A cigarillo (from Spanish cigarrillo, meaning cigarette, in turn from "cigarro" + "illo" diminutive, pronounced [siɣaˈriʎo] in parts of Latin America or [θiɣaˈriʎo] in Spain) is a short, narrow cigar. Unlike cigarettes, cigarillos are wrapped in tobacco leaves or brown tobacco-based paper. Cigarillos are smaller than regular cigars but usually larger than cigarettes, thus similar in size and composition to small panatela sized cigars, cheroots and traditional blunts. Cigarillos are usually made without filters, and are meant to be smoked like a cigar and not inhaled (except those made in this form only for specific tax issues).
Generally, a cigarillo contains about 3 grams of tobacco, the length varies from 3 to 4 in. (7 – 10 cm) and the diameter is about 6 to 9 mm, usually 8 mm. Comparatively, a cigarette contains less than 1 gram of tobacco and is about 3 1⁄4 in. (8 cm) in length and 8 mm in diameter.
Most cigarillos are machine-made, which is cheaper than hand-rolling. It is unusual to store them in humidors, partly because they are smoked in large quantities and so have a short shelf-life.
Cheap cigarillos are typically marketed as a brand rather than with the term cigarillo. In the United Kingdom common consumer brands include Henri Wintermans Café Crème and Hamlets and in the rest of Europe Dannemann Moods, Candlelight, Agio Panters and Mehari's, Clubmaster and Handesgold are popular. In the United States they include Al Capone, Black & Mild, Backwoods, Dutch Masters, Garcia Y Vega, Game, Splitarillos, Good Times, Swisher Sweets and Phillies. Some famous cigar brands, such as Cohiba or Davidoff, also make cigarillos - Cohiba Mini and Davidoff Club Cigarillos, for example.