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burn issues...

mbeatty13mbeatty13 Posts: 2
in Cigar 101
Good evening guys, over my last 12 sticks or so, I have experienced very uneven burning on everything from tataujes to nubs to the graycliff 1666 that I had tonight. My humi is running at around 67% (which for until now is perfect) but I live very close to the coast in Texas and I have to smoke outside :(. Tonight it was 93% humidity and I feel like it might be causing the uneven burn. I saw the thread on over humidification from June 1, but none of the remedies seem to play into my problems. What do you think I should do other than knocking my humi down to in the 50's? I already use a punch and strongly recommend punching rather than cutting to everyone due to better burn, draw, and 100% satisfaction in the smoke due to most people cutting far past the shoulder (hence the unraveling problem). I am stumped guys and would really appreciate some help. Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • wwhwangwwhwang Posts: 2,878 ✭✭✭
    Could be the humidity, but I dunno. Do you rotate the cigar while you light and puff? After that, do you keep rotating the cigar periodically to keep it even?
  • bigharpoonbigharpoon Posts: 2,963 ✭✭✭
    Bummer. Here are some thoughts:

    Has your humi been at 67% for a while and are your cigars fully acclamated to that rh?
    Do you have a good initial light?
    Are you smoking too fast?

    I would bring the RH down to 62 or 63 and let everything settle out at that RH. Fifties is too low for me. Good luck.
  • mrpillowmrpillow Posts: 464
    I'm on the Texas coast as well, and I have burn issues. My cigars are at 65% constantly, and I've tried everything I can imagine. Different lighting techniques, rotating cigars while in humi, holding the cigar different ways. I have never been able to defeat the burn issues, which usually show up in the form of one side of the cigar burning slower than all the other sides. The only thing I can think of is the humidity/heat here are causing it and we just have to deal with it =(
  • Russ55Russ55 Posts: 2,765 ✭✭
    mbeatty13:
    Good evening guys, over my last 12 sticks or so, I have experienced very uneven burning on everything from tataujes to nubs to the graycliff 1666 that I had tonight. My humi is running at around 67% (which for until now is perfect) but I live very close to the coast in Texas and I have to smoke outside :(. Tonight it was 93% humidity and I feel like it might be causing the uneven burn. I saw the thread on over humidification from June 1, but none of the remedies seem to play into my problems. What do you think I should do other than knocking my humi down to in the 50's? I already use a punch and strongly recommend punching rather than cutting to everyone due to better burn, draw, and 100% satisfaction in the smoke due to most people cutting far past the shoulder (hence the unraveling problem). I am stumped guys and would really appreciate some help. Thanks in advance.
    What are you using for humidification?
    Also, are you sure your hygrometer is calibrated and/or reading correctly?
  • camgfscamgfs Posts: 968 ✭
    Try what's reffered to as "dry boxing" your sticks. Basically, put a cigar in an un-used 20 count humidor (or anything close to that, like a wooden cigar box with a good lid) for anything from a day to just a couple hours before you light it. If you are smoking mostly maduro sticks, this may help the burn. The outside leaf will be the first part to lose a little humidity and that might be all they need to make them burn better with your high humidity outside.

  • MrMokeMrMoke Posts: 321 ✭✭
    mrpillow:
    I'm on the Texas coast as well, and I have burn issues. My cigars are at 65% constantly, and I've tried everything I can imagine. Different lighting techniques, rotating cigars while in humi, holding the cigar different ways. I have never been able to defeat the burn issues, which usually show up in the form of one side of the cigar burning slower than all the other sides. The only thing I can think of is the humidity/heat here are causing it and we just have to deal with it =(


    The acid test for us guys here in SE Texas is to go smoke in a B&M and see if it makes a difference!
    But be careful to make sure you control the experiment, you would need two identical cigars from the same source, same box perferably, you would need to smoke one in the B&M and then get one home and smoke as soon as posible after so that the stick does not become aclimated to the balmy Texas climate. You would also need to make sure you take the same length of time to smoke it. I have noticed a difference in burn issues when i do this but suspect that me trying to smoke too fast so I can get the hell inside asap and out of the heat has more to do with it than the environmental humidity.

  • j0z3rj0z3r Posts: 9,403 ✭✭
    A lot of questions have been asked, but nobody has touched on the most important one yet: Are the burn issues bad enough to take away from your enjoyment of the cigar? I don't have a fix beyond what has been mentioned thus far, but if we're talking a slight wavering of the burn line or even something that requires a few touch-ups over the length of the cigar, I'm of the opinion that those kinds of burn irregularities are not that bad and would suggest not fretting over it too much...remember that smoking cigars ought to be about relaxing, not fixating on little things that are, by and large, inconsequential. My two cents anyhow, enjoy.
  • mbeatty13mbeatty13 Posts: 2
    Thanks for all of the help guys! I think my problems were primarily due to me not ensuring I was 100% lit and also rushing my smoke. I took my sweet time with a Nub last night with great results. To answer j0z3r, I had one of my favorite sticks (Graycliff 1666) completely turn to butter and melt away while having a 3/4" variation on the burn. That was really the reason all of this started. That 1666 might have been a fluke, but I have never had a problem even remotely close to this with a cigar of that quality. I knocked down the humidity to around 64% and re-arranged the box to give everything a little more breathing room. So I think all is well and i appreciate all of the ideas.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    personally, i think its the high humidity in the ambient air.

    some of you other folks may have seen this very issue if they run their humidors at 65% and then go out to the porch to smoke when its raining out (100% humidity) in the dead of summer. if your burn is also frequently accompanied by splitting then i am almost sure that this is the cause.
    so what can fix this?
    not too much. a good lighter close at hand to even things out a bit but other than that the only advice is to try and smoke on cooler, drier days or at night.


    however, a good light and a slow pace will never hurt anything.

    Kuzi's Forum Links Page
  • GadwinDuilGadwinDuil Posts: 474
    mbeatty13:
    To answer j0z3r, I had one of my favorite sticks (Graycliff 1666) completely turn to butter and melt away while having a 3/4" variation on the burn. That was really the reason all of this started.
    I must say, Graycliff 1666 is also one of my favorites - but it is riddled with burn issues even in well controlled humidity environments.
  • FourtotheflushFourtotheflush Posts: 2,555 ✭
    I havent seen it here, but let your cigars rest in your humidor for 4-6 weeks before smoking.
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