percent of retailers as their top seller. We define grandes as any non-shaped cigar with a 60 ring gauge or fatter.
Top Selling Cigar Sizes
Percentage of shops naming these sizes as their No. 1 seller
| Size | Percent |
|---|---|
| 1. Toro/Corona Gorda | 75.8 |
| 2. Robusto | 13.6 |
| 3. Grande | 9.1 |
| 4. Churchill | 1.5 |
Source: Cigar Insider
There was a time when cigars this thick were considered a novelty. Not anymore. These extra-thick smokes are now normal in the industry, and some cigar companies are taking it to more extreme proportions with ring gauges of 70, 80 and even 100. The reason often cited by consumers is perceived value. Smokers think that they’re getting more bang for their buck with a fat cigar. Interestingly, robustos and grandes switched places from last year. In our 2023 survey, grandes had the No. 2 spot and robustos came in at No. 3. Is the trend starting to thin out? We’ll see what retailers say next year.
If you’re a traditionalist, you’ve probably noticed how difficult it is to find sizes like Churchills in cigar shop humidors. Our poll showed that only 1.5 percent of retailers named Churchills as their top seller and no retailers named figurados, coronas, petit coronas or lonsdales.
For this survey, Cigar Insider polled 66 retailers representing nearly 400 cigar shops across the country. The shops range from large cigar emporiums to small boutiques to neighborhood tobacconists, but all are reputable establishments that specialize in cigars.
To see the Cigar Insider retailer survey on what cigar retailers had to say, click here.
To see the Cigar Insider retailer survey on the hottest and best-selling cigar brands, click here.
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