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[rant] I’m on the verge of giving up cigars [rant]

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
[rant]

Rocky Patel 1990. A good cigar. I remember a long time ago,....around...2009 lets say... I had one and it burned great, smoked great.

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Cut to 2020, tonight - it sucked. Look at the ember! Still sucked! But that’s not unusual because 95% of the cigars i smoke.....suck. Except for the small cigarillos. I have no issues with those. But the full sizes cigars - all bastards. Even with a good ember - look at it! Just terrible after a few minutes.

Tunneling, uneven burn, won’t stay lit. Just take your pick of all the various cigar issues and I’ve experienced them. Every single one. I’m loosing my freaking mind because I’m wasting some seriously good cigars because they just won’t burn.

I have no idea what I am doing wrong. None. Not a clue. Back in the day, back in the 2004ish day when I first got in to cigars I never had an issue. I would get a long 2 inch ash with no problem. In fact - back in 2013 I started this thread!


Never had any issue with keeping a cigar going until recently. Until I invested hundreds of dollars in humidors and cigars. Now I look at it all and I think...what a waste! It just grinds me gears! I pull out a smoke, I light it just the same as I lit every other cigar. I get a full puff of smoke. Taste pretty good. A nice red ember. An even burn. And then somehow it all goes to crap. Just goes out. Only burns right down the middle. Burns like a canoe. Just flip a coin and pick an issue, I’ll have it. Every cigar.

I torch the end then bring it to my mouth and continue lighting while rotating and puffing. Sometimes I light the cigar without ever puffing on it. I’ve even used the cedar spills. I’ve used every freaking lighting method I know of. A 3 flame torch. A single flame torch. A 4 flame torch!

I use a 65% Boveda in the humidor. THAT is the only thing that I can think of that is different from back in the day when I actually enjoyed a full cigar from start to finish. Back in the day I never used Boveda, I only used the green foam in the small round plastic with distilled water. So what I’m thinking is that my cigars are getting to much humidity since I’m using Boveda and in Middle TN.

So next time I smoke I’m going to leave the cigar sit out for a half hour before I light it up. Maybe that will make the difference.

Otherwise - screw this. It’s not worth it to me to spend 20 bucks on a cigar only to enjoy 1/4 of it because it won‘t burn right.

[/rant]
 

never-stop-learning

Demoted To Moderator
Staff member
Tunneling usually indicates poor construction. Usually the filler.

In my opinion, cigars are best kept at 65% and smoked at 60%.

Good luck. Cigar issues can be very frustrating.
 

Kentos

B&B's Dr. Doolittle.
Staff member
Has that Boveda gotten any thinner since you got it or has it gotten even fatter?
 
Your post brought back some memories. When I smoked cigars - which was a long time ago - I would buy a few cigars from my local cigar stores in NYC and NJ and smoke them in a few days. If I liked them I would then buy a box or two of what I smoked and store them in my humidor. They never tasted as good. as when I first bought them. One of the guys at Barclay Rex, one of the places I bought the cigars, thought it was my humidor that was causing the problem.
 

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
Has that Boveda gotten any thinner since you got it or has it gotten even fatter?

I have two 320g 65% packs in my humi, and a 60g 65% in the bottom. So I haven’t noticed anything getting thinner or bigger. The 60g is the one you sent me and it hasn’t changed at all since you sent it. Looks/feels brand new.

My digital thermometer in the room is reading 73 degrees, 51% humidity.
 

Kentos

B&B's Dr. Doolittle.
Staff member
There is something going on, obviously. I wish I could drop by your house with a cold pack and see what’s up. The cigars you sent me all smoked fine too.
 

Kentos

B&B's Dr. Doolittle.
Staff member
What does the cut end of the cigar look like? Do you chew it? Maybe rest your tongue against it? Theoretically maybe you salivate more than others and the end gets wet, expands and then constricts the air flow.
That’s all I got.
 

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
What does the cut end of the cigar look like? Do you chew it? Maybe rest your tongue against it? Theoretically maybe you salivate more than others and the end gets wet, expands and then constricts the air flow.
That’s all I got.

I’m glad your cigars smoked fine. You might inherit the rest of mine :lol:

Maybe the trip over dried them out a bit?

I don’t chew on them. Only time they are to my lips is when I take a drag. I’m gonna bust out my lighter from way back in the day. Like 2004. When I first got serious with cigars. I think it was like a $15 torch, that said Tiger on it somewhere. The very first torch cigar lighter I bought.

Back to my roots!



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To me smoking is a relaxing ritual. I try not to put any expectations on that hour or so. If a cigar tunnels, gets a runner, goes out..... I just touch it up and move on. I don’t let anything rain on my little parade.
You will eventual get it figured out, wether it’s humidity or something else, but until then, try not to beat yourself up.
 
This pic looks doesn’t look bad to me. The inside filler and binder is always going to burn a little uneven inside a hand rolled cigar, even if the wrapper burns a razor sharp edge
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My sticks smoke a bit better if I get them from the humidor before I pack my pipe and head outside. By the time I smoke the pipe the cigar smokes a lot better than if grab one and go. I need lower humidity xicar gels but i'm just going to keep using them because I'm too cheap to spend the $60 to replace all of them. My tupperdors may be overfilled as well...
 

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
To me smoking is a relaxing ritual. I try not to put any expectations on that hour or so. If a cigar tunnels, gets a runner, goes out..... I just touch it up and move on. I don’t let anything rain on my little parade.
You will eventual get it figured out, wether it’s humidity or something else, but until then, try not to beat yourself up.

I hear ya. But you’d be pissed If itEVERY SINGLE CIGAR.

This pic looks doesn’t look bad to me. The inside filler and binder is always going to burn a little uneven inside a hand rolled cigar, even if the wrapper burns a razor sharp edge
View attachment 1117904

That’s what I thought. 5 min later, it’s out. Very small ember, no smoke.
 
FWIW, I have also about given up on all but 1st class cigars. I used to smoke a lot of Rocky Patel, Ghurka, etc. and had all your same frustrations. I am convinced it is just bad construction. Nothing the end user can do about that. Although its quite expensive, I am smoking more Arturo Fuente (Hemingway and Don Carlos) and Padrons and don't have any of the fights that were common with the others. Smoking way fewer cigars, but enjoying them way more.
 

brandaves

With a great avatar comes great misidentification
I'm sorry to hear about the troubles...on the bright side you'll have a really nice pipe on the way and figuring that out should offer a nice reset button. I think that's probably what you need more than anything is a reset button.

Best of luck.
 
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