A smoking observation.

[Blakes]

Since having a few cigars this year which had issues with stalks in them giving the cigar a bad taste or tight draw, I find out you can quite easily slide the stalks out the head with a pair of tweezers or you nails usually resulting more often than not with the cigar coming back to life and tasting/smoking good again.

I read a few members here have also commented on the doing the same.

Anyway.. I noticed this also seems to work well with cigars that in the last third take a turn for the worst and start tasting very young, I'm not sure how this helps the cigar but for some reason pulling out a bit of tobacco seems to really help the flavour come back and get rid of that astringent bitter taste.

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this?

Cheers,

[jdo2110]

Just to understand... Would stalks be the hard

stem-like things? If so, you found they pull out easily? Nothing frustrates me more than a cigar that has beautiful flavors, but just enough bitterness to impede on them. If this is a potential remedy, I want to learn more. Of course I realize this wouldn't be a "be all end all" solution, but why not try

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[Orion21]

If it is a twig or stalk of some kind that would make sense. There is a reason the tobacco is supposed to be stripped of the branchy bits . . they don't taste good. Has anyone tried to eat rhubarb raw???? Try it sometime, lol.

[Colt45]

I'm not sure how this helps the cigar but for some reason pulling out a bit of tobacco seems to really help the flavour come back and get rid of that astringent bitter taste.

Without having tried it myself, in my mind it would make sense in that we'd be removing a little of the more "tarry" tobacco that can show itself toward the end of a cigar.

[Troels]

I've removed stems from the head when encountered - most often when the cigar has been too tight - and then with good results. Sometimes i've tried to take some of the regular tobacco for the same reason with mixed results

[Blakes]

Without having tried it myself, in my mind it would make sense in that we'd be removing a little of the more "tarry" tobacco that can show itself toward the end of a cigar.

This is the conclusion I came to... seems like the most likely explanation.

[sengjc]

I do it on occasion to improve the draw if it is too tight.

Incidentally, there is usually a stalk in every cigar towards the capped end as it is supposed to give the cigar structure, particularly where the smoker chomps on it. Removing it is not supposed to be flavour profile changing but I am sure it will to some degree.

[Philprop]

A fellow BOTL and I were talking over a cigar one night, and he was telling eve how he found it weird that most cigar smokers will only cut a cigar once and smoke it until they were done. He will cut a cigar two or three times during his smoke, as to avoid any build up of the oils and whatnot that will gravitate to the head of the cigar while you smoke. Since then I have started to do the same, especially if it is a bigger smoke that takes a longer time to smoke. Or if the draw changes or gets tighter as I smoke, I will snip another bit off the head and the draw will loosen up and I find some flavours that had faded out come rushing back again.

[jimbo1]

would love to see a video of this, funny but just trashed an H Upmann p/c that had an inch long stem at the head and had no draw. may have to buy some tweezers in the near future to try, good info.