What do you do if..

Cooper33

Ok so I've taken up this cigar sport recently, spent like a bajillion dollars already this month and wanted to find some decent everyday smokes. I caught some double daily deal at CI.com of Gurkha Sherpa Cafe..20 cigars for 35 bucks..I figured they wouldn't be that good, but I've tried three now over the past few days..and they are unsmokeable. Literally, they burn well but the draw is so tight that I'm lucky if I can even get smoke to come out of my nose. I tried poking them with a wire and the darn things are so tightly rolled they were making crunching sounds when i did this..yet the cigars didn't seem dry...

What do you guys do in this situation? If I just didn't like the taste, I'd just suck it up as a bad decision and take my loss, but wondered what the norm is with online cigar purchases.

stephen_hannibal

You might want to let them rest a bit longer.
It sounds like the filler is dried out, could be "mail trauma."
As far as cigar internet purchases go cigar.com is the only one I know of to help avoid this "mail trauma" by shipping your cigars with humi-packs.

kuzi16

stephen_hannibal:

You might want to let them rest a bit longer.
It sounds like the filler is dried out, could be "mail trauma."
As far as cigar internet purchases go cigar.com is the only one I know of to help avoid this "mail trauma" by shipping your cigars with humi-packs.

interesting...

i was gunna say the opposite
a hard draw usually means too moist.

same fix though. rest.

stephen_hannibal

kuzi16:

stephen_hannibal:

You might want to let them rest a bit longer.
It sounds like the filler is dried out, could be "mail trauma."
As far as cigar internet purchases go cigar.com is the only one I know of to help avoid this "mail trauma" by shipping your cigars with humi-packs.

interesting...

i was gunna say the opposite
a hard draw usually means too moist.

same fix though. rest.

yeah kuzi I thought the same thing til he said crunching sound...

Cooper33

It was more of a crunchy feeling than sound, sorry.

Smokeee

Cooper33:

Gurkha Sherpa Cafe..20 cigars for 35 bucks..I figured they wouldn't be that good, but I've tried three now over the past few days..and they are unsmokeable....

What do you guys do in this situation?

1.) Personally I've not had good experience with this stick myself.
2.) what do i do in this situation? Note to self: Do NOT buy again!

Garen B

Try cutting your stick and then letting it rest that way for a period of time in your humi, a few hours to a day and see if the draw is still tight. Or you could dry box it by letting it sit in a unhumidified tupperware for an hour or two before you smoke it.

j0z3r

Draw harder dammit!!!! Seriously though, if all of the above advice doesn't work out, then you've got some dysfunctional cigars on your hands...in which case you can use them for door stops, paper weights, drink mixers and various other handy tools.

T. Gervais

Sounds to me like you've got some over-humidified cigars. Try dry-boxing one for a couple hours to a day and then smoke it, if it's better, then you need to do something to decrease humidity in your humi.

camgfs

I've had this "tight draw" problem with a Gurkha that had only sat in my humi for a couple of weeks. Was sorry I got them. About 3 months later I got brave enough to try another from the same batch. It was AWSOME! Seems like a few months in the humi did it wonders. The first one would not stay lit, had a plugged draw and very crooked burn, for what parts did burn. The second one was great, good draw, smoke, burn and taste. Could it just be that Gurkha cigars need to rest longer than others? Any Gurkha fans that can let us know if that's the case?

kuzi16

camgfs:

Could it just be that Gurkha cigars need to rest longer than others? Any Gurkha fans that can let us know if that's the case?

i think this has more to do with the inconsistency in Gurkhas lower end sticks. the more expensive ones almost never have these problems. i would have said "never" but it seems that the issues are creeping into them.

...with 75+ blends its a difficult task keeping all of those cigars 100%.

ive noticed in the retail world (cigars in particular) attaching the perception of quality is paramount. however, as soon as that perception of quality slips, even once, you are doomed. I fear that this is what Gurkha is going through. even though its not the higher end sticks or the cigars that made them famous that are lacking in quality, the name "Gurkha" has taken a hit.

its too bad too, because they have some stellar smokes.

One2gofst

What to do? Don't order from CI!

Seriously though, the others have given good advice about how to help these sticks.. I have been less than pleased in the few dealings I have had with CI. If Ccom has what I need for a reasonable price I don't even look anywhere else. I know they are under the same ownership, but the treatment of the customers is night and day, IMO.

sightunseen

Silver lining: You now know what a bad cigar is and can use this as a baseline. It'll probably help you appreciate a good cigar even more.

 

 

kaspera79

I've noticed the same thing kuzi mentions here. Sherpa, Park Ave. Symphony, and Blue Steel come to mind. While I enjoyed them, they were a bit of a fight at times.

rwheelwright

I haven't had issues with amy of those above but I haven't had that many of them. I think the Sherpa Cafe I had was a little too moist but it still drew well and tasted good.

Smokeee

One2gofst:

What to do? Don't order from CI!

Seriously though, the others have given good advice about how to help these sticks.. I have been less than pleased in the few dealings I have had with CI. If Ccom has what I need for a reasonable price I don't even look anywhere else. I know they are under the same ownership, but the treatment of the customers is night and day, IMO.

Really? They are under the same ownership!?? I didn't know that till now! Interesting!

j0z3r

One2gofst:

I know they are under the same ownership

madurofan:

I got an answer to the CI question. While there is obviously some relationship they are not the same and they are competitors. Ccom would appreciate us not discussing competitors on the forum. Reasonable to me. Svenson was real nice about it too no attitude or anything. Just let me know the deal.

One2gofst

I can appreciate that. Yes they are competitors. Yes they are sister companies. GAP and Old Navy are competitors. GAP and Old Navy are owned under the same umbrella. As I said, my money goes to Ccom, and for good reason. Trying to hide a real relationship isn't the answer though. I don't think Ccom has anything to hide and stands head and shoulders above every other internet tobacconist I have dealt with. I don't think it helps anyone to stand there and say "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain". However, as I have done in this post, I will respect the wishes of ownership and not mention any Ccom competitors, even ones under the same umbrella.

clearlysuspect

I've smoked about 5 of the Sherpa Cafe's and the last one I smoked a couple weeks ago had a horrendous draw to it. I thought I was gonna get a headache. Well my two buddies who I gave the same stick to and smoked them with me had no problems whatsoever. I've only had one that had this problem. The other 4, I really enjoyed.

The Blue Steel, I had my first one the other day and it was a pretty tight draw. Nothing my little tool I have in my car couldn't fix. I really enjoyed the Blue Steel as well.

Hawk55

I like getting the best price possible for the same item. Usually shooping around there are always "deals". Lots of companies have "Price Guarantee" policies... That said, always talk with your cigar consultant to give our guys Cigar.com the benefit of the doubt> I have ordered from other places, but believe me our guys here are Head n Shoulders above the rest....Customer service, deals. friendship...they supply it all!!! These days it is about customer service, good value for our money and trying to enjoy our leisure time and families as much as possible...

Krieg

I have never had a ghurka that didn't have a tight draw. I probably will never actually pay money for another Gurk again.

j0z3r

One2gofst:

I can appreciate that. Yes they are competitors. Yes they are sister companies. GAP and Old Navy are competitors. GAP and Old Navy are owned under the same umbrella. As I said, my money goes to Ccom, and for good reason. Trying to hide a real relationship isn't the answer though. I don't think Ccom has anything to hide and stands head and shoulders above every other internet tobacconist I have dealt with. I don't think it helps anyone to stand there and say "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain". However, as I have done in this post, I will respect the wishes of ownership and not mention any Ccom competitors, even ones under the same umbrella.

I just can't figure why everyone assumes they're under the same ownership just because they ship from the same warehouse. As that is the only shared component I've noticed.

rwheelwright

I noticed another shared component but I won't mention it here.

j0z3r

Well, regardless of any affiliation, the service of cigar.com really stands out, as Steve mentioned. And I guess at the end of the day it doesn't really matter anyway. They both offer some great deals, I've had fine experiences with both. So I guess I can leave it at that.

Sandman1am

Krieg:

I have never had a ghurka that didn't have a tight draw. I probably will never actually pay money for another Gurk again.

I think I am with you on this one Krieg. I won't buy another one but if someone were to send me one who am I to turn down a stick or two. I have also had a hard time with the draw on La Aroma de Cuba. I started to get a headache, my jaw was tightening up, and my lungs were starting to collapse as I tried to suck what little smoke I could from these things!!! I tried a few then traded the rest off to Tat who loves them. Guess he is just better at sucking then me.