Hah. I've smoked sticks with beetles (a few) in them. I remember this one time when I was new I had lit a cigar and I kept hearing this popping at the foot. About an inch downward a beetle started working its way out of the cigar, I thought to myself, "oh no you don't sucker" I pushed its ass back in and smoked it. It gave a satisfying pop when it died.

I don't remember this changing my cigar any.
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You sir are HARDCORE!:-)
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Haha, that is awesome! :-)
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So are you and probably everyone else posting in this thread. Ever look up the FDA regulations on permissible levels of food contamination? The food defect levels act, I believe it's called, lays out the acceptable levels contamination in mass processed foods. It outlines just how much/many insects, maggots, insect fragments, rodent hairs, mold, fecal mater, etc are permissible in foods. So it's not like you haven't been munching on bugs all along anyway.
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Way to make every one sick T.G. :-)
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Anyone up for some chocolate covered crickets?

Mmmmm. Crunchy.

Image
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That cricket head looks a little strange:-)
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This is actually true, especially in places that produce processed meats like pepperoni and salami. They can only have a certain amount of rat per pound other meat make it into the stuff. Its just an inevitable thing. Its impossible to kill all the mice/rats that are gonna make their way in so the standards have to be made to make sure that the place at least makes an attempt to keep most of them out
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Agreed. And if it was a tubo, those are more susceptible to mold anyway and probably was there before it even entered the shop. Also, good humidor etiquette would be to not take the cigar out of the tube but let the clerk take it out to inspect it when you buy it. You would be surprised how many morons can't put the cigar back in the tube and/or damages it when they do.

:-)
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I think I know what shop you're talking about, I've seen similar things. It's hard because they have stuff that you can only really get there but stuff like that makes you cringe. I was given the same response regarding the Wolfman even with the preorder. :-)
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....except I'll bet money they were repairing their own cigars, to put back on the shelf. How many time have you heard someone taking their cigars in to get "repaired"...?? Smells bad to me.

In any event, right or wrong, good or bad, truthful or bold faced liars....I would never go back.....:-)
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This is precisely what I was thinking.
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It all depends upon how well you know the store, the employees and the owner. If they have been reputable in the past then I would give them the benefit of the doubt and believe that he was repairing cigars for someone. Otherwise, I would take my business elsewhere -- but I would tell them why I was doing so.

If you remember the bands of any of the repaired cigars you could go looking for them the next day...

As for the mold, many B&Ms and online retailers have issues with mold. While I don't like buying sticks with mold on them, and will avoid it when I can, mold is pretty easy (if time consuming) to clean up.

Part whether or not you go back also depends upon if you have anywhere else to go... I am lucky in that we have a lot of B&M's in the area.

Just my :-)
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Shops like that are in it for the buck & not the life style & everything that comes wth it like life long friends/customers...
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I like to bring my aged sticks in for an oil change at least once a quarter.:-)

TG and DaBear, thanks for the reality check. Did I mention that I USED TO love pepperoni.:-):-):-)
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I have personally repaired several customers cigars when they asked me.
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I'm curious; what kind of damage did you repair...??

I've got a lot of cigars at home in my Staebell, and I have a hard time imagining what kind of repairable damage they could incur...??
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I repair my own all the time. Usually cracked wrappers. Always tends to be the sticks without cello. Sometimes I will drop one while re-arranging(3ft drop onto hard woods) or every once in a while the foot or head gets caught while opening the draw in my cabinet or just physically handling them from time to time you can accidentally crack or tear a wrapper. I've also had sticks that came in through a trade etc that I have had to repair. A little pectin and voila, good as new.
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I'd like to see the Venn diagram indicating the percentage of Tatuaje customers not interested in the Wolfman- I'd imagine it's pretty miniscule. If this guy thinks "nobody wants the Wolfman", why is he carrying Tatuaje in the first place?

As for the mold, it's a little extra distressing to discover it inside a tubo, though that may indicate a problem further up the distribution chain.
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Just typical wrapper damage like cracks or splits. Some guys are very cheap, or maybe cost conscious is the right term, and will not toss a cigar for anything and will jump through hoops to be able to smoke it.

Ever drop a cigar or drop your travel humidor when it's not full and the cigars have plenty of room to jostle?
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