Habana Mike's plugged cigars by Bijan

[Bijan]

I got a big batch of plugged cigars from @Habana Mike. I claimed it was very rare for me to get fully plugged cigars and I think he said he had worse luck.

I'm starting with a few of the ones I've smoked before to have a starting point for comparison.

Mike cut the cigars to check the draw but didn't use the perfecdraw. I'm going to assume perfecdraw is fair play.

Starting with a Siglo I. It is 7.286g when official weight is 5.91g so about 23% over weight. To me that's close to the upper limit. I find that 30% overweight is close to unsmokeable but I feel that limit will get tested in this review series.

Draw feels very tight as expected.

I use the perfecdraw and shave off about 0.1g. I was a little careless and cracked the wrapper at the head and an inch or so from the foot. Used cigar glue on the second crack. I think it will hold.

Draw Is better now but I won't know until I light it.

I hope to smoke it tonight but my 2 year old son is still nowhere near sleepy at 12:20am...

FInally smoked smoked it. Started out spice and then vanilla, Graham cracker honey for the first third or half. A hint of lemongrass halfway through the first third. Cigar got a bit soggy tunnely about halfway. Head got wet and had some tar build up. Had to puff hard to keep it lit throughout and smoke output in the first half was very good.

Strong cigar as is usual for Siglo I. Second half was less and less vanilla honey and more and more tea, mint, tobacco. 3.5/5 for first third/half and 2.5/5 for second half with touch ups and messing around with squishing to deal with the tunneling. 40 minutes not quite to a nub. I'd rate it 3/5 overall and pretty good for a plugged cigar.

I feel like this was a pretty good one from the bunch.

Weather was 23C/73f and high 80s humidity.

[Bijan]

Next up a Trinidad Reyes.

8.228g when official weight is 6.37g so about 29% over this time.

Perfecdraw again. This time more careful. Down to 8.097g.

Curious if all the cigars are going to end up being overweight and what the distribution will be.

Opens with Trinidad baking spice. Then coffee and almond. Some honey. First third is good. A little light at times. Burn keeps up in second third. Coffee and almond with a sour taste at times. Burn fails in the final third and flavours become quite light. At times floral. 45 minutes to around the band.

[ChangBang]

Is the perfecdraw the only method you'll utilize for these cigars?  When you're using the perfecdraw, are you noticing big stems and leaves coming out or is it just that finer dust?

[Bijan]

9 minutes ago, ChangBang said:

Is the perfecdraw the only method you'll utilize for these cigars?  When you're using the perfecdraw, are you noticing big stems and leaves coming out or is it just that finer dust?

Mainly perfecdraw so far.

This is because Mike had already tried dry boxing many of these for a long time, and a lot are aged 10 years or more (not these two specifically but some of the others have been long discontinued). A lot have loose bands from either being dry boxed or age, so I don't think dry boxing will help too much.

No major stems on the two cigars so far, mainly dust/tobacco. As they were just very heavy and densely packed.

These two were pretty short so the perfecdraw could go pretty much all the way. I'll have to figure something out for the Churchills and DCs as the perfecdraw will only go halfway and I haven't had good luck going in through the foot with the perfecdraw.

[Habana Mike]

Thanks Bijan.

Sounds like getting the cigars around the proper weight using the Perfecdraw helps significantly.

I'll be trying that with some of the other plugged cigars I have laying around.

[Bijan]

1 hour ago, Habana Mike said:

Thanks Bijan.

Sounds like getting the cigars around the proper weight using the Perfecdraw helps significantly.

I'll be trying that with some of the other plugged cigars I have laying around.

Not quite the proper weight! Just one or two percentage points closer. Just about 0.1g for these small cigars. Maybe 0.3-0.4g for a large cigar, so 1/64 of an oz or less.

[Connoisseur Kim]

Thanks for sharing plugged cigar series review @Bijan! Plugged cigars are extremely annoying to puff and they get even worse when they have fireproof asbestos wrappers too. I had tent peg asbestos Partagas Series No. 1 EL 17 before and it was the most struggling CC experience I've ever had 😂.

[Bijan]

Going for the first skinny. Since I'm using the perfecdraw to fix the plugs these will probably be the trickiest to fix without cracking the wrapper. A little game of operation.

This one is 28% overweight. So far pretty consistent pattern.

This one is different in that it had a stem that once removed allowed for a good draw. I only had to go about halfway with the perfecdraw.

Almost a third in and Rosewater/Turkish delight and jam at times. A little flat at others.

I have some RyJ PCs from 2007 in cardboard packs and they're just flat. I think too long in the carton pack. Those have a harshness that this one lacks. Although again this one is flat at times too.

22 minutes to the band or so. It followed the pattern of the other two cigars in being most flavourful in the first third. Though it had some moments in the final third too.

[Bijan]

Juan Lopez Panatelas Superba. My first try at one I haven't smoked before.

Only about 15% overweight. Draw is acceptable maybe so I skip the perfecdraw.

Opens with overripe apple. Then maybe a liqueur. I see Cointreau mentioned for jl2 but I am not familiar with the taste. I see cola mentioned for the jl1. Not sure yet.

Nut or almond cookies in the second third, some citrus, maybe apple again.

40 minutes and again weaker/gentler flavours in the final third mainly sweet herbs.

[Bijan]

3 cigars to choose from tonight. Cohiba secretos, RASCC, and Bolivar Coronas Extra.

All are about 40% overweight. Heavier than the other cigars so far. In the past year I don't think I've come across cigars so overweight myself.

I'm going to use the perfecdraw on all 3 and see how it goes.

All 3 had the wrapper split towards the head as a result of the perfecdraw. Something that didn't happen as much on the previous cigars. It was pretty bad on the BCE and that one ended up weighing more after due to all the cigar glue.

In the future I'll wet the wrapper on the ones that are this heavy to perhaps prevent the wrapper damage.

I chose the BCE. Starts out with earth maybe some twang, and later a bit of fruit. Smoke output is poor, probably due to the pluggedness and the wrapper damage. This is the worst cigar as to draw so far.

Smoke output improves in second half and final third. But flavour isn't there.

Cigar is maybe a 2/5 or just under. 50 minutes to just before the band. First plugged cigar that defeated me.

So far weight and pluggedness seem pretty correlated.

[Bijan]

Smoked the secretos last night after more than 10 days dry boxing at around 60%. Weight didn't change much since last weighing as I think these were stored pretty dry by @Habana Mike already to try and fix the problem.

had to apply some cigar glue at the head and it held.

Despite the pluggedness the perfecdraw from last time did its job and the cigar smoked ok. Flavours weren't great, coffee a bit too bitter and earth for the most part, some sweetness in the final third. 40-45 minutes.

[Habana Mike]

On 8/12/2021 at 11:45 PM, Bijan said:

3 cigars to choose from tonight. Cohiba secretos, RASCC, and Bolivar Coronas Extra.

All are about 40% overweight. Heavier than the other cigars so far. In the past year I don't think I've come across cigars so overweight myself.

I'm going to use the perfecdraw on all 3 and see how it goes.

All 3 had the wrapper split towards the head as a result of the perfecdraw. Something that didn't happen as much on the previous cigars. It was pretty bad on the BCE and that one ended up weighing more after due to all the cigar glue.

In the future I'll wet the wrapper on the ones that are this heavy to perhaps prevent the wrapper damage.

I chose the BCE. Starts out with earth maybe some twang, and later a bit of fruit. Smoke output is poor, probably due to the pluggedness and the wrapper damage. This is the worst cigar as to draw so far.

Smoke output improves in second half and final third. But flavour isn't there.

Cigar is maybe a 2/5 or just under. 50 minutes to just before the band. First plugged cigar that defeated me.

So far weight and pluggedness seem pretty correlated.

So we have ascertained some cigars are plugged. Amazed by anyone that never experienced one!

[Bijan]

1 hour ago, Habana Mike said:

So we have ascertained some cigars are plugged. Amazed by anyone that never experienced one!

Smoking the Hoyo Churchill right now. It was only 5% overweight but no draw. I reamed it with the perfecdraw as far as it would go in from the head and it seemed to draw ok. But I'm getting little smoke output.

Started out bitter. Might be improving slowly hard to tell at this point.

Seems like this one is plugged due to poor construction/bad bunching and not just due to being overweight.

Edit: flavour improved though smoke output didn't until the end. Cedar and fruit. Last third I pulled out a stem and part of a leaf. Smoke output improves and then mostly fruit flavour. Started to tunnel and had to crush it every now and again. Burned a bit hot but tons of smoke at the end. 75 minutes not quite to a nub.

[Habana Mike]

Wow! So with major surgery and patience some of these actually do smoke.

Send them back! 🤣

[Bijan]

2 minutes ago, Habana Mike said:

Wow! So with major surgery and patience some of these actually do smoke.

Send them back! 🤣

What can I say, I have a lot of patience 🙂

My red line is I won't use more than one full lighter worth of fuel on a tent peg 😂

Most have been smokeable so far but the best so far was maybe just under 3/5. And most closer to 2/5.

[Habana Mike]

Anyone else up for a challenge? Plenty more where these came from!

[Shrimpchips]

4 minutes ago, Habana Mike said:

Anyone else up for a challenge? Plenty more where these came from!

@Habana Mike I’m down for surgical intervention on some cigars!

[nKostyan]

I think everyone would be interested in the experience of recovery without "surgical intervention". Perfect Draw is a good thing, but the experience with "bare hands"will be interesting.

[Bijan]

3 hours ago, nKostyan said:

I think everyone would be interested in the experience of recovery without "surgical intervention". Perfect Draw is a good thing, but the experience with "bare hands"will be interesting.

I'll try that on a few. I was going to get more surgical on the Churchill's and DCs though and cut them in half if the perfecdraw didn't work. But I can try doing some cigars with no surgery.

[nKostyan]

I'll try that on a few. I was going to get more surgical on the Churchill's and DCs though and cut them in half if the perfecdraw didn't work. But I can try doing some cigars with no surgery.

I think for cutting or disassembling, you should not look for an overfilled cigar, but a cigar with a normal weight, this will be a sign of a local twisted filler or a local plug.

[Bijan]

3 minutes ago, nKostyan said:

I think for cutting or disassembling, you should not look for an overfilled cigar, but a cigar with a normal weight, this will be a sign of a local twisted filler or a local plug.

I agree with this in terms of the perfecdraw. It works best when the only problem is a local plug at the head. One of the cigars a lgc mdo1 was like this so far. I'll post about it soon.

But actually for cutting in half I was going to do it on a heavy cigar.

The idea with cutting in half is that both half cigars will draw better than a single long cigar. This is due to the resistance in draw being proportional to the length of the cigar.

Rob mentioned he is doing this on some plugged sir winstons and it is working for him.

[Bijan]

LGC mdo1. The first cigar that improved after a mild application of the perfecdraw. Wet the wrapper and only went in twice, one half an inch and second time about an inch. Draw was fine after that.

Started a bit bitter tannic wood. Then after about 3/4 inch fruit flavour. Cream towards the end.

I think from now on I'm going to go in about an inch with the perfecdraw and try other things if that doesn't improve things. I've never had much success hollowing out the cigar with the perfecdraw. The main successes are with plugs at the head.

73 minutes smoke time.

[Bijan]

Sancho Panza non plus. I've only had a handful of these as singles before and all of them were tent pegs. This one is 30% plus overweight so I decided to take drastic measures. Wet the wrapper and cut it in half. The top half draws ok but the bottom half I used the perfecdraw in for half an inch. Managed to get the weights pretty even. I'll update after smoking.

Top half smoked well. Reminded me of a RGPC. 30 minutes. Bottom half still plugged. Might have benefitted from the aggressive straight cut decapitation of the top half. 20 minutes but could have maybe gone another 5 minutes, tired of fighting the tight draw though. Slightly darker more tobacco flavour.

 

[yadegari6]

Loving this thread! Great stuff from @Bijan and @Habana Mike for making it possible 

[Bijan]

Quai d'Orsay Panatela. This is the second cigar from the bunch that was plugged just at the head and opened up from a small application of the perfecdraw.

Opened with wood, then aroma of cloves for the first bit.

Liqueur and citrus peel in the second third.

Ended with flavour of herbs.

Think this might be one of the less plugged cigars that @Habana Mike threw in as consolation.

(This was smoked just over a week ago, posted it in the daily thread but didn't have time to review until now).

Next review will probably be a Churchill or DC this weekend.