I watered my cigar last night

[lafabrica]

8 hours ago, garbandz said:

I always wet down my cigar. Learned this 35 years ago from a gentleman cigar smoker.

Critical in winter or with a Cameroon wrapper, saves you a lot of split wrappers and blow outs..

 

 

interesting how different locations/environments are.  of all the wrapper types in my rotation, cameroon is the one i don't wet down.  trial & error for me...

 

[Guest Nekhyludov]

I was really interested in this technique - I had never heard of it before seeing this thread, so I decided to give it a try. I chose to try it on an NC that I had a recent baseline for, a Davidoff Puro d'Oro that I smoked earlier this week. Same cigar, same conditions. First one right out of my desktop, the second one wetted according to the suggestions above. 

Dimensions: 51/2 inches x 56 RG

Dominican filler, binder, and wrapper

The first (dry) one performed pretty typically, burned well but went a little sideways in the final third. Flavors were as expected. Tonight I picked another one and ran it under a light tap for three seconds. The water beaded up on the oily wrapper, so I spread the water evenly, then wrapped it in a paper towel and let it rest for about 10 minutes.

To light it, I ignited the foot prior to clipping the head, as usual. The first apparent difference was that the wrapper seemed a little reluctant to light and the burn became uneven. 

The char line took a little time to straighten out, but by the midpoint it mostly evened out. The flavor seemed a little sharper than the previous (dry) one - there was a more precise citrus spice to this one, but also a sharp harshness that isn't usually there. 

By the final third, the burn was off again despite two purges. And the harshness and heat picked up and I had to put it down.

I have to say that wetting it certainly didn't ruin it in any structural way, but it also doesn't seem to have improved it. With an n of 1, I'm not drawing any conclusions here. It's possible that this may help the wrapper remain intact in cold weather, as some have suggested here. But in 72 degree weather, it seems to have resulted in worse performance and - at the very least - no improvement in the flavor. 

Just a small experiment and my two cents for anyone who may be curious ... 

 

[BellevilleMXZ]

I tried this on an E2, but didn't like the result really. Made for a somewhat uneven burn that I had to keep correcting, which hasn't been the case on the rest of these. It seemed like the wrapper was too damp,and didn't want to burn,and not a sharp burn line at all. That said I keep all mine at 65RH, so maybe that's why.

[BellevilleMXZ]

[irratebass]

So, can anyone video a "how to" on this? I'm curious as hell and don't want to **** up my smoke, I'm sure you all understand

*I'm very good looking, and great with rice.*

[CaptainQuintero]

10 hours ago, irratebass said:

So, can anyone video a "how to" on this? I'm curious as hell and don't want to **** up my smoke, I'm sure you all understand

*I'm very good looking, and great with rice.*
 

I usually do it with older sticks.

But I just run it under a slow tap, foot facing up and tilted so no water runs into it. Quick roll on some paper towel to take off the excess and light straight up. The water will bead so the excess comes off right away, I've found no need to rub with the paper or even let it sit and dry, that defeats the purpose to me!

[irratebass]

I usually do it with older sticks.

But I just run it under a slow tap, foot facing up and tilted so no water runs into it. Quick roll on some paper towel to take off the excess and light straight up. The water will bead so the excess comes off right away, I've found no need to rub with the paper or even let it sit and dry, that defeats the purpose to me!

Thanks for visual, I was going to put it foot down and hope for the best......seriously....lol this is why I asked for a video

*I'm very good looking, and great with rice.*