Monday, November 29 1999
Q. I have some cigars that get what I would describe as liquid nicotine at the mouth after only smoking a couple inches of it? Am I over humidifiying or what else would cause this very bitter brown liquid that ruins the cigar? It doesn't happen with all cigars out of the same humidor, but can it be with cigars out of the same box?
Thanks,
Roy
A. The problem is, those cigars have leaves that are higher in
oil and tar content than the others in the
blend, so you end up with a mouthful of foul-tasting brown goo. It could just be one leaf, too. That's all it takes. This is actually quite rare, so it's unlikely the humidor and/or the box itself would cause this to happen. I would wager that you might be the type of cigar smoker who pulls hard on their cigar, causing those tars to flow toward the
head. This will also make the situation worse, or manifest itself in cigars that might not normally do that if puffed on more lightly.
I tend to keep my humidity at about 67% - 68%. Too much moisture, especially if you
draw hard on your cigars will cause an excess of "steam" inside the cigar causing the cigar to swell, which in turn, causes the
wrapper to crack.
