This goes under the heading of wtf! Recently had a friend over and let him choose the cigars for the evening from the wineador. He picked a MUWAT and an Aroma De Cuba Mi Amor, so those were what we each had. First smoked were the Uzis, in the +11 size. About half way through my stick, the wrapper started to loosen at the lit foot. Shortly, the entire wrapper blossomed and came off! My buddy's amusement at my distress was short lived, as his cigar did the same thing! Both were tossed at the half way point. These were not new sticks, but had been sleeping for over 6 months. Never had an Uzi do this before. The Mi Amors performed flawlessly as expected.
Similar thing happened to a newly purchased Nica Rustica from a reputable online source. The Nica was only a few weeks in the chiller. This is distressing, since the Nica and Uzi are damn tasty sticks!
Now, I keep a lot of sticks in the wineador and the R/H is steady at 65% / 66 deg. have not had any other cigars do this in the last few years.
Any ideas? :-)
[Reply]

What was the humidity and temp of the environment you were smoking in?
[Reply]

This.

I've had perfectly (to my standards anyway) kept sticks do this when I took them out of the humidor and air conditioned house and out into a humid, warm Texas night. Kinda odd that it's only been DE sticks doing that to you though.
[Reply]

Happens To Me Frequently When Smoking Outside In The Heat & Greater Than 75% Humidity In Alabama In The Summer. Not Much You Can Do When Smoking Outside.:-)
[Reply]

Not entirely. The capa leaves are different between the MUWAT and the LAdC Mi Amor, and are going to behave differently when subjected to stresses like the expanding of the filler. The bunching technique between the two factories is very likely a bit different (DE has a unique bunching technique which JdN has since adopted), which could lead to different amount of expansion when subjected to the same circumstances.

The fact that both cigars had the same failure at almost the same time definitely leans toward environmental conditions being the cause.
[Reply]

All good points. I hadn't considered the bunching and rolling techniques being a factor as well.
[Reply]

From what you described, I've had that happen once, ironically it was with an Undercrown. Kinda turned me off on them.
[Reply]

(DE has a unique bunching technique which JdN has since adopted),

Tell me more about this...............
[Reply]

If you go to Cigarobsession.com they have a series of videos from the Drew Estate Cigar Safari. It shows the different rolling and bunching techniques that DE uses. Pretty interesting stuff to watch.
[Reply]

Excellent question...

Hot & Humid central Florida. Only other issues with cigar performance experienced is that a Camacho TM, Alec Bradley American Classic, 601 Green and Undercrown have begun with open draw and after being in the high humidity, had the draw constrict quite a bit. No previous issue with wrapper issues. No other issues with either problem. I often have a cigar outside with some kind of good beverage. :-)
Had previously thought that wrapper coming off was due to overly dry cigars.
I admit that I am not well informed on this. :-)
Appreciate the replies. Great info here!
RR
[Reply]

Agree with above- environmental not construction issues. I'm an rh nazi and have had sticks blow apart like that because I was smoking after a midsummer rainstorm- stupid high rh environment.
[Reply]

I also live in Florida and have had the same issues with high humidity and with the Florida cool winter temperatures effecting the cigar wrappers. I've been experimenting and putting my cigars in a travel humidor a day or two before smoking. The seal on the travel humidor is not very good so the outside environment gets in. My thought was the cigar would acclimate to the temp and humidity outside the humidor. Overall it has seemed to work pretty good for me. Any other ideas?
[Reply]

You're more or less doing the old practice of "dry boxing". Basically, you take a few sticks that you plan to smoke soon and put them into an empty cigar box for a day or two. I suppose that would work well if you pre-plan your smokes, but more often than not I have no idea what I feel like until I crack open the cooler.
[Reply]

This thread is another reason why every city and town needs a proper cigar lounge. Damn weather.
[Reply]

Rob,

When that happened to me it was me not keeping humidity where it needed to be and also cutting too low with my palio.

I'm here in Orlando and had to drop to 64% and they smoke amazing. Also make sure you aint cutting past cap line.
[Reply]

Good advice - Still perplexed why only these two brands (two each on both occasions) had issues out of between 75 and 100 sticks this year - ??? :-)
[Reply]