Cuban vitola names and their factory equivalents
Every Cuban cigar has two names: the one on the box and the one in the factory.
A Cuban cigar has a commercial name and a factory name, and only the factory name is precise. "Montecristo No. 4" is what it says on the band; "Mareva" is what the factory rolled — 5⅛ × 42 — and any brand's Mareva is the same size.
Why two names
Cuban production is centralised: the same sizes are rolled across brands, and the vitola de galera is the production specification. The commercial name belongs to the brand's marketing and often carries a number that means nothing outside the line.
The practical result: knowing a handful of factory names lets you compare across brands instantly, which the commercial names actively prevent.
The ones worth knowing
- Mareva — 5⅛ × 42. The classic petit corona (Montecristo No. 4).
- Robusto — 4⅞ × 50. Same word, and here it is a specification.
- Corona Gorda — 5⅝ × 46.
- Julieta No. 2 — 7 × 47. The Churchill.
- Laguito No. 1 — 7½ × 38. The lancero.
- Piramide — 6⅛ × 52. The classic torpedo.
Do this: when you note a Cuban, write the factory vitola if you know it. It turns your journal into something you can compare across brands, which is exactly what the commercial names make difficult.
Same size, different cigar
Two Marevas from different brands share dimensions and nothing else: the blend, the wrapper and the factory's rolling standards all differ. The size tells you how it will burn and how long you will be sitting there, not what it will taste like.
Sizes keep being added
Cuba has introduced a steady stream of thicker vitolas over the last two decades, mirroring the global drift upward in ring gauge. The older, narrower vitolas are where the tradition sits — and, for many long-term smokers, where the best of it still is.
One card per cigar, whatever the box called it
The catalogue in Ligero builds one card per cigar from what the sommelier reads off the band, and everyone who publishes a review of that cigar lands on the same card. That is what makes an average score mean something rather than being spread across three spellings of one name.
Read next
Vitola names are marketing; sizes are facts
One brand’s robusto is another brand’s corona gorda. Record the numbers.
Formats & vitolasRing gauge, explained by what it changes in your mouth
More filler, cooler smoke, and a shift in what you actually taste.
Buying & authenticityReading a cigar band
Brand, line, factory marks and the words that are there purely to sell.