canndo
Well-Known Member
I smoke cigars (they contain nicotine and nicotine is a mind and mood altering substance - so this thread belongs here).
cigars are almost, if not totally hand made, in fact it can take over 100 pairs of hands to finally wind up with a cigar from planting the seed to priming the plant to drying the leaves to fermenting the leaves to sorting the wrappers to bunching the contents to wrapping the bunch to sorting the cigars to aging them and to packing them.
fine.
There is something comforting about having something that is completely hand made, in fact most can't point to anything in their homes let alone their pockets that is still made completely by hand but that same luxury leads to...
Bad cigar days.
I have a rule, if I start up a cigar and don't find it enjoyable within the first inch I will either not smoke, or, more likely, I will find and light up another. there are a host of things that can go wrong with a cigar - it being hand made and all. It can have a tight draw - a horrible thing. It can tunnel - where the burning part will go through the center of the cigar like a cone - it causes no end of frustration and it makes the smoke taste bitter or burned (yes, burned). the cigar can be too dry, so that the smoke is hot and leaves an acrid flavor on the tongue. The cigar can be too moist so that the smoke has a muted flavor or is weak or thin. The cigar can simply fall apart or burst upon lighting it - this happens most often in temperature extremes.
the cigar can simply not give off enough smoke, it could be a badly blended cigar which is about the only way it can get beyond the inspectors - a bad bit of leaf can ruin the flavor of a cigar from start to finish. The cigar can burn sideways and require constant touch ups in order for it not to turn into a smoking little canoe. Beyond even this, those who insist upon having a variety of cigars and also insist upon seasoning, or aging their cigars will often try a cigar who's blend or profile is new to them, or they may be sampling a cigar that has been put down in order to see if the length of time it has been set aside is enough to enhance the flavor, or not. Some will purchase a few boxes of promising cigars and fish a cigar out of the primary box at a rate of one a year in an attempt to find the right aging sweet spot.
so some of the problems are with the cigar itself, some are with the practice of aging, some are a result of lack of care, and some are simply luck of the draw (forgive the multiple puns there).
A bad cigar day is one where that first cigar, after having been planned or pondered (how long do I intend to smoke? what did I eat? what am I drinking? What do I want to try that I have not?) is a failure. It tunnels and after fiddling with it, snipping it above the tunnel - which rarely works, the smoker finally abandons it and goes through the process of re-selecting. Fine, If it was a storage problem, the smoker anticipates this, checks his humidity and goes to another humidor. Now, 29 times out of 30, everything is as it should have been, but what if THAT cigar has a problem? Another inch of attempt and THAT cigar is allowed to go out while the smoker, now a bit frustrated, goes through his recollection of his collection and opts for a third selection and a third attempt. If THAT cigar is also for any reason a bad one, then the smoker is in the midst of a bad cigar day.
Some will give up, having in actuality thrown away perhaps years of aging, perhaps a very rare cigar or two, perhaps ten, twenty, thirty or more dollars. I smoke one or two cigars a day. I encounter bad cigar days about once every other month. I usually simply give up at cigar three, which is what I did two nights ago. Yesterday I encountered four that were impossible for one reason or another before again, I surrendered to the decree by the tobacco Gods that Canndo will again not be enjoying a fine old stick. That was yesterday, or day two. After lunch today I pulled out a standby - a mild firplug of a cigar that I am running seriously low on and will never find again - but at least I know they are dependable. Imagine my sadness when that cigar simply burned up one side and there was nothing I could do to save it's sorry carcass. Alas, it was the start of bad cigar day number three, it was the loss of a stick that is impossible at any price to replace. And on I went to cigar two of bad cigar day three. Another known and aged parejo puro (straight sided cigar that is made from tobaccos all originating from a single nation or even a single plantation).
This one yielded virtually no smoke and has just now been placed next to the others in a white ash tray like poor, too young soldiers soon to be laid to eternal rest (in my worm composter of course).
To anyone who is bored with this meaningless story, at least you got to this point. To those who have been brought to tears, thank you for sharing my grief. I am about to fire up, as carefully as possible, A La Corona Anvers 1845 Churchill that according to my notation is young at 3 years old. If it fails as well, I will have been involved in a personal record of three consecutive days of bad cigars.
I believe I am at the point now where I am perfectly willing to burn, in turn, each and EVERY cigar I own (and a careful search of this site might give the researcher an idea of the extent of my collection), until I get one that works.
I figure that certain sources of pleasure have a reverse, multiplicative effect. This is well known to all of us who inhabit the HS segment of RIU. A lot of pleasure can be derived from a certain substance, but that same substance - or the Absence of that substance can cause more frustration and pain than it ever managed to supply in pleasure. As intensely relaxing and enjoyable as a good cigar is, a bad cigar, or a precession of them can cause frustration that negates days or even WEEKS of the previously mentioned enjoyment.
I fully expect my cutter to tear this thing, I fully expect my torch ligher to quit, my optomism about my life and the world in general is taking a serious hit but.... here goes....
cigars are almost, if not totally hand made, in fact it can take over 100 pairs of hands to finally wind up with a cigar from planting the seed to priming the plant to drying the leaves to fermenting the leaves to sorting the wrappers to bunching the contents to wrapping the bunch to sorting the cigars to aging them and to packing them.
fine.
There is something comforting about having something that is completely hand made, in fact most can't point to anything in their homes let alone their pockets that is still made completely by hand but that same luxury leads to...
Bad cigar days.
I have a rule, if I start up a cigar and don't find it enjoyable within the first inch I will either not smoke, or, more likely, I will find and light up another. there are a host of things that can go wrong with a cigar - it being hand made and all. It can have a tight draw - a horrible thing. It can tunnel - where the burning part will go through the center of the cigar like a cone - it causes no end of frustration and it makes the smoke taste bitter or burned (yes, burned). the cigar can be too dry, so that the smoke is hot and leaves an acrid flavor on the tongue. The cigar can be too moist so that the smoke has a muted flavor or is weak or thin. The cigar can simply fall apart or burst upon lighting it - this happens most often in temperature extremes.
the cigar can simply not give off enough smoke, it could be a badly blended cigar which is about the only way it can get beyond the inspectors - a bad bit of leaf can ruin the flavor of a cigar from start to finish. The cigar can burn sideways and require constant touch ups in order for it not to turn into a smoking little canoe. Beyond even this, those who insist upon having a variety of cigars and also insist upon seasoning, or aging their cigars will often try a cigar who's blend or profile is new to them, or they may be sampling a cigar that has been put down in order to see if the length of time it has been set aside is enough to enhance the flavor, or not. Some will purchase a few boxes of promising cigars and fish a cigar out of the primary box at a rate of one a year in an attempt to find the right aging sweet spot.
so some of the problems are with the cigar itself, some are with the practice of aging, some are a result of lack of care, and some are simply luck of the draw (forgive the multiple puns there).
A bad cigar day is one where that first cigar, after having been planned or pondered (how long do I intend to smoke? what did I eat? what am I drinking? What do I want to try that I have not?) is a failure. It tunnels and after fiddling with it, snipping it above the tunnel - which rarely works, the smoker finally abandons it and goes through the process of re-selecting. Fine, If it was a storage problem, the smoker anticipates this, checks his humidity and goes to another humidor. Now, 29 times out of 30, everything is as it should have been, but what if THAT cigar has a problem? Another inch of attempt and THAT cigar is allowed to go out while the smoker, now a bit frustrated, goes through his recollection of his collection and opts for a third selection and a third attempt. If THAT cigar is also for any reason a bad one, then the smoker is in the midst of a bad cigar day.
Some will give up, having in actuality thrown away perhaps years of aging, perhaps a very rare cigar or two, perhaps ten, twenty, thirty or more dollars. I smoke one or two cigars a day. I encounter bad cigar days about once every other month. I usually simply give up at cigar three, which is what I did two nights ago. Yesterday I encountered four that were impossible for one reason or another before again, I surrendered to the decree by the tobacco Gods that Canndo will again not be enjoying a fine old stick. That was yesterday, or day two. After lunch today I pulled out a standby - a mild firplug of a cigar that I am running seriously low on and will never find again - but at least I know they are dependable. Imagine my sadness when that cigar simply burned up one side and there was nothing I could do to save it's sorry carcass. Alas, it was the start of bad cigar day number three, it was the loss of a stick that is impossible at any price to replace. And on I went to cigar two of bad cigar day three. Another known and aged parejo puro (straight sided cigar that is made from tobaccos all originating from a single nation or even a single plantation).
This one yielded virtually no smoke and has just now been placed next to the others in a white ash tray like poor, too young soldiers soon to be laid to eternal rest (in my worm composter of course).
To anyone who is bored with this meaningless story, at least you got to this point. To those who have been brought to tears, thank you for sharing my grief. I am about to fire up, as carefully as possible, A La Corona Anvers 1845 Churchill that according to my notation is young at 3 years old. If it fails as well, I will have been involved in a personal record of three consecutive days of bad cigars.
I believe I am at the point now where I am perfectly willing to burn, in turn, each and EVERY cigar I own (and a careful search of this site might give the researcher an idea of the extent of my collection), until I get one that works.
I figure that certain sources of pleasure have a reverse, multiplicative effect. This is well known to all of us who inhabit the HS segment of RIU. A lot of pleasure can be derived from a certain substance, but that same substance - or the Absence of that substance can cause more frustration and pain than it ever managed to supply in pleasure. As intensely relaxing and enjoyable as a good cigar is, a bad cigar, or a precession of them can cause frustration that negates days or even WEEKS of the previously mentioned enjoyment.
I fully expect my cutter to tear this thing, I fully expect my torch ligher to quit, my optomism about my life and the world in general is taking a serious hit but.... here goes....
