Don't touch the head...WTF!

[KiloWhiskey]

"While shopping for cigars in your local B&M, do not touch the head of a cigar while picking up prospective cigars. Whoever does buy that cigar will be putting their mouth on the head of that cigar.... "

I am sooo tired of reading cigar etiquette columns where they say such things!!! Let's use some common freakin' sense. Cigars are HAND MADE! If you have seen a cigar factory in person or even seen a video of the cigar making process, you will realize that tons of hands touch that tabacco used to make the cigar and then a bunch more touch the cigars from the time they are rolled.

The cigars are not sanitized with an alcohol solution before it is shipped to your local B&M. It would ruin the cigar. Or do these etiquette people have it in their head that they are sanitized?! I hate to burst their sanitized bubble.

So.....a cigar is shipped after being touched by tons of hands and it would be ikky if one more person touched the head? WTF!!!!

P.S. If you are a germaphobe and haven't thought of it yet from my perspective...sorry:dunno:

 

[benday]

from the working at a cigar shop standpoint, many people don't know how to handle a cigar period...when they do, they often drop it, crack it, you name it. i've never heard the head sanitary thing but maybe he was just saying that bull to not let you touch it period.

 

[Halon]

Approximately 200 hands touch every hand-made cigar from the harvesting to packaging stages... This is not a hobby to get into if you are some paranoid germophobe!

 

[JP8]

I wonder if Howard Hughes ever smoked a cigar.

 

[AnthonyP]

I can see not picking them up due to handling issues with the possiblities of cracking or splitting, but the germs don't make sense. Luckily, I don't mind if others touch the cigar, feeling is experiencing! :razz:

 

[bdc30]

Unfortunately it's like everything else in life...they have to direct their information at the lowest common denominator. Do the vast majority of true cigar conoisseurs know how to properly handle a cigar? I'm sure they do. Do the vast majority of the general public? Probably not so much.

As Benday said, I can only imagine some of the day-to-day horror stories in the b&m's

 

[Le Buzz]

I think the point is that you can handle a cigar to inspect it but don't touch it all over, rub your nose all over it, sniff it, and then put it back. Be respectful with the B&M's inventory. If you don't purchase... someone else might.

And no... if I see someone at my B&M touch the head of a cigar and then put it back i certainly will not buy that cigar. It's like when a bartender makes your drink and then hands it to you by grabbing the glass by the top part... that is a serious faux pas and lacking in bar etiquette

 

[Hardcore]

I always wipe mine down with Purell before I smoke them. It works great to kill the germs.

 

[Pooh Bore]

is it not better to thoroughly swill your mouth and cleanse you lips with rum before smoking those germ ridden cigars and then to make sure another bottle after ?

 

[dpricenator]

I think the point is that you can handle a cigar to inspect it but don't touch it all over, rub your nose all over it, sniff it, and then put it back. Be respectful with the B&M's inventory. If you don't purchase... someone else might.

And no... if I see someone at my B&M touch the head of a cigar and then put it back i certainly will not buy that cigar. It's like when a bartender makes your drink and then hands it to you by grabbing the glass by the top part... that is a serious faux pas and lacking in bar etiquette

oh heck yeah...and if a waitress hands me a glass of wine and is hold the bowl of the glass and not the stem. I'll let her know the proper way. I do not want your finger prints on my glass, nor do I want you warming up my glass of wine with you hands.

As far as the cigar thing goes, If it is a cigar I have never had and am wondering how it will be, I’ll taste the cap a little bit, and make sure the tobacco suits my pallet. If it doesn’t then…well I put it back. A little saliva isn’t hurting anyone after all the hands that have touched it, besides there are freaking bug eggs in almost every cigar.,

 

[Le Buzz]

I always wipe mine down with Purell before I smoke them. It works great to kill the germs.

Purell is weak... i dip mine in 190 proof everclear before smoking :thumbsup:

 

[SmokeProper]

Maybe I'm alone here but there's no way I want extra random people touching the head on a cigar I'll smoke. I know where it comes from and all but that doesn't justify some slob spreading germs who didn't wash his hands in his last 6 bathroom trips and grabbed all the incredibly nasty door handles and such before he went into the humidor.
Be considerate of those around and after you...

 

[dpricenator]

Maybe I'm alone here but there's no way I want extra random people touching the head on a cigar I'll smoke. I know where it comes from and all but that doesn't justify some slob spreading germs who didn't wash his hands in his last 6 bathroom trips and grabbed all the incredibly nasty door handles and such before he went into the humidor.
Be considerate of those around and after you...

OCD much????:stretchgr

Just kidding.....kind of

 

[SmokeProper]

OCD much????:stretchgr

Just kidding.....kind of

With some things, YES!!! LOL. This one i just feel like its common sense...don't touch something that someone else is going to put in their mouth. (insert sex jokes here...lol)

 

[Alwayslit]

I always wipe mine down with Purell before I smoke them. It works great to kill the germs.

......I steam clean mine.......LOL.

 

[daniyal]

......I steam clean mine.......LOL.

I use a UV light to sanitise all my cigars

Posted via Mobile Device

 

[texas_stang]

oh heck yeah...and if a waitress hands me a glass of wine and is hold the bowl of the glass and not the stem. I'll let her know the proper way. I do not want your finger prints on my glass, nor do I want you warming up my glass of wine with you hands.

As far as the cigar thing goes, If it is a cigar I have never had and am wondering how it will be, I’ll taste the cap a little bit, and make sure the tobacco suits my pallet. If it doesn’t then…well I put it back. A little saliva isn’t hurting anyone after all the hands that have touched it, besides there are freaking bug eggs in almost every cigar.,

remind me to never vist the same shops as you.:barf:

 

[KiloWhiskey]

I think the point is that you can handle a cigar to inspect it but don't touch it all over, rub your nose all over it, sniff it, and then put it back. Be respectful with the B&M's inventory. If you don't purchase... someone else might.

And no... if I see someone at my B&M touch the head of a cigar and then put it back i certainly will not buy that cigar. It's like when a bartender makes your drink and then hands it to you by grabbing the glass by the top part... that is a serious faux pas and lacking in bar etiquette

OK La Buzz....It's like this. Hundreds of hand have touched that cigar before that someone in your B&M touched that cigar you won't buy because that someONE just touched it. Sorry, but that's a cold hard fact.

Your drink analogy is a very bad one. That glass the bartender grabbed by the top was washed and sanatized before he grabbed it by the top part of the glass. I can understand your objection to the bartender doing this as you expect a clean glass. That cigar you are smoking has never been washed nor sanatized before you smoked it. If you expect a washed or sanitized cigar before you smoke it, you are living in a false reality. But if this helps you get over the fact that hundreds have touched your cigar before you smoke it, then don't let me stand in your way. Out of sight, out of mind, huh?

 

[Alwayslit]

As far as the cigar thing goes, If it is a cigar I have never had and am wondering how it will be, I’ll taste the cap a little bit, and make sure the tobacco suits my pallet. If it doesn’t then…well I put it back. A little saliva isn’t hurting anyone after all the hands that have touched it, besides there are freaking bug eggs in almost every cigar.,

......I knew there was a reason why I buy boxes and not singles.....LOL.

 

[ciggy]

from the working at a cigar shop standpoint, many people don't know how to handle a cigar period...when they do, they often drop it, crack it, you name it. i've never heard the head sanitary thing but maybe he was just saying that bull to not let you touch it period.

This would be my guess as well. Also the cap on the foot can sometimes crack or start to come loose which I really hate. This could easly happen if you try and dig the cigar out of the box too. I know when I am looking for a cigar to by I will inspect the head and the foot just to see if there are cracks.