V-Cut or Straight Cut? A Table by Cuban Vitola and Ring Gauge

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Short answer: under a 44 ring gauge, cut straight; from 50 up, a V-cut gives the better draw on a Cuban; on any torpedo or pirámide, cut straight and shallow, never V. The reason is in the numbers, so here they are.

Every guide to cutting a cigar is written about cigars in general. Cubans are not general. Habanos rolls to a fixed list of factory sizes, the vitolas de galera, and each marca’s names map onto that list. A Cohiba Siglo VI and a Partagás Serie P No. 2 do not share a name, but they share a ring gauge and a cap, and the same cut suits them both. So instead of “it depends on the cigar”, here is the cigar.

The table

Ring gauge is the diameter in 64ths of an inch. A 52 is 20.6 mm across; a 56 is 22.2 mm; a 38 is 15.1 mm. Those millimetres decide the cut, because the hole you open has to be wide enough to draw through and narrow enough to stay inside the cap.

Vitola (factory name)	Cigars you know it as	Ring	Length	Cut
Laguito No. 1	Cohiba Lanceros, Trinidad Fundadores	38	192 mm	Straight, 1 mm
Perlas	Cohiba Siglo I, Montecristo No. 5	40	102 mm	Straight
Mareva	Montecristo No. 4, Cohiba Siglo II	42	129 mm	Straight
Corona	Cohiba Siglo III, Bolívar Coronas	42	142 mm	Straight
Julieta 2	Romeo y Julieta Churchill, Cohiba Esplendidos	47	178 mm	Straight or V
Prominente	Hoyo Double Coronas, Punch Double Coronas	49	194 mm	Straight or V
Robusto	Partagás Serie D No. 4, Hoyo Epicure No. 2, Cohiba Robustos	50	124 mm	V
Petit Robusto	Partagás Serie D No. 5, Hoyo Petit Robusto	50	102 mm	V
Edmundo	Montecristo Edmundo	52	135 mm	V
Cañonazo	Cohiba Siglo VI	52	150 mm	V
Laguito No. 4	Cohiba Behike 52	52	119 mm	V
Pirámides	Montecristo No. 2, Partagás Serie P No. 2	52	156 mm	Straight, 2–3 mm, never V
Campanas	Bolívar Belicosos Finos, Sancho Panza Belicosos	52	140 mm	Straight, shallow, never V
Laguito No. 5	Cohiba Behike 54	54	144 mm	V
Duke	Partagás Serie E No. 2	54	140 mm	V
Sublimes	Cohiba Sublimes (Edición Limitada 2004)	54	164 mm	V
Montesco	Romeo y Julieta Wide Churchill	55	130 mm	V
Laguito No. 6	Cohiba Behike 56	56	166 mm	V, or straight with a wide blade
Magnum 56	H. Upmann Magnum 56	56	150 mm	V, or straight with a wide blade

Dimensions are the Habanos factory standards; the cut is our recommendation, explained below.

Why the ring gauge decides

A straight cut removes the top of the cap in one slice. On a thin cigar that is exactly right: a 38 or 42 ring has a small filler bundle, the draw is already firm, and you want the whole face open. Cut one to two millimetres into the cap, never below the shoulder where the wrapper is glued, and it will hold together to the band.

On a thick cigar the same slice opens a wide, flat face, and a lot of smoke arrives at once, hot and undirected. A V-cut takes a wedge out of the centre instead, deep and narrow. Through a 50-plus ring the draw comes up the middle in a column, cooler, more concentrated, and the cap around the wedge stays whole, which matters on a Cuban whose wrapper has been in a box at 65 per cent for three years and is not as forgiving as a fresh Nicaraguan. That is the whole argument for the V on robustos, Edmundos and Behikes: not fashion, geometry.

Above 54 it gets marginal. A V-cutter’s wedge is a fixed size, and on a 56 it opens a smaller share of the face; some smokers find the draw tight and go back to a straight cut with a blade wide enough to clear 22 millimetres. A double-blade guillotine opens most of the way, so check the aperture before you buy one for Behike 56s. Two that clear it, by their makers’ ratings: the Colibri Cut (62 ring gauge, $39) and the Xikar XO (64, and it takes the cap off a 70; $99.99 at Xikar). For the V, the Colibri V-Cut is rated 60-plus and cuts up to 7 mm deep. We compare the two brands in detail in Xikar vs Colibri.

Torpedoes are the exception

A pirámide, a belicoso and a campana all taper to a point, and the point is where beginners ruin them. A V-cutter on a torpedo bites too deep into the taper and can split the head. A straight cut too low opens a face as wide as a robusto and the shape was for nothing.

Cut straight, two to three millimetres from the tip, and stop. You are opening a hole about the size of a corona’s. Draw on it; if it is tight, take another millimetre. You can always cut more, and on a Montecristo No. 2 that second cut is the difference between the cigar you paid for and a robusto with a funny hat. If you like a torpedo’s draw a shade wider, cut on a slight angle so the opening faces your palate; the old Havana trick, and it works.

The punch, briefly

A punch takes a round plug out of the cap. It is tidy, it lives on a keyring, and it is wrong for most of the table above. Under a 46 ring the plug is too small and the draw suffocates; over a 52 the plug is a pinhole in a wide face and the smoke comes through hot. Its sweet spot is the middle, coronas to Churchills, on a cigar you are smoking outdoors where a wedge might catch the wind. A rest and needle tool does the other job a punch owner reaches for: opening a plugged draw after the cut rather than cutting again.

Scissors, for the reader who wants to see

Cigar scissors do a straight cut with two edges meeting from the sides rather than a blade dropping across, and on a thin ring the control is better than a guillotine: you can take half a millimetre. On a 54 they need a long, sharp blade and a steady hand. They are the tool of the tobacconist counter and the lounge, not the pocket.

Before you cut

Whatever the tool, the cap has to be dry enough to cut cleanly. A cigar straight from a wet humidor, above 70 per cent, will crush rather than slice. Give it ten minutes on the desk. Line the blade up, commit in one motion, and never saw. A clean cut is the first two seconds of the cigar; everything you paid for follows it.

If you want one tool for the whole table, a V-cut and a straight cut together cover it: the Colibri V-Cut and the Colibri Cut cost $88 for the pair on Amazon.com (checked 21 October 2026). For a punch that lives on a keyring, the TISFA punch is about $7. More options in the best cigar cutters of 2026.

Questions

Is a V-cut better than a straight cut for a Cohiba Behike?

For the Behike 52 and 54, yes: the wedge concentrates the draw through a thick filler and keeps the cap whole. On the Behike 56 a V-cut can feel tight; a straight cut with a blade that clears 22 mm is the alternative.

How do you cut a Montecristo No. 2?

Straight, two to three millimetres from the point, in one motion, then draw and take one more millimetre only if it is tight. Never a V-cut on a torpedo; it bites too deep into the taper.

What ring gauge is too big for a punch cutter?

Above about 52 a standard punch opens too small a hole for the width of the face and the draw runs hot. Punches suit coronas and Churchills, 42 to 48.

Which cut for a Cohiba Lancero or any 38 ring?

Straight, and shallow: one millimetre into the cap. A 38 ring has a small filler bundle and a firm draw already, and the whole face should be open. A V-cut or a punch on a Lancero suffocates it.

How far above the shoulder should the cut be?

Inside the cap, never through it. On most Cuban vitolas that is one to two millimetres from the top; the cap’s edge, the faint line where the wrapper ends, is the limit. Cut below it and the wrapper unravels.