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Mad tunneling!
cryptoking13
Posts: 8 ✭
I had very bad tunneling on my cigars this year. I noticed Connecticut broadleaf wrappers were the worst. I tried everything: lowering/ increasing humidity, resting for weeks/months, puffing slow/fast but nothing worked. Happened to boxes of liga privadas, the tabernacle, cao session among others with a similar wrapper which would just not combust. A ton of $ wasted on these boxes since I thought it was my fault so I kept lighting them up and trying to change things so they would burn right instead of returning the hole burning sticks. I am suspecting bad crops throughout the industry.
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Check out this page for some tips. How long have these cigars rested in your humidor?
https://www.el-septimo.com/how-to-avoid-common-burns/
I thought this was a thread about Hamas.
I’ve smoked a lot of Connecticut broadleaf cigars lately. Never have any tunneling issues. Do you have any pictures?
Many people don’t realize it but it’s the binder of a cigar that controls most of the combustion. If you’re having that much trouble you may want to re-evaluate the way you are lighting your cigars. Making sure the edge of the foot is lit properly is key.
I use the @peter4jc method of sealing or welding the wrapper to the binder by toasting the edge of the foot first before really toasting the foot well until it's fully lit, then drawing in a puff to draw the flame into the foot to kick things off. It seems to prevent a lot of problems.
User error
I don't even toast the foot hardly at all anymore. After going around the edge w/ a single torch and getting a small line of 'glow' at the rim I light it with a soft flame.
I say it's user error, OP. Sorry, but if nobody else if having widespread issues there's something else afoot.
Over torching the center will get you every time. I agree with Peter and Chris, do the rim job then light it and take a few puffs. Rim jobs always work best.
-- Winston Churchill
"LET'S GO FRANCIS" Peter
I completely torch my foot with a single flame, moving completely around the rim, being careful not to scorch beyond the face of the foot and also the center so there is almost no black when I gently blow on the face. When it’s fully lit, I’ll do a quick small purge and then puff. Don’t have many tunneling issues but when I do it’s usually specific.
I find I get the most tunnels on cigars than are plugged or have a really tight draw. I tend to use some type of poking device, usually draw poker or drill bit and it usually smokes fine for a bit but will tunnel when it hits those holes and superheats.
Another obvious problem is humidity and shipping, running 65% gives me the best results. Also letting cigars rest at 65rh for a month reduces problems. I just had to pitch an Oliva V I lit up that was delivered last week with a 69% boveda. It was overhumidified and didn’t want to stay lit. I probably shouldn’t have smoked it once I clipped it and noticed the draw was tight, it was a waste and went into the trash. I can usually tell how a cigar will smoke by a draw test 95% of the time, sometimes I’m surprised when tighter draws than I prefer work out just fine but that’s an anomaly.
Another thing that I should add is that I don’t waste time on cigars that give me draw problems or that I have to power puff to keep lit. It’s usually a exercise in frustration and not relaxing. I generally toss 90% of cigars that give me issues and don’t bother trying to “save” them or modify my smoking style to get through it. It ends up overheated, tunnels or is exhausting to smoke. It’s irritating to chuck cigars you paid good money for but it’s not worth the frustration for me anymore (I used to try and save them all). Certain manufacturers have more issues than others also, I rarely have any issues with AJ produced cigars for example, whereas others can be a crapshoot.
Good luck on trying to figure out what the issue is and hopefully you can get it straightened out.
It’s also interesting that you mentioned some specific brands I no longer consider for purchase because of too many past problems. I had too many issues with Drew Estate, Foundation, RP, AB and a few others. I tend to stick with the mainline farmers AJ, Padron, DPG, Oliva (remains to be seen if the sale of the company will reduce quality), Perdomo, Litto (LFG), Fuente, Christian E, EPC, ect. I shy away from contracted brands due to being burned too many times. Just another angle to consider.
99 percent of tunnelling issues are manufacturer's fault. The telltale sign is zero smoke production. But if you don't light a thick wrapper like a CT broadleaf correctly, then the 1 percent is on you. I light my smokes the same as Peter.
I used to get made fun of when I flicked my bic to finish the light, now everyone is doing it.
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So, you (OP) were having this same issue back in January. Did you try any of the interventions you were advised on then? Or, have you kept doing the same thing, expecting different results?
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
We were making fun of you for other stuff....
https://forum.cigar.com/discussion/902243/tunneling-on-most-sticks#latest
You all still are and I agree with everything
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