If a box of cigars is accidentally dropped, cellophane sleeves create an added buffer around each cigar inside the box to absorb unwanted shocks, which can cause a cigar’s wrapper to crack. In addition, improper handling of cigars by customers is less of an issue with cellophane. No one wants to put a cigar in his or her mouth after somebody’s fingerprints have covered it from head to foot. Cellophane creates a protective barrier when customers touch cigars on store shelves.

Cellophane provides other advantages for cigar retailers. One of the biggest is barcoding. Universal bar codes can easily be applied to cellophane sleeves, which is a huge convenience for product identification, monitoring inventory levels, and reordering. Scanning a barcode into a computer is much faster than manually counting the back stock of single cigars or boxes.

Some cigar-makers will wrap their cigars partially with tissue paper or rice paper as an alternative to cellophane. In this way, barcoding and handling issues are addressed, while a cigar’s wrapper leaf is still visible in the retail environment.

Cigars also age in a more uniform capacity when the cello is left on. Some cigar lovers prefer the effect, others don’t. It often depends on a particular blend and your preferences as a cigar lover. Cellophane turns a yellowish-amber color when stored for a long time. The color is any easy indicator of aging.