Thinking Outside the (Cigar) Box

Alternative cigar packaging designs and the future of the traditional Spanish cedar cigar box.

I have a confession to make. For many years, I was a bundle cigar smoker.

Although I am not necessarily proud of this period, it was during my time as a bundle cigar smoker that I first experienced the effects that blind tasting, or a cigar coming without a band or a box, could have on the sensory experience of a cigar.

Another aspect of bundle cigar smoking that opened my eyes was the realization of just how much packaging affects the cost, and availability, of premium cigars. Not only are the cigars that are packaged in traditional Spanish cedar cigar boxes significantly more expensive than bundle cigars – even for the exact same cigar – boxed cigars are sometimes scarcer than bundle cigars. This is because, even if there is no shortage of a particular cigar, manufacturers often face box shortages (or shortages of component parts, like hinges or specific labels) that can prevent certain otherwise ready-to-be-shipped cigars from being sent out to market.

For the serious cigar connoisseur, it is all about the experience that the beautiful leaf provides us.

The fragrant aroma. The sweet, earthy (but still out of this world) taste. The ritual of cutting and lighting the cigar – and then drawing that delectable smoke into the mouth and retrohaling it out of the nose. The feeling of pleasure and tranquility for both the body and mind. This is why I fell in love with cigars decades ago and why I remain so deeply enamored with fine cigars today.

For this reason, some brave and creative premium cigar companies have started to think outside of the Spanish cedar cigar box. These companies have been on the forefront of embracing alternative packaging designs to address the shortages, and some environmental impacts, of the traditional Spanish cedar cigar box.

Now I will be the first to admit that traditional Spanish cedar cigar boxes certain are integral part of truly special premium cigars, limited releases or some vintage cigar editions. However, like the winemakers brave enough to begin using screw tops and other alternative packaging options – and not only the traditional authentic cork closure – there are a group of cigar brands that stand out for their creativity and elegance in the use of alternative cigar packaging designs for their products.

Ironically, though, it is often becoming the case where the goal of enhancing the visual experience of the premium cigar – through its presentation in the traditional Spanish cedar box – delays the cigar connoisseur from obtaining the expected experience. This raises the premium cigar world’s equivalent of the riddle of the tree falling in the forest with no one around to hear it: if the greatest cigar in the world cannot be released, due to packaging issues, does it even burn? Is enhanced packaging worth a delay – and sometime a long delay – in being able to experience it?

A Review of the Most Creative, Innovative, and Elegant Alternative Packaging Designs

The following are the highlights of my search for the most interesting and creative alternative packaging design concepts currently in use in the premium handmade cigar industry: Craft paper Bundles, Cellophane Fresh Packs, and Bundle/Mazo Packaging for Cigars Traditionally Only Sold in Boxes.

Craft Paper Bundles, Designed to Perfection

Falling in line with the old Cuban tradition of wrapping bundles of Cuban cigars in newspapers, here are my two favorite uses of craft paper bundle packaging as an alternative to Spanish cedar boxes:

Davidoff Vault Series and Chef’s Edition Re-Release

If Davidoff Can Do It, Then Anyone Can Do It

When Davidoff of Geneva loosened their silk ascots and started packaging their ultra-rare and limited Vault line releases (which includes an actual Eladio Diaz birthday cigar, among other treasures), along with their recent re-release of the original Chef’s Edition in craft paper bundles, they made it acceptable for anyone to release even the rarest and most expensive cigars in bundle packaging – so long as it is elegant, classy, and beautiful.

I commend Davidoff for being a trailblazer of its use of craft paper bundles as an alternative packaging design for their Vault and Chef’s edition re-release. Davidoff proves that cigar bundles can be packaged artfully and with exemplary taste. Davidoff further proves that the stigma associated with cigar bundles is not always deserved. Zino Davidoff, himself, would be proud. 

Artista’s Buffalo Ten

Proving that it is still possible to offer excellent taste and construction, and elegant packaging, at an amazing price.

The Buffalo Ten line of cigars (natural sun grown Ecuadorian habano, San Andres maduro, and Ecuadorian Connecticut shade wrapper options) from Tabacalera El Artista is, quite simply, an excellent and beautifully packaged premium handmade 6 x 50 toro cigar that costs only $5. The Buffalo Ten line keeps it beautiful, and keeps it economical, by keeping it simple. They offer one vitola, a standard 6 inch long by 50 ring gauge toro, in only three wrapper options. All three wrapper options of the Buffalo Ten come in ten pack craft paper cigar bundles that are artfully designed. There is nothing cheap looking, cheap feeling, or most importantly, cheap tasting about this non-boxed cigar.

Cellophane Fresh Packs

Cigar “fresh packs” have become increasingly popular recently. And this is a good thing.

But what is a “fresh pack”? A fresh pack is a temporary self-sealing sleeve for storing cigars – like a medium to large plastic bag – that is made of cellulose film (like Cellophane) and that contains a self-humidifying membrane (a moisturizing strip, essentially) inside of it.

As a general rule, fresh packs stay fresh for one year if not opened and for around 90 days after the first use. Like any humidor, the fresh packs will stay fresh longer the less often you break the seal and open it.

Fresh packs provide an excellent alternative packaging option for premium cigar brand owners and their consumers. I especially appreciate fresh packs when they are used as package 5 count, 10 count, and even up to 15 count samplers.

First, is in crucial to note that proper fresh packs (along with traditional cigar bundles and mazos, for that matter) should always be made only out of a cellulose film, like Cellophane, and not constructed out of a hydrocarbon product like plastic.

Cellulose film – often labeled as “cellophane”, which is a trademarked product of the Futamura Group (like Xerox or Ziploc) – is produced from renewable resources like wood or hemp through industrial processing. The brand name “cellophane” is, itself, a portmanteau of the words “cellulose” and “diaphane,” which is Ancient Greek for transparent. Cellophane means transparent cellulose.

Unlike plastic, cellulose film is not petroleum based. It is waterproof, but semi-permeable, allowing water vapor, but not water droplets, to move through the packaging. And, like individual cellophane sleeves, a cellophane fresh pack generates a kind of microclimate for the individual cigars inside of it, allowing them to breathe and to age. Plastic-based products do not provide this benefit. Plastic further risks the transfer of unwanted chemical aromas from the plastic to your cigars.

I do understand that some readers might read this and say: but aren’t my cigars going to dry out, then? The answer is yes, but slowly. This is why the fresh pack concept, or packaging with a humidification system built into the cellophane pack is so vital. The alternative, plastic, also allows cigars to dry out over time (likely do to creases in the seals, when folded; plastic is not permeable to water vapor) and it can impart a chemical aroma that is detriment to the aroma of a fine cigar.

My opinion is that plastic-based products should only be used to wrap entire the outside of entire cigar boxes, if they are even to be used at all, in the premium cigar industry.

For a remarkably fascinating discussion of cellulose film and cellophane in the premium cigar industry, and beyond, the Light ‘em Up Lounge episode with cigar lovers, David Craggan and Marco Estrada, cellophane product experts from the Futamura Group, can be seen here.

Here are a few examples of my favorite used of fresh packs in the premium cigar industry:

Cigar Rights of America (CRA) Freedom Pack – Annual Release

The CRA Freedom Pack, released each year, is a 10-count sampler with a different cigar from each of 10 different cigar brands who are CRA members that changes from year to year. In particular, each CRA Freedom Pack includes one Fuente Opus X (or Casa Fuente), one Padron (past years have included vitolas from the rara Padron black line), one LDF Andalusian Bull, and seven other very high quality cigars.

Espinosa Lancero Sampler Fresh Pack

I have only seen this fresh pack in person at the Smoke Inn’s West Palm Beach, Florida, location, but it might be my favorite sampler of all time. This fresh pack sampler included one lancero of each of Espinosa’s main products lines: Laranja, Habano, Escuro, Azulejo, and even a Crema. My only regret is that I only bought one of these sampler packs – and they now appear to be discontinued. I am excited to see more cigar brands continue to embrace fresh pack packaging for special sampler releases – in addition to the tradition 5 packs and 10 packs. The Espinosa lancero sampler pack is a great example of creative use of alternative packaging to provide consumers a unique smoking experience. Note: the crema in lancero was a delectable afternoon treat.

Bundle/Mazo Packaging for Cigars Traditionally Only Sold in Boxes

Although bundle (sometimes called “mazo”) packaging is not new, there are a few developments in the realm of bundle packaging that are worth taking note.

First, many premium cigars – including some from the highest end brands in the industry – are being offered as cigar bundles for the first time. This author has recently received many sales ads from retailers who are begging to offer some of the most well-known cigars, often in the $15-$20 range per cigar, in 5, 10, and 20 count “mazos”. These “mazos” are bundles, but with a better name.

Bundle, or “mazo”, packaging allows manufacturers and retailers the ability to sell their products in more customizable quantities (usually 5, 10, 15, or 20 counts) and without the limitation of needing to procure traditional cigar boxes. The manufacturers, the retailers, and the consumers all benefit from this arrangement. It is simply more efficient for all players involved.

Further, bundle, or “mazo”, packaging saves a lot of money. On average, based upon my review of online cigar retailers who offer the same cigars in both bundle and box packaging, the traditional Spanish cedar box option costs $1-$2 more per cigar than the bundle option. For the exact same, identical, cigars.

Lew Rothman, whose family started JR Cigars, made this point emphatically in his classic book, Cigar Almanac:

            Q:         What does an expensive boite-nature cedar cigar box do for cigars?

            A:         It improves the appearance and raises the cost.

“Cigar Bundle” (defined): Cellophaned rather than boxed package of cigars, reducing manufacturer costs by 30 to 70 dollars per thousand.

The second point worth noting about the modern embrace of bundle packaging is what seems to be an increase in cigar manufacturers using cellulose film to wrap their bundles, instead of plastic. I applaud this development and I encourage more cigar manufacturers to begin using cellulose film to wrap their cigar boxes, and not plastic. Saving a few cents per box in manufacturing costs is not worth the risk of transferring unpleasant chemicals and aromas from plastic to the cigars.

Cigar Bundle Replacements for Brick-and-Mortar Retailers’ Display Cigar Boxes

One recent development in alternative packaging that is especially promising is the new practice of cigar manufacturers offering their brick-and-mortar retail customers the option of ordering product refills in the form of bundles. Here is how this works: the brick-and-mortar retailer keeps a display box in the humidor and as opposed to reordering by the box, reorders in replacement bundles. The retailer then displays the cigar bundles in the display box in the humidor of the shop. This cuts down on environmental waste, shipping costs, and actual monetary costs. In addition, the manufacturer does not have the logistical headache of making sure there is a corresponding box for every 20 or 25 cigars ordered.

Cigar Boxes Not Made out of Spanish Cedar

Finally, some cigar brands are substituting the traditional Spanish cedar used in cigar boxes for other, faster growing woods, like Paulownia wood. Paulownia wood is very light, fine-grained, and warp resistant. It is the fastest-growing hardwood in the world. Substituting the Spanish cedar in cigar boxes for another wood, like Paulownia, maintains (if not improves) the visual experience of the traditional wooden cigar box, while reducing the environmental impact of using wooden boxes. Even more, since these substitute woods are faster-growing, they are more resistant to supply-chain shortages than Spanish cedar.

A call to action: It is nearly 2023. It is past time for the premium cigar industry to get creative and start embracing alternative cigar packaging designs even further than it currently is. I commend those manufacturers and brands who have already made innovations in their product packaging and I challenge the industry, as a whole, to continue to push for greater innovation in the packaging of their products.

I hope you enjoyed the read!

With the best of spirits – light ‘em up!
Macy