A few days ago I received an e-mail from a reader. Here’s what Lucas said in his e-mail:

“Thanks for your quality reviews, but please… take the labels off your cigars after you have started to smoke them. Keeping the label on for the duration is bad form and your credibility suffers. A little etiquette goes a long way.”

I was very curious because I have never encountered this rule before. I asked Lucas whether I could make this a topic of conversation here at CigarInspector.com and he gladly accepted. He also added the following information:

“The thinking is this: After you have smoked the cigar for a few minutes, you should remove the label. The heat should loosen the band to make it easier to remove. The reason it is good etiquette is because a gentleman should not flaunt his wealth, or his cigars. If you are smoking a particularly good stogie there is no need to flash that Opus X label around. It’s akin to wearing a lot of bling or praising yourself for some generous deed that you have done. No one likes a braggart. Getting to kick back and enjoy a fine smoke is what it’s all about.”

Do you remove the band when you are smoking? What do you think about this etiquette rule?