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Draw question

dan7876dan7876 Posts: 47
in Cigar 101

Hey all, so...I've been smoking for a few months now, and am working at getting accustomed to as many different flavor palates as possible, as well as cigar construction, shapes, sizes, etc.  Naturally, I've smoked some cigars that have drawn lightly (too lightly, in some cases), some right down the middle (most fall into this category), and some that feel like I'm trying to suck a strawberry through a straw - leaving my throat muscles sore halfway through the smoke.  Last night I smoked a Cohiba Black corona - loved the flavor and the burn, but experienced some of the latter issue.  I tried rolling it lightly in my fingers to try to loosen up the filler, but to very little avail.  Question - how do you reduce this problem?  Do I need tools of some kind?  Are some smokes just predictably harder draws than others?  Or - and this may sound odd - will my throat muscles grow stronger to handle this kind of thing as I continue to practice my hobby?

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    dutyjedutyje Posts: 2,263 ✭
    Sometimes a tight draw can't be helped. Sometimes it's an indication of a cigar that has been over-humidified. As you ready your humi, are you keeping your cigars in a sealed container with a damp sponge? That will tend to over-humidify your sticks, particularly if you leave them that way for a long time without opening the container.
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    kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    i always do a draw test when i cut the cigar. this way ill know before the light if the draw is too tight. if it is i throw it back in the humi for a year or so and do another draw test. If its still to tight i break out the tools...
    and by "tools" i mean "a paperclip thats been un bent" i poke this in to see if i can unplug it. somethines it works, sometimes i dont.
    Kuzi's Forum Links Page
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    dan7876dan7876 Posts: 47

    Good to know about the over-humidification...that one had been in a Zippidor w/water pillow for about 12 days, probably was a little water logged.  Thanks...

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    ScramblerScrambler Posts: 746 ✭✭
    dan7876:
    will my throat muscles grow stronger to handle this kind of thing as I continue to practice my hobby?
    You've got to open up the throat, relax the jaw. (And don't forget to cup the balls.)

    Sorry, when I saw that I just couldn't resist throwing in a quote from my favorite movie of all time: SuperTroopers.
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    DiasFlakDiasFlak Posts: 342 ✭✭
    LOL THATS FUNNY SCRAM anyways yeah if you want an exact tool i believe its called a poker? that would open up the draw but ive olny had this problem from a cohiba red dot label aswell usually when i buy from my local shop i let the cigars set for about 2 hours before i put into my humi seeing as they tend to over humidify the cigar
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    j0z3rj0z3r Posts: 9,403 ✭✭
    I've had very few draw problems since I lowered the RH in my humi from 70% to 65%, most of the cigars I have smoke better at 65%.
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    dan7876dan7876 Posts: 47
    Scrambler:
    dan7876:

    You've got to open up the throat, relax the jaw. (And don't forget to cup the balls.)

     

    Guess I had that coming...anything but Super Troopers and may have taken offense though.  :)

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    MarkbbMarkbb Posts: 196
    I'll take a clothes hanger and cut to size and bend a handle and poke the cigar down the middle and that'll work, but the down side is the cigar will smoke hot, just blow thru and then take a pull or two...
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    ScionScion Posts: 20
    dan7876:
    Scrambler:
    dan7876:

    You've got to open up the throat, relax the jaw. (And don't forget to cup the balls.)

     

    Guess I had that coming...anything but Super Troopers and may have taken offense though.  :)

    huge super troopers fan. was reading this post late and thought the same thing... kept reading and omg there it was.... i almost fell out of my chair... thanks for the comic relief
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