For fans of premium tobacco, a kaleidoscope of cigar wrapper colors, shapes (aka vitolas), strengths, and cigar flavor profile options are just a quick puff away.
In a world where aging a premium cigar blend or a particular cigar type resting in a calibrated humidor matters to most tobacco enthusiasts, the individually packaged portion of the puzzle is not a common consideration.
In fact, the individual packaging portion of premium cigar blend shopping is not very diverse at all, with a core three options remaining the norm: Cellophane-wrapped, tubed (aka tubos), and completely unprotected.
So which of these three cigar packaging methods is best? Or does each offer its own perks and pitfalls? Well fellow intrepid cigar smoking sidekick, today is your day to find out why the cigar humidor dress code may or may not matter so much, and what to look for when selecting a cigar.
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Cellophane Wrapped Cigars
There’s no denying the significance that cellophane plays in our daily lives. After over a century of use, this transparent, ultra-thin barrier is one of the most widely utilized single-use products on the planet, including the encapsulation of cigars.
Traditionally formed from plant cellulose, cigar cellophane tubes are actually a naturally derived product, and can either be made to size at a cigar factory, or outsourced from a supplier. Cellophane not only shields a cigar wrapper from damage during packaging and handling, but it also serves as a form of humidity barrier, which in certain cases can slow the drying process.
This transparent product allows moisture to enter slowly, thus allowing cellophane-wrapped cigars to gradually absorb an adequate amount of moisture during prolonged humidor storage.
Tobacco Nerd Note: Planning to place some stogies in your humidor travel case and hit the highway? A cellophane shield will help prevent that cigar wrapper from getting damaged when the going gets bumpy. However, if you don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon with a specific stick, go ahead remove the cellophane if you would like, as it will help keep over-humidification from occurring during long-term cigar aging.
Tubos & Coffins
Cigar tube, or tubos, as they are commonly referred to in the cigar biz, are one of the best forms of cigar preservation. But these cylindrical designs, and their square-bodied, sliding door coffin counterparts come with their own unique caveats as well.
Commonly constructed from aluminum (and occasionally out of plastic or glass), cigar tubos prevent a broad array of blunt impact-oriented damage and cigar wrapper scuffing from occurring. The same is true for cigar coffins, which are typically constructed from wood. But there’s way more to these stogie capsules than just structural integrity and appearances, with the downsides being a bit... annoying.
Stogie Security
May it be constructed from glass, plastic, aluminum, wood, or the hollowed-out femur of a sworn enemy, cigar tubos and coffins keep sticky fingers and airborne contaminants alike the hell away from our precious tobacco.
Like a nefarious uncle testifying in front of the court during his third divorce hearing, cigar wrappers are notorious for cracking under pressure. That is why this sort of cigar shield serves as such a great buffer against the unexpected accidents that occur all too often in the cigar world.
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Cylindrical Billboards
From a marketing standpoint, cigar tubes provide an outstanding promotional platform for tobacco products. Not only does a snazzy tubos attract the eye due to its standout physical presence, but it also serves as an brilliantly hued billboard.
You name the color, pattern, marketing jargon, or instantly recognizable cigar seal, and there’s a promotional department implementing it into a premium cigar blend tubos marketing campaign somewhere.
Naturally, this has led to a large number of tubos cigar smokers matching their outfits for the evening to particular cigars. In contrast, and we mean that quite literally, a cigar tube poking from a breast pocket makes for a very sharp accent piece, not much unlike a pocket square or a lapel pin.
Present Protection
There’s no worse feeling than handing someone a premium cigar, only to realize that the smoke you are passing to them has a fat crack running down its cigar wrapper.
Tubos make gifting safe, easy, and pretty damn appealing thanks to their attractive appearances. There’s no need for gift wrap when a cigar is stuffed inside a protective tube either, so bear that in mind when you are shopping around next time.
Known Cigar Tubos Issues
Despite retaining a certain level of humidity when properly capped, tubed cigars do tend to dry out over time if not exposed to a humidor’s muggy confines. Outside of a humidor box, you might have a week or two in the humid heat of summer before a tubed cigar will begin to turn. Whereas even a tightly sealed tubos cigar will become brittle quite quickly in an ultra-arid high-temp environment.
Tubos cigars also tend to age slower, which depending upon when you are looking to smoke said cigar, can either help or hinder the situation. Here at Case elegance and Klaro cigars, we strongly suggest removing the cap entirely prior to placing the cigar in the humidor.
Tobacco Nerd Note: While by no means a mandatory measure, the act of stuffing a sheet of Spanish cedar inside a cigar tube so that it can double as a lighter is quite common. Commonly utilized as humidor wood, Spanish cedar not only serves as the perfect buffer between cigar wrapper and metallic tube, but it also imparts a nice aromatic note within the cigar itself. To learn how to utilize a sheet of Spanish cedar as a spill for lighting a cigar, be sure to check out our article on this aromatic subject here.
Stark Naked Cigars
Last but not least, there’s the nudist in the family. And no, we’re not still talking about your uncle and the contents of his scandalous court hearings.
May it be the foot, cap, barrel, band, or something in between, unprotected cigars are forever the first to get damaged.
However, stark naked cigars also tend to respond the best to fluctuations in humidity and hold up the best when it comes to long-term humidor storage. Unprotected smokes are also far easier to assess than cellophane-wrapped and tubos cigars, so keep that in mind if you plan on meticulously monitoring a particular stick in that snazzy new Case Elegance humidor of yours.
Parting Puffs
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter too much whether or not a cigar receives cellophane wrapping, a fancy form of tubos, or sits nude in its cigar box for most of its life.
As long as that premium cigar blend is properly humidified, and doesn’t get roughed up like your uncle did during his prison sentence in Tijuana, both you and your stogie should be golden.
All that being said, we do strongly recommend picking up a humidor travel pack if cigar smoking sessions away from the backyard become a common occurrence. It doesn’t matter if they sport some form of outer protection or not, throwing a handful of cigars into a cigar pocket protector case will only further help you keep those highly-rated premium cigar blend offerings in place, and add just one more layer of security to the smoking scenario.
