The rise of the wind-tunnel?

[SCgarman]

I don't think that's a valid point really, all things are relative. A roller in Dom will be working to feed his family and so will a roller in Cuba. Both people have to work a job to survive, the political system or economic beliefs of the middle men in either country are a moot point to the worker.

I have to disagree. There is no incentive in Cuba for cigar rollers to strive for perfection making barely one dollar a day. I am sure the rollers at Padron or Fuente have much more incentive to make a quality cigar and it certainly shows in construction and consistency. I rarely if ever smoke a poorly rolled Padron Anny or Fuente or any non Cuban cigar for that matter. How do you explain the high inconsistency rate with HSA?

[Smallclub]

… the effect where the ember is alight is the same as a badly packed pipe of tobacco; even if you half block the stem of the pipe, the badly packed bowl will still produce a crappy smoke

And it not only tastes bad, the very hot smoke is extremely detrimental for your tongue and throat.

[CaptainQuintero]

I have to disagree. There is no incentive in Cuba for cigar rollers to strive for perfection making barely one dollar a day. I am sure the rollers at Padron or Fuente have much more incentive to make a quality cigar and it certainly shows in construction and consistency. I rarely if ever smoke a poorly rolled Padron Anny or Fuente or any non Cuban cigar for that matter. How do you explain the high inconsistency rate with HSA?

I don't understand the no incentive comment. Both jobs require the workers to make work hard and meet targets just like any other place, if they don't they both loose their job. One job gives money to buy food/housing the other results in getting food/housing. Without getting political the idea of someone in Cuba not having to do work or do anything well in order to get paid is just 1950's propaganda.

If it was true that there are no consequences/incentives why would the cigar draw tested need to get bribed by a bad roller to pass their work? If anything there is more incentive and far worse consequences in Cuba than Dom/Nic/Hon

High inconsistency rates could be anything from needing to rush rolling in order to meet production targets to people not being trained properly etc etc

[ramon_cojones]

A plugged cigar goes into the trash whereas a loose cigar can be smoked slowly with lighter pulls so it doesn't overheat.

[CanuckSARTech]

I have to disagree. There is no incentive in Cuba for cigar rollers to strive for perfection making barely one dollar a day....

Pride. And, if they don't do well, they're fired. Being in the cigar rolling factories enable them to get access to more than that one dollar a day.

[MPS]

There is clearly a huge gap in quality control and what the workers and rollers get paid is the problem.

[mazolaman]

It's just me by the sounds of it but I always find wind tunnels unfixable, eg the cigar in the OP I squashed at the band to less than a cm thick and still the draw was too loose. Also the whole flavour of the cigar seems totally out of whack as in there is way too much air at the ember so whatever flavours are locked in the tobacco/blend can't be released. At least with a plugged cigar the flavours can be released with dryboxing/freezer trick/draw poker.

Unless a windtunnel is opened up and rerolled then at least to me the whole cigars is lost, no matter how the draw is restricted by a hard hold, the effect where the ember is alight is the same as a badly packed pipe of tobacco; even if you half block the stem of the pipe, the badly packed bowl will still produce a crappy smoke

I also would prefer to have a tighty than a loosey.

With a loosey, I end up with scorch marks on my lips, and a flattened, flavourless cigar.

[almudawi]

I rarely if ever smoke a poorly rolled Padron Anny or Fuente or any non Cuban cigar for that matter. How do you explain the high inconsistency rate with HSA?

In my opinion it has nothing to do with incentives.. Cuban cigars are in demand worldwide while NCs are mainly popular in the US.. So it's a matter of supply and demand.. NCs benefit from lower production targets = less pressure on rollers to churn out cigars = better construction. My 2 cents

[Hafner32]

I've been experimenting with using a V cutter more and more on large ring gauge cigars vs my standard xikar to help limit the airflow. It has definately helped me with a few boxes of cigars which were just too "open" when I used my regular cutter.

[Lotusguy]

I use a punch with most larger RG sticks - but you can only do so much when they are really underfilled.

[Dimmers]

Agree with many here on BBF being one of the worst culprits!

[stargazer14]

Altho my NC to Cuban rate is very low the past few years I don't see any more plugs or tunnels in Cubans than I did in NC's.

Except for some tight perlas (2 per box? maybe?) I have had no problem with quality these days

and will say the Davidoff Magnificos from Dominica I had about 2 weeks ago was unsmokable -

one of the reasons being it was plugged.

Cuba has been doing fine by me.

[Roanoke]

In my opinion it has nothing to do with incentives.. Cuban cigars are in demand worldwide while NCs are mainly popular in the US.. So it's a matter of supply and demand.. NCs benefit from lower production targets = less pressure on rollers to churn out cigars = better construction. My 2 cents

I'm not sure that follows. Wouldn't Cuba's dependence on cigars and the money they bring in demand higher QC? Then again, HSA knows they have a captive audience - most CC smokers stick with them over NCs any day of the week.

[nikesupremedunk]

i think this thread put a curse on me. Had a RA superiors '12 last night and it was definitely underfilled. Good thing I punched it instead of cutting it.

[stargazer14]

Maybe because I punch anything over 42rg is the reason I never had a wind tunnel.

[CaptainQuintero]

I knew it would be a loose draw so went with a medium punch but it still didn't help, this was probably the most open cigar I've ever had though.

[El Presidente]

Maybe one day HSA will get its act together...

In HSA's defence, they do not control the fabrica's/factories, Tabacuba does.

There are some very passionate rollers. There are rollers that are average. There are rollers who just go through the motions. There are rollers that go through the motions and steal.

If you take a leaf out here and a leaf out there, by the end of the day you have a nice little wad of tobacco to take home. Roll 5-10 cigars of your own at night and give them to a family member to sell at the end of the week. Still...you need to maintain your quota at work so the BBF/BRC/RASS/ you are working on are a little lighter in the hand

This certainly doesn't explain all loose draws but I know it does happen.

The solution is a good days wage for a good product eliminating the need to steal, take a bribe to look the other way etc. Still, the concept of "having a job in order to steal" is very entrenched in Cuba. In the minds of many Cuban workers (no matter where they work) they are stealing from the state so it doesn't count.

If that is your starting premise in a commercial enterprise.....you are a long way behind the eight-ball of "best practice".

[SCgarman]

In HSA's defence, they do not control the fabrica's/factories, Tabacuba does.

There are some very passionate rollers. There are rollers that are average. There are rollers who just go through the motions. There are rollers that go through the motions and steal.

If you take a leaf out here and a leaf out there, by the end of the day you have a nice little wad of tobacco to take home. Roll 5-10 cigars of your own at night and give them to a family member to sell at the end of the week. Still...you need to maintain your quota at work so the BBF/BRC/RASS/ you are working on are a little lighter in the hand

This certainly doesn't explain all loose draws but I know it does happen.

The solution is a good days wage for a good product eliminating the need to steal, take a bribe to look the other way etc. Still, the concept of "having a job in order to steal" is very entrenched in Cuba. In the minds of many Cuban workers (no matter where they work) they are stealing from the state so it doesn't count.

If that is your starting premise in a commercial enterprise.....you are a long way behind the eight-ball of "best practice".

These types of things most likely do not happen at the Padron factories in Nicaragua and the Fuente Factories in the Dominican. Hence, super consistently constructed cigars that are seldom over or under filled.

[Stanislaw]

So Trinidad is definitely a culprit it seems, I had a robusto T from a box dated 2010 that was the worst wind tunnel, under filled cigar over $10 I've ever had.... Such a bummer and the rest of the box is not much better.... I guess those draw testers are making out pretty good with those pay-offs.....

[Phillys]

Have not had any wind tunnels this year, out of about 20 boxes purchased I had maybe one that was slightly under filled. Luckily, the draw turned out fine, maybe a little looser than I like but still quite a good draw. I find that boxes in transit for over 2 weeks without humipacks can seem loose at first, but with some rest time, they get back in shape and turn out just how I like them. As for plugged cigars, I had one PSD4 that was way too tight, so I just tossed it and lit another and have not stumbled upon another plugged stick since then.