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Cracked Wrapper?
I was smoking a cigar when the wrapper began to crack and come undone. Ultimately, the whole wrapper came off. It had been in my humidor for several weeks, and I was very disappointed. Was this a manufacturing defect or was it something else?
Posted: September 4, 2012
Submitted via CigarAficionado.com
The reason for the unfortunate unraveling is possibly not a defect.
While we can't pinpoint the exact reason without knowing the full details, we can offer a few likely culprits.
The first, and our best guess, is your cigar was too dry. Either your humidor or the tobacconist's humidor was not humidified correctly, which is somewhere between 68 percent and 72 percent. Since it had been stored in your humidor for several weeks, most likely the cigar dried out during this time.
To keep your cigars from drying out, first check your hygrometer to make sure it is properly calibrated (click here to read how). Next, ensure your humidor closes tightly so that the internal humidity level can be maintained.
Our second guess, you may have inadvertently cut too much of the cap off your smoke. The cap on a premium, handmade cigar is designed to secure the wrapper. When a cigarmaker finishes the head of a cigar, he or she applies a bit of vegetable based adhesive, or gomma, which secures the wrapper in place. Cut too much off and you will remove the part with the gomma, and the wrapper will begin to unwind from the cigar, ruining your smoke.
The third scenario, however, is that the manufacturer could very well have not applied enough gomma to the cap atop the head of the cigar. In this case, even a proper cut can cause the wrapper to peel off.
Although a poorly capped cigar can't be avoided, user error can.
It might also be a good idea to get in the habit of testing the cigar before you fire it up. Many cigar enthusiasts will gently roll their cigar in their fingertips and listen for a crackle. That crackle sound, which is akin to dry leaves in the fall, signifies that cigar is too dry and could use some more time in the humidor.
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Comments 6 comment(s)
Scott McDonald — September 5, 2012 10:07pm ET
Phil Cupa II — auburn, indiana, united states, — September 8, 2012 9:19am ET
I agree with Scott, I have had the filler and the binder expand, where then the wrapper cracks. Sometimes I can save it but most times it comes undone which in turn ruins the smoke. As to why? I truly dont know.
Sean Corwen — September 8, 2012 1:28pm ET
The situation Phil and Scott mentioned above happened to me the other day while I was smoking. I received a box shipment from an online retailer two days before I smoked and it was in transit for another 3 days. I'm 99% sure this happened because the cigar was too dry, I should have rested it longer in my humidor but got too antsy and smoked it prematurely.
David McKenzie — Bozeman, Montana, USA, — September 17, 2012 5:02am ET
Pardon my ignorance, but can't this also happen when the smoker goes too fast, drawing too frequently and effectively overheating the cigar? Or is that a myth?
Taylor Franklin — September 24, 2012 12:18am ET
I've had this happen when smoking in sub-zero temperatures, my own fault for not being mindful.
Michael Tarone — Bellefonte, PA, USA, — September 25, 2012 9:41pm ET
Yep, the cigars are too dry. One thing to consider is the retailer where you buy your cigars. Be sure to buy from a reputable dealer that guarantees freshness. Cigars can only be kept in their original cellophane wrapper and boxes for "so long" before they begin to dry out. I believe the best way to store cigars when they arrive is take them out of the box, take off the cellphane wrapper and store in your humidor. No less than two weeks, preferably a lot longer. Cigars are more enjoyable when the humidity has worked its way throughout the entire cigar for a long period of time.
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I have had this happen where the cigar filler expands just below the ash line and cracks the wrapper. Not sure what causes this either.