Bad Luck

mmkuchi

Had 2 bad cigars in a row ....one is the Dunhill from the last cigar of the month club and Don Pepin Garcia Original. Both of them are completely clogged....I gave the Dunhill couple pokes using the paper clip, didn't work....gave it up. And today it's the Pepin, so gave it some more patience; it didn't open up the draw until mid way, and started to keep extinguishing.. SAD...

Gray4lines

Humidity too high? I get draw problems even at 70% rh. 

Or not rested long enough in your humidor, maybe.  Sometimes newly bought sticks can take a few weeks to get acclimated.  

Draw problems are the single most annoying thing to me.  I hate when cigar is a chore to smoke.

onestrangeone

 What rh are you storing these at? I've smoked quite a few of both and the only times I've ever had a draw or burn issue is if the rh is high. I have long term storage at 68 - 69 rh  but I will move them into a humi at 65 - 66 rh about a month before I will smoke one, I pretty much do this with all my smokes

mmkuchi

The Dunhill is placed for a month already since it came in the last month as one of the cigar of the month club, and it's kept in a 65%-68% rh environment.

To the Pepin, it came I believe in last week, and was kept in a 68%-70% environment. I will try another stick tomorrow to see if it's just a problem with that particular stick or it's the rh.

onestrangeone

Hopefully it goes better next time, these are normally very solid performers, at least they have been for me. Good luck  

Gray4lines

Could be a bad stick, but like one said those are usually top notch cigars.  I would blame the minimal humi time.  

Shipping can really screw up humidity and temp which seem to really affect draw.

kuzi16

First time I ever heard of a plugged Dunhill 

mmkuchi

kuzi16 said:

First time I ever heard of a plugged Dunhill 

You're making me sadder......

bigharpoon

Your humidity at 68-70 is a little high for my preference. I've noticed a small change in RH makes a big difference is how some cigars burn and taste. Sometimes a cigar is just too tight, it happens now and then.

mmkuchi

I can rule out the rh problem for the Pepin. Now I am smoking a Ave Maria Divina which sat right next to that stick in the same humidor, and it's burning and drawing perfectly; and i can tell that a typical draw resistance coming from an AJ cigar. 

Gray4lines

Maybe, maybe not.  All cigars are different and one may have been through more temp/rh swings getting to you.  Lots of factors.

 A moth of rest is my minimum (unless I can't wait to fire one up, but I don't attribute any burn issues to the cigar then)

onestrangeone

Gray4lines said:

Maybe, maybe not.  All cigars are different and one may have been through more temp/rh swings getting to you.  Lots of factors.

 A moth of rest is my minimum (unless I can't wait to fire one up, but I don't attribute any burn issues to the cigar then)

This ^^^ plus the DPG is a tighter roll than the A.M. It's my opinion that the tighter a stick is rolled the more sensitive it is to rh. I agree that a months rest is minimum, I think that it takes at least that long to stabilize to a change in humidity. Of course it might have been just a bum stick that slipped through Q.C. it happens. 

mmkuchi

onestrangeone said:

Gray4lines said:

Maybe, maybe not.  All cigars are different and one may have been through more temp/rh swings getting to you.  Lots of factors.

 A moth of rest is my minimum (unless I can't wait to fire one up, but I don't attribute any burn issues to the cigar then)

This ^^^ plus the DPG is a tighter roll than the A.M. It's my opinion that the tighter a stick is rolled the more sensitive it is to rh. I agree that a months rest is minimum, I think that it takes at least that long to stabilize to a change in humidity. Of course it might have been just a bum stick that slipped through Q.C. it happens. 

I can't disagree with you.

ExpendableYouth

I hate draw issues. It just kills the experience and ruins the flavor.

SM0K3Y

mmkuchi said:

Had 2 bad cigars in a row ....one is the Dunhill from the last cigar of the month club and Don Pepin Garcia Original. Both of them are completely clogged....I gave the Dunhill couple pokes using the paper clip, didn't work....gave it up. And today it's the Pepin, so gave it some more patience; it didn't open up the draw until mid way, and started to keep extinguishing.. SAD...

That sucks, the Dunhill from cotm was a little cloggy, but a great brekfast smoke, and the DonPepin is a good smoke too, sounds to me like a good reason to smoke another, dont get gunshy, just make sure the label of the next one doesnt say 
GURKHA ;p

mmkuchi

SM0K3Y said:

mmkuchi said:

Had 2 bad cigars in a row ....one is the Dunhill from the last cigar of the month club and Don Pepin Garcia Original. Both of them are completely clogged....I gave the Dunhill couple pokes using the paper clip, didn't work....gave it up. And today it's the Pepin, so gave it some more patience; it didn't open up the draw until mid way, and started to keep extinguishing.. SAD...

That sucks, the Dunhill from cotm was a little cloggy, but a great brekfast smoke, and the DonPepin is a good smoke too, sounds to me like a good reason to smoke another, dont get gunshy, just make sure the label of the next one doesnt say 
GURKHA ;p

Hahaha...I indeed learnt a harsh lesson from Gurkha

peter4jc

I had a DPG Original/Blue tonight from the same Kelly deal that your fiver came from, and it was very good in draw/burn/flavor.  Hopefully, they just needed more time to rest.  It could be that they're inconsistent when fresh; hope your next one is better.

mmkuchi

peter4jc said:

I had a DPG Original/Blue tonight from the same Kelly deal that your fiver came from, and it was very good in draw/burn/flavor.  Hopefully, they just needed more time to rest.  It could be that they're inconsistent when fresh; hope your next one is better.

Thanks for updating me, Peter :-) Yeah, hopefully, they just needed more time