Anatomy of a "Bad Box"?

[gr8eman]

Ever have a box of CCs you've acquired that look perfect...but are not consumable? Unfortunately I acquired a dress box of ERDM Aniversario RE Asia Pacific (LAR 2012) some years ago. Beautiful dress box, perfect construction, over-sized (54 RG) and completely unsmokable. If I can remember the flavour they all taste like old half-burnt sycamore leaves that were pulled out of a fire pit and rolled up! I tried sampling them over the years just because I couldn't believe they were all that bad. just curious if anyone in the forum has had a similar experience! 

[Tstew75]

This has honestly never happened to me. Where did you source those from? Do you know if they were ever mistreated/ not stored correctly?

Anythings possible...I'm sure other forum members can come up with other un-smokable box examples, but yea rare

[Bijan]

I had a box of Partagas Mille fleurs 2/3 or more plugged or very tight last year.

[Nino]

My worst experience was a whole box of Partagas De Luxe A/T many years back that I bought in Spain - all of them could be used as baseballs or nails ...

[nKostyan]

We call it the "Cuban lottery”...

[Homer]

Life is like a box of cuban cigars. You never know what you’re gonna get.

[GotYaGoat]

Currently going through a bad box of Epi #2. The wrappers are very rough to the touch. Each one has tunneled like a mole. And the taste is acrid. 

[Wookie]

I have a box of 2016 Trinidad Coloniales that have been very bland....haven’t smoked one in a couple years....maybe need to try another. 

[GotYaGoat]

4 minutes ago, Lrabold89 said:

This has most definitely happened to me ...and you grab the next one thinking there’s no way ...and you keep trying over and over to no avail lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes lol. Each time I'm floored by what's happening. Feel like Charlie Brown

[Chibearsv]

Have you had that exact cigar previously from a different box when you enjoyed it?  Most of the other posters are mentioning construction issues but you're saying the construction is perfect.  Maybe it's just a flavor profile that doesn't work for you. 

[RedLantern]

These are the cigars that you give away to the non-smokers, right? 

[Toast & Taste]

Had a box of RJ Mille Fluers that had fireproof wrappers. The whole box.

Could barely get any of them lit, and when they would light, they would not burn for very long.

Could have made a fire blanket out of em. 

 

Big Al 

[rcarlson]

Had a box of RASS that did this.  Looked beautiful, oily, and perfectly constructed.  Then Satan emerged one after another.  Fireproof, acrid sh!tsticks.  Every one of them.  I kept going because "damn it, I paid for those."  

When it comes to CCs looks are very often deceiving.  I've worked through boxes that looked like death warmed over that were all da bomb.  And I've had others that appeared uniform that smoked all over the map within the same box.  

A maddening game of Russian Roulette.  I still suffer PTSD from certain marcas because of this.  Damn you LGC!  Why me?  

On a positive note, I'm working with my therapist to move past the betrayal. Hopefully with medication and lifestyle changes I will someday trust again.         

[Fosgate]

1 hour ago, rcarlson said:

Had a box of RASS that did this.  Looked beautiful, oily, and perfectly constructed.  Then Satan emerged one after another.  Fireproof, acrid sh!tsticks.  Every one of them.  I kept going because "damn it, I paid for those."  

When it comes to CCs looks are very often deceiving.  I've worked through boxes that looked like death warmed over that were all da bomb.  And I've had others that appeared uniform that smoked all over the map within the same box.  

A maddening game of Russian Roulette.  I still suffer PTSD from certain marcas because of this.  Damn you LGC!  Why me?  

On a positive note, I'm working with my therapist to move past the betrayal. Hopefully with medication and lifestyle changes I will someday trust again.         

Agree 100% I've had D4's  & LaPunta from 2014 looked dry, many damaged wrappers that were the best smokes and able to smoke down to 1/4 inch. Then grab the next box of the same and theyr pretty but "meh" as a smoke. Worst was a box of Monte #2's back when you might be frustrated with the whole box but you'll get one that makes up for it all. I had a box where they were all turned into lawn darts. I never had that "one". 100% plugged or tastless dog rockets. I just picked up a second box of Monte 2's in hope that this box has a better reputation. 

[Islandboy]

I have a box of great looking Picadores that have all been duds so far - no taste, and every one has had burn issues. I keep going back to it as time goes on, hoping for a miracle, but they now have 5 years on them, and still nothing. It’s a bummer because I know they’re probably really tasty little buggers normally, but this experience has kept me from buying another box.

[Paso]

I have good looking Monte 4 well constructed with perfect burn, smoking smoothly  but no taste at all. Cuban puzzle.

[Chas.Alpha]

A 2015 box of Partagas 898, rolled so tight they were all like sucking a golf ball thru a garden hose. Had to skewer every one just to (try) and smoke them. I have fought my way to the last one!

      
Gorgeous looking sticks, don’t you think?... 🤔

[GotYaGoat]

4 hours ago, PuroDan said:

This is a perfect example of how looks can be deceiving. Those are a "great looking example" of what a steller Epi 2 should look like.

 😉

[Chas.Alpha]

14 minutes ago, PuroDan said:

They look great, but.....Tent poles are tent poles. 

If I’d have staked my tent with these, I would feel fairly confident about riding out a cat. 3 hurricane inside! 😂

[Chas.Alpha]

50 minutes ago, gr8eman said:

 

I figure by trying to address this my coin will not be totally wasted, although I could have gotten a box of Lusis for what I spent on this crap! Anyway if anyone on the forum wants the remainder of these cigars to test out for scientific purposes, I will gladly send them! A Bad Cigar Review, perhaps?!

 

If you are in the US, I’m crazy enough to trade a few sticks. I doubt I’d be willing to send an Espy or Sir Winnie in trade based on your review, but I have some sticks that might make you happier! 😀

[Fosgate]

Jorge Padron of Padron Cigars went on record, ""There are some manufacturers that use some sort of oil to give their cigars the "oily sheen" on the wrapper," said Jorge. "I am not sure what type of oil it is or how it is applied. Needless to say that Padron Cigars would never even consider doing something like this. Much has been talked about oily wrappers and how consumers should look upon this as a positive attribute of a cigar. At Padron we look at oily wrappers as wrappers that have not been fermented completely.""  https://cigaradvisor.blogspot.com/2008/08/truth-about-oily-cigars.html

Also saw this how some people are thinking it may be molassas some are adding. https://fairtradetobacco.com/threads/easy-method-for-oily-wrappers.5850/

[NSXCIGAR]

2 hours ago, PuroDan said:

Some of the best cigars i have smoked looked like crap

Yep. I never judge a cigar by it's looks. 

I can't count the times I've had bad experiences with beautiful cigars.

[Odessa]

7 hours ago, GotYaGoat said:

Currently going through a bad box of Epi #2. The wrappers are very rough to the touch. Each one has tunneled like a mole. And the taste is acrid. 

What is the box code and production date? Thank you. 

[teamrandr]

A lot of money is wasted when smoking CC.  You just hope for the best.  

[NSXCIGAR]

2 hours ago, gr8eman said:

What I do not know is: is the foul tobacco the filler? (the wrappers look good) Since I haven't been to Cuba...is there a situation in whatever factory this was produce in, where the good tobacco may have been switched out for bad by one of the rollers?

When a cigar tastes that bad there was likely a problem in the processing of the leaf, and probably some or all of the filler, yes. 

With a cigar like an ER, much of the leaf is comes from the same place and is processed together. This could apply to all of a cigar's filler, but depending on the blend possibly only the ligero, only the seco or only the volado. There's little if any ligero in ERDM, so probably the seco and/or volado. For an 80,000 stick run, likely all of that specific leaf comes from the same finca, same batch, same barn, same time. If something goes wrong (unbeknownst to the veguero) a significant part of that dedicated leaf could be affected.

For most of an entire box to be affected a large portion of the leaf dedicated to that cigar brought into the factory at that time was affected. Maybe a few bales, a few thousand cigars. The way cigars are rolled and sorted for most of a box to be affected I would guess most or all of the bales brought in at that time were affected. The entire run of ERs are typically not rolled at once but spread out over months. I suppose it's possible for all the leaf to be compromised but unlikely. Processing issues are usually relegated to small portions of the batches, i.e. a bale or two out of 20. The barns are big and so are fermentation piles. Sometimes some leaves just doesn't get the proper exposure. 

I would imagine they also have tasters that check all the ERs to make sure the blend is correct and the leaf isn't totally compromised before going out. In other words, it's highly unlikely all or even most of a given ER is compromised in this way.