I was catching up on today's deals and saw the Padilla Obsidian advertised, and that got me thinking.

What's the difference between a torpedo and a belicoso? Those terms seem to be interchanged often.
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This may help:

FIGURADOS

Although most cigars are straight-sided cylinders with one rounded end, there are a number of traditional cigar formats with more novel shapes--the figurados. Different manufacturers have interpreted these names differently, so you might, for example, find a cigar that fits the description below of a pyramid, but is called a belicoso. There is no perfect consensus, but generally here's what the figurados look like:

--PYRAMID: A sharply tapered and closed-headed cigar with a wider open foot. These cigars are between 6 and 7 inches with a ring gauge of around 40 at the head that widens to 52 to 54 at the foot.

--BELICOSO: Traditionally, a belicoso was a short pyramid, 5 or 5 1/2 inches in length with a shorter, more rounded taper at the head and a ring gauge generally of 50 or less. Today, "belicosos" are frequently coronas or corona gordas with a tapered head.

--TORPEDO: A torpedo has a closed foot, a pointed head and a bulge in the middle.

--PERFECTO: Like a torpedo, the perfecto has a closed foot and a bulge in the middle. The difference is that the head is rounded rather than pointed. Perfectos can vary greatly in length, from 4 1/2 to 9 inches, and can have a ring gauge between 38 and 48.

--CULEBRA: This exotic shape, made up of three panetelas braided together and banded as one cigar, makes it clear why cigars have sometimes been called "ropes." The three parts are unbraided and smoked separately. They are usually 5 to 6 inches in length, most often with a 38 ring gauge. Culebras are relatively rare these days. If you acquire one, you might consider finding two other cigar aficionados and turning the smoking of your culebra into an occasion.

--DIADEMAS : A big cigar--8 inches or longer. The head is closed and tapered, with a ring gauge of 40 while the foot, which can be open, or closed like a perfecto, is a hefty 52 ring gauge, or larger.
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By those definitions it would really seem that some confuse the Pyramid and Torpedo vitolas.
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True True, most all of the torpedo's I see advertised are not torpedos by those definitions but Pyramid's
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Great definitions...Thanks...
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This LINK should be very helpful as well!

http://www.aficionado-a-havanas.com/...cgi/shape.html
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I'm confused, looks like an open foot in the pic for 'torpedo', am I missing something?
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It is an open foot, the same as all the others except the Culebra and Perfecto!
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thanks for the info!! me likes the belicoso
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Here they are as I have always thought of them.

Pyramid - Tapers continually from head to foot, the foot may be very wide.

Torpedo - Tapers from head to main body of cigar, but is a gradual taper and then parallels.

Belicoso - Tapers from head to main body, but does so very quickly, not quite a rounded head, but very close, and then it parallels.

Perfecto - Tapers at both head and foot. The taper at the foot may be gradual or sharp.
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Those look good to me
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BELICOSO'S all the way!
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Great info here. I'm for both!
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Great information!!!

Thank you!!!

Make mine the Perfecto!!! :-)
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great info, thanks!
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Even in these pics I fail to see the difference between the torp and the beli
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my understanding is a beli and a torp are the same shape, but a torpedo is a set size, I believe a 6.xx X 52 whereas a belicoso is generally a smaller cigar
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These are all simply descriptive terms used rather loosely by manufacturers. Outside Cuba, there are no "standard" sizes or names. Even within Cuba some terms are used to describe more than one size cigar. Although generally a Belicoso is shorter than a Torpedo, there is no specific size that would prevent a manufacturer from calling any cigar a specific name. :-)
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I have to admit, I love the torpedo shape. It was one of those that just kind of jumped out and said "pick me, pick me" :-)
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I agree. I just pulled out an Oliva V Torp and a Don Carlos Belicoso out of my cooler and best I could tell the structure and shape were the same with the Torp being about 1/2 inch longer
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