In the last post we talked about cigar bands and how they came to be. We also talked briefly about how different people perceive and treat cigar bands. There are those people who do not really pay attention to cigar bands and as a matter of fact, immediately take them off the cigar before they smoke it. On the other hand, there are those people who take pride in their cigar bands and leave them on as they smoke. In fact, there are some people who see cigar bands as sort of a status symbol.
So what should you really do? According to Puffing Cigars, if you follow the old European etiquette, you should remove the band. However, there are pretty good reasons to keep it on. For one, many of these cigar bands are firmly glued in place. This means that you actually risk damaging your cigar if you insist on removing it! More than this, the cigar bands of today are actually quite beautiful. You can find ones that are gold-colored with really neat designs. Having the cigar band on can also add to the aesthetic value of smoking your cigar. Now why wouldn’t you want that?
If you really want to remove the band from the cigar, why not try this trick – smoke a little bit of your cigar with the band on. After a while, the heat from the smoke will melt the glue a bit and weaken the bond. Then you can try taking out the band – it should be easier and not damage the cigar itself.
Photo courtesy of Esteban Cavrico