CC Draw Issues

[tjohn7]

Hello all,

I am a relatively new member, and fairly new to CCs (only within the last year have I been partaking). I have a question for those of you much more experienced and wise than I. Do you find that it takes a lot of effort to get a good amount of smoke out of your CCs? I have smoked a few of my Monte 2s from Nov 13 and my Party 2s from Nov 13 and they both seem to require an intense amount of effort to get a good draw.

For example, I started smoking a Party 2 last night. I was trying so hard to even get the faintest amount of smoke that I began to make my mouth sore. I then pulled out a Padron 1964 Diplomatico and found that I barely needed any effort to get an enormous amount of smoke. Now I understand that I am not comparing apples to apples, but since I have limited experience with CCs I would like to know if I am smoking garbage cigars or if I should get used to really working to get a good draw.

Thanks for your time! Happy Labor Day!

Tom

[tjohn7]

There always seems to be a lot of loose or tight draws to get through before you hit a gold nugget. But when you do it's usually worth the suffering.

That's kind of what I was hoping. I stopped smoking the CC and dissected it and it was pretty poor construction. Glad to know there's a light at the end of the tunnel!

Tom

[bradbrennan]

I've had far more good than bad! Box of Punch that had a couple too wet that caused some problems but repairable.

[DWC]

What is the rh of the cigars you are smoking? Most folks here find CC's smoke better at 65% or lower.

I'm not sure if you're having trouble with a tight draw or just low smoke volume, but 65% will help both issues.

Search "dry boxing". Store at whatever you desire (65/65 70/70) but put the sticks you want to smoke into a dryer environment a day or two or three before smoking.

[Smallclub]

I think you guys are confusing "construction" with "quantity of leaves in one cigar". Habanos are notably rolled with more material than most NCs of the same size.

There is a reason for the expression "cuban draw".

[tjohn7]

I'm not sure if you're having trouble with a tight draw or just low smoke volume, but 65% will help both issues.

I'm at 69F and 67%RH. I think I'm suffering from a tight draw AND low smoke volume. Could just be a bad cigar. Didn't get it from El Pres so it's possible it could just be bad. I'll try lowering the humidity though and see if that helps them out.

Thanks

[tjohn7]

I think you guys are confusing "construction" with "quantity of leaves in one cigar". Habanos are notably rolled with more material than most NCs of the same size.

So by having more leaves in the cigar I should expect an increase in the amount of effort required to draw a good amount of smoke, no? I guess my question was more like two then. Does a CC require more effort to smoke and do they also put out less smoke compared to NCs?

Thanks for the help.

Tom

[bradbrennan]

Does a CC require more effort to smoke and do they also put out less smoke compared to NCs?

Not in my experience

[tjohn7]

Not in my experience

Good news! Sadly that means I'm smoking garbage CCs haha. Oh well, live and learn.

Thanks, friend!

[Smallclub]

Good news! Sadly that means I'm smoking garbage CCs haha. Oh well, live and learn.

If you assimilate "tight draw" with "garbage" you might as well forget about habanos. No one in the world will check the 25 cigars of the box you've ordered. Even the best box can contain 2 or 3 overfilled or underfilled cigars.

Many habanos smokers love the "cuban draw" and hate cigars that burn on their own, producing ridiculous amounts of smoke, even if you don't take a draw…

When I cut a cigar I check the draw, if it's too resistant the cigar goes to the dry box or in the fridge, and I cut an other cigar…

One should never light up a cigar that doesn't offer a draw matching one's preferences.

[Diamondog]

Get yourself a draw tool of some sort...something you can insert in to the head of the cigar after clipping and finding a tight draw before lighting...you can usually sort this out with some firm but gentle working...I personally will never struggle with a draw longer than doing the above otherwise it gets pitched...

[Moogypug]

I found that because I started with NC, it took a bit of time to get used to CC draw. These days, I really hate loose draw in cigars, which pretty much encompasses most NC I have. I find that to get my "proper" smoke volume, I need that bit of resistance to experience a satisfying smoke.

At the top of my head, I've only had one really bad experience in terms of a draw that I could not fix with a better cut, which was with RJ Exhibicion 4.

[tjohn7]

When I cut a cigar I check the draw, if it's too resistant the cigar goes to the dry box or in the fridge, and I cut an other cigar…

One should never light up a cigar that doesn't offer a draw matching one's preferences.

Thanks for the advice! Do you find any issues later on when smoking a cigar that you cut previously?

[fabes]

Thanks for the advice! Do you find any issues later on when smoking a cigar that you cut previously?

Not in my experience. I've had cigars that I previously cut that were tighter than I like end up becoming just right after a few more weeks in the humidor. Mind you I keep around 62rh and experience relatively few problems.

[mikek]

If you assimilate "tight draw" with "garbage" you might as well forget about habanos. No one in the world will check the 25 cigars of the box you've ordered. Even the best box can contain 2 or 3 overfilled or underfilled cigars.

Many habanos smokers love the "cuban draw" and hate cigars that burn on their own, producing ridiculous amounts of smoke, even if you don't take a draw…

When I cut a cigar I check the draw, if it's too resistant the cigar goes to the dry box or in the fridge, and I cut an other cigar…

One should never light up a cigar that doesn't offer a draw matching one's preferences.

[mikek]

If you assimilate "tight draw" with "garbage" you might as well forget about habanos. No one in the world will check the 25 cigars of the box you've ordered. Even the best box can contain 2 or 3 overfilled or underfilled cigars.

Many habanos smokers love the "cuban draw" and hate cigars that burn on their own, producing ridiculous amounts of smoke, even if you don't take a draw…

When I cut a cigar I check the draw, if it's too resistant the cigar goes to the dry box or in the fridge, and I cut an other cigar…

One should never light up a cigar that doesn't offer a draw matching one's preferences.

If your trying to some A Cuban over 65% RH it's to wet 62-65 makes alot of difference!

[tjohn7]

Not in my experience. I've had cigars that I previously cut that were tighter than I like end up becoming just right after a few more weeks in the humidor. Mind you I keep around 62rh and experience relatively few problems.

I think I'll try getting my humidity down to 65% and smoke another one of these cigars in a few weeks. After reading the above comments my hope is that the cigar was tightly rolled or plugged and that it was not representative of the entire box. I like the idea of cutting it first, trying the draw and then either putting it back in the humidor or cutting deeper if I feel like smoking it then. The humidity change will hopefully help as well.

Thanks for the help guys!

[Blippio]

`H

[sheppsea]

I moved to storing my cigars at 65 about a year ago and hardly ever have any issues with the construction of CCs

I also enjoy the resistance you get with the cuban draw

[Guest gerlinan]

I will also agree that keeping CC cigars at 65rh will yield a more "smokable" cigar. I keep NCs at 69-70rh.

Gentleman, you may smoke

[tjohn7]

I will also agree that keeping CC cigars at 65rh will yield a more "smokable" cigar. I keep NCs at 69-70rh.

Gentleman, you may smoke

Very good to know. Amazing that a few percentage points can yield such a dramatically different smoke.

[Skyfall]

Dry box a few for 2 days or stash some in the freezer for an hour or so, don't smoke in high ambient humidity, and see if you are getting the same issue.

[tjohn7]

Dry box a few for 2 days or stash some in the freezer for an hour or so, don't smoke in high ambient humidity, and see if you are getting the same issue.

Put them in the freezer for an hour before smoking? Or should I wait a while after the freezer?

Thanks in advance.

[TheLiquidGator]

I age at 68 in my cabinet. Dry box a 62 using Bovida packs in a desk top for smoking. Works just fine. The key is moving them from cabinet to box and giving them week or two to reach 62.

My dry box has three sections. The cigars that have been there the longest are on the right. The ones just moved from my cabinet are on the left. There are also cigars in the center section.

When the right section is empty the cigars in the center move right, the ones on the left move to the center. Then I refill the left from my cabinet. Thus, I always have cigars ready to smoke.

[earthson]

Just based on the cigars you mentioned and their box dates, I'd suspect that they haven't had enough time to settle down. The dry box will help wonders, but cannot replace good ole patience.