BBF Going Out Problems

[CrankYanker]

I was excited to come back and see that my brother-in-law put my BBFs in the humidor while we were gone in the Dominican.  I wanted to smoke one ROTT but they were rested in the humidor for about a week.  Saturday night after we arrived home I cut the end off and went outside to enjoy the smoke.  It was a glorious stick from the light and I was puffing on it pretty good.  I wanted to really let the taste last and give the cigar a chance from the beginning.  About 25% through the cigar it went out on me for no reason.....it would get harder and harder to keep lit until it finally went.  I went ahead and cut it to get the black off and relit it.  I did the same technique as before and it was going really really good. Then about a half of an inch before the band it went out again completely.  At that point I put the cigar down and didn't mess with it anymore. 

Has anyone had this problem with "fresher" cigars or with a BBF in general?

[prodigy]

I was excited to come back and see that my brother-in-law put my BBFs in the humidor while we were gone in the Dominican.  I wanted to smoke one ROTT but they were rested in the humidor for about a week.  Saturday night after we arrived home I cut the end off and went outside to enjoy the smoke.  It was a glorious stick from the light and I was puffing on it pretty good.  I wanted to really let the taste last and give the cigar a chance from the beginning.  About 25% through the cigar it went out on me for no reason.....it would get harder and harder to keep lit until it finally went.  I went ahead and cut it to get the black off and relit it.  I did the same technique as before and it was going really really good. Then about a half of an inch before the band it went out again completely.  At that point I put the cigar down and didn't mess with it anymore. 
Has anyone had this problem with "fresher" cigars or with a BBF in general?

Sometimes it's a construction issue, sometimes it's a moisture content issue. Wait until you try another one, maybe 2 weeks or so. My first vigia was way too fresh, I regret not waiting a little longer. For perspective, a fellow member told me he doesn't sample anything until it's rested for 6 months. That's a little excessive, but it's one of those things that everyone will have a different opinion.

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[CrankYanker]

5 minutes ago, prodigy said:

Sometimes it's a construction issue, sometimes it's a moisture content issue. Wait until you try another one, maybe 2 weeks or so. My first vigia was way too fresh, I regret not waiting a little longer. For perspective, a fellow member told me he doesn't sample anything until it's rested for 6 months. That's a little excessive, but it's one of those things that everyone will have a different opinion.

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I plan on revisiting the BBF in a couple of months. This is the first one I had a problem with after only resting for a short time so I was trying to get some insight from other members on to what could have caused the problem.

[prodigy]

I had a box, ended up splitting it to try more variety. Regretted that, because now they are all gone. I recall one that had a little bitterness/harsh flavor. More than likely bad construction. It's common, some boxes have few if any issues, some almost the whole box has issues. I'm curious to see what others say.

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[CrankYanker]

7 minutes ago, prodigy said:

I had a box, ended up splitting it to try more variety. Regretted that, because now they are all gone. I recall one that had a little bitterness/harsh flavor. More than likely bad construction. It's common, some boxes have few if any issues, some almost the whole box has issues. I'm curious to see what others say.

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More to come for you soon!  These are ones I got as a quarter box on clearance day to try.

[SloppyJ]

Dry box it next time. Typically they need to sit for a couple months in proper conditions to balance out after shipping. 

[Philc2001]

I had a similar problem yesterday with a Fonseca No. 1. It snuffed out about half way, and it was tough to keep lit from there on. The draw was fine, there wasn't any knots in the roll, but it just would not burn. The cigar had been acclimated in my humidor at 63% RH for several months, and it came from the same box and same location in the humidor as the one I smoked a week ago, which burned beautifully and tasted superb. The only thing I could think of that would cause this was the ambient RH, which was near 90% and 90F yesterday, versus about 65% and 86F last week. I'm thinking the humidity in the air basically accumulates in the cigar as you smoke until it becomes damp and unable to burn. 

[CrankYanker]

1 hour ago, SloppyJ said:

Dry box it next time. Typically they need to sit for a couple months in proper conditions to balance out after shipping. 

I always try one a day or two after getting it to get a baseline. First time this has happened. I need to setup a dry box to test some items out. Thanks for the suggestion! What rh% are you dry boxing at compared to regular humidor rh%?

43 minutes ago, Philc2001 said:

I had a similar problem yesterday with a Fonseca No. 1. It snuffed out about half way, and it was tough to keep lit from there on. The draw was fine, there wasn't any knots in the roll, but it just would not burn. The cigar had been acclimated in my humidor at 63% RH for several months, and it came from the same box and same location in the humidor as the one I smoked a week ago, which burned beautifully and tasted superb. The only thing I could think of that would cause this was the ambient RH, which was near 90% and 90F yesterday, versus about 65% and 86F last week. I'm thinking the humidity in the air basically accumulates in the cigar as you smoke until it becomes damp and unable to burn. 

It was pretty humid at night and sticky compared to how they are stored inside. This may have had something to do with it as well. 

[SloppyJ]

13 minutes ago, CrankYanker said:

I always try one a day or two after getting it to get a baseline. First time this has happened. I need to setup a dry box to test some items out. Thanks for the suggestion! What rh% are you dry boxing at compared to regular humidor rh%?

Honestly I don't dry box cigars and I have gotten away from trying them ROTT. I used to do it with every box that I got in. I realized that I really haven't had a great cigar ROTT and oftentimes it would turn me off of the cigar completely. I would stash them in the humidor only to come back 6 months to a year later and be completely surprised that the stick that tasted awful is actually quite good. If you want a solid baseline, give them at least 1 month in your humidor. Give more time to sticks that are obviously wet when you receive them.

I'm sure someone will come along and/or you can easily find the answer to the dry box humidity question. I know that's not the answer you wanted but it is what has worked for me. It gets easier as you acquire more cigars and get less excited about them to be honest. 

[Danimalia]

I had similar problems with some Bolivar PCs I bought about 6 months ago. They were delicious, but they didn't burn very well. I chalked it up to the thick, dark, super oily wrappers. They did get better with acclimatization, but I also found I needed to dry box the hell out of them.Like 5 or 6 days in a non-humidified cedar box, here in California, which is pretty dry. 

They were ETP Marzo 16, if that helps. Even with the extra attention, they were never top performers in terms of burn, but they got quite a bit better, and the flavor was exceptional.

[CrankYanker]

17 minutes ago, Danimalia said:

I had similar problems with some Bolivar PCs I bought about 6 months ago. They were delicious, but they didn't burn very well. I chalked it up to the thick, dark, super oily wrappers. They did get better with acclimatization, but I also found I needed to dry box the hell out of them.Like 5 or 6 days in a non-humidified cedar box, here in California, which is pretty dry. 

They were ETP Marzo 16, if that helps. Even with the extra attention, they were never top performers in terms of burn, but they got quite a bit better, and the flavor was exceptional.

I think I may setup a lower RH box for these to get them dried out a little more. Thanks for the advice.  It's very helpful. 

[Danimalia]

Right on. I think that's a good idea. I haven't had a BBF in a long, long time. Can you compare how the recent ones taste as opposed to the PCs and Royal Coronas, which I've had more recently?

[CrankYanker]

2 hours ago, Danimalia said:

Right on. I think that's a good idea. I haven't had a BBF in a long, long time. Can you compare how the recent ones taste as opposed to the PCs and Royal Coronas, which I've had more recently?

I'm terrible with palete testing. In my opinion it was a very smooth and creamy taste before it went out the first time. The next part had a bit of toasty tobacco taste with added biscuit. PM me for a trade. 

[Pharmacovigilant]

Humidity Bro. If your humi is north of 65%, then try dry boxing a day or two before firing up. As you appear relatively new to this forum, you may not yet have seen many posts that describe the benefits of storage at lower RH than what is usually suggested in the in NC realm. It took me a while to figure this out, but dropping my storage humi down has paid off in spades. Cheers!

[wabashcr]

I find that most cigars smoke a little worse when it's humid outside.  It's odd to me, because I'm sure the humidity in Cuba is pretty high most of the time.  Anyway, if it's really hot and humid I usually go for something cheaper, so I'm not too disappointed.

Also, as @SloppyJ said, I don't think smoking a cigar ROTT is a good way to get a "baseline."  If you're looking to see how a cigar evolves over time, establish your baseline after 3-6 months of acclimating time.  Most cigars I've had ROTT were fine, some even great.  But I do think travel shock is a real thing, and no matter how good a cigar is ROTT, they're always better a couple months later.  It just seems like an unnecessary risk smoking one ROTT now.  When I didn't have as much variety, I was more tempted to dive in right away, especially if it was something I hadn't tried.  But now I put stuff away for months and don't even think about them.  

[CrankYanker]

12 hours ago, Pharmacovigilant said:

Humidity Bro. If your humi is north of 65%, then try dry boxing a day or two before firing up. As you appear relatively new to this forum, you may not yet have seen many posts that describe the benefits of storage at lower RH than what is usually suggested in the in NC realm. It took me a while to figure this out, but dropping my storage humi down has paid off in spades. Cheers!

My humidor has been at 65% for some good time with only a .5% variance during the day.  I think I'm going to try the dry boxing technique.  Has anyone tried to throw in 65% and 62% Bovedas in the same humidor to try to get a mixed RH%?    I appreciate the advice from experience!

4 hours ago, wabashcr said:

I find that most cigars smoke a little worse when it's humid outside.  It's odd to me, because I'm sure the humidity in Cuba is pretty high most of the time.  Anyway, if it's really hot and humid I usually go for something cheaper, so I'm not too disappointed.

Also, as @SloppyJ said, I don't think smoking a cigar ROTT is a good way to get a "baseline."  If you're looking to see how a cigar evolves over time, establish your baseline after 3-6 months of acclimating time.  Most cigars I've had ROTT were fine, some even great.  But I do think travel shock is a real thing, and no matter how good a cigar is ROTT, they're always better a couple months later.  It just seems like an unnecessary risk smoking one ROTT now.  When I didn't have as much variety, I was more tempted to dive in right away, especially if it was something I hadn't tried.  But now I put stuff away for months and don't even think about them.  

My thought is that I have 24 of these cigars, lets just try one after a couple of days in the humidor and see what it does.  The plan is to try them after months after that, but just a taste ROTT is kind of an experience for me if that makes any sense.  With the 10 pack I just got there is no way I will do a ROTT.  I'll give it a month or two then try it.  Thanks for the advice from experience as well!  Everyone on this forum has been helpful.

[Buck14]

While I agree that Shipping/Travel does affect your cigars I disagree with the premise that cigars always taste poor ROTT - that has not been my experience at all.  I got a box of PARTY SHORTS a few months ago, have smoked maybe 12 of them and the best two I have had was ROTT and the day after ROTT.  I don't want to miss an opportunity to smoke cigars when they are tasting great.  IMHO I would smoke one ROTT, not a big sacrifice, and if it's great keep smoking, if not wait 14-30 days and try again.  Still no good, lay em down 6 months, 1 year, etc. to they hit the sweet spot.

[CrankYanker]

Here is some more thoughts on smoking ROTT compared to aging which has been discussed.  I think there are a couple of theories on it and just depends on what kind of a smoker you are and what stock you have. 

 

 

[Danimalia]

3 hours ago, Buck14 said:

While I agree that Shipping/Travel does affect your cigars I disagree with the premise that cigars always taste poor ROTT - that has not been my experience at all.  I got a box of PARTY SHORTS a few months ago, have smoked maybe 12 of them and the best two I have had was ROTT and the day after ROTT.  I don't want to miss an opportunity to smoke cigars when they are tasting great.  IMHO I would smoke one ROTT, not a big sacrifice, and if it's great keep smoking, if not wait 14-30 days and try again.  Still no good, lay em down 6 months, 1 year, etc. to they hit the sweet spot.

Same here. I don't judge a cigar based off a negative ROTT smoke, but I have had plenty of great ROTT smokes as well. I look at it as a no-lose situation. It's all upside if you have the right attitude. If the smoke is good, great! If not, you're now motivated to really let them sleep for at least a month or so.

[feral]

Did you mention the box date on the box?

I recently had a similar experience with a BBF ETP Mar 17 HP and received on July 25. They had just under a month acclimation in my humidor at 62 rh. Wonky burn line, went out 3 or 4 times flavors were there but muddled and harsh. I chalked it up to the youth of the sticks. Perhaps too much moisture still trapped in the middle of the bunching based on how the center of the bunch was burning slower than the rest making an odd ash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[earthson]

Have had this with a new (2014) box of Fonseca no 1. Have had 5 or so and each one likes to go out.  I blame the wrappers - they're a little thick and their general appearance isn't what I've come to expect from regular production Havanas (provenance is unquestioned). They almost look like leftover EL wrappers, which I am not a fan of.

I'm dryboxing one for a month or so before trying it again and if it still won't work, they will become blunt material.

Too bad, since a box of 09s I had were stellar.

[havanaclub]

Did you mention the box date on the box?
I recently had a similar experience with a BBF ETP Mar 17 HP and received on July 25. They had just under a month acclimation in my humidor at 62 rh. Wonky burn line, went out 3 or 4 times flavors were there but muddled and harsh. I chalked it up to the youth of the sticks. Perhaps too much moisture still trapped in the middle of the bunching based on how the center of the bunch was burning slower than the rest making an odd ash.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Got the same box code from same lot here. Had one fairly ROTT and the burn was off and did go out. I agree flavours seemed there but muddled. Young cigar.
My disappointment was that about 5-6 sticks were severely underfilled which will definitely make for a poor burn and smoke experience. Did you have bad underfilled sticks in the ETP Mar 17 box?


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[feral]

Got the same box code from same lot here. Had one fairly ROTT and the burn was off and did go out. I agree flavours seemed there but muddled. Young cigar.
My disappointment was that about 5-6 sticks were severely underfilled which will definitely make for a poor burn and smoke experience. Did you have bad underfilled sticks in the ETP Mar 17 box?


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I don't think mine are badly under filled.

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[havanaclub]

I don't think mine are badly under filled.

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Well the majority of my box is fine. It was about 5-6 that were loose and underfilled. Those will be the ones I smoke first I do feel the box has some potential in the flavour department.


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[feral]

Concur on flavors. Im sure the half box I kept on a split will be good in another 30 days.