One, Two or Three? Choosing Case Capacity
Capacity is the question people spend the least time on when buying a cigar case, and the one they most often get wrong. The instinct is to buy the biggest body that seems reasonable, on the theory that you can always carry fewer. The trouble is that an empty tube is dead weight and a half-empty case lets the cigars move. The better approach is to look honestly at how many cigars you carry on an ordinary day — not on the annual golf trip — and buy for that. Jemar makes bodies from one cigar to five, and each has a use.
One
The single-cigar case is the most underrated body in the range. It is slim enough to disappear into a breast pocket or a dinner jacket, it weighs almost nothing, and it carries exactly what most evenings call for: one good cigar, protected until the moment comes. It is the case for a wedding, a dinner, a walk after a long day, or the person who smokes one a week and wants it kept properly between the humidor and the chair. In the 464/1 Classic it is also an easy first Jemar to give as a gift.
Two
Two cigars is an evening with a friend, or an afternoon and an evening on your own. The two-cigar bodies — the 464/2, the 458/2, the 110/2 — are still slim enough for a jacket pocket and add very little bulk over the single. If you regularly find yourself offering a cigar to someone, or smoking a short one before dinner and a longer one after, this is the size.
Three
The three-cigar case is the most popular body Jemar makes, and the reason is simple: it covers a whole day away from the humidor without becoming heavy. A morning cigar, one after lunch and one in the evening; or two for yourself and one to give away; or a day trip where you are not sure what you will want. The 464/3 is the classic Robusto body, the 110/3 and 110 XL/3 take larger ring gauges, and all of them sit comfortably in a jacket, a bag or a car door. If you are choosing your first Jemar and do not have a strong reason to go smaller or larger, start here.
Four and five
Above three, the cases stop being pocket objects and become bag objects. The four- and five-cigar bodies — the 100/4 and 100/5, the 460/4 and 460/5, the 458/4 — suit a weekend away, a round of golf with company, or a day at the cottage. They are substantial in the hand and best carried in a bag, a glovebox or a golf cart rather than a pocket. They are the right choice if you regularly travel for two or three days without access to your humidor, and the wrong choice if what you actually do is carry two cigars around in a five-cigar case.
The twin tube
The 606/4 deserves a paragraph of its own. It is two tubes side by side — one sized at 14 cm, the other at 11 cm — holding four cigars in two lengths, and it solves a problem the single-tube bodies cannot: the smoker who likes a Corona in the afternoon and a Toro after dinner and wants both carried together, each in a tube cut for it. It comes in plain and hand-tooled versions, and the tooled one is among the handsomest objects the house makes.
The two-case answer
Most experienced owners eventually settle on two cases rather than one: a one- or two-cigar body for town and evenings, and a three- to five-cigar body for travel. This is not indulgence; it is the same logic as owning a wallet and a weekend bag. The town case gets used far more often, so it is worth choosing the finish you most enjoy for it. The travel case takes more punishment, which argues for Bull Shoulder or Oscaria.
A word on formats
Capacity interacts with ring gauge. A three-cigar body cut for Robustos will not take three Gordos; for the larger formats Jemar makes the 110 XL bodies, and the capacity conversation should happen after the sizing one. We cover that in another story here, and we will always ask what you smoke before we suggest how many.
El Laguito Cigars carries the full range of Jemar capacities in Mississauga and ships anywhere in Canada. Tell us how you smoke on an ordinary day and we will tell you which body fits it — and, if you are between two, which of the two you will actually use.