Why do we keep cigar bands?


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I am relatively young in the cigar aficionado arena. From day one I noticed that is customary to keep your bands. What is the significance of keeping the bands of the cigars you smoke? Is it to have a history of the cigars you have smoked?

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I think it’s personal preference. Some people save them to make a journal of the cigar they smoked along with a description. I save mine and put them in a clear jar because I think they are little works of art, I’m a printing press operator by trade, so I appreciate how beautiful they are and all the work that went into making them. I save all my empty boxes too. 

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Habanos S.A. likes to put two or three bands on my cigars so why not. Jk. I have seen some cool man cave designs with a wet bar having cigar bands under glass as he bar top. Maybe one day, but not anytime soon. Until then, I collect in a mason jar and put that on top of my desktop humidor. 

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I'm relatively new to smoking cigars, so I keep my bands in a journal where I document what I smoked, when I smoked it, where I smoked it and just a couple tasting notes.  It's been helpful to see how a cigar progresses  especially as I'm now completely obsessed with aging Cubans.

Some folks I know rip the band off before they even smoke the cigar which for me seems to diminish part of the fun.  Aside from wrapper and wrap quality, there are no identifying markers on these products, so to form strong associations with palette and brand, I feel like keeping the band on (until it's just about to burn off) is key for me at least.

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I used to keep them.  Had thousands.  All unbroken.  Stopped about two or three years ago.  Threw all but just a few away.  Just got tired of keeping up with them, especially when away from my house to get them back home. 

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Good question, @cbenham73. When I started smoking as a kid, I collected bands and boxes. Thought of them like mementos. Now, I find myself tossing them into a tupperware container when I'm done with them. No good reason why, really. I'm not liable to go sifting through there, find one in particular, and think 'ah yes... february 23rd, 2019. That was a delightful cigar'. Conversely, I have a few labels in the door handle of my car. These are from cigars I smoked on my move from DC to alaska. I pretty much splurged the whole way - only smoked my 'special occasion' cigars, as that drive was quite a special occasion. Each of those labels will take me back to strong memories.

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For the same reason I keep corks.   To commemorate special occasions, great bottles, or just to remember my thoughts on that particular day.  I have way more corks than I have cigar bands!  

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I kept mine for my 1st year of smoking, I had one rule......I had to smoke the cigar, I couldn't take anyone else's band. After that 1st year I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, but a regular at the shop I worked at his wife proposed putting them on a small humidor I had, I agreed, and it turned out beautifully. Will have to snap a pic, but I don't collect them anymore. 

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As proof that I’m a baller and I’ve smoked through thousands of dollars of cigars.

Also as proof that I am an aficionado and I am a voice of authority in cigars as I have sampled every cigar known to man.


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14 minutes ago, Wilzc said:

As proof that I’m a baller and I’ve smoked through thousands of dollars of cigars.

Also as proof that I am an aficionado and I am a voice of authority in cigars as I have sampled every cigar known to man.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Southpark episode "Smug Alert!" came to mind when I read that ?

If you aren't familiar it's where they got off on sniffing their own farts and everyone in town drove a Prius

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