The GOOD.....The BAD....and The OVERWEIGHT

[cigaraholic]

 The recent polls about underfilled and plug cigars was a bit of an eye-opener, people saying they’d never had a underfilled cigar, people saying they had lots of plug cigars, experiences I couldn’t really relate to.  When I started smoking Cuban cigars....shortly after the dinosaurs became extinct in 1970, I really knew nothing about cigars except I wanted to try one. My father was a pipe smoker but he loved a good cigar. I heard many great stories growing up about cigars from him, especially during WWII, pipe tobacco was very hard to get at the front but cigars were not. I never thought or worried about the construction of a cigar. I just took it for granted that the cigar would smoke perfectly and they always did. It took 25 years for me to experience my first plugged cigar. I only became aware of construction issues during the boom/tent pole years. I like a fair amount of resistance in the draw of cigars because that’s the way cigars were when I first started smoking them. I also like them well filled, heavy in my hand.  Many years ago I started experiencing cigars that I just didn’t think were very good, realized about halfway thru the cigar that I could squish my fingers together, the cigar was under filled.  So I started weighing the cigars in every box so I could separate out the lightweights and not have a bad smoking experience.

 I thought I’d try a little experiment, smoke the lightest, heaviest and a correctly weighed cigar from a box to see the difference. I picked a box of QdO coronas, ULA MAR14, something I could smoke in the morning after my daily weed whacking fire break duty. Three days in a row after weed whacking and a shower I sat down with a ice coffee and one of these cigars.

 I’ve been through quite a few boxes of ULA 14 QdO coronas so I’m very familiar with this cigar and they’ve been excellent, it’s just coincidence that the underfilled and overfilled cigars are both buy 2 grams. I smoked each cigar to the band so I would have an accurate distance for time of smoking.

The Good....at 9.2 grams

 This was the prettiest of the three cigars, a silky smooth wrapper with not a single vein. Draw is fine with some resistance. Starts off with graham cracker and ginger bread, after a few puffs a nice buttery mouth coating richness kicks in. Medium bodied with a little white pepper, then a middle eastern spice, this is a delicious cigar, or cookie. About every third puff I get that buttery richness, as the cigar progresses I get some licorice and a nice earthy flavor, it’s gone from a delicious middle eastern cookie to a lovely toffee, with a lip licking finish.

58 minuets with a couple of touch ups and no relights.....96

The BAB....at 7.2 grams

Veins in the wrapper with the same beautiful colorado maduro hue. Draw is very open. Starts off with a hint of graham cracker and a touch of butter. What’s that old song...What a difference 2 grams makes.... yesterday I was enjoying the hell out of the cigar and today I’m reminded why I weight  cigars now. Light toasted tobacco with a little butter and a hint of spice.  I’m surprise at the difference between yesterday’s cigar, I wasn’t expecting this cigar to be as bland and tasteless as it is considering the quality of the tobacco.  The body is well under medium, at halfway the flavor comes up a little but not even close to where yesterday started. Nothing changes to the bitter end.

41 minutes, no touch ups no relights......81

The OVERWEIGHT....at 11.2 grams

Veins in the wrapper, but I do love the oil blotches. Draw is perfect for me. Starts off with caramel toffee and a honeyed sweetness in the mouth. A few puffs in, rich toasted tobacco and a briar woodiness with baking spice. A little over medium body. I get a little black pepper and dark coffee, at the end of 1/3 some sandalwood. This is not a morning cigar for me, too heavy. Some peanut flavor comes in and I have myself a candy bar. Another delicious cigar, but I kept thinking I would age this cigar more, it’s not showing me all it’s got or is it just out of balance.

72 minutes, a couple of touch ups no relights.....93

 I’m surprised, I thought I’d prefer the OVERWEIGHT, I usually do. But the GOOD was smoking perfectly and that exotic middle eastern spice was out of this world. I guess what the cigar is overfilled with makes a difference. Maybe a little too much ligero in the OVERWEIGHT or just more aging to let it open up?

 

 

 

[JohnS]

Great side-by-side review. Thank you!

[saintsmokealot]

Thanks for sharing

 

[Rhinoww]

Really interesting and dang it, provocative. 
 

thanks for the write up

[djrey]

Thanks for sharing! I’m with you, I tend to prefer the overweight cigars, or at least in spec. I can fix a tight draw, I can’t fix a cigar with half the blend missing. 

[Hammer Smokin']

I'm shocked at the variation in weights.

more than 50% difference between the lightest and the heaviest.

[teal]

Wow, great review and a lot to think about.

 

[prodigy]

Thanks for sharing! I’m with you, I tend to prefer the overweight cigars, or at least in spec. I can fix a tight draw, I can’t fix a cigar with half the blend missing. 

You've never had a real plugged cigar then.

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[KavalanWhisky]

Great idea and eye opening, how do you know what the actual weight of the cigars are meant to be?

When you say you weigh every cigar, does that mean you weigh everything even when you buy from a store to smoke in their lounge?

[BoliDan]

38 minutes ago, KavalanWhisky said:

Great idea and eye opening, how do you know what the actual weight of the cigars are meant to be?

When you say you weigh every cigar, does that mean you weigh everything even when you buy from a store to smoke in their lounge?

Here you go. https://www.cubancigarwebsite.com/cigar/officialweights

Pretty sure he means when a box arrives at his house, he weighs each one. Common practice for the pendantic in this community.

[KavalanWhisky]

1 hour ago, BoliDan said:

Here you go. https://www.cubancigarwebsite.com/cigar/officialweights

Pretty sure he means when a box arrives at his house, he weighs each one. Common practice for the pendantic in this community.

Thanks for the website.

Didn't even know that was a thing, I normally open, give them a glance and see if they are ok and then stick them in the humidor.

[...]

18 hours ago, BoliDan said:

Pretty sure he means when a box arrives at his house, he weighs each one. Common practice for the pendantic in this community.

Nah, I’m not that perfectionist. I get one of my staff to perform that mundane task ??

[cigaraholic]

I used to do the same thing, open, inspect for damage, mold and bugs and then into the humidor. But for many years I did the usual, then a week later open the box and check the weights. I just checked a box of Sir Winston’s I got a week ago, a cigar I would think is as well rolled as any Cuban cigar since it’s the jewel of the Upmann brand. 6 cigars were at or above the published weight, 15 grams. The range was from 17.5g to 13.3g. 6 are within half a gram, no big deal....but I wish the box had much more at or above 15 grams.