What Is a Figurado Cigar? Torpedo, Belicoso & Perfecto

You spot it in the shop: most cigars are straight brown tubes, but a few have pointed tips, tapered ends, or a fat bulge in the middle. Those eye-catching shapes have a name. What is a figurado cigar? In plain terms, it's any cigar with an irregular, shaped form instead of straight parallel sides — and the family includes some of the most striking cigars you can buy.

Let's break down the shapes, how they differ from the everyday cigar, and what they're like to smoke.

Figurado vs parejo: the two big families

Every cigar falls into one of two camps by shape:

• Parejo — the classic straight-sided cigar with parallel walls, a rounded closed head (the end you cut) and an open, flat foot (the end you light). Robustos, toros, coronas, and churchills are all parejos. Most cigars sold are parejos.
• Figurado — any cigar that isn't straight-sided: tapered points, pinched ends, bulging middles. These are harder to roll, which is part of their appeal.

Quick mental model: parejo = straight tube, figurado = shaped cigar. Neither is "better" — figurados just take more skill to make and make more of a visual statement. For the full size-and-shape picture, see our guide on cigar sizes and shapes explained.

The common figurado shapes

Here are the shaped cigars you're most likely to meet, from most to least common.

Shape	What it looks like	The short version
Torpedo	Straight body tapering to a pointed, closed head	The most popular figurado; sharp tapered tip
Belicoso	Shorter, with a rounder tapered head	A compact torpedo
Pyramid	Tapers steadily from a wide foot to a narrow head	A cone shape; sometimes used interchangeably with torpedo
Perfecto	Tapered at both ends, often bulging in the middle	A "cigar-shaped cigar," like a tiny football
Diadema	A large, long perfecto-style cigar	The showpiece; closed and tapered at both ends

A few notes that clear up common confusion:

• Torpedo vs pyramid. People use these loosely. Strictly, a pyramid tapers the whole length from a wide foot to a narrow head, while a torpedo has a mostly straight body with the taper concentrated near the head. In practice, the words often get swapped.
• Belicoso is essentially a shorter torpedo with a more rounded point — same idea, more compact.
• Perfecto is the one tapered at both ends, so the foot is closed or nearly closed too. That changes how you light it (more on that below).

The famous example everyone points to is the Montecristo No. 2, the most recognized torpedo in the world. On the perfecto side, the Arturo Fuente Hemingway Classic is a beloved figurado. And the Oliva Serie V Melanio Figurado shows off the tapered shape in a rich, modern blend.

How figurados smoke (and why people love them)

The blend — the wrapper, binder, and filler — sets the flavor, not the shape. But the shape does change the experience:

• A tapered head funnels the smoke into a smaller opening, which many smokers feel concentrates and sharpens the flavor, especially in the first third.
• A perfecto's closed foot starts narrow, so it opens with a small, focused draw and widens as you smoke into the body — the strength and volume build as you go.
• They reward good rolling. Because figurados are trickier to construct, a well-made one is a little showcase of craftsmanship.

None of this is about quality over parejos. It's about variety and a slightly different draw — a fun change of pace once you're comfortable with the basics.

Cutting and lighting a figurado

This is where figurados need a touch more thought than a straight cigar.

Cutting a tapered head (torpedo, belicoso, pyramid): trim a small slice off the very tip. Start conservatively — you can always take off a bit more for a more open draw, but you can't put it back. Cut too much and you lose the taper's benefit and risk the wrapper unraveling. If you're ever caught without a tool, here's how to cut a cigar without a cutter.

Lighting a perfecto: because the foot is closed or pointed, take your time toasting that narrow tip evenly before you draw, so the burn starts centered. A patient light here pays off in an even burn. Our full walkthrough on how to light a cigar covers the toasting technique.

Knowing your parts of a cigar — head, foot, cap — makes all of this click into place.

Figurado cigars: the recap

To recap what a figurado cigar is: it's any shaped cigar that breaks from the straight parejo mold — torpedoes and belicosos with their tapered points, the steadily-coned pyramid, and the perfecto tapered at both ends. The blend drives the flavor, but the shape changes the draw and makes a statement. Cut tapered heads conservatively, light perfectos patiently, and enjoy the craftsmanship.

When you try your first torpedo or perfecto, jot down how the draw and flavor compare to your usual robusto. The Casa DNC app lets you log each cigar by shape and rate it, so you'll quickly learn whether you're a figurado fan.