You’ve found yourself in a heaven of a walk-in humidor full of tasty cigars – only one question remains, which one to choose? There are a few things to keep in mind when making your selection. First thing is to know about the boxes and what they tell you. If you see:
Totalmente a mano it means “Entirely by Hand” and, if genuine, means that they were made in the traditional Cuban manner of using long fillers, bunched by hand and a wrapper added, also by hand.
Hecho en Cuba it means “Made in Cuba” – but this only indicates the country in which is what made and doesn’t have any bearing on how it was made.
Hencho a mano it means “Hand-rolled or Hand-finished” – be wary of this if you are paying premium cigar prices. This can mean a number of things, including that the cigar was machine-bunched using inferior, homogenized tobacco as a filler while only their wrappers were put on by hand. The cigar may still draw well and be tasty but you will by no means be receiving the complex yet subtle flavors from a properly fermented and aged filler.
Envuelto a mano it means “Hand-packed” and indicates that while the cigar is machine made there were selected and packaged by hand.
Now that you are aware, the box in which you find the cigar can help you make a more informed decision! Have you unpackaged any beautiful boxes lately?