My first beetle encounter!

[Jesse]

So bummed to find this on one of my favorite sticks, now I have to run home and check the rest of this box. Crossing my fingers none of the other stick have this issue, guess I'll be freezing purchases from here for now on. Pulled this Las Calaveras out of my Tupperdor in my desk for a lunch time smoke, when I lit it I noticed a whistle sound every time I puffed on it. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from so I started to inspect it and found the hole under the band. Once I saw that I knew my lunch time smoke was dead, decided to break it apart and see if the little sucker was still in there or not. No sign of it and it doesn't look like my other stick in my desk are effected either but I will be freezing them as well just in case. When I broke it apart I did notice a few good size twigs in it as well, is that pretty normal? I've never broke a cigar apart before. Anywho, on with the carnage and wish me luck.

 

[jonesry09]

That sucks. Those little suckers can be a real big pain in the a$$.
Heres hoping the rest of your smokes are all good!!

 

[navyvet]

Sorry to hear that..

 

[WiseOwl]

So bummed to find this on one of my favorite sticks, now I have to run home and check the rest of this box. Crossing my fingers none of the other stick have this issue, guess I'll be freezing purchases from here for now on. Pulled this Las Calaveras out of my Tupperdor in my desk for a lunch time smoke, when I lit it I noticed a whistle sound every time I puffed on it. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from so I started to inspect it and found the hole under the band. Once I saw that I knew my lunch time smoke was dead, decided to break it apart and see if the little sucker was still in there or not. No sign of it and it doesn't look like my other stick in my desk are effected either but I will be freezing them as well just in case. When I broke it apart I did notice a few good size twigs in it as well, is that pretty normal? I've never broke a cigar apart before. Anywho, on with the carnage and wish me luck.

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Man, that's too bad. Hate to see a smoke ruined like that...

 

[manbearpig]

Now I have to go give mine a once over

 

[herfdog]

Twigs gives flavors. Beatles gives beat. Beetles sucks. Hope your whole humi is clear. Us Canadians freeze all incoming cigars before putting them in the humi, and so should you. (our postal services even do it for us free of charge in the winter months!!)

 

[JR Kipling]

Thanks for the pics. Good reminder for me . . . Freeze all my sticks !

P.S. - what temp do you figure you keep them at home in your humi ?

 

[ZippoGeek]

So bummed to find this on one of my favorite sticks, now I have to run home and check the rest of this box. Crossing my fingers none of the other stick have this issue, guess I'll be freezing purchases from here for now on. Pulled this Las Calaveras out of my Tupperdor in my desk for a lunch time smoke, when I lit it I noticed a whistle sound every time I puffed on it. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from so I started to inspect it and found the hole under the band. Once I saw that I knew my lunch time smoke was dead, decided to break it apart and see if the little sucker was still in there or not. No sign of it and it doesn't look like my other stick in my desk are effected either but I will be freezing them as well just in case. When I broke it apart I did notice a few good size twigs in it as well, is that pretty normal? I've never broke a cigar apart before. Anywho, on with the carnage and wish me luck.

Seeing that hole made my blood curdle! Hope everything else in the humi is fine brother...

 

[bostoneo]

So its safe to assume that beetles don't like las cal 2015, looks like he got out mighty fast

 

[Jesse]

Thanks guys, luckily when I got home and inspected everything else they seemed to be fine. No other signs under the labels or anywhere else. So glad the rest aren't ruined.

Thanks for the pics. Good reminder for me . . . Freeze all my sticks !

P.S. - what temp do you figure you keep them at home in your humi ?

This stick has been in my desk tupper for about a week and it's at 74* and 64%, my humi at home is usually around the same. I'm guessing that it was like this before I purchased them only because I don't see any signs of beetles on any of the other sticks that came with this purchase.

 

[Hopduro]

Btw the "twigs" are just large veins in the leaf, sometimes some of the mid rib too. They don't hurt anything, in fact there's decent flavor and strength in there

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

[Senor Perfecto]

@Jesse let us know how it turns out.

Personally I'd rather take the occasional chance than freeze my sticks -- despite anecdotes to the contrary I simply don't believe it doesn't dampen flavor.

This is why I have a wino -- I'll happily, blissfully, ignorantly smoke through the beetle eggs without letting them get warm enough to hatch.

 

[Cigary43]

Couple of things....know your Vendor and quarantine your order(s). Been doing this for a decade or more and have run across a couple occasions where there was an infestation....my fault for ordering from a Vendor I hadn't used before. Called them to let em know....they balked and I disputed the charge...won and took my order to another place I know who the Vendor is. Sometimes saving a few bucks from an unknown Vendor isn't really a good deal after all.

 

[Merovius]

@Jesse Id smoke the little fucker, he clearly wants to enjoy the tobacco with you...snap, crackle POP!

For real though, just because you had one beetle doesnt mean you need to freeze every stick you ever buy from now on. These sticks are flash frozen for you already.

The true culprit is that tupperdor, which can get pretty toasty in the summer. Some also hold humidity a little too well. Store in a cool basement or trade it for a cooler with a bit more breathing.

 

[The EVP]

Welcome to the club! I had one of those in a <God forgive me> Gurkha. Lit it up, noticed an extremely light draw but little smoke. Removed the band and there was the beetle hole. When I got home, everything got packed up and frozen for three days. Cleaned the humi and have not had a problem since.

 

[ky70]

Are we sure that hole is from a beetle? Considering the band is over the hole (assuming it was on there tight like most bands) and there are no other holes in the cigar, and that the beetle is not present inside the cigar.
In any case, I freeze 95% of my cigars. The only cigars I don't freeze are new purchases that I plan on smoking in the next week or so and those go in a separate humidor and are kept out of "general population"

 

[Bondo 440]

Under the band is kind of weird. Almost as if the beetle was there before banding.........
Yeah that's a beetle "entry" hole if you ask me... .

 

[Hari Seldon]

@Jesse let us know how it turns out.

Personally I'd rather take the occasional chance than freeze my sticks -- despite anecdotes to the contrary I simply don't believe it doesn't dampen flavor.

This is why I have a wino -- I'll happily, blissfully, ignorantly smoke through the beetle eggs without letting them get warm enough to hatch.

Do they get put in your wino at the factory and shipped to you that way? I think many of us feel our personal storage conditions are fine for avoiding beetle outbreaks, it's the storage and shipping conditions they are subjected to before they get to us that is the risk. You don't see the beetles themselves until a couple of days or so after hatching, so it could have already happened in your mailbox with that summer cigar purchase you were waiting to get home to pick up and whatever you are going to do with the sticks in the house is irrelevant, those critters are in to the larval stage and will soon be munching on your delicious tobacco. Not saying you should change what you are doing, everybody should always do whatever they personally feel is best for them to enjoy this hobby, just that you might not be as totally protected from beetles as you think.

 

[Jesse]

@Jesse let us know how it turns out.

Personally I'd rather take the occasional chance than freeze my sticks -- despite anecdotes to the contrary I simply don't believe it doesn't dampen flavor.

This is why I have a wino -- I'll happily, blissfully, ignorantly smoke through the beetle eggs without letting them get warm enough to hatch.

Been watching my fridgeador for a few days now and still don't see any other signs, I moved the bands on most of my sticks and I don't see any signs of beetles. Wondering if it happened before I purchased them, it's weird.

Couple of things....know your Vendor and quarantine your order(s). Been doing this for a decade or more and have run across a couple occasions where there was an infestation....my fault for ordering from a Vendor I hadn't used before. Called them to let em know....they balked and I disputed the charge...won and took my order to another place I know who the Vendor is. Sometimes saving a few bucks from an unknown Vendor isn't really a good deal after all.

This was a purchase here from another member, I went against my better judgement and bought from him. Something was telling me not to but I wanted these so I did it anyways, I wasn't really happy with the rest of the purchase but I wasn't going to complain about it either.

@Jesse Id smoke the little fucker, he clearly wants to enjoy the tobacco with you...snap, crackle POP!

For real though, just because you had one beetle doesnt mean you need to freeze every stick you ever buy from now on. These sticks are flash frozen for you already.

The true culprit is that tupperdor, which can get pretty toasty in the summer. Some also hold humidity a little too well. Store in a cool basement or trade it for a cooler with a bit more breathing.

The tupper was in my desk at work in a warehouse, it's usually pretty cool in my office all day so I don't really have to worry about temps. Most of the sticks are only in my tupper for about 2 weeks and then get smoked so that's another reason why I think the hole was there before I purchased them.

 

[multi-useless]

Under the band is kind of weird. Almost as if the beetle was there before banding.........

I agree... unless it was at the very edge of the band, how did it get in/out?

Far from my place to criticize the quality of work done at a cigar factory, but methinks someone overlooked the hole when applying the band...