The Bigger is Better Cigar Craze (& the DANGER behind the trend)
The fact that cigars are getting bigger in size is not news. It might not have even been news ten years ago. OK, it wasn't. Although eighty and now ninety ring gauge cigars are now happening. The trending is trending upward, you see. Envelopes are made to be pushed, you see. I remember when a mere sixty was insane. But that was back when fifty pushed the limits of factory and consumer sanity. For the unadept, a 64 ring gauge (RG) measures an inch in diameter. So that a 44RG Corona (a favorite vitola of yore) is 44/64th".
Here's a nifty thing that'll give you a better idea as to what I'm talking about in terms of size. You can use it 'in the field,' as well. Say if you can't find the RG, really need to know it, and somehow don't have a smart device glued to your surely atrophied hand. Reach into your pocket and pull out a handful of change like it's 1978 or something. A dime is a 44RG, a penny is a 46, nickels are 48, quarters are 54s. That'll get you part-way to a decent understanding &/or guesstimation. Moving forward with this approach into the near future of fatness, well, first I'll have to measure RGs of manhole covers and bicycle tires. I'll get back to ya.
But why this on-going and continuing trend? The reasons are multitude and I'll try my level-best here to cover them as well as make you feel silly if abiding by them. The first thing that pops to mind is the challenge. Can you smoke that whole thing? Are you PERSON enough to make it through? In every way, this is on-par with the strength phenomenon of can you handle that power... it's not for a newb. Are you a newb? I've said it before and I'll say it again. Cigars are for relaxed enjoyment. Not for proving personhood or aptitude. They also are not devices with which to mentally treat low-testosterone levels. The only 'challenge' should be ignoring the rest of your life for 45-90mins at a time.
We also have an odd infatuation with 'epic' these days. That's epic, this is epic, he's epic, I'm epic. Epic really means a lengthy poem often rooted in ancient oral tradition. That, having to do with figures of legend and myth, and tales of their heroic adventures rooted in the ethos of their nation. I know English is a living language, but let's not kill it at the same point. Nothing in cigars is EPIC. See my previous paragraph and sentiment therein. Now, how size correlates to epic, and not nearly as often flavor, just goes to show why we're dumb and hooked on Instagram. Pictures, sight, is easy-peasy. Experiencing nuances with a trained eye (read palate): harder.
Everything I've written thus far probably, in the minds of most huge RG seekers, pales in comparison to this: perceived value. Or what I call the 'ninny response.' In full disclosure, I've never called it that. I might start now, though. It goes something like this. "Hey, I can get a fatter, longer cigar for only like a buck more!" Says the Ninny. What you're getting is a bunch of shitty filler leaf that makes up the difference between Robusto and Gordo+. Do you think primo leaf added to that extent, wouldn't raise the MSRP beyond the 'good price' level? What you're getting is bland flavors and the opportunity to experience them over a horrid amount of lengthier time.
Wait. What's that? I hear a thing. Aficionados coming from over the horizon to save the day. Real cigar guys. Those who know, know. And 'know' rhymes with Lancero. That's the connoisseur blowback. The true BOTL pendulum swing. The... it's equally abysmal and just as prone to strangely similar pitfalls as already mentioned. For those who aren't aware, a Lancero typically measures 7.5' long with a 38 RG. In terms of coinage, maybe like a farthing? Dunno. What I do know is they are prone to being plugged and really offer up almost a Purito (singular leaf) linear look at wrapper-leaf only in terms of flavor. I also know they make you look like The Penguin from six-feet away and that they don't sell much.
Whatever. Where exactly is the harm in all this? 8x80, 7x38. Get off your high horse and down from your ivory tower, me. I'll tell you the issue--there's a leaf shortage. Well, part of that is a select couple/few entities buying up all the choice leaf but for the sake of argument here--leaf shortage. I'm not talking about the cheap-O filler leaf though. I'm talking about the premium stuff that has to surround something the size of a T-Ball bat. There is no small injustice in wasting that much good to deliver that much blah. I tell you what. It's injustice enough to have its own hashtag. Perhaps its own color of ribbon. Simply put, it is unsustainable. And that is the good news.
In the end, the end is nigh and ain't it always that way? In this way, a craze trend becomes a novelty fad via something akin to self-driven ad absurdum and the Corona vitola will rise again! (From too fat ashes.)
FURTHER READING:
"The Adventure of the Connecticut Broadleaf Shortage" (Use the Search Kaplowitz Media. field to the right of your screen)
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