Cigar Pet Peeves: Cellophane Wrappers, or Lack Thereof

In the last year and a half or so since I really started getting really serious about this blog, I have reviewed well over a hundred cigars. These have ranged from cheap cigars (my "Cigars for the Recession" series) to mega-expensive sticks (Padron No. 45 and LFD El Museo among the most expensive), from brand-new, fresh from the store to slightly aged (a year or so). I have reviewed mild sticks, medium-bodied stogies, and butt-kicking full-bodied cigars. All this to say, I think I have enough evidence (anecdotal as it is) to support the argument I am about to make: it sucks when manufacturers neglect to put cellophane wrappers on cigars!

I have thought long and hard about this. I understand the reasons (at least some of them) that companies don't use cellos, but I reject those reasons and I will try to explain why. I believe all cigars should be shipped in cellophane for two reasons: first, it provides an extra layer of protection against damage; and, second, it hold in and intensifies the aromas of the cigar until you are ready to enjoy it.

Damage. I can't say how long it has been going on; probably for decades really, but I really started to notice it a lot more as I reviewed more and more cigars over the past year. The cigars that shipped "naked" had a much higher instance of cracked wrappers before I ever lit them up. Where is the damage occurring? Who knows? The cigars are handled when being put in the box. They ship from some foreign country (Nicaraguan, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic being the most frequent) to America on a plane, get shipped around the country in big semis before getting to a cigar shop (B&M or online) in a UPS or FedEx delivery vehicle. During this shipment process they are bounced and jarred, shaken and stirred. Then your local B&M manager opens the box and puts it on the shelf, where the sticks are handled and inspected by dozens of people who walk through every day before you get there. You pick one up, inspect it for flaws and take it to the front counter...where the proprietor handles it again, puts it in a bag with your other purchases, and send you on your way. You drive it home and it bounces around in a zipper bag with all your other purchases, cello-ed or not. Then you handle it again when you get home, putting it down to rest in your humidor. Then you handle it against several times over the next month or two before you smoke it (or maybe you smoke it the next week). The point being, that your cigars are treated roughly and handled tons of times before you get to the point of smoking them. Every time they are handled there is potential for damage. Every time you handle the cigars around a naked stick in your humidor, there is potential for damage. Wrappers are generally the thinnest, most delicate tobacco used in a cigar, but with a cellophane wrapper they at least stand a chance of getting from "seed to soul" without getting split, cracked, and destroyed.

Aroma. One of the most pleasant things in the world is to pull a cigar out of the cellophane and have the sweet smell of tobacco, coffee, dark chocolate, compost, earth, manure...whatever!...hit your sinuses with a punch before you ever bring the stick close to your nose. Smoking cigars is a sensual experience, by which I mean that it should involve all your senses: sight, taste, touch and smell (hearing, not so much...if you can hear your cigar crackling, that's a bad thing! Maybe the hearing is involved in the conversation with friends around the cigar-smoking table.). Those cigars that I review that do not have cellophane wrappers almost invariably suffer in the "prelight" category, especially if they end up sitting in my humidor for longer than a couple weeks, because the aromas just kind of "drift away." This happens in cheapies and expensive smokes, and for no other reason than that there is nothing to hold in those molecules that trigger the smell sense. I have noticed quite a few times of late that a cigar's wrapper may have a "very faint barnyard aroma" or a "hint of chocolate" but nothing intense...these are invariably naked cigars.

So, you might say...these problems won't be as much of a problem if you just buy a box of those sticks. You may be right to some degree. When bought by the box and kept in that box until smoked, cigars have the chance to marry flavors properly, and the box will afford some protection against damage and aroma loss. But I can almost promise you that after you've smoked half the sticks in a box, the other half will start to lose their aroma because there is so much more open space in the box than at the beginning. Furthermore, as you handle the sticks in that open box, you again risk wrapper damage. Buying by the box also brings up two issues I have trouble dealing with: space and cost. I have 3 humidors and they are almost constantly most of the way full. Most of the time, I simply don't have the room for a full box of 20 cigars. If I do have room, I usually don't have the space to actually put the box in a humidor, but have to take all the sticks out and spread them around in the various open areas. I also just cannot afford to drop a bill or two every month on a box of cigars. Some people can...more power to you. I spend $150 to $200 on smokes--less when I have to. My budget is somewhat constrained, but not as constrained as some people I know. It takes a very special cigar for me to even consider buying a box--and it takes one that is affordable enough to smoke on a regular basis. I recently bought a box of CAO Gold Vintage: 10 sticks for less than $80. I consider them better than most other mild cigars on the market and they are less than half the cost of a similar-sized Davidoff. Great deal on a great cigar. I am planning on buying a box of CAO La Traviata at some point in the near future: 20 sticks for less than $100; great cigar that I can enjoy at virtually anytime. What I won't even consider buying are smokes like Padron No. 45: $200+ for 10 sticks; very good cigar, but not even the best in their lineup. Or EP Carrillo Edicion Inaugural: $130 or so for 10 sticks; okay cigar, but not worth my consideration if they were $8 a stick (just my opinion). I would venture to say that my situation of lack of room and lack of coin is shared by a majority of cigar smokers: we buy what we can afford and what we have room to store for a relatively short time.

What would I propose as a solution? I know there are people who dislike cellophane wrappers. I know there are those who buy boxes and remove all the cellos before putting the cigars in their humidors. What I want is choice. If manufacturers just used cellophane from the factory, they would ensure that the cigars get in the hands of the smokers with minimal risk of damage and minimal loss of aroma. That would make smokers like me happy. Those who want can just take the cellos off. Why don't I just keep some cellos around to put naked cigars in? I might just start doing that. Or at least keep some zipper bags to put them in and protect them while they are in my humidor.