Smoking Time?? Who cares!

[Clint]

Okay...Been smoking cigars for over 20 years now.

Certainly no expert, but I have stored away some wisdom here and there

One thing I don't understand at all, is noting in a review how long it took to smoke the cigar.

First of all, everyone smokes at their own pace, so this is absoloutely subjective.

(Yeah I know...The entire review is subjective)

Secondly when you take a look at a cigar, you can ballpark how long it's going to take to smoke it, right? So it's useless info to read that a robusto took 40 minutes, or a double corona took an hour and a half....No surprises there.

And if you don't know how long a given cigar will take to smoke (because you're new to cigar smoking) one reviewer's note of how long it took is (again) subjective.

Doesn't really bother me, but I just don't get it.

Perhaps the time thing is just part of the overall experience? (ie it was a sunny day, I was on the porch, I sat down with a Dos Equis beer, there were dogs barking in the distance...)

Or, perhaps I am missing something...?

Please enlighten me

 

[sonarman]

I actually like time being referenced in a review since one robusto to the next will not burn at the same rate, sure construction should key you into this but its not always dead on. For that matter if someone whats to comment on what kind of shirt they were wearing while smoking that's fine to, you see it really does not matter you are right, but it is someones review and not mine or anyone else.

 

[danthebugman]

When I do my reviews I sometimes note it and sometimes don't. To me it's kind of the same thing as listing what the wrapper, binder, and filler are for a particular cigar. It's part of the experience/process of doing a review. Is it useful information? Maybe for some, others may not find it useful. :dunno: I personally like to see it in a review.

Dan

 

[veeref]

Well, I guess I'm one of those that actually pays attention to the time it takes to smoke. I've found some small cigars, like the Illusione 68 consistently take me over an hour to smoke - probably due to the tighter draw. The other night I had a DPG Serie JJ Robusto, and that thing took me over 2 hours to consume. Again, I think it was the tighter construction and slower burn that forced me to slow down to be able to enjoy it. But, if I have something like a Carlos Torano Gold 1959 Robusto, I can blaze that thing down in like 45 minutes and still very much enjoy it.

Soon enough it will be winter and I'lll be looking at reviews for shorter smokes to enjoy when its colder outside.

Regards,
Randy

 

[thegoldenmackid]

First of all... the more info the better...

I think it plays a role, not all Robustos burn at the same rate. I think if there are specific reviewers that you read regularly you can obviously figure out how close you are to their times and it would give you an idea of how things burn.

At some point, one must wonder the value of cigar reviews for something as subjective, and this comes from sone that does three a week.

 

[Clint]

Okay, so here's my point...

I may buy a sampler of "cigar A" because a majority of the reviews for that cigar describe a flavor profile that I enjoy.

But if a read a review from a guy who smokes his cigars super fast, and smoked "cigar A double corona" in half an hour, how does that help me?

Since it "should" take closer to an hour an a half to smoke a double corona, I am now wondering why it took such a short time.

And because I don't know that this guy smokes his cigars too fast, I am now confused.

Please understand I am NOT criticising those who note their burn times...Just still puzzled as to why.

 

[TheCigarKid]

It also depends on how packed w/ tobacco the cigar is, and how thick the filler leaves are. For an example: LFD Airbender Vs. El Triundafor No. 4. basically the same size, but an hour difference between the two.

 

[sonarman]

Okay, so here's my point...

I may buy a sampler of "cigar A" because a majority of the reviews for that cigar describe a flavor profile that I enjoy.

But if a read a review from a guy who smokes his cigars super fast, and smoked "cigar A double corona" in half an hour, how does that help me?

Since it "should" take closer to an hour an a half to smoke a double corona, I am now wondering why it took such a short time.

And because I don't know that this guy smokes his cigars too fast, I am now confused.

Please understand I am NOT criticizing those who note their burn times...Just still puzzled as to why.

I understand where you are coming from.

 

[Dread]

I dont think its overly necessary to add in unless it is abnormal. Like you said most robustos are going to take anywhere from around 40-60 minutes to smoke and a chuchill is probably 1.5-2 times that approx. But from the sales end of the spectrum I can say its a nice bit of information to add in. The 262 Paradigm short robusto is only a 4x52. So you'd imagine after looking at it youd get at the max 45 minutes out of the little guy. But that 4" smoke burns very slowly, so it may not look the part but sometimes Ive puffed on one for over an hour and a half and im actually a bit of a quick smoker usually taking multiple puffs a minute.

 

[ckay]

I gave a buddy of mine a Flying Pig to try. He nubbed it before I got to the second half.

 

[Clint]

It also depends on how packed w/ tobacco the cigar is, and how thick the filler leaves are. For an example: LFD Airbender Vs. El Triundafor No. 4. basically the same size, but an hour difference between the two.

Yes, BUT without knowing if the reviewer smokes at a fast or slow rate, we have no idea of knowing if it's the pack of the cigar (as you accurately pointed out) or an abnormally fast or slow smoker!

So IMHO, it's a factor that is vague at best, and ultimately has no bearing on the overall summary of the cigar since it cannot be accurately measured.

 

[Docbp87]

I think the El Triunfador is a perfect example of why this kind of info is important. They are very fast burning cigars, so if you're looking at reviews from a variety of reviewers you're going to notice that they all have rather short burn times, thus you are able to glean some little knowledge from that fact regarding the average burn time of that blend.

 

[Boppa-Wasch]

Okay, so here's my point...

I may buy a sampler of "cigar A" because a majority of the reviews for that cigar describe a flavor profile that I enjoy.

But if a read a review from a guy who smokes his cigars super fast, and smoked "cigar A double corona" in half an hour, how does that help me?

Since it "should" take closer to an hour an a half to smoke a double corona, I am now wondering why it took such a short time.

And because I don't know that this guy smokes his cigars too fast, I am now confused.

Please understand I am NOT criticising those who note their burn times...Just still puzzled as to why.

I think it help's the "newer" smoker. When I read reviews of cigars I have never tried, and would like to, I find it helpful to decide what beverage I may want to drink along with the cigar. It also aids in deciding just how much time it would take to enjoy the cigar.

Just my $0.02........

 

[KPP]

My .02....not worth much, but you hit it in the subject of this thread Clint..."who cares".

Either choose to pay attention, or to not. I personally don't give any weight to how long it takes someone to smoke a cigar. We each do things a little differently.

Much ado about nothing IMO.

 

[SkinsFanLarry]

For me Clint unless I'm thinking about doing a review for this site I don't really care how long it takes me....if I'm enjoying it I hope it last forever! :cbig:

 

[BrooksW]

Well speaking for myself and my reviews, I decided that the more info I gave, the better...people can of course ignore it if they want, but if it helps one person (somehow) then I have done my job...

As long as the info is relevant to that specific cigar, there is no such thing as too much information (which is my my reviews are so frakin' long!)

Having said that, I get what you are saying

-Brooks

 

[kockroach]

I like to have an idea of how long it took someone to smoke. If they smoke a double corona in 45 minutes, and they have issues with the flavor, then it tells me that maybe they were smoking too quickly. Then, I would have some reservations about the review. I understand it doesn't mean that everyone smokes at the same pace, but I would think that most people would smoke a certain size cigar in approximately the same amount of time.

This post took me about a minute to write....lol.

 

[W.B.]

I like to have an idea of how long it took someone to smoke. If they smoke a double corona in 45 minutes, and they have issues with the flavor, then it tells me that maybe they were smoking too quickly. Then, I would have some reservations about the review. I understand it doesn't mean that everyone smokes at the same pace, but I would think that most people would smoke a certain size cigar in approximately the same amount of time.

This post took me about a minute to write....lol.

Good point. By the way what is your avatar it's intriguing.

 

[kockroach]

Good point. By the way what is your avatar it's intriguing.

It is a picture of a Flying Pig. It was painted on the wall of the Subculture Studios at Drew Estate. Took a pic of it when I was down there earlier in the year.

 

[r3db4r0n]

I like to have an idea of how long it took someone to smoke. If they smoke a double corona in 45 minutes, and they have issues with the flavor, then it tells me that maybe they were smoking too quickly. Then, I would have some reservations about the review. I understand it doesn't mean that everyone smokes at the same pace, but I would think that most people would smoke a certain size cigar in approximately the same amount of time.

This post took me about a minute to write....lol.

I have always included the time elapsed during which it took to smoke any cigar I review for this very reason. That having been said, there could be any number of reasons someone may find that information useful.