I've not posted much on the is site but have enjoyed learning from the more knowledgeable folks. To try to keep this short; I have two "types" of cigars that I smoke, the more expensive name brand cigars and those that are not banded from Ybor City (Tampa), which is close to my home. I generally find that those that are name brand have a tighter draw vs. the locally rolled ones. Yesterday I had two Oliva's, Series V and a Maduro Nub. Both were tasty but I had to work on getting a draw. Friday evening I had a locally rolled, non-brand name cigar which also tasted good but was easier to smoke. The question I have is what I'm experiencing similar anyone else. Let me add that I usually smoke toro shaped cigars. I would think if it's a humidor issue all my cigars would smoke about the same. Could it be the way I'm cutting the banded cigars? The local cigars are cut the same. Any suggestions from the more knowledgeable?
[Reply]

Hmmmm, I can't give too much input as I haven't smoked any cigars from Ybor City, but being locally rolled they could be rolled with more care, thus giving you a better draw. Just a guess though. If you don't already have one, you might think about getting a good draw tool to help you out with those tighter draws.
[Reply]

if you had a tight Nub you are supremely unlucky,with the ring guage they have and the short length,I can hardly see how one could be tight.
If both of these were in a humi for a while and were tight I would suspect the humi of being too moist.
Otherwise you just had a bad day...........
[Reply]

Yes, I would say, both cigars have been in my humidor for some time, but so were the cigars from Ybor. I'll recheck the calibration on the digital hygrometer. If it turns out that I had a "bad day", what would you recommend as a draw tool?
[Reply]

Not sure what RH you are storing your cigars at, but sometimes cigars just smoke better at a lower RH. You might try dry-boxing for a day or so and see if that helps. Just something to try before turning to a draw tool.
[Reply]

What a cool question. A real stumper for me.
If the cigars have all been in your humi for a while, which I take to mean at least a month, then they should all be around the same RH. But note that most vendors ship with a higher RH than a local roller might use.

To me, it seems like the local source is rolling a little bit more on the loose side. Also, as has been pointed out, getting a Nub to draw tight seems to point to high RH.

I would try dry boxing a couple of the high end sticks and see what happens.

One of the best draw tools for you might be a straightened paper clip.
[Reply]

It seems that the consensus could be a high RH so I've dry boxed the same Oliva's and recalibrating my digital hydrometer. Let's see what happens. Thanks again for the suggestions.
[Reply]

How are those Ybor City smokes? I have some family in the Tampa area. Next time I'm down that way I'll go over there and pick a few up, if they're worth it.
[Reply]

There are many cigar retailers in the Ybor City area. Walk up/down 7th Ave. and you'll see them all. I've probably bought cigars from all of them at some time.

However, the place I've gone back to several times is called King Corona Cigars; http://kingcoronacigars.com/ It's more than just a traditional cigar bar because it also has great food besides drinks and coffee. Sounds like I work there, but I don't. I usually get their Nicaraguan Suenos in a Toro with a Cafe Corona.

Hope the info helps.
[Reply]

Most definitely. Thanks!
[Reply]

The advice I received about the humidity being too high in my humidor was correct. I recalibrated my digital hydrometer which did not change. I read a post somewhere on this forum that talked about not completely charging their Heartfelt Beads which helped their humidity situation. So I let my Heartfelt Beads dry out a bit (last 3 weeks) which brought down the humidity and has seemed to help the draw. In the future I'll be not completely charging the beads. Thanks again!
[Reply]

The tobaccos tend to swell with the heat when it is too wet and closes in on itself, resulting in a tight draw.
[Reply]

Cincymike, another good point. I live in Florida. It's not unusual for the hydrometer to read 78 degrees in the mid-day heat. So I guess with the extra humidity and heat, the draw was effected.
[Reply]