Culebras: Eye Candy

[Footbag]

Originally Posted by spincycle

Wow! I've never seen cigars bundled like that! I love the share-your-wares form factor as well. Any idea how these are rolled?

But there is something about it's shape which just reminds me of cleaning up after my dog. :S

I've heard a few things about how these are rolled. First, the cigars a bit more loosely filled then would otherwise be, then they are over humidified until they are flexible. The last step is gently braiding and tying.

There are two theories on origin. The first, and best IMO, is that in the rollers in the factories were allowed to smoke 3 cigars a day. They could also bring their allotment home if they chose. At some point, the factory owners feared that the workers were taking more then their daily allotment and either smoking them or selling them outside the factory. The factory owners devised a plan.

By braiding the cigars into bundles of three, they could do a few things. First, the workers could be handed a nice bundle of cigars rather then loose cigars. Second, since the culebras had a distinctive shape, the factory owners could see if a worker was smoking a misshapen cigar. Otherwise, the worker was likely stealing. Third, the cigars given to the workers were not salable on the market, because of their odd shapes.

The second theory on origin is that it was purely a marketing gimmick.

Yeah... the first is a lot better right?

[Stick]

Originally Posted by Footbag

There are two theories on origin. The first, and best IMO, is that in the rollers in the factories were allowed to smoke 3 cigars a day. . .The second theory on origin is that it was purely a marketing gimmick. Yeah... the first is a lot better right?

While a good sounding story, FWIW Min Ron NEE writes, "The inventor of this story simply overlooked the fact that any cigar rollers could twist the cigars they made into any shape they liked. The number of factory rejects far outnumbered the 3 cigar ration per day. Specifically making 3 cigars for the consumption of the rollers was far more cost ineffective than allowing them to smoke the factory rejects."

His historical explanation provides a third theory:
"It first appeared in the Philippines circa mid-19th Century, a Philippines cigar industry invention. This is probably the reason why most major Philippines cigar manufacturers are still producing them today. It was created based on the theory that a thicker cigar can mature better. The culebras was designed to enable a small ring gauge cigar to mature as well as a thick ring gauge cigar.

The culebras is considered by the Philippines cigar industry as a form of packaging rather than an individual vitola. This type of packaging slowly spread to the cigar industries of other countries.

The Cuban cigar industry never took the culebras seriously and very few culebras were manufactured in the pre and post-revolution era. The Cubans have their own version of "culebras". The bundles in cabinets of25's or 50's are in fact giant 'culebras' of 25 or 50 cigars."

Couldn't help myself and now have a box of Party snakes en route.

[Footbag]

Originally Posted by Stick

While a good sounding story, FWIW Min Ron NEE writes, "The inventor of this story simply overlooked the fact that any cigar rollers could twist the cigars they made into any shape they liked. The number of factory rejects far outnumbered the 3 cigar ration per day. Specifically making 3 cigars for the consumption of the rollers was far more cost ineffective than allowing them to smoke the factory rejects."

Damn, I need the MRN book!