Cigar Shape & Size
Cigars are available in many shapes, sizes and colours. It is often difficult for the new cigar smoker to find out how these factors affect the taste.
The shape of the cigar is perhaps the hardest thing to describe since there are no set standards used between cigar manufacturers. Usually it is best to remember the shape written on the box to remember what you are smoking.
The size is measured by length and ring gauge (cigar's diameter). One ring is equivalent to 1/64 of an inch.
Some of the most common are
Panatela (6 1/2 x 35)
Robusto (4 1/2 x 50)
Churchill (7 1/4 x 48)
Corona (5 3/4 x 42)
Double Corona (6 1/2 x 48)
Lonsdale (6 3/4 x 42)
Petit Corona
A cigar with a larger ring gauge will have a fuller and more complex flavour and produce more smoke compared to the smaller ring gauge cigars. The larger a ring gauge the more a cigar maker can blend and combine different types of leaves.
The larger the cigar the longer it will take to smoke, but the larger cigar will also have the best flavour. A panatela is ideal as a morning smoke and lasts about 15 minutes, whereas a Robusto or Churchill demands the time to fully enjoy the flavours as they develop, and can last over an hour to smoke!
So choose a size to suit the time you have to smoke. The petit corona is a very popular size and lasts takes around 20-30 minutes to smoke, so is ideal after work or dinner.
Cigar Strength
Cuba is unique to the extent that all Havanas or Habanos are blended from tobaccos grown on the island. They tend to offer medium to full flavours but the enormous variety of leaves available produce surprisingly mild smokes in certain brands.
Cigars from other places like the Dominican Republic and Honduras are usually made from tobaccos taken from several countries.
Hard and fast rules on flavours are therefore impossible to lay down. As a rough guide: Cigars with Dominican fillers tend towards mildness; maduro wrappers bring a sweetness to the taste, and in general Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers add spiciness. To help you categorise your subjective feelings of taste and smell (aroma), here is a short list:
Mild
Smell - Dusty, softened and transitory
Taste - Bland, flat, herbaceous, muted
Medium to Full
Smell - Animal, cocoa, coffee, floral, green, subtle, supple, tanned leather, undergrowth, young leather and woody
Taste - Aromatic, exotic, fruity, heady, heavy, mellow, nuts, peppery, ripe, robust, spicy, sugary, sweet, tart and woody
Full or Pronounced
Smell - Coarse, earthy, piquant, pervasive, sharp and spicy
Taste - Aciduous, hot, piquant, scorching, tannic, and peaty
Cigar Colour
The colour of a cigar's wrapper, the capa, is generally the key to it's flavour. The darker the wrapper, the more full-bodied and sweeter a cigar is likely to be, although the true determinant is the colour of the filler.
A few important variables effect the final flavour and quality of wrapper leaves: their location on the plant; when they are harvested; and how they are fermented or dried. The longer a leaf stays on the plant and the more sunlight it receives, the darker it will be.
Cigar wrappers can be classified into seven basic colours, although there are dozens of possible shades. The basic colours of wrappers range from Claro (pale brown) to Oscuro (black).
Double Claro - (also called AMS, American Market Selection, or candela) - greenish brown. The colour is achieved by picking the leaf before it reaches maturity and then drying it rapidly. Very mild, almost bland, with very little oil.
Claro - pale brown, like milky coffee. (For example, Havana brands like H.Upmann). The classic mild cigar colour. The colour is also called "natural".
Colorado Claro - mild-brown, tawny. (For example, brands, such as Dominican Partagas, using Cameroon wrappers).
Colorado - reddish dark brown, aromatic. This colour is associated with well-matured cigars.
Colorado Maduro - dark brown, medium strength, rather more aromatic than maduro. Usually gives a rich flavour, as found in many of the best Honduran cigars.
Maduro - very dark brown, like black coffee. (For example, full-bodied Havana brands such as Bolivar.) A colour for seasoned smokers. Sometimes thought of as the traditional Cuban colour. | 
