Staying Lit

havefun79

So I have been sampling cigars for a few years and finally bought a small humidor of my own to allow aging and a ready supply. Problem is most of the cigs dont stay lit when I have tried them. They start fine but after about a 1/4 to a 1/3 the wrapper stops burning. the filler will stay lit and burn up the cigar for a while until it cant get air, but then I either have to relight, which creates a very harsh smoke, or give up. My humidor is a small desk top with 50/50 solution. I usually try to keep it dry around 65% RH, but it is hot here, northern california, so keeping them at 70 degrees is tough and they often hit 80. Is this a humidor problem or something in the way I'm smoking them? any suggestions?

kuzi16

you may be smoking a bit too slow. aim for about a puff a minute.

4bob4

Is it happening with all (or at lest most) of your cigars? Have you been smoking the same stick over and over or changing it up? I assume that since you said you've been sampling that you've been changing it up. If it is all one cigar type it may be construction issues.

Theedge

Are you leaving the cigar in your mouth so that the end is getting overly wet?  If I smoke while doing something and leave the cigar in my mouth, it gets all goobed up and is no good.

havefun79

Yeah changing it up. I bought a couple of sample packs with several different cigars. Almost all of them have gone out at least halfway through.

havefun79

No Dont leave it in my mouth, but almost all of the cigars make me salivate a lot and i end up having to spit. not sure if this could be part of the problem.

Goldy

I often have the same problem but I think it is from puffing too slowly. Its freaking anoying.

bbc020

shamrocked

this happens to me when i get closer to the nub - i don't want to take as many puffs sometimes because of the heat and thus i lose my light - so depending on the quality of the cigar you're smoking and however many puffs you take would be my guess to the reason this is happening

Garen B

Do you ash the cigar frequently fun? I have noticed that most cigars burn better with about a half inch of ash on it. The ash helps keep the heat in and especially if you live in a fairly humid area, then your cherry will have a tendency to go out.

Goldy

j0z3r

bbc020:

Overall this sounds like it could be a humidity issue if not a slow smoking issue.

That's what I was thinking, based on personal experience it makes the most sense.

T. Gervais

That happens to me sometimes because I live in a humid climate. I think it's because I leave the ash a little long and neglect to puff enough to keep it going. I would say just knock the ash off after about 1/2 to 1 inch and make sure your puffing often enough to keep it lit.

Hugemoose

That is a good point. I find that right after I ash I must be a little more attentive to keep the burn how I like it. I always figured the exposed cherry cools down more quickly so I always give it a good puff or two to keep things going.

Fourtotheflush

It could be the heat, get your humi in a cooler area.

Grahamcracker

havefun79

Thanks for all the input. I usually try to let the ash get long so I will try tapping it more often. I also will try to prime it better. I usually try to take my time lighting it, but never totally let it smolder before puffing. Its not very humid here more of a desert climate, so it seems weird that I would have problems keeping it lit.

Andrew Dzikoski

It could be a few different things. If you are also experiencing a tuff draw it could be the cigar is just slightly over humidified. The best way I have found to keep my timing in check is to keep an eye on the cherry. If you are burning with a very conic cherry that protrudes substantially you are smoking to fast, if the ash falls flush with the foot or is even inverted you are going a bit too slow. You want to have just a slight mound for your cherry as the thicker priming’s are rolled in the center of the cigar and do take a little more heat to burn. When you are burning through your stick to fast the oils don’t have a chance to burn properly and will just vaporize from the heat and you can lose out on some flavor, also your palette can pick up more flavor from cooler smoke. So if your cherry is looking it should have more of an appearance of ). Hope this helps.

j0z3r

havefun79:

Its not very humid here more of a desert climate, so it seems weird that I would have problems keeping it lit.

If your humidor is too humid, that's all it takes. I live in a hot and dry area as well, but if I keep my humidor at 70%, I can almost guarantee that most of my cigars won't burn properly.

4bob4

I was thinking the same thing. I like keeping my smokes under 70% rh

Fractal

4bob4

havefun79

So does living a hot dry climate mean that I should keep my humidor a little dryer also. I have a little bit of a hard time keeping them at 70% anyway so keeping them between 60-65% should not be too hard. What humidity should I keep them at?

kuzi16

i keep mine at 65% all year round.

j0z3r

I'm with the Kuz-man here. Mine stays around 65%, perhaps as low as 62% and all of my cigars smoke great. Don't believe the hype that you have to store your cigars at 70%, it won't hurt the cigars to be lower, and you'll enjoy smoking them more.

leonard

I keep my humidity between 64% and 66% in my humi's and will still dry box a cigar for a day if I plan ahead. Maduros especially. Very seldom have burn issues.

vankleekkw

I concur with what most have said here. 1st try to get some 65% beads, but if you don't want to spend the coin, plan ahead and dry box (store in a separate box with no humidity) for a day before smoking.

havefun79

Never heard of dry boxing before will try that next time I light up. Thanks for the info. Also I kind of think that A bigger humi would help as the small one is pretty full. I think that this makes it to humid with not enought circulation, your thoughts?

kent1146

Lasabar

I stay lit by pouring my beer into a glass and that way I can chug faster!

MarkH

"When you smoke: put the cigar to your mouth, and first exhale a bit through the cigar" I don't think blowing through the cigar will help it stay lit. I do an initial pull and release and then a fuller pull & hold. It seems to 1) clear the staler smoke and 2) give fresh oxygen to the cherry so I can put it down and not worry about it for a minute or so.