Cigar Surgery

[El Presidente]

I have found myself conducting cigar surgery of late on anything where the draw is tight. I tend to keep most of our seconds for myself (cracked feet/caps and cigars with knots). for years I had battled with draw pokers, slim drills etc and rarely have I had a satisfacoty result.

Given that some 90% of plugs are just below the foot or band I now just cut the cigar off there (if under of below the band slide the band forward to stop the cigar from unravelling). Voila. A mareva may become a minuto, A Robusto a Petit Robusto, A Churchill a Robusto Extra but I have a stress free experience in relation to draw!

Don't fight the tight!

[Colt45]

Does this mean Habanos will be reimbursing people the difference in price between a churchill and a robusto extra, etc?

[El Presidente]

Does this mean Habanos will be reimbursing people the difference in price between a churchill and a robusto extra, etc?

Send your cut off sections to HSA in Havana with a return envelope.

They will be in touch

[Fuzz]

I have found myself conducting cigar surgery...

Do you anaethetise the cigar beforehand... or yourself? And does Lisa dress up as a nurse to help?

[OZCUBAN]

Hi all

I do the same when it comes to tight drawers etc

My last experience was with the Ramon Allones Phoenicia ,which i bought whilst in Melbourne last year,thought i would light it up a couple of weeks ago,well what a disaster,I was so disappointed as it was severely plugged and I was really looking forward to it, as I had heard how good they were,and i only had the one

Well out comes the cutter again for some Major surgery,but alas this time the patient was to far gone for any surgery to help and was eventually ditched with out ceremony (sent to the Cigar Morgue )

and when i had finished it did look like it had come from Lebanon

Cheers OZ

Last pic with my replacement and the remnants of the R/A

[#2 man]

Send your cut off sections to HSA in Havana with a return envelope.

They will be in touch

So then the next glass top box should contain finger jointed cigars

[cigcars]

Good points (and jabs) y'all! I ended up in previous years with two of those "Draw Pokers," that's the long metal point you stick thru your smoke. Could see the reason and logic in it...but it just never did do diddly-squat in fixing a plugged smoke - no matter how many times and different areas thru the foot to the head you shoved that thing through. Did I just make a questionable analogy???

[android]

I have found myself conducting cigar surgery of late on anything where the draw is tight. I tend to keep most of our seconds for myself (cracked feet/caps and cigars with knots). for years I had battled with draw pokers, slim drills etc and rarely have I had a satisfacoty result.

Given that some 90% of plugs are just below the foot or band I now just cut the cigar off there (if under of below the band slide the band forward to stop the cigar from unravelling). Voila. A mareva may become a minuto, A Robusto a Petit Robusto, A Churchill a Robusto Extra but I have a stress free experience in relation to draw!

Don't fight the tight!

Paging Dr. Ayala!!!!!

[Fuzz]

Here's an odd instrument to use instead of the usual metal pokey-thingy...

But if you must use a metal pokey-thingy, do it in style!

[PigFish]

Without the intentional criticism of others, I find the frequency of the discussion of plugged cigars appears to exceed the numbers of plugged cigars that I experience. Frankly, I have not had a truly plugged cigar in years. As Dr. Ayala has mentioned, I find that an honest to God plugged cigar has a typical "knot" that one can feel, for lack of a better term, when one "massages" the shaft of the cigar!!!

This then leaves the more important question unanswered. Without the perceivable knot, why does your cigar not draw? I believe far too many people store their Habanos too wet. With most of my cigars being 42 and under, many from years including the '90s to early in the decade before this one, all prime suspects for plugged cigars, why would I get so few?

I have a few rules:

Buy a certified hygrometer or certified test instrument.

Reduce your RH to 60RH or close to it.

Reduce your RH if you have and actively cooled humidor.

Store your new purchases for at least 6 months in your certified controlled space before smoking.

I have challenged a few friends to do a little experiment. Take a cigar and clip it. Leave it rolling around your desk for a few weeks. I mean really dry it out to where you think it is ruined. Now smoke it. You may just find that the flavors are easily expressed, the cigar is easy to smoke and more flavorsome than you can remember from a sibling before. It is only a cigar! Try it for yourself and you may acquire a taste for dryer CC's. Cheers, Piggy

[Puros Y Vino]

Without the intentional criticism of others, I find the frequency of the discussion of plugged cigars appears to exceed the numbers of plugged cigars that I experience. Frankly, I have not had a truly plugged cigar in years. As Dr. Ayala has mentioned, I find that an honest to God plugged cigar has a typical "knot" that one can feel, for lack of a better term, when one "massages" the shaft of the cigar!!!

This then leaves the more important question unanswered. Without the perceivable knot, why does your cigar not draw? I believe far too many people store their Habanos too wet. With most of my cigars being 42 and under, many from years including the '90s to early in the decade before this one, all prime suspects for plugged cigars, why would I get so few?

I have a few rules:

Buy a certified hygrometer or certified test instrument.

Reduce your RH to 60RH or close to it.

Reduce your RH if you have and actively cooled humidor.

Store your new purchases for at least 6 months in your certified controlled space before smoking.

I have challenged a few friends to do a little experiment. Take a cigar and clip it. Leave it rolling around your desk for a few weeks. I mean really dry it out to where you think it is ruined. Now smoke it. You may just find that the flavors are easily expressed, the cigar is easy to smoke and more flavorsome than you can remember from a sibling before. It is only a cigar! Try it for yourself and you may acquire a taste for dryer CC's. Cheers, Piggy

Mr Piggy.

In all seriousness, you truly are a well of knowledge. You should get Rob to run a report on every single post you've made, go through them and decide how best to publish them. You can each do a point/counterpoint on various cigar related subjects.

[PigFish]

Mr Piggy.

In all seriousness, you truly are a well of knowledge. You should get Rob to run a report on every single post you've made, go through them and decide how best to publish them. You can each do a point/counterpoint on various cigar related subjects.

Well... that is damn nice mate. Thank you. That is why I post and like to post details. I think there are a lot of wives-tales in this endeavor and I can't stand unsubstantiated bunk!

While I am equally guilty of posting a bit of intentional torment to a few others, a fraternity of shared information is what this place is about, not about withholding information but sharing it. You may find some who will debate you on your assessment of me.... but it is damn nice of you to say so and I appreciate it.

-Piggy (but you can call me Ray)

[Puros Y Vino]

Well... that is damn nice mate. Thank you. That is why I post and like to post details. I think there are a lot of wives-tales in this endeavor and I can't stand unsubstantiated bunk!

While I am equally guilty of posting a bit of intentional torment to a few others, a fraternity of shared information is what this place is about, not about withholding information but sharing it. You may find some who will debate you on your assessment of me.... but it is damn nice of you to say so and I appreciate it.

-Piggy (but you can call me Ray)

Ray.

No problem. You're posts are both entertaining and informative. Keep 'em coming. And I agree 100% on the sharing of information. That's a healthy attitude.

Frank (aka Bundwallah)

[Colt45]

This then leaves the more important question unanswered. Without the perceivable knot, why does your cigar not draw?.......

Ray, I agree in principle, but I'm not willing to let inconsistent construction off the hook. For example - two boxes of churchills, stored in the same humidor

for the same amount of time. Cigars from Box A have pretty much all smoked nicely from the get go. Cigars from Box B have been a complete crap shoot.

Some completely plugged and thrown away, others varying degrees of smokeability, with very few having what I would consider a truly proper draw. It's

certainly possible that Box B might benefit from an even lower humidity than others in the same humidor, but after two, three, four years I would have

to attribute the varying results to inconsistencies in construction.

[Puros Y Vino]

Ray, I agree in principle, but I'm not willing to let inconsistent construction off the hook. For example - two boxes of churchills, stored in the same humidor

for the same amount of time. Cigars from Box A have pretty much all smoked nicely from the get go. Cigars from Box B have been a complete crap shoot.

Some completely plugged and thrown away, others varying degrees of smokeability, with very few having what I would consider a truly proper draw. It's

certainly possible that Box B might benefit from an even lower humidity than others in the same humidor, but after two, three, four years I would have

to attribute the varying results to inconsistencies in construction.

In terms of scientific principles. Wouldn't cigars with higher humidity levels expand thereby increasing the airflow in plugged cigars? Whereas a dried out one would contract and possibly restrict the airflow? It's a matter of volume. A fresh apple vs a dried one is significant. In the same type of cigar that difference should not be easily visible to the naked eye but the principles still apply.

Thoughts?

[sblevit]

I have to agree with Mr. Piggy. I have a box of Bolivar Simones and they are all hard as rocks, especially towards the cap. The first one was a terribly difficult draw and I eventually gave up. The second one was completely unsmokeable no matter how many times I tried to perform surgery on it. The box was stored at 65F and 65% in a coolidor. Then I took two of them out and dry boxed them for 4-5 days. They smoked perfectly after that and were quite wonderful smokes. I now try to always dry box for at least two days before smoking a cigar.

[PigFish]

Ray, I agree in principle, but I'm not willing to let inconsistent construction off the hook. For example - two boxes of churchills, stored in the same humidor

for the same amount of time. Cigars from Box A have pretty much all smoked nicely from the get go. Cigars from Box B have been a complete crap shoot.

Some completely plugged and thrown away, others varying degrees of smokeability, with very few having what I would consider a truly proper draw. It's

certainly possible that Box B might benefit from an even lower humidity than others in the same humidor, but after two, three, four years I would have

to attribute the varying results to inconsistencies in construction.

Ross you know that I speak in general terms quite often. In this case I was again speaking generally. I totally agree that plugged cigars, resulting from poor construction do indeed exist. I think that while CC construction is better today it is far from perfect. As usual I tend to take a thread in a direction, sometimes a tangent, that I see corollary but in my mind perhaps at the root of an issue.

Cutting slack to H SA et al is not a usual practice for me and an unintended consequence!!! -LOL Cheers mate. -R

[CohibaBehike]

I would find that cutting so much off would increasingly change the flavor. However, if you can save the cigar and actually smoke it I guess it's something that could be done. I work at a cigar store and we have some guys who will cut churchills into three's and smoke each as a nub!!! This makes me crazy but they refuse to listen to reason.

[edameff]

Hi all

I do the same when it comes to tight drawers etc

My last experience was with the Ramon Allones Phoenicia ,which i bought whilst in Melbourne last year,thought i would light it up a couple of weeks ago,well what a disaster,I was so disappointed as it was severely plugged and I was really looking forward to it, as I had heard how good they were,and i only had the one

Well out comes the cutter again for some Major surgery,but alas this time the patient was to far gone for any surgery to help and was eventually ditched with out ceremony (sent to the Cigar Morgue )

and when i had finished it did look like it had come from Lebanon

Cheers OZ

Last pic with my replacement and the remnants of the R/A

This makes me very sad...I LOVE these Phonecios and truly feel for you!!

[jdbrown]

I use the end of a marinator injector to clear plugs. It has three notches and gently pulls the plug out in most cases. Unfortunately too big for a plugged Connie 3! Have to look for a mini version.