Increased issues with plugging

[Fox]

I have seen an alarming rise in plugged smokes lately, although I could be on a run of bad luck. We are not talking tough draws here, but unsmokable sticks that have to be trashed. The problem has manifested itself among several marcas and a number of vitolas and mostly years from 2006 - 2009. Is anyone else noticing this? Kind of reminds me of the late 90s and the loss of good QC during that time. . .:sadpace:

 

[Moro]

Have had a couple of plugs, but not an alarming number. It has bothered me since it means usually that a cigar I do like, and payed for...down the drain it goes. Wasn't around for smoking in the late 90's, though; so can-not help there.

 

[Craig Mac]

My experience is rather limited with CC's but I can say a good amount of the sticks I have tried had draw issues like you are talking about. Most of them were no more than a year old. Some of the draws were so tight that the cigar barely produced any smoke. I thought maybe I needed to dry box the cigars, but even after trying that it didn't seem to help.

 

[RobustoMoe]

I have been smoking cuban cigars regularly for a year now. This includes different brands and vitolas and I only had one plugged cigar. So I guess it's just bad luck bro

 

[indyrob]

I've noticed that the whole last decade has been a major crap shoot in my opinion...from my own notes-


99-00 plugged and generally a pig in a poke. All the good ones have been bought and what's left are the dregs deemed "ok" now.

01-02 blah

03 was great for a lot of vitolas~

04-05 were still really good, but now hard to find sometimes

06-09 kinda hit & miss.

 

[avid toker]

Can't say that I've noted an alarming rate of plugged cigars. Could be just bad luck. If these are thin ring gauges, there may be an increased chance of plugs. It's also tough to tell with the new box codes which boxes were rolled in the regional factories, etc. That's why box codes were always important for me as far as which box to select.

 

[CuritibaRex]

My last Partagas D4 had what I can only guess was a hard stem-like plug running lengthwise that just would not burn, caused canoeing, which is unheard of in a Partagas. It was disappointing from the lighting onward, until I had to stop trying a third of the way down. The draw was nearly impossible. I took it back to the B&M where I got it. The dealer said he has been getting other similar complaints. He replaced the D4 and it is in my humi now. I hope that one is an enjoyable smoke after I age it a bit. These are expensive cigars!

 

[jmatkins]

I have had a really bad time as of late as well. And it seems to be the more expenive somes that it hapens to for me. That is the reason I have shyed away from buying any more as of late.

 

[roughrider]

Don't the Cubans use a draw tester during production?

 

[Alwayslit]

This is the first I've heard of this. I haven't had any totally plugged from this time period and very few partially plugged ones.

 

[Kurtdesign1]

With what I smoke, I have not had a plugged cigar in the last 8 years. I have had poor burning, tunneling, tight rolls & limited smoke but true plugs, almost never. 95% of construction issues I run into are still able to be smoked. I have not smoked that much new production stuff though so lets hope you haven't stumbled onto a blooming problem...

 

[Fox]

Don't the Cubans use a draw tester during production?

They were, which was part of my concern. Most of these could not be smoked with my 6 h.p. Shop-Vac. . .:crosseyed There is no way these smokes could have passed a draw test, which made me wonder if it was still being used. Interestingly enough, most plugged cigars were Churchills with a few DCs thrown in the mix. It is not uncommon for the small ring sizes, but until recently I never had much of a problem with the larger sticks. I usually smoke older stuff so it was not much of a problem except for the occasional 98' or 99' box. Given the quality (taste) of some recent vintages I decided to "branch out", much to my chagrin. . .:sadcry:

 

[cf2112]

NOt many plugs or tight draws gor me, but I rarely smoke DC's or Churchills. I love the lonsdale/Dalia size and soke my fair share of these with few draw issues. I do store my sticks @ 62% and this seeems to help.

 

[avid toker]

If anything, it's underfilliing. I don't generally smoke newer production either but it's underfilling that I'm finding to be the real culprit with the larger ring gauges. As with anything, if you've bought a box from a reputable vendor, see if they will replace your plugged sticks or the entire box. Generally I don't complain if it's one or two out of a box but if I light up more than 5 that are plugged, then I'd speak up. I've only had to do this once in my 16yrs of smoking.

 

[okia42]

I smoke a few cubans a month and I usually don,t have a problem. Some Monte #2's had some burn issues But I think that was because they were just a little to dry.
I did have a problem with CAO's for a while I purchased 2 boxes of MX-2's and almost half were plugged beyond repair.

 

[ahbroody]

Don't the Cubans use a draw tester during production?

Not on all sticks . My memory was only certain factories and certain sticks.

As to the OP I think it depends on what you are smoking. Long and skinny is always dangerous with CC's. Lonsdales can be very hit and miss. PCs it depends on the Marca a lot it seems. Corona Gordas, Robustos and hermoso #4s are often the safest bet.

Please give a list of the sticks and years that are giving you issues. It sounds like you are complaining about the sale sticks the big 3 vendors were running. Majority of those sticks were crap both flavor and draw wise which is one of the big reasons they were on sale. You really cannot fairly use those sticks as a basis for anything. They were bought and sold at a large discount for a reason.

Recent production stuff is much better. That said the stuff listed above still has issues sometimes.

 

[Kurtdesign1]

He says above in the first post, 2006-2009. I don't know what sale you were speaking of but these 4 production years certainly were not in the major sales I know of from the last 12-18 months.

Not on all sticks . My memory was only certain factories and certain sticks.

As to the OP I think it depends on what you are smoking. Long and skinny is always dangerous with CC's. Lonsdales can be very hit and miss. PCs it depends on the Marca a lot it seems. Corona Gordas, Robustos and hermoso #4s are often the safest bet.

Please give a list of the sticks and years that are giving you issues. It sounds like you are complaining about the sale sticks the big 3 vendors were running. Majority of those sticks were crap both flavor and draw wise which is one of the big reasons they were on sale. You really cannot fairly use those sticks as a basis for anything. They were bought and sold at a large discount for a reason.

Recent production stuff is much better. That said the stuff listed above still has issues sometimes.

 

[Angry Bill]

Was just talking with Hendy about that today and qulaity control issues with CC's of recent. It's a shame!

 

[e-man67]

I have only noticed it with the "deals" sticks....especially the churchills...I had SLR's and some Punch churchills that were totally plugged..I mean NO AIR was getting through them...the larger ring gauge stuff like the partaga salamone seem underfilled to me...not much heft. I clip the cap, dry box, roll between my fingers and if that doesn't do it a skewer them with a draw poker.

 

[CWS]

The "deal" sticks were from known bad years. My friend Fox is a little smarter than that. 2006 I found to be great. 08 and now 09's not so much