A
cigarillo is a short, narrow
cigarA cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
. Unlike cigarettes, cigarillos are wrapped not in
paperPaper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
but in whole-leaf
tobaccoTobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
. Cigarillos can be found for purchase alone or in packs, and are often made without
filtersA cigarette filter has the purpose of reducing the amount of smoke, tar, and fine particles inhaled during the combustion of a cigarette. Filters also reduce the harshness of the smoke and keep tobacco flakes out of the smoker's mouth.-History:...
. Unlike a cigarette, they are not meant to be inhaled but rather smoked like a cigar.
Generally, a cigarillo contains about 3 grams of tobacco, the length varies from 3 to 4 in. and the diameter is about 5 to 8 mm. Comparatively, a cigarette contains less than 1 gram of tobacco and is less than 5" in length and 10 mm in diameter.
Cigarillos are often machine made. This allows the price to be lower than if they were hand made. As cigarillos are often smoked in quantities similar to cigarettes (between 5 and 10 per day), it is not usually necessary to store them in
humidorA humidor is any kind of box or room with constant humidity, and ideal temperature, used to store cigars, cigarettes, or pipe tobacco. For private use, small wooden or acrylic glass humidor boxes for a few dozen cigars are used, while cigar shops may have walk-in humidors, sometimes consisting of a...
s.
Cigarillos are also known in Europe as a 'Seven Minute Cigar'. This because they can be smoked in seven minutes and are often seen as an alternative not only to cigarettes but also where someone does not have enough time to smoke a full cigar.
To improve their image, cigarillos can often be found in ornately designed tins. Manufacturers explain this offers more protection for the product against crushing. This may also be explained as more efficient way of targeted advertising.
In the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
popular consumer brands include
Swisher SweetsSwisher Sweets are manufactured by Swisher International, Inc. in Jacksonville, Florida. The company began in 1861 when David Swisher received a small cigar business in settlement of a debt. Back then, cigars were only a sideline for Swisher and his four sons, just one of many notions that they...
,
Black and MildBlack & Mild is a pipe tobacco cigar brand, produced by John Middleton Co., a tobacco company in Limerick, Pennsylvania. As of November 2007, Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris purchased John Middleton, Inc....
, Al Capone,
White OwlWhite Owls are American-made, machine produced cigars. White Owl cigars are inexpensive, costing around an average of $1.50. The logo consists of a Snowy owl perched on a cigar.-History:...
,
Backwoods SmokesBackwoods Smokes were a brand of cigarettes produced in the United States beginning in 1973. This product was notable during the 1970s and 1980s for heavy advertising, which became one of the more obvious examples of how companies at the time reacted to changing laws and cultural views on public...
, Optimo, and Winchester, while in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
they include
HamletsHamlet is a well known brand of cigar produced by Japan Tobacco. They are available in several varieties, miniatures and also a regular length. They are regularly referred to as the 'mild cigar' in their advertising....
and Café Crème. Inexpensive cigarillos are often identified using a brand name rather than the term
cigarillo.
Health concerns
As is the case with other tobacco products, cigarillos are a
health riskThe health effects of tobacco are the circumstances, mechanisms, and factors of tobacco consumption on human health. Epidemiological research has been focused primarily on cigarette tobacco smoking, which has been studied more extensively than any other form of consumption.Tobacco is the single...
to those who smoke them. In Europe, Canada and Australia they are subject to the same laws which require manufacturers to place a health warning on a portion of each package.
Like cigars, cigarillos are not meant to be inhaled. As a result of this, it is often assumed that cigarillos are a healthier alternative to cigarettes, but health authorities around the world still warn smokers of the risk they pose due to smoke being in the mouth.
Taxation
In the United States, cigarillos (and cigars) were taxed at a lower rate than cigarettes. The federal tax on cigarettes was 50 cents a pack whereas cigarillos were 5 cents per pack of 20. Large cigars had a federal tax of 5 cents maximum per cigar. The difference in tax rates was credited for a 240% increase in the popularity of cigarillos over ten years. In February 2009 an increase from 5 cents to 40 cents per pack as part of the SCHIP expansion bill set a tax rate similar to that for cigarettes.
Alternate usage
In Spanish-speaking countries, as well as in the
PhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, "cigarrillo" is a
cigaretteA cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
. In the
PhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, it is often spelt
sigarílyo. Short, narrow cigars are referred to instead as
little cigars.
Cigarillos also can be used for smoking cannabis. The cannabis is hand wrapped into the whole leaf paper.
In English, the two l's are pronounced, although in Spanish-influenced locales, such as California, the l's become the 'y' sound.