The time a cigar takes is set largely by its vitola. A small Petit Corona runs around thirty to forty-five minutes. A Robusto (five by fifty, the most common size) takes roughly fifty to seventy minutes when smoked properly. A Toro (six by fifty-two) lands around an hour and a quarter. A Churchill (seven by forty-seven) often runs ninety minutes to two hours. A larger figurado or Double Corona can stretch past two hours.
What “smoked properly” means is paced. A cigar should be drawn slowly enough that the smoke stays cool; rapid puffing overheats the foot and produces harsh, ammoniac, hot-rubber notes. The rule of thumb is roughly one slow puff per minute, drawing for two or three seconds and then letting the cigar rest in your hand for a similar interval. A cigar smoked at this pace stays in equilibrium with itself; one rushed runs hot, burns unevenly, and stops tasting like the blender’s intention.
The right pace is also why cigars work better as evening or weekend ritual than as a fifteen-minute smoke break. There is no good way to smoke a Robusto in twenty minutes; the cigar will resist the rush, and the experience will resist you back.
For more on cigar construction and how vitola affects the smoking experience, see The Anatomy of a Cigar.