The vitola describes a cigar’s format. To identify it precisely, you need its length, its diameter and its shape. Names such as robusto or corona help you find your bearings, but the record is clearer when it also includes the measurements published by the manufacturer.

Diameter is usually expressed through the ring gauge (cepo). Each unit equals one sixty-fourth of an inch. For example, a 50 ring gauge represents a diameter of 50/64 of an inch, approximately 19.8 millimetres. Length may be given in inches or in millimetres.

Habanos distinguishes the vitola de galera, used in the factory, from the vitola de salida, used commercially. The two names may coincide or differ. When cataloguing a piece, keeping the name on the box and adding the dimensions avoids losing that distinction. The measurement makes it possible to compare geometries; other data are still needed to describe the blend. A format on its own does not identify the tobaccos it contains.