Tons of flavor but little, to no smoke

[DWC]

I recently smoked my first Punch-Punch and it was an unusual experience. The first 3rd had tons of flavor but little to no smoke, either from the draw or off the foot. All the taste was in the finish. None in the smoke, (what little there was of it). The cold draw was just about perfect and the cigar had been dry boxed for a few days before smoking. Burn was perfect!

At about the 2nd 3rd it's as if some switched cigars on me. It turned into a fairly normal smoking cigar as far as smoke output. The flavors shifted dramatically from all twang, hay, and faint cedar in the first part, to no twang and all, wood (oak?) and maybe a hint of pepper in the background. It stayed pretty much this way to the nub. Maybe got a little creamier with a subtle bit of dirty hay.

The only other cigar that has done this 'flavor with no smoke' has been an occasional Siglo I.

Has anyone else ever experienced this phenomena or is it just me?

[canucks6024]

Once in a blue moon. But on the contrary, a cigar with lots of smoke output delivers most of the time.

[Colt45]

By any chance did you notice if it had a small hole in the foot? I've had a few cigars which have had a small "tunnel" along the length which made for minimal smoke volume.

[rhcolbert]

Very strange. Never experienced that b4

[DWC]

No. The foot looked normal on toasting and lighting. A tad on the 'firmly packed' side if anything. Cigar felt normal, ash was normal. (no tunnel)

[Maplepie]

many times.

as long as it tastes good, i'm fine!

[CaptainQuintero]

I never seem to get much smoke, I guess I've always out it down to me smoking very slowly. I never get the clouds of billowing smoke that you think of with smoking a cigar.

The few non Cubans I smoke do tend to produce a lot of smoke though, I always have out that down to the looser draw resulting in quicker combustion?

[CaptainQuintero]

I smoke pretty much exclusively outside though, I'm guessing that plays quite a big part in being able to see the smoke.

[tmac77]

I have never really payed much attention to the amount of smoke provided that the cigar tastes good.

[HarveyBoulevard]

I love a large volume of smoke from my cigars. Lots of smoke is great, average smoke output is fine...but I really don't enjoy a cigar that I can't see much/any smoke. My palate seems to pull out more flavors out when more smoke is present and fewer flavors with little smoke. I am open to the possibility that it might be purely psychological vs. physiological but I like my cigars to be real smoke stacks.

[TheLiquidGator]

Lower humidity might help produce more smoke? I store long term at 70 and dry box for 2 weeks at 62, then ignite.

[DWC]

The very peculiar thing about this cigar was the way it changed up starting into the second third. It almost instantly transformed into a 'normal' (amount of smoke producing) CC. And the flavor profile shifted radically at the same time. It seemed like the roller was in a mood to screw with some ones head and loaded very different tobaccos in the front end of this cigar.

I'm a daily smoker and routinely smoke from at least 20 different marca so I have quite a bit to compare it to. This was HIGHLY unusual for me.

[SofaKing]

I love a large volume of smoke from my cigars. Lots of smoke is great, average smoke output is fine...but I really don't enjoy a cigar that I can't see much/any smoke. My palate seems to pull out more flavors out when more smoke is present and fewer flavors with little smoke. I am open to the possibility that it might be purely psychological vs. physiological but I like my cigars to be real smoke stacks.

X2

[SCgarman]

Might have been a small plug in the first third preventing a proper draw? Then when the cigar burns past the plug it might have opened up like it should have been. I have had cigars that have done this in the past.

[amart]

Very strange. Never experienced that b4

Neither have I

[godpheonix]

has happened a few times to me. can't say the same about the flavor change, no change to it, it was just so so flavors all the way through. its almost has if something is plugging up the cigar at some point and then it opens up more and then you get smoke.

[ajgagnon]

Interesting. If you have ever seen a torcedor at work, they often place the leaves in the hand, rip bits off and replace them while in a loose bunch before rolling the bunch into a roll (mostly for evenness, but maybe to focus the different tobaccos to different places in the cigar). I can imagine sometimes that might get a bit exaggerated.

I had my first Punch Punch the other day and it was a bit like that too, come to think of it. I got refined Cuban twang with little smoke, leading to woody, aromatic, apricot, etc and normal smoke volume. Just awesome.