What causes a cigar to have a hard pull?

[amir11950]

What causes cigars to be difficult to inhale? Is it being over dry? Overly humidified?

I've had a couple of cigars where my cheeks are getting sucked in because the draw is so difficult.

Are there any workarounds? If I'm in the middle of a cigar that's like this, how can I fix it?

 

[ckay]

Overhumidified, packed too full, or poor construction.

Workarounds include drying the cigar our for 24-48 hours in a non-humidified cigar box. If you're in the middle of one, you could roll the cigar around a bit to see if you can loosen the contents inside. Or depending on the cigar, throw it out and start over.

Life's too short to smoke a cigar that draws tight.

 

[Jmphotog]

Usually it's from being tightly rolled from the factory...sometimes over humidified... It all depends .. It happens every now and then to me..

I don't know what other brothers do but I massage it right pass the tip... a nice couple slow roll massages and keep drawing to see where it takes it .. I'll massage up and down the stick but careful not to unroll the leaf; but usually massage right by the cap to half way will do the trick..

If that doesn't work I'll take a tooth pick or a paper clip and poke the tobacco to try and loosen it up but you have to be very careful when doing this

Usually with that your good .. To one extreme I've read about people cutting the problem areas so your not left with no cigar so you can smoke something instead of nothing

Mind you this is if you already started smoking the stick already

Hope this helps

 

[amir11950]

One recent time this happened was after I purchased some Siglo II from duty free.

The same day I smoked the cigars, they were fine, but 3-4 days later, it was like trying to breathe through plastic. My jaw was tired for baby puffs of smoke.

 

[Clint]

^All suggestions are great...
Also, you might try removing the band, as sometimes cigars will swell slightly after absorbing humidity, and the band constricts the air flow.

 

[Old Smokey]

Chances are the construction of the cigar is at fault. I have never had any luck using a toothpick as when it is removed any hole you may have made closes right back up. I have heard of people using a long, very thin drill bit with success. There are also cigar draw poker's on the market. I have also seen people take a metal skewer and using a grinder or Dremel to cut some notches that will grab and pull some tobacco out of the cigar. If you give up on a cigar, do an autopsy and see what was creating the problem. My guess is stems.

 

[atllogix]

I usually have no luck with all the different attempts I make on fixing a draw issue. Draw tool, massaging, clipping a little more off the head. I think it's helped a couple times over the years, but I wouldn't count on it. Ditch it and start anew.

 

[Senor Perfecto]

All good suggestions.

If I get a bad draw, I'll re-cut once or twice, as close to the shoulder as I dare to go without risking unraveling. But that's as far as I'm willing to go. A poorly-constructed cigar is a bad cigar, and a bad cigar is not worth the trouble. Pitch it.