CigarmanTim Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 My wife and I came home last night after watching our daughter in a local production of the Nutcracker. I decided on my last BBF and Hennessy VSOP. The cigar was a little rough around the edges to start but finished beautifully. Somewhere after my second glass and my third I remembered a post about wetting or watering the entire cigar. I still had enough sense of mind to choose my ugliest, most sickly mag 46 I had. This mottled, speckled shadow of a cigar was exactly like the last couple of mag 46's I smoked out of this cab that had literally left me gargling with mouthwash and a double brushing on the teeth. At this point I was well into my third glass of VSOP. I turned the tap on to a slow, steady trickle. I held the cigar foot down under the stream for about 2 seconds. I was struck by how the water sort of slid off the cigar as it does when you wax a car. It beaded up. Must be the oils in the wrapper I thought through my Hennessy induced fog. I poured myself my fourth and final glass as my wife asks me if I have had enough to drink and what the hell am I doing to that cigar. Science! I reply. Your drunk she replied. lol As you can imagine I had to toast the foot for a while more than normal. The dark spots on the wrapper had darkened. I got it lit and at about the quarter inch mark (6.35 mm) you wouldn't have known I had soaked my cigar at all. The burn was razor sharp, the aroma was slightly sweet. An enjoyable smoke all the way to the nub. The quantity of smoke was perfect, the burn was perfect and the taste was much better than the last two ugly ducklings I had out of theis cab. I'm not saying the dousing of water made this a better cigar....how would we ever know? I'm just saying it didn't ruin the experience for me. Will I ever do this again. Not on my HQ or PSP stock but I will on the sticks that just don't measure up to my standards. Now pass me the aspirin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunburyist Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Interesting....I'm interested now to see how the more 'formal' testing goes. Is so difficult to be subjective thought when you're expecting something different. Still, it certainly doesn't seem to have ruined it. Brandy will have to be the control element now in any further experiments of yours... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van55 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Well, WayneN on the other board authoritatively states that if running tap water over your cigar before smoking it doesn't improve your smoking experience, then (a) you didn't do it right, or (b ) you have an inferior palate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Presidente Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 As soon as we can get Smithy, myself and Ken at the same time and place for a video review we will do a tasting on this with some young cigars ( same boxes ) to see if we can get some agreement. Ideally it should be blind tasting but I suspect you will be able to tell immediately which cigar has been doused. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riderpride Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Are you sure your wife was questioning you wetting the cigar, or your wobbleing in front of the sink Thanks for the share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samb Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Lol, was it he Henne or the water made the the Mag smoke good? Im still interested to see a video review on the subject. Im too scared to try this at home. Maybe with an NC... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thechenman Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Thanks for sharing the experience. While it does sound interesting and a mite bit promising...I'm still not fully convinced. Let's see if Rob's tasting will do it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kangaroo495 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I find that when I'm wasted, cigars taste better. I once smoked a Russian cigar after about 10 whiskies. From memory, I described it as a "flavour bomb". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demiurgic Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I look forward to your experiments which are thoroughly informative Rob! ..."Smithy. bring that bucket of water, we're dunking stogies" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stalebread Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 So does this mean that the mostly old(er) guys who licked their cigars all over were on to something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian1 Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 All bow down for the great Wayne....the last word on Cigars/Champagne/Martial Arts/Philosophy/World Affairs and well everything. Well, WayneN on the other board authoritatively states that if running tap water over your cigar before smoking it doesn't improve your smoking experience, then (a) you didn't do it right, or (b ) you have an inferior palate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stargazer14 Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Wet your cigar. Ha. You perv. ...but now that i think about it, i aways gave my minis a quick dip before smoking, one to just taste the tobacco, two because I figured it 'slowed down the burn' a bit. Oh, and three, because now its just an unconscious habit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
android Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 What did you do to the plants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colt45 Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 watered my cigar like ken waters his garden enjoy cat box taste Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenpimp Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 watered what you burn yet what you watered with burns curse the thai hooker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aavkk Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 All bow down for the great Wayne....the last word on Cigars/Champagne/Martial Arts/Philosophy/World Affairs and well everything. The man... . . . . . . . . . . the legend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainQuintero Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Did this testing ever get done by Rob and co? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainQuintero Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 I always wet the wrappers of young cigars before smoking. The wrapper burns and tastes better. As the cigar burns. The wrapper becomes warm. Moisture evaporates from the wrapper, makes it extremely dry, and ruins the burning. Wetting the wrapper beforehand rectifies this. I just run some tap water onto the cigar before I smoke it. Don’t worry if the wrapper gets 100% soaked with water. Once the cigar burns you’ll be amazed to find the wrapper returns to perfect moisture content. You have to try this to believe it. Old cigars burn very well at lower RH. I don’t do this to very old cigars (over 20 years). For cigars less than 10 years old I always do this. For cigars 10 to 20 years, it depends on the particular cigar. Some cigars burn better than others, depending on the particular vitola -WayneN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginseng Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 I have been "rinsing" my cigars for years. Often or always when smoking in the late fall, early spring, and winter when it is cool/cold and dry. I hold the cigar head up to the gentle stream from my water filter for no more than a few seconds. Gently disperse it over the entire wrapper with my fingers, then gently wrap up in a clean paper towel for about 20-30 seconds. Since I've been doing this, I've never had a wrapper split, and it has breathed life into cigars that have gotten a bit too dry. Older cigars do burn better than fresh young things, but quite the reverse to what Wayne reports, I never do this with young cigars (which for me is FOTT to 1.5 years). I find the wrapper to be sufficiently oily/wet. I occasionally lightly rinse very old cigars (for me 20+ years) but it's in an attempt to bring out a bit more of the wrapper character than to deal with burn. Wilkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainQuintero Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 SO there seems to be two schools of thought behind this, one being to stop the wrapped splitting and the other to give the cigar the moisture in flavours of a freshly rolled cigar. Some young cigars do tend to burn inside the wrapper for me so it could be worth a test with something young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jnaube Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Man, this is some interresting lecture. For my part, i would never dare to water me cigar. Don't know why. But I can see how the watering part can be good for the wrapper and the oils. Still, i wouldn't do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semery74 Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 This topic has been proven too taboo for further public scrutiny. Although I still believe it is a valuable technique for cigars of all ages. Rob? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginseng Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 This topic has been proven too taboo for further public scrutiny. When did that happen? I must have missed the memo. Wilkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semery74 Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Wilkey This must of happened when you were finishing grad school, but I remember Van and Tampa just loosing it at the mere mention of MRN's technique Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainQuintero Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I'm going to try it out next nice day with a young coro, just need a nice day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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