Largest Ring Gauge Cigars
Some of the largest ring gauge cigars are also the most popular. There are dozens of cigar shapes and sizes to smoke today. Cigar size is measured in length and ring gauge, and cigar ring gauges continue to grow exponentially as cigar-makers meet consumer demand for infinitely fatter cigars. Cigar length is measured in inches, and ring gauge is measured in 64ths of an inch, the same way your finger is fitted for wedding ring. A traditional Robusto is 5-by-50, or five inches long with a ring gauge that is 50/64ths of an inch.
One of the fattest cigars we sell at Holt’s is the Rocky Patel Snowman, which has a whopping 80-ring gauge (reviewed below). More than a few brands produce cigars that are that fat today. We’ve even seen cigars as fat as a 100 and 140-ring gauges, which pushes the feel of an F150 tailpipe in your mouth. Ring size affects a cigar’s shape. One of the main differences between thin versus thick cigars is the flavor you taste from the wrapper leaf, which is diluted in a big ring cigar. Big ring cigars create a lot of smoke while you’re puffing on them, as you might expect. Here are five of the best fat cigars you can smoke today.
1. San Cristobal Coloso (6.75 x 62)
The original, 93-rated San Cristobal blend is potent, peppery, and blended master cigar-maker Jose ‘Pepin’ Garcia, who excels at blending rich Nicaraguan tobaccos in bursting formats like the Coloso. Notes of dark chocolate, pepper, and espresso weave in and out with hints of black cherry before a smoky finish of walnut and spice graces the palate. Smoke it slow, and savor the oily Cuban-seed Oscuro wrapper that encapsulates Pepin’s finest long-fillers in a strong but balanced big-ring cigar.
2. Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Super Gordo (5.75 x 66)
Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Super Gordo is an extra-fat 66-ring gauge Figurado that tapers at the head like an oversized Belicoso. The cap is precut and the draw spectacular in this chunky, abruptly sloping gem. Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial is drafted from an oily Connecticut Broadleaf and a hearty blend of Nicaraguan long-fillers. Loads of black pepper resonate with notes of dark cocoa and earth in a value-priced cigar that’s rated 90 points by the critics in Cigar Aficionado. The Super Gordo burns for well over an hour and is an excellent cigar to experience how a tapered shape can affect the intensity of a fat ring size.
3. La Aroma de Cuba El Jefe (7 x 58)
La Aroma de Cuba is one of today’s bestselling Cuban-legacy brands. La Aroma de Cuba cigars are handmade in Estelí, Nicaragua, in several sizes, including an iconic 7-by-58 format called the El Jefe. When the El Jefe debuted, its 58 ring-gauge was pretty chunky compared to most cigars. By today’s standards for girth, La Aroma de Cuba El Jefe is moderate, and that’s why it’s so popular. A lot of cigar lovers who want a bigger smoke, but not necessarily an extreme size, find the El Jefe perfect. It’s fat but comfortable to smoke. Rich notes of cocoa, cedar, molasses, and earth bathe the palate with hints of pepper before this 93-rated profile delivers a balanced finish.
4. Perdomo Inmenso Seventy Maduro 770 (7 x 70)
Perdomo brand founder Nick Perdomo didn’t invent big ring cigars, but he pioneered their popularity more than twenty years ago with a 70-ring gauge cigar called the Inmenso. At the time, the cigars were a novelty for consumers who wanted to smoke outrageously fat cigars to get a reaction from onlookers. Today, there are cigar smokers who take 70 rings seriously. Perdomo recently revived the line in two blends: Inmenso Seventy Maduro and Inmenso Seventy Sun Grown. The Maduro is beefy but sweet with notes of dark chocolate and molasses, while the Sun Grown reveals notes of cedar and earth with a spicier finish. Each blend comes in a 5-inch, 6-inch, or 7-inch length.
5. Rocky Patel Mulligans Snowman (6 x 80)
When Rocky Patel created his golf-themed Mulligans franchise as a proving ground for the prolific number of cigars he blends, he couldn’t have predicted how popular it would become, or that it would be home to the fattest Rocky Patel cigar ever rolled – the Snowman. This 80 ring gauge gem isn’t easy to get your lips around, but once you stretch them over it, a peppery profile of figs, coffee with cream, and leather boasts complex flavor and aroma. A hearty Ecuador Habano wrapper is stretched over an extra-chunky interior of Dominican long-fillers from head to toe.
How to Smoke Large Ring Cigars
When you’re ready to smoke cigars that are fat enough to star in a freak show, follow our tips on how to cut a big ring cigar – if you haven’t got an axe in your man cave. We’ll guide you on how to light a big ring cigar too. Invest in a big ring cigar cutter and a fire extinguisher first.
