Cohiba Short

The Cohiba Short is a small, machine-made Cuban cigarillo sold under the Cohiba name. This article collects what published sources say about its size, construction, flavour and smoking time, and it notes where those sources disagree.

Quick facts

What is the Cohiba Short?

The Cohiba Short is a cigarillo: a small cigar meant for a brief smoke rather than a long sitting. One retailer page describes it as machine rolled in Cuba from 100% Cuban tobacco. Trade coverage of the later Cohiba Wide Short states that the Wide Short is made in Havana at Internacional Cubana de Tabacos S.A. and that, like the Short, it uses only Cuban tobacco.

Retailers present the Short as part of a group of small Cohiba formats that also includes the Mini and the Club. Retailers describe it as individually wrapped in cellophane. Trade coverage of the Wide Short describes a band, cellophane wrap and a click-fastening box for that format. One UK retailer reports it reached the UK market in 2017; that is a market date for one country, not an official release date from the manufacturer.

What size and blend is it?

Published dimensions are not uniform, so it is worth setting out what was found.

• Most retailer listings give a length of about 3 1/4 inches (82 or 83 mm). UK listings mostly give a 26 ring gauge (one converts this to 83 mm and a 10.41 mm diameter); several other European and Hong Kong listings give 27.
• One review page gives a 30 ring gauge and a length of 4 inches (102 mm). No other source checked agrees, so it is treated here as an outlier.
• The official Habanos brand page for Cohiba did not list the Short, the Club or the Mini when checked, so an official dimension could not be confirmed directly.

Because no manufacturer figure could be retrieved, the safest reading is that the Short is a roughly 3 1/4 inch cigarillo of 26 to 27 ring gauge, and that anyone who needs exact dimensions should measure the product in hand or ask the seller for the manufacturer's stated size.

On blend, the only specific statement found comes from a trade interview about the Wide Short, which says its filler is the same blend as the Short. Beyond "Cuban tobacco", no published breakdown of leaf types for the Short was found, so none is given here.

Is the Cohiba Short machine-made?

Yes, according to the sources checked. A retailer page describes the Short as machine rolled in Cuba, and the Wide Short is explicitly described as "mecanizado", the Spanish term for machine-made, in trade coverage. The Wikipedia entry for Cohiba names the Mini and the Club as machine-made extensions of the brand, which places the small formats in a separate category from the hand-rolled main Cohiba lines.

The Habanos brand page carries a general statement that Habanos are made entirely by hand. That statement is general and the page did not say how individual small formats are produced. Readers should therefore treat the machine-made description as coming from retailers and trade press rather than from a vitola-specific manufacturer sheet.

How does it differ from the Cohiba Club, Mini and Wide Short?

• Mini: Both are machine-made small formats. The Mini is another machine-made small Cohiba format. Its dimensions and flavour were not checked against reliable sources for this article, so no direct comparison is made here.
• Club: Wikipedia groups the Club with the Mini as a machine-made extension. Descriptions of how the Club differs in size and flavour from the Short came only from a retailer's own copy, so no firm comparison is made here.
• Wide Short: This is the better documented comparison. It was presented at the Habanos Festival in February 2023. Trade coverage gives it a 32 ring gauge and a length of 100 mm, while a retailer lists about 3 7/8 inches. It is therefore both longer and noticeably thicker than the Short, and the same trade source says its larger format lets the flavour develop for longer on the same filler blend.

Of these formats, only the Wide Short could be compared reliably: it is thicker and longer than the Short and uses the same filler blend.

What does it taste like, according to reviewers?

Flavour descriptions come mostly from retailer copy and a small number of reviews, so they reflect individual impressions and not a standard. Reported notes include:

• A spicy, creamy character with hints of grass, coffee and nuts, per one UK retailer's description.
• Cedar and light cocoa, in a review that, however, used dimensions that conflict with the more common figures.

Strength is usually listed as medium to full, although one retailer page also calls the Wide Short mild to medium in the same text, which shows how loosely such labels are applied. Perception of strength depends heavily on the smoker, and a small cigar burns quickly, which can make flavours feel concentrated.

How long does it take to smoke?

Retailer listings put the Short at roughly 10 to 15 minutes; a few listings stretch this to about 20. The 20 to 30 minute figure appears only on the page whose dimensions conflict with the rest, so it is not relied on. For comparison, the Wide Short is listed at about 15 to 20 minutes. Pace, draw and conditions all change these figures.

How can you check authenticity?

No manufacturer-published checklist for the Short was retrieved, so this section sticks to general points that follow from what the sources say:

• Compare what you receive with how the product is described: retailers report each Short as individually wrapped in cellophane.
• Check that the stated size is consistent with the commonly reported 26 to 27 ring gauge and about 3 1/4 inch length. A listing that gives very different dimensions, or claims a hand-rolled, long-filler construction, deserves a closer look.
• Buy from a seller who states the origin and the construction plainly and who can answer questions about both.
• Contact the Habanos distributor for your country if you are unsure about a particular box.

Laws and rules about buying or importing Cuban cigars differ by where you live, so check your local laws.