Cigar quality and packaging

[TBird55]

Is there a difference in the quality of cigars packaged in cardboard packs vs cabs or dress boxes?

[LLC]

Not sure there is a definitive answer on quality difference as opinions vary but I prefer cabs, SLB’s or 10 count dress boxes as the cigars are not box pressed.


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[HabanosNJGuy]

I don't believe there is a difference.  I do not like to store my cigars in cardboard packs and will leave them loose in my humidor.  One of my nicest boxes is a 25 ct dress box of RASS.  Quality seems much better than the 50ct cab I have.

[Lotusguy]

No

[luckme10]

I don't think there's a difference in quality among the choices you've listed. However from my personal experience, maybe it's having that extra air flow more cedar, or it's all psychological, but I feel like some of the cigars that have been in SLBs tend to do better for aging purposes.

[Nino]

No.

But I don't like cardboard packs and would not buy them, prefer SLB or dress boxes.

[Buck14]

I much prefer the artistry of dress boxes, no practical difference. 

[TBird55]

Thanks, some of the cigars that I like are readily available in the packs, but difficult to find in dress boxes. I'll get some more packs and transfer to box/cab. 

[BrightonCorgi]

I read somewhere that cardboard packed cigars are best of the lot since they are the ones most sold and promoted world wide at Duty Free's and the like.  Very few consumers are buying how boxes of cigars.  They are also the least likely to be deformed by box pressing or tying a ribbon around them.  That being said, they're all rolled at once, sorted by color and then divided into their packaging.  So it's all the same when done correct.  I prefer dress boxes due to their compact size.  As most here, I like cabs, but I for one have limited spaced for them.

[cfc1016]

1 hour ago, Hutch said:

All of that being said, there has never been a smoking quality difference IME...all about how pretty

Doesn’t matter how pretty they used to be, once we’ve turned them to ash, right? ?

[RickHendeson]

Depends.  If they have any age on them, I'm gonna go with "yes."  Cardboard are more frequently musty and tubes more frequently moldy.  

[El Presidente]

21 hours ago, TBird55 said:

Is there a difference in the quality of cigars packaged in cardboard packs vs cabs or dress boxes?

It depends if the production is  specific " Quota is 24000 M2 for carton packs"  in that case no difference. 

However if they are doing  20000 M2 for dress boxes and 4000 for CP's (in the same production run)  then they will put the odds and ends in the CP's. 

[Wushy]

SLBs, cabs, and dressboxes for sure because you can make a table out of them eventually.

[JohnS]

I concur with what is written here. If I bought Cohiba in cardboard packs, for example, it wouldn't concern me at all, although I'd aged the sticks in my humidor rather than keep them in the cardboard packs.

Some vitolas come currently in 50 cabs and 25 dress box options...

1) Partagas Shorts (42 x 110 Petit Corona)

2) Partagas Lusitanias (49 x 194 Double Corona)

3) Hoyo de Monterrey Double Coronas (49 x 194 Double Corona)

4) Ramon Allones Specially Selected (50 x 124 Robusto)

The following vitolas used to come in 50 cabs (but were very recently deleted in 2017) and 25 dress box options...

1) Punch Punch (46 x 143 Corona Gordas)

2) Punch Double Coronas (49 x 194 Double Corona)

Of these I've had Partagas Shorts in a 25-count dress box and a 50-count cab. Honestly, I felt there was no real difference, but if I had an option, I'd prefer to age in a cab.

[finecigar]

10 hours ago, Hutch said:

Ive seen a predominance of cosmetically inferior cigars in cardboard and tubes. You know, ones with green spots, unsightly veins, etc.  It only makes sense that the choice would be to hide these as opposed to expose them in dress boxes. That’s not to say that I haven’t had green spots on DB cigars...but if I’ve had 200 cigars with green spots, 150 have been in petacas or tubes. All of that being said, there has never been a smoking quality difference IME...all about how pretty

I can agree, I have seen more cosmetic issues in the cardboard packs as opposed to dress box. Seems the DB keeps the cigars better preserved and less mangled up than the packs do

[RijkdeGooier]

At production no difference

Aged - there is apparently greater variability in CP’s durability. Having said that, my 2003 Don Alejandro’s in CP’s are still fantastic smokes. 

[Fugu]

From purely personal experience (no idea what Cuba is actually doing - or perhaps intending to do....), and across the board there is no difference.

I also have the feeling that the common cardboard aversion is somehow more based on legend than on fact. It's all about storage. If at all, then there are as many "musty" cardboard sticks out there as there are from dress boxes. Cigars in dress boxes are clad in paper material, as are the ones in cardboard packaging. True, the old cardboard qualities gave off a certain "carton-ish" scent, but even that wasn't noticeable in the lit cigar. This holds in particular today with the higher-quality paperboard they are using. Mustiness is always a result of improper storage, not the cardboard's fault. Cardboard is the least protective and most permeable packaging, and cigars are aging quickest there - unless wrapped or additionally packed.