If you spend any amount of time perusing cigar forums, you probably have heard the phrase "cigar bomb" floated around. Fortunately, these are not the latest offerings from Al-Qaeda that hope to conquer the west through explosive cigars. Rather, they are a way of surprising and delighting someone with an unexpected package of carefully-selected cigars, usually delivered through the mail.
I'm not going to get too involved in the details of what makes the perfect cigar bomb, since these procedures are the subject and discussion of much discussion and debate on the Internet. But I will offer some basic tips that have worked for me when I've sent surprise cigars in the past.
First of all, consider how the cigars will be packaged. You can obviously enclose a humidor or cigar case to make things easy, but you don't necessarily have to do that either (and in fact, I rarely do). If you're enclosing cigar tubes or cigars with the cellophane wrapping still on, place them in plastic bags for additional protection. Any cigar that is not in cellophane or a tube should be placed in its own individual bag. Complete the package with enough filler material (Styrofoam peanuts, rolled-up newspaper, or whatever else floats your boat), and don't be skimpy on the tape. You want to make the box as sealed as possible to keep out the dust and minimize the danger posed by the elements.
It's also a good idea to send the packages with a delivery confirmation slip, so you know they got there. I'm a mean person and make my recipients sign for it, even if that may require a trip to the post office, because I have a nightmare of my box being left out in a thunderstorm and being ruined.
As to the question of whether to sign your work or remain anonymous ... well, I leave that up to you.
I'm not going to get too involved in the details of what makes the perfect cigar bomb, since these procedures are the subject and discussion of much discussion and debate on the Internet. But I will offer some basic tips that have worked for me when I've sent surprise cigars in the past.
First of all, consider how the cigars will be packaged. You can obviously enclose a humidor or cigar case to make things easy, but you don't necessarily have to do that either (and in fact, I rarely do). If you're enclosing cigar tubes or cigars with the cellophane wrapping still on, place them in plastic bags for additional protection. Any cigar that is not in cellophane or a tube should be placed in its own individual bag. Complete the package with enough filler material (Styrofoam peanuts, rolled-up newspaper, or whatever else floats your boat), and don't be skimpy on the tape. You want to make the box as sealed as possible to keep out the dust and minimize the danger posed by the elements.
It's also a good idea to send the packages with a delivery confirmation slip, so you know they got there. I'm a mean person and make my recipients sign for it, even if that may require a trip to the post office, because I have a nightmare of my box being left out in a thunderstorm and being ruined.
As to the question of whether to sign your work or remain anonymous ... well, I leave that up to you.
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