Burned, melted rubber deliciousness?

Blackguard

So I caved in and bought one of those trust-us-we-won’t-tell-you-what-you’re-gonna-get-but-you’ll-love-it grab bags from another catalogue. $12 for 13 cigars. Immediate regret, yes yes – two good cigars and a bunch of lousy ones (including a nude house brand – I have no idea what I’m smoking!). I grabbed one I’d never had and went for my nightly walk. The first third wasn’t bad, and was what I like in a Dominican cigar – toasty, buttery, creamy, nutty, but a little too mild, even for a Dominican. But very suddenly, about 15 minutes into it, it started tasting like a tire fire. You know that jackass neighbor who peels out at 5:30 in the morning, or that skinny guy who does doughnuts in the Jack in the Box parking lot*? That thick, grey smoke that lingers and gets up your nose? It was like that. It didn’t get any better in the second half. It was the first cigar I couldn’t finish. I stammered home and looked up what I just smoked, expecting the typical defensive posturing cigar catalogues take when selling cheap cigars (“why pay for fancy packaging? This stuff is as good as the expensive stuff, trust us!” etc.) – but it wasn’t! It actually got a 92 in CA and isn’t exactly cheap. My question to you guys – is this a common ailment indicative of a particular flaw in a cigar? Or are my rookie cigar tastes just not refined enough to appreciate “gusto del caucho?” I did a search for “rubber” on these boards and found one entry that sounded like my problem, and a lot of entertaining conversations about something completely different. *If you are that guy, I’m sorry about your ****.

j0z3r

First off, what the heck cigar was it so I can avoid it in the future?

I've never gotten a burned rubber taste, but I did get a nasty, chemical-metallic taste that stuck in my throat and would not go away....I imagine it had to be a flaw, because the Gurkha Triple Ligero is pretty well received and I got this taste on the very first puff. So I suppose it does happen from time to time on otherwise fine cigars, regardless it does leave a certain stigma about ever smoking that particular cigar again.

stephen_hannibal

I'm interested to know what Cigar you're talking about. (I've had some nasties namely the CAO Gold Maudro... tasted like ****!)

clearlysuspect

Yep. Sometimes you just get a bad stick. First post I ever made on these forums was about how badly I hated the Padilla Series '68. It was horrible! I wanted to gag, it tasted horrible, I damn near threw up. Turns out, I like these cigars. I just got a bad stick.

stephen_hannibal

ahhhhhhhh suspect, when the hell did you change your avatar? This is so going to throw off my forum browsing.
After reading your statement I might have to try a few sticks again.

Blackguard

For the record, it was a Bauza. I didn't mention the brand because I'm convinced it's not the cigar's fault - Bauzas get good reviews, plus it's described as "medium to full" but the one I smoked was very, very mild. I'm chalking it up to a bad batch. I'm just glad I didn't get responses like "burned rubber can only mean one thing - you smoked beetle poop."

clearlysuspect

stephen_hannibal:

ahhhhhhhh suspect, when the hell did you change your avatar? This is so going to throw off my forum browsing.
After reading your statement I might have to try a few sticks again.

Changed it a couple weeks ago. Not sure I like the avatar more than the Q-bert pyramid, but I definately was enjoying this moment much more. I was leaving the Shenandoah Balloon and Wine Festival. Had a bunch of wine, a couple cigars, a nice picnic, and watched some hot air balloons take off. Needless to say, I was nice n' toasty!

When did you change yours? And who is this guy??? When are you gonna put your real picture back up? ;-)

kaspera79

Blackguard:

For the record, it was a Bauza. I didn't mention the brand because I'm convinced it's not the cigar's fault - Bauzas get good reviews, plus it's described as "medium to full" but the one I smoked was very, very mild. I'm chalking it up to a bad batch. I'm just glad I didn't get responses like "burned rubber can only mean one thing - you smoked beetle poop."

...Hold on there, I have personally smoked over 300 Bauzas, mostly Robustos. And loved every one of them. Been smoking for over sixteen years and would never turn one down. Something bad happened to that stick because Fuentes, who makes that stick does not put out a bad cigar ever. I have tried nearly every cigar and Bauza is one of my favorites. Not that I am the measuring stick of great cigars, but I feel the one you smoked is not a fair representation of Fuentes or Bauza. Try them again sometime, ( I'm glad you didn't say Nording).

alienmisprint

I agree with the bad stick comments. The first Camcho Select I ever smoked tasted like actual vomit. The first puff tasted like that smell (you know, when you are some public place and a little kid's vomit has recently been covered by sawdust? thats the smell). I tried to soldier through it, but after an inch it still had that horrible taste. Luckily, I had purchased a 5-pack of them, and all the subsequent ones I had were pretty good.

As far as the burning rubber taste, I had a Perdomo Fresco Maduro that tasted like burnt plastic, not sure if it was just that stick or if all of them are that bad, I only picked up one from a B&M.

stephen_hannibal

clearlysuspect:

stephen_hannibal:

ahhhhhhhh suspect, when the hell did you change your avatar? This is so going to throw off my forum browsing.
After reading your statement I might have to try a few sticks again.

Changed it a couple weeks ago. Not sure I like the avatar more than the Q-bert pyramid, but I definately was enjoying this moment much more. I was leaving the Shenandoah Balloon and Wine Festival. Had a bunch of wine, a couple cigars, a nice picnic, and watched some hot air balloons take off. Needless to say, I was nice n' toasty!

When did you change yours? And who is this guy??? When are you gonna put your real picture back up? ;-)

LOL After you changed yours I was like feck it.