What's your plugged cigar rate?

[El Presidente]

What's your plugged cigar rate? Plugged being so uncomfortably tight that it requires intervention or cessation. 

Use the poll for us. 

[HarveyBoulevard]

58-62 rh and 72 f = loose bands and no plugs...

Edit:  They also sit for 3 to 6 months in that environment at a minimum. Most much longer 

[mt1]

I'd say 5% ish but I've also come across bad boxes (the 2011 Secretos from the 24:24 a while back are 10/10 plugged for me on the first box.  Have been too scared to try the second box lol).

[Pag]

Knock on wood 3 times cause I have always been pretty lucky with sticks. Abide by the loose bands trick and 62-65 %rh . Even my Jose L. Piedra Cremas have been burning like a champ.

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[Boozebag]

If I don't include Monte's it's less than 5%.  I have had awful luck, yet I still buy them.

[David88]

I don’t keep count of how many plugged cigars I get but it is low. Perhaps one per box that i would call truly plugged. I keep my humidity around 60 and I don’t smoke anything until it has had a good rest (2-3 months after delivery) and touch wood I’ve not had any big issues so far

[SMQQKIN]

Can't remember the last time I had a difficult draw let alone a plugged Cuban cigar. However, I only buy from here, no seconds, age for +3 years before smoking & store 60rh. Underfilled is another story....

[JoeyGunz]

Probably about 2%

[madandana]

Very rare for me. Maybe has happened a time or two at most.

[TBird55]

>1%, smoke 3 a day, store  61h and 70t. I have tried to store around 65F, but had issues with humidity, here on the gulf coast of Alabama.

[inter4alia]

This year I've easily had twice as many underfilled as I've had plugged. 

[tsolomon]

I tend to think my plugged rate is higher as my wife smokes cigars and I always grab 2 out of the same box.  I have given up on the humidity is too high solution as the cigars almost always have some difference in draw.  Most of the time they are close in draw, but at least once a week there is significant difference.  We usually smoke about 5 nights a week and I keep the RH around 60%, which is getting harder to maintain now that we are living in Florida.  The totally plugged rate is very low, it's the really tight draw that needs the perfect draw tool that I'm basing my opinion on.  

[Jon11]

Trying to smoke through a box of Monte 4s from 24:24.  So far 9 out of 10 are plugged or have super tight draws.  Perfect draw can’t even solve the problem in most.  Other than this box not many

[BG1165]

It been a while. Only one in the last few months that I can recall. Main storage runs a consistent 65/65 but I rotate/transfer CC's to a 70/62 box to smoke from.

[BG1165]

20 minutes ago, Jon11 said:

Trying to smoke through a box of Monte 4s from 24:24.  So far 9 out of 10 are plugged or have super tight draws.  Perfect draw can’t even solve the problem in most.  Other than this box not many

I recently got some similar on 24:24 but I noticed right away they needed down time. I dry boxed 2 and one was very manageable after only a couple of weeks, the other still down. I wont revisit the other in main storage until next Spring at the earliest. They will eventually be incredible sticks.

[joeypots]

Hardly any. Like HB said, 58 to 62 RH and under 70F and add a little time. Tight draws and plugs are two separate things. Plugs are now rare, tight draws are very rare and I find many cigars draw easier than I prefer.

[Stump89]

Very rare for me as well. Maybe just luck lol.  The only sticks I've had serious issues with have been Partagas Chicos.  I've had a few packs that were straight up tent pegs.

[BuzzArd]

Not bad since the turn of the century.  Those put me off Cubans for years.  Out of an entire box of Punch Churchills probably 3 were smokeable....  

[mike74]

Like @FatherOfPugs, I’m round 5%, but don’t really notice it as the PerfecDraw usually makes them pretty easy to fix. 

[Derboesekoenig]

I'm at less than 5%. Had a 10 ct box of RyJ short churchills from 2015. I believe 7 out of 10 were unsmokeable/plugged. After that experience, I got the PerfecDraw. The only other time, I believe, where I had issues was the recent box of Fonseca no1. I determined after inspecting the box, that half were overfilled/plugged. I will let them rest and revisit though.

[Ritch]

3 hours ago, BG1165 said:

I recently got some similar on 24:24 but I noticed right away they needed down time. I dry boxed 2 and one was very manageable after only a couple of weeks, the other still down. I wont revisit the other in main storage until next Spring at the earliest. They will eventually be incredible sticks.

If it's the Monte 4's that were up about a month ago mine were great. I say were. I have smoked most of them.

[Jon11]

How does down time in the humidor help a tight draw?

[prodigy]

How does down time in the humidor help a tight draw?

Removes moisture content from the cigar. Drier cigar has better airflow, potentially.

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[HarveyBoulevard]

38 minutes ago, Jon11 said:

How does down time in the humidor help a tight draw?

Imagine rolling up a napkin or paper towel.  Take a draw through it.  Now wet it and try that again.  I'd wager moisture is the culprit behind most plugs and tight draws.

It also takes time for the binder and especially the filler to lose moisture...not just the wrapper.

[Jon11]

I understand what you guys are saying but is shouldn’t April 2017 on the date be enough time?