SMOKING EM' WET

[Trimble]

Recently, I have come across a few cigar blogs & forums promoting the benefits of wetting your cigar before smoking it. They claim that if you put your cigars under the tap just before smoking them, it will enhance their flavors and the overall smoking experience. A few replied that it seemed logical, some claimed to have tried it and others simply said it was impossible! Having yet to try this myself, does anyone have experience with this technique? If so, please expound!

[cigcars]

Recently, I have come across a few cigar blogs & forums promoting the benefits of wetting your cigar before smoking it. They claim that if you put your cigars under the tap just before smoking them, it will enhance their flavors and the overall smoking experience. A few replied that it seemed logical, some claimed to have tried it and others simply said it was impossible! Having yet to try this myself, does anyone have experience with this technique? If so, please expound!

I've heard tobacconists speak of the process of wetting them slightly then letting them set awhile. Otherwise it sounds like you'd kill the experience to me. That's the purpose of your humidor, to keep them in an environment to keep them from drying out. I'd talk to tobacco store owners or ask the Ask.com cigar expert Mr. Yee on that website what he thinks. He'd probably tell you it's some old wives' tale type rumor.

[MIKA27]

I'm still trying to find an old thread on this very topic which was posted approximately 8 months ago or so.

I can not recall who posted it, but from what I remember, wetting the cigar didn't really have much of a differing effect on taste nor were people interested in cigar sacrillage.

[MIKA27]

I found it!

Soaking your cigar

[Trimble]

I found it!

Soaking your cigar

Thanks for the link, I appreciated the results graph he created. Interesting!

[CigarmanTim]

Here's a post I created awhile back...the alcohol made me do it.

http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/inde...mp;hl=wet+cigar

[Martindelmundo]

That's just some scarry $hit man. this is the first time i've seen this and I would never do this. My bigest fear would be ruining a good smoke. Good luck to the brave souls that try it.

[semery74]

Thanks for the link, I appreciated the results graph he created. Interesting!

Thanks, I still need to do some follow-up results of further testing performed. Recently I have been, on occasion, experimenting with flavored salts and rinsing cigars with their compliment solutions. The flavored salts I manufacture myself using Kosher Sea Salt and various produce, such as, capsicum, coffee beans, roses, orange peel, honeycomb, and vanilla bean. The process is simple osmosis by embedding the produce in a container of Sea Salt for a few weeks, there by extracting moisture from the product. The salt therefore becomes tainted with the odor of the various produce items and from this a simple solution is made.

[Mel]

I can not believe there is any benefit from wetting a wrapper down. If the cigar is dry it needs to be restored slowly in the humidor to gthe best attainable. I have licked a wrapper that is cracked and coming loose and am amazed at how fast it dries and comes apart again so any wetting can only change a wrapper for a very short amount of time.

I do not take as gospel truth all that MRN says. This is again "hair splitting " matters of Cuba cigars IMHO.

[BobLobLaw]

That's just some scarry $hit man. this is the first time i've seen this and I would never do this. My bigest fear would be ruining a good smoke. Good luck to the brave souls that try it.

I am not sure I understand why people are so against this. I tried it and had no adverse results. Hard to say if it enhanced the cigar for me, but it certainly did not ruin it. Sure it sounds weird, but if you talk to a non smoker the idea of continuously checking your humidor levels, purpose of beads, need for only butane lighters, dry-boxing, toasting the foot, smoking slow etc . . . all sound bizarre.

From what I have read whenever the topic comes up many people report that they are 1) surprised that the water beads up; 2) have a great burn after wetting; 3) experience either no ill effects on flavor or believe that the flavor is enhanced. I keep meaning to do it again, but forget when I am smoking. Give it a try sometime and decide for yourself.

[semery74]

So What? If I ask myself this question about this process I would surmise to say that (1) you can rinse a cigar too much leading to poor burn (2) after a quick rinse the flavor is enhanced by optimizing moisture content relative to atmospheric conditions (3) cigar smoking is an art

[thechenman]

I have to say that I was very skeptical of rinsing my cigars at first as well. However, this past winter after having several cigar wrappers split on me in my outdoor northeast winter smoking conditions, I tried it. It worked fine. A quick run under the tap was all it took. The operative word be quick. The water did bead. I shook it off. The cigar lit without a problem. Burn was straight. Wrapper did not crack, and too boot the cigar tasted great. I don't do this all the time, but when weather conditions call for it, i would do it again.

[jacksfull]

Tried watering again last night and it worked well.

I have a box of Partagas Aristocrats, a budget cigar with a 39 RG, that have all tended to have very tight draw (this box anyway, and it's my first one of them).

I've tried dry-boxing for several days before smoking and that has helped, but the wrappers tend to be very dry and start unraveling, splitting and generally falling apart about halfway through, often sooner.

Watered one last night (after dry boxing) and it smoked nicely. These cigars are flavorful, if one-dimensional, and tend to continue to deliver right down to the nub. The wrapper still went haywire eventually, but not until reaching the final inch or two.

Conclusion: I may not want to water every cigar, or take a chance on messing with one that seems already to be in prime condition, but for those with dry wrappers that are otherwise in smoking condition internally, it's very helpful.

[Trimble]

Here's a post I created awhile back...the alcohol made me do it.

http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/inde...mp;hl=wet+cigar

Great story! Thanks for the inspiration. I am going to attempt the same feat this weekend, I just need to decide on the stick that I am going to use. On a side note, my motivation may differ from yours just a bit, as I will likely dive in to a bottle of Macallan or go the Irish route with a glass of Redbreast prior to my venture.