Vitola is the Spanish term for a cigar’s size and shape combined into a single named format. Every premium cigar belongs to a vitola: a Robusto, a Toro, a Churchill, a Corona, a Torpedo, a Perfecto, and so on. The vitola defines two measurements that, together, determine how the cigar smokes: its length in inches and its ring gauge (the diameter, in sixty-fourths of an inch).
A Robusto, for example, is roughly five inches by fifty ring. A Churchill is seven inches by forty-seven. The same blend rolled into both vitolas will taste meaningfully different. The thicker ring gauge changes the ratio of wrapper to filler in each puff, which shifts the flavour balance, and the longer cigar gives the blend more time to develop in your hand.
Vitolas split into two broad families: parejos (straight-sided cigars with a rounded head, the conventional shape) and figurados (any tapered or shaped cigar, including Torpedoes, Belicosos, and Perfectos).
For more on cigar construction and how the vitola interacts with the wrapper, binder, and filler, see The Anatomy of a Cigar.