Cigar tunneling.

subtlehustle

I have a question, lately my cigars at about 1/3 of the way in starts to tunnel and then goes out. It's starting to happen on all of them now regardless of brand. Is there a specific cause to this? Maybe humidor to humid? Any suggestions? Thanks.

subtlehustle

I have no idea why it's up twice.

CharlieHeis

I'd guess humidity is too high. I've had a burn issue here and there that I attribute to the fact that it's been rainy and very humid here lately. 

subtlehustle

I keep my humidor around 80% according to the cheap device in there, My basement is 40%, Should I open my humidor for a day?

peter4jc

You'd be better off buying a reliable digital hygrometer; even when calibrated, the cheap analog units are wonky.  If your basement truly is 40%, and your humidor is at 80%, you might just remove whatever you have in the humidor to provide moisture.

Is the thing you're using to measure your basement humidity small enough to fit in your humidor?

kaspera79

Hey, first invest a few bucks and get a better hygrometer, to see where your humidity level really is. Those cheap dial devices are very unreliable. Digital.is the way to go. Also get some sort of two way humidification product like beads or kitty litter.
There are many pages of more detailed advice compiled here, I am sure you will resolve this problem with a small investment, and a little more research.
Leaving the humidor open will lower the humidity level, but you need to know where you are in order to get  to where you want to be.

subtlehustle

Thanks, Ok... Well my basement is def 40% It says so on the dehumidifier and also a separate high quality digital device I have across the basement. I took the small digital device out of my humidor and placed it by the more sophisticated and expensive hydrometer and it went down to 50% and stayed there, So it's definitely not accurate, It seems to be over reading, So I guess my humidor is around 70% I'll get a better one soon. In the mean time I took a cigar out and let it sit in 40% for a few hours, so we'll see. But has anyone had their cigars tunnel out like that? It's getting routine with mine now, def not in the beginning.

Gray4lines

High rh would definitely cause tunneling as the cigar can't stay lit and only the inside burns.  Probably less likely, but smoking too slow will cause tunneling too.  Think of it as not keeping the cigar going enough to burn completely.  

70% is high for me and I've had burn issues at that rh even though it's within the recommended range.

subtlehustle

Ok, it still tunneled. Yeah, I puff every 1-2 mins.. I'll let them dry out a bit.

peter4jc

I tried to keep mine around 70% during the winter, just because almost nothing I did would get them above that.  But in the last month or so I've gone from 70%-beads to non-hydrated kitty litter, and have the cigars around 63-65%, and once they got settle into that range they've been smoking better.  I definitely think it can take 2-4 weeks for a cigar to reach an even moisture through all the filler.

subtlehustle

Thanks, Ill bring my works down 10 -15% and see what happens. I have some nice sticks in there!!

Amos_Umwhat

subtlehustle said:

Thanks, Ill bring my works down 10 -15% and see what happens. I have some nice sticks in there!!

Good plan, probably need to give a couple weeks or more.

subtlehustle

Ok, so it's been a few weeks. My RH is down to around 60% The tunneling is still occurring. It doesn't seem to matter what brand. I puff every 1-2 mins. I have to relight often. Any suggestions as to what I'm doing wrong?

subtlehustle

Ok, so it's been a few weeks. My RH is down to around 60% The tunneling is still occurring. It doesn't seem to matter what brand. I puff every 1-2 mins. I have to relight often. Any suggestions as to what I'm doing wrong?

avengethis

Have you picked up a digital hygrometer yet?  If not I would start there.  Without knowing where your humidity truly is at there is not much we can tell you.

Echambers

I don't think it's a problem with humidity.  I think it's more likely  a problem with how you are lighting and smoking.   

Toast the foot well,  but slowly. Try smoking a little bit faster but a little more gently. Youre not  trying to suck a milkshake. 

peter4jc

I've never seen a cigar do that, but when I go too slow it only burns the center and the cherry never ignites the wrapper.  It looks the pace and draw are too slow yet too hard, as Eric said.

If you toast well and light evenly, watch the wrapper after each draw and that will help determine your pace.

Usaf06

Echambers said:

I don't think it's a problem with humidity.  I think it's more likely  a problem with how you are lighting and smoking.   

Toast the foot well,  but slowly. Try smoking a little bit faster but a little more gently. Youre not  trying to suck a milkshake. 

That made me laugh out loud

Amos_Umwhat

That's the weirdest thing I've ever seen.  Any chance someone is playing with your cigars?  Practicing with a reamer?  Maybe, someone who wants you to stop smoking them?

Bob_Luken

Yeah, that's very, really, awfully strange indeed. I'm puzzled. You might consider taking a few of your cigars with you (or the whole humidor) and go hang out with and smoke with some veteran smokers at a cigar shop/lounge. Tell them what's happening. Ask for some one-on-one advice. Buy some cigars at the lounge too. Smoke the shop's cigars there too. See if there's a big difference.   

onestrangeone

Bob_Luken said:

Yeah, that's very, really, awfully strange indeed. I'm puzzled. You might consider taking a few of your cigars with you (or the whole humidor) and go hang out with and smoke with some veteran smokers at a cigar shop/lounge. Tell them what's happening. Ask for some one-on-one advice. Buy some cigars at the lounge too. Smoke the shop's cigars there too. See if there's a big difference.   

^^^^^This! you might even want to check out the v-herf and hang out a bit

subtlehustle

Echambers said:

I don't think it's a problem with humidity.  I think it's more likely  a problem with how you are lighting and smoking.   

Toast the foot well,  but slowly. Try smoking a little bit faster but a little more gently. Youre not  trying to suck a milkshake. 

You're dead on! That was the issue. Thanks! 4 cigars following your advice and no tunneling.

Dark_Roast

Glad you got it figured out. Enjoy your cigars!

Lasabar

If all your cigars are tunneling you may want to inspect your cigars.

They could be rolled by "El Chapo" and that's why they are tunneling.

transplant

I've had this problem lately and it's a real pisser.  The odd thing is that when I'm smoking a cigar attentively, I have few problems, but when the cigar is a background thing (golf course) they tunnel.  I'm relatively new to serious cigar smoking, but I did buy a better hygrometer, salt-tested all my hygrometers and lowered the RH from 70-72 to the mid-to-low 60s.

Nubs never tunnel...what a nice cigar.  On the other end of the spectrum, the DPG Blues I have always tunnel.  This breaks my heart since everything I hear indicates that it's a great cigar. I've left them alone for the past 2 weeks and will try one in an hour or so.  Wish me luck.

Usaf06

Tunneling almost always has to do with not torching the foot before lighting to create the initial burn.

Nolagizmo

Usaf06 said:

Tunneling almost always has to do with not torching the foot before lighting to create the initial burn.

I did not know that. I torch the foot every time. I just thought it looked cool so I've been doing it. Now that I know there is an actual purpose to I feel better about doing it. I'm gonna torch a foot now.

transplant

transplant said:

I've had this problem lately and it's a real pisser.  The odd thing is that when I'm smoking a cigar attentively, I have few problems, but when the cigar is a background thing (golf course) they tunnel.  I'm relatively new to serious cigar smoking, but I did buy a better hygrometer, salt-tested all my hygrometers and lowered the RH from 70-72 to the mid-to-low 60s.

Nubs never tunnel...what a nice cigar.  On the other end of the spectrum, the DPG Blues I have always tunnel.  This breaks my heart since everything I hear indicates that it's a great cigar. I've left them alone for the past 2 weeks and will try one in an hour or so.  Wish me luck.

Update.

I just finished a DPG Blue that Did. Not. Tunnel. Hallelujah!

I now can appreciate what everyone says about the DPG Blue.  It's a luxurious and entirely wonderful smoke.  Not sure if the difference was the extra rest, the reduced humidity or the fact that i attentively smoked this one, but the reward was big.  God, that was great!

FWIW, on my previous unsuccessful attempts, I religiously toasted the foot.  This time, I didn't.  For my money, that's not the secret.

onestrangeone

 @transplant How fast are you smoking? This could have a great deal to do with the tunneling. A big ring cigar like a Nub is a lot more forgiving than the small rings, imo this is why the big rings are so popular especially with newer peeps and the golf course crowd (one of my buddies will smoke a 6x60 Airbender or Monte in less than an hr.) The DPG Blue Toro is a fairly tight roll and for me it seems to smoke best at around 65 - 67 RH. It takes me about 1.45 to 2 hrs to get just past the band.    

transplant

onestrangeone said:

 @transplant How fast are you smoking? This could have a great deal to do with the tunneling. A big ring cigar like a Nub is a lot more forgiving than the small rings, imo this is why the big rings are so popular especially with newer peeps and the golf course crowd (one of my buddies will smoke a 6x60 Airbender or Monte in less than an hr.) The DPG Blue Toro is a fairly tight roll and for me it seems to smoke best at around 65 - 67 RH. It takes me about 1.45 to 2 hrs to get just past the band.    

I appreciate the question, but don't think smoke speed is the problem.  If I'm smoking a cigar on the golf course, the stick may go untouched for 5 minutes at a time.  If I'm smoking a cigar on the porch, I'm probably taking a hit at least once a minute.  I've had far more frequent tunneling problems on the golf course.

I may be wrong, but I lowered the RH to the mid-60s a few weeks ago and it seems to have solved the problem.