Why so wonky?

[RDB]

Why does this happen? And what can you do about it? Is it a rolling issue, and will ageing sort it out? I’m talking about when one side of the cigar consistently runs slower and gets left behind.

I always end up torching down the slow burning side. It’s a bit annoying: scorches the wrapper, and makes it all burn faster and hotter than I want. Any other solution?

[Vito]

It’s all about leaf placement when rolling. The ligero goes in the middle since it has the highest oil/nicotine content, making it combust slowly. If it gets placed on one side of the cigar rather than in the middle, the bad burn is what you get. Now depending on how far down the cigar it’s like that, it will most likely even out towards the middle. If the wrappers are thick and moist/oily, it’s going to give you even more problems. And yes, a lot of times she does sort this out by the tobacco losing its hygroscopicity over time, thus giving you easier, readily burning tobacco. Leaf placement is everything, or a good amount of the cause on whether it’s going to be a good or great cigar. 

[Wookie]

They usually straighten out unless there is a tunnel or humidity imbalance.

[bbguardsp]

I place whichever side is burning slower toward the ground.  Read something a long time ago about oxygen, heat rising, and technical stuff that sometimes it helps for me but not always.  So myself and the place I got the info from is completely anecdotal lol.

[The Squiggler]

4 minutes ago, bbguardsp said:

I place whichever side is burning slower toward the ground.  Read something a long time ago about oxygen, heat rising, and technical stuff that sometimes it helps for me but not always.  So myself and the place I got the info from is completely anecdotal lol.

Strange... I've always figured the opposite would be most effective, especially if heat rising has a part to play (in other words: un-burnt tobacco facing up + rising heat = even burn).  Beyond that I have no leg to stand on with this theory, but it seems to make sense, especially if you picture a little flickering flame coming from the cherry, igniting everything above it ?? ?? ?? ??

[fitzy]

9 minutes ago, bbguardsp said:

I place whichever side is burning slower toward the ground.  Read something a long time ago about oxygen, heat rising, and technical stuff that sometimes it helps for me but not always.  So myself and the place I got the info from is completely anecdotal lol.

I heard that too but with heat rising wouldn’t I want the slower burning part up then? Lol

 

[bbguardsp]

7 minutes ago, fitzy said:

I heard that too but with heat rising wouldn’t I want the slower burning part up then? Lol

 

Think it was more the bottom side gets less oxygen so there's more ignition with the fire fighting for it.  (I have no idea the science of this just going on what a read from memory lol).

[Mikeltee]

When I cant fix it with a touch up I lick my finger and dap the side of the wrapper that's burning fast. If that doesnt work I'll extinguish a little of the cherry on the fast side. If that doesn't work I'll smoke the rest of it and then cuss and vow to never buy another *insert brand here* again. If all your sticks do it you probably have a balanced humidity problem or they are fresh off a boat and need to acclimate. I'd rule that out after 45 days of rest.

[NSXCIGAR]

If that's as bad as it gets you're a lucky man. I would classify that pic as maybe slightly wonky. From the second pic it will probably correct itself. On a scale of bad burning that's about a 3. Wait until you meet a fireproof wrapper. 

 

[Subcomandante]

I let it ride. If it is very bad I’ll lick my finger and put the finger on the edge of the fast burning side. I guess smoking other things in high school helped out after all. ?

[Islandboy]

Whenever I see a run starting, I deliberately slow down on my draws, which eventually results in self-correction 90 percent of the time. But sometimes you just need to take your lighter to the side that lags and help it along. I’ve learned to make a small correction sooner rather than try to fix a serious run later. 

And yes, with age this problem seems to diminish. 

[Fuzz]

After every puff, rotate the cigar 1/8th turn clockwise.

 

[Ritch]

Ensure you get a good solid even light when you light it too

[PapaDisco]

6 hours ago, bbguardsp said:

Think it was more the bottom side gets less oxygen so there's more ignition with the fire fighting for it.  (I have no idea the science of this just going on what a read from memory lol).

Other way round.  The bottom gets more oxygen.  Heat does rise of course and much of the O2 is burned up by the time you get to the top.  So if you're setting it down, put the slow burning side down and it will help it catch up somewhat.  If you're taking a draw then this is irrelevant.

I've noticed that a strong purge will also even out an uneven burn.  

[Meklown]

18 minutes ago, PapaDisco said:

I've noticed that a strong purge will also even out an uneven burn.  

I've also noticed this too, though I don't frequently purge.

Another issue I find is a lack of rotation/movement of cigars in a humidor. The sides of the cigars packed too close together burns slower than the sides of the cigars facing the active humidification system.

[SmokyFontaine]

Yah, at the level in the pics, more often than not I see them balance out. As others have weighed in, rotating slightly while you draw, pointing the slow burn down, all that. My experience as well. Also, dryboxing has become the gamechanger for me with Cubans too. 

The burn issue that kills me is tunnelling. Wrapper isn't burning as fast as filler, and it just starts to go out. Constantly touching up the wrapper until it's just black. Come to think of it, when I have that problem it's usually more about the binder layer not burning well, which then impacts the wrapper, while the filler marches on like a trooper. Hunh...I wonder if that's a job for FOHrensics. Maybe binders are misbehaving more than I thought...

[RDB]

Thanks all. This was not a particularly bad example, but the cigar had already required multiple corrections and was not sorting itself out any time soon! It just happened to be at this stage when I thought to take a picture...