Issues with the second half

[Justmi]

Hi guys, I hope a few more experienced smokers can help me out here. Over the course of a several sticks, I've noticed that I tend to get common issues with the second half of my smokes. Firstly it has a tendency to go out sooner making me smoke faster to keep it lit. Secondly, the burn has a tendency to go wonky, making me fiddle with the lighter to get it even again. Thirdly it gets bitter as a result of me smoking it faster to keep the thing lit. I store my cigars at a stable 65RH and lay them down for four months minimum. What am I doing wrong or is this common in younger sticks? If you get this issue as well, do you roll the ash right off and relight or just top off the uneven burn with the lighter?

[Hohenthal]

... or just top off the uneven burn with the lighter?

That is what I'd do,

and don't hurry, let it cool down every now and then.

I think in most cases the cigar is more likely to suffocate from its own smoke if smoked in a hurry

rather than just go out and die from smoking to slow.

Enjoy!

Cheers, Alex

[Wil]

Humidity could be too high?

[pjansen]

How humid is it where you live? If it is very humid outside then the cigar will become over humidified as you smoke it. Maybe try smoking one of your cigars inside at a lounge and see if the problems persist.

[Dbone]

If you're smoking a cigar with an uneven burn, it's not burning correct. Yes.. flavor will be off and combustion will be poor. With proper construction there should be two to four combustion chambers constructed around the ligero placed in the middle. If you look down the ash end of your cigar you will be able to see them, they'll look like small holes. I had a topic on this a while ago, basically laying the blame of poor flavor and burn on construction. Look, if it's not burning right it's not going to smoke right either. Flavors will be out of balance, one side is going to be hot while the other is not, bitter, musty, very smokey, reverse cone, etc.. All these can be directly related back to poor construction.

There's a handful of possible reasons why you had this string of bad luck, brother, but I'm going to say poor bunching / construction. Nothing you've done on your end to cause this.

[Fuzz AI]

Try dry boxing your cigar for 24-48hrs before smoking and see if that makes a difference.

[backslide]

Humidity could be too high?

^ This is my guess as well.

[PigFish]

Try switching to thinner ring cigars! These are problems (largely) of larger ring, poorly rolled cigars. Water content is also suspect. -Piggy

[ramon_cojones]

^lol had a plugged rgce yesterday and a panetela

I've found people who tend to have wonky burns don't initally light the foot properly. I toast the ring perfectly and if you give it a good start it'll most likely continue in that fashion. Also, if your cigar keeps going out it's too moist or humid outside. My cigars never go out at 61% even with draws two minutes apart.