Not long ago a new vitola started to make the rounds in the cigar world. 6×60 has become a new hot mark on the shelves of almost any retailer of premium hand-made cigars. Why has this become the new “it” thing on store shelves? History has shown that robusto and toro were 2 of the most popular sizes and the most consistently sold across the country. Smaller sizes were seeing a bit of a resurgence in the early 2000′s, with lanceros, coronas, and even lonsdales starting to appear on store shelves. People were enjoying small ring gauges in shorter formats as a way to enjoy a quick cigar when they didn’t have a long time to do so. Then along came the 6×60, known by many names such as Bertha, Toro Gordo, Toro Extra and others. Who is responsible for this growing trend in cigars and what has driven this change of pace for smokers?
Let’s look at the first and possibly most likely reason behind this new size: perceived value. Many people look at a size like a toro (6×50-54) and the price tag is around $7. Sitting right next to the $7 toro is the $7.50 6×60 and see a better value. You get more tobacco for your dollar and a longer smoking time as such. This leads to people smoking more of these size due to the price difference being negligible when considering other sizes of the same cigar. A valid point indeed and one that makes a lot of sense when looking at other retailers such as Costco and Sam’s Club thriving. The idea of buying more for close to the same price drives many people to many different retail decisions, not just in tobacco.
The second reason you are starting to see this trend may be due to a heavily debated idea amongst cigar manufacturers. Does a bigger ring gauge mean a stronger cigar? The 2 ideas are not intermingled unless the manufacturers want them to be. With a 6×60 you have to add quite a bit more filler and if that filler is an extra leaf of ligero then the cigar could very well be stronger than it’s smaller brethren. However the opposite could also be true: if using 1 leaf of ligero in a corona and using 1 leaf of ligero in the 6×60 and adding seco or viso as the additional filler, you will actually lose strength in the overall cigar. This is because the ratio of seco and viso to ligero has gone down considerably and therefore you lose strength. The “recipe” has changed and if it was not proportional to the original to account for the larger size, then the cigar will be vastly different.
Could the reason be that people assume with a larger amount of tobacco that you get more flavor? This may or may not be true, much like the strength argument. Many people say that most of the flavor on a cigar comes from the wrapper leaf and therefore the smaller the ring gauge, the more flavor you will get. This is because there is not as much filler to override the flavor coming from the wrapper. Other people will say that filler contributes more flavor then most people think and therefore the bigger the ring gauge, the more they can add flavor and complexity to a cigar by adding filler. I think the argument here is somewhere between the 2. Both sides are correct in that the smaller the ring gauge, the more influence the wrapper will have on the flavor and vice-verse, the bigger the ring, the more the filler will have an impact on the flavor. How this changes the manufacturers idea behind the cigar can be altered as well. They may have to use a different kind of filler to mimic the tastes of the smaller ring gauge for which the cigar is intended. They may have to use a higher priming of tobacco or something with a bit more age to get the flavors they were looking for. Using a lower quality tobacco can very easily disrupt the intention of the cigar because of the impact it will have when used in a larger ring gauge.
Some people will say it is just new smokers contributing to this trend and that point is one I definitely disagree with. Working in the retail cigar business for some time now, I have seen novice smokers enjoy smaller cigars and 20 year veterans smoke 6×60′s. I ask customers from time to time what draws them to the larger cigars and the answer is always interesting. Some will say it is the value they get for that smoke. Others will tell me they seem to draw better then smaller cigars and still others say they just like the large volume of smoke that the size provides. Sometimes they are looking for a cigar they can sit with and relax for 2 hours and 6×60 provides just that. The people who choose not to smoke that size tend to agree as to why they don’t: it is just to big and they don’t feel comfortable doing so. It isn’t comfortable in their mouth, not comfortable in their hand, or even too phallic for them, as funny as that sounds. The length isn’t so much the issue for most people but the ring gauge, it is just too big for them. One thing is for sure, this is a trend that most likely isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Even Cuba, which has always been a very traditional country when it comes to cigar sizes, is doing bigger ring gauges. They recently released the Cohiba Behike 56, which as the name implies is a 56 ring gauge, the largest they’ve ever done.
Many manufacturers agree, the 60 ring is one that is a fast growing market for them. For Perdomo, it is the largest size that is their largest seller in 3 different blends, the Gran Cru, the Champagne, and the Habano lines. EPC has released this size in all of his blends under the new company and even did them when he was making cigars under La Gloria Cubana. And even Altadis, makers of such historical lines as Romeo y Julieta, Montecristo, H. Upmann and others, is jumping on the 60 bandwagon, making these sizes in many of their lines. While many people don’t enjoy the girth of this cigar, one thing is for sure, the cigar market has a demand for them and it doesn’t appear to be subsiding anytime soon. And the way I see it, if it attracts new smokers to our hobby and helps bring acceptance to what we as adults choose to enjoy, then they are a welcome addition to the cigar world.
