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Hi everybody, This is the scenario, many months ago when we were talking about our plug rates per box, I soon realised that the plug rates for one of my top 3 cigars was quite high. I want to talk about partagas shorts... Now, when it comes to shorts I smoke them like Don Draper smokes his lucky strikes. I go through maybe 3 boxes a year simply because it has everything I want in a cigar, its size is perfect for the irish weather and I can honestly truly say that I haven't had a bad one in terms of strength and flavour. However... my average plug rate per box is 4-5 average, compared to 0-1 for every other box of cigars Ive ever owned. In terms of storage my aristocrat sits just south of 65% all year, and the temp doesn't get much higher than 60. I have never had an issue with storage so I would like to rule out that adverse conditions may cause this problem. While i adore the partagas short, 4-5 plugs per box for me in unacceptable, i remember seeing a suggestion that for cigars with a ring gauge as small as the short it can be better to take them completely out of their dress box and place them in the humidor loose and this will alleviate any tight draws or plugs. So i tried it, just after christmas I took a completely new box of partagas shorts, got rid of the box and let them all sit loose in the pull out drawer of my humidor for 6 weeks. I finished the last one this evening... I am pleased to report that not one, and I mean not one of those cigars had a tight draw. I have been tracking my progress on my phone and I am very happy with the results. I have no other issues with any of my other boxes, maybe the odd box of monte 4s but its to be expected with them. I am now going to do the same with a fresh box of RASCC and will post back. It is something to think about though, I really do think the packaging of certain cigars can truly affect the draw, but then again I have had cigars like bolivar petit coronas be packed tightly and smoke beautifully. I rambled a bit, but i am a happy when an experiment yields good results! Thanks for reading, I would love to hear any similar experiences. Stevie.