Splitting Cigars

[James811]

Howdy gents. I am in need of some advice.

I sent T_Montana a few cigars in the stick a stick in round 3 and he sent me some pictures of one which he was smoking and the wrapper had split and begun to come off.

I just had a cigar and the same thing happened to that one. A small crack appeared and began to get bigger and bigger until it eventually unraveled.

Does anyone know what may be causing this? I hope it is just a bad coincidence.

Thank you, James

[travisbickle34]

The same thing began to happen to a Cohiba Maduro 5 Magicos I was smoking a few weeks back. Thankfully it never reached the actual unraveling stage. I assumed it was just bad luck but I haven't had another since to check

[Spade]

Howdy gents. I am in need of some advice.

I sent T_Montana a few cigars in the stick a stick in round 3 and he sent me some pictures of one which he was smoking and the wrapper had split and begun to come off.

I just had a cigar and the same thing happened to that one. A small crack appeared and began to get bigger and bigger until it eventually unraveled.

Does anyone know what may be causing this? I hope it is just a bad coincidence.

Thank you, James

It's usually because the cigar is too dry, either because of ill storage in the humidor at the wrong humidity - If it was stored correctly,
then it's a problem with the filler.

[SmokeyDave]

It can be caused by a few things, off the top of my head it could be a bad wrapper, lack of humidity causing the cigar to get too dry, rapid humidity changes can cause the wrapper to expand/contract and split.

[James811]

Ok I'll just hope that it doesn't happen again. All my precious sticks are stored at around 65% humidity with 65% puck beads so humidity doesn't fluctuate at all

[monkey66]

As said bad wrappers or more likely rapid change of humidity causing the foot to split.

[James811]

But it only started half way down so can't see it being that. Do you think I need morehumidity than 65% maybe?

[monkey66]

Half way down would suggest bad physical handling, perhaps took a hit? What cigars are they?

[cbob]

It's usually because the cigar is too dry, either because of ill storage in the humidor at the wrong humidity ....

I guess I'll have to be the one to respectfully disagree with the majority opinions on this thread.
My experience has been that cigars held at humidity levels of 65-70 % RH, when smoked in a location that is either outdoors on a dry day or indoors at much less than a 'normal' room humidity of 45-55% RH will almost invariably split.

Think about it : the tobacco is moist. The air around it is suddenly dry. The heat of smoking drys the thin, fragile outer wrapper almost immediately while the interior of the cigar warms and swells from the moisture. Boom.

Here in The Great White North, we know better than to take smokes right out of the humidor on a winter day and fire them up outdoors.
My first winter after I constructed my Cava, I experienced a lot of wrapper splitting (rooms normally 30% or less in winter and 60% or more in summer) so I installed a room humidifier which keeps my smoking room at approx. 50% RH and have had no further problems.

BTW If you take cigars out of the air-conned humidors in Casas del Tabacos in Cuba and smoke them out on the beach where it might be 80-90 % RH, they commonly start tunneling right away.
Same phenom in reverse: The wrapper and binder get suddenly saturated and the filler is slightly dryer from the burning. Very frustrating.

Cheers,

[cohibaIV]

Very interesting mate, food for thought.. Cheers


Sent by smoke signals using iCohiba from Havana

[JOAO LA PEZ]

Muchos gracias Commandatorre Roberto, when i had my Humi at just over 70% i never had a Splitter, but since dropping down to 66% I have had loads, so I am going to raise it again, Mould wont be a problem as nothing stays in there for very long

[Bad-Yeti]

I always thought that the split was caused by a rapid change from extended low humidity to too high, causing everything to swell inside.

But then it needs to be stated that my knowledge is very limited

[tippexx]

I guess I'll have to be the one to respectfully disagree with the majority opinions on this thread.
My experience has been that cigars held at humidity levels of 65-70 % RH, when smoked in a location that is either outdoors on a dry day or indoors at much less than a 'normal' room humidity of 45-55% RH will almost invariably split.

The same will also happen in reverse. Taking a hand rolled cigar outside when the moisture content in the air is greater than that of the humidor is asking for trouble, especially in the evening when the temperature is dropping and damp mists are gathering. Smoke, and the cigar begins to saturate because it cannot burn off ALL of the moisture being sucked in. You can actually see the cigar begin to visibly bulge prior to splitting. Although to be honest, when the air is damp you do get an early warning in that the rapid build up of moisture bungs the cigar making it neigh on impossible to smoke.

[JOAO LA PEZ]

The same will also happen in reverse. Taking a hand rolled cigar outside when the moisture content in the air is greater than that of the humidor is asking for trouble, especially in the evening when the temperature is dropping and damp mists are gathering. Smoke, and the cigar begins to saturate because it cannot burn off ALL of the moisture being sucked in. You can actually see the cigar begin to visibly bulge prior to splitting. Although to be honest, when the air is damp you do get an early warning in that the rapid build up of moisture bungs the cigar making it neigh on impossible to smoke.

A valuable lesson well learned in Fuerteventura this August just gone.

[tippexx]

Exactly. I now keep a hygro out in the conservatory, although BBC Weather will give humidity by Postcode and is accurate to 40 minute intervals.

It's only a cheapish digital, but for the deep pocketed you can get large, really handsome and very accurate hygrometers from ships chandlers.