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Damaged Cigar

Dadster1960

Dadster1960

New Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2008
Messages
163
I need advise from some of the more experienced S/BOTL.

I recently received a shipment of 10 on a 8 9 8 box, and one of the cigars upfront has a gash at the foot about one inch long and a tear near the cap, about a quarter inch. These were "not inspected" boxes, as I have a thing about opening them myself. Call me weird.

Under the circumstances, should I contact the vendor and ask for a replacement stick?

PM me if you think you need to.

TIA for your consideration.
 
Dadster1960 said:
I need advise from some of the more experienced S/BOTL.

I recently received a shipment of 10 on a 8 9 8 box, and one of the cigars upfront has a gash at the foot about one inch long and a tear near the cap, about a quarter inch. These were "not inspected" boxes, as I have a thing about opening them myself. Call me weird.

Under the circumstances, should I contact the vendor and ask for a replacement stick?

PM me if you think you need to.

TIA for your consideration.
Click to expand...

Probably not...but I would e-mail the vendor and let them know and usually they will give you a credit for future purchases based upon the damaged sticks. There's too much hassle and risk involved for minor damage like you said imo. Also, you can use some pectin (sp?) to fix the wrapper damage and it will smoke fine.
 
Indeed. Mike offers sensible guidance for damage that sounds a bit more than "slight." I'd smoke that sucker.

Wilkey
 
Mike, Wilkey,

Thank you for your thoughts... I will email the vendor and see what happens. Nothing ventured... :)

Mike,

Pectin? My mom in law uses that when canning jams and stuff, so I have ready access. I did a search, but came up empty. Care to share more about the technique?

I figured that worse case I'd clip the foot above the gash and smoke it, but the tear near the head worried me more, as I expect it will impact the draw.

This is a box of ten 8 9 8 (my wife looked at it and commented "Looks more like a 3 4 3 to me, uh?"... She humors me in my indulgence, but does not get it, so I didn't engage her) and I broke the seal myself. How can a cigar break like this inside that box? It's right front left too, so it doesn't seem to me that it went in like that.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. I am in your debt.
 
Hmm,

Is the damage at the head more serious than just a split in the wrapper? In cases where the head has fractured a bit (I've accidentally dropped cigars from chest height prior to smoking), I usually just mouth a little further down the barrel of the cigar, past the tear thus sealing the leak.

That sort of damage is a bit unusual. Cigars in 343 packing are ribboned first and so they go into the box all at once as a bound bundle. Also, typically there is glassine paper over the bundle so that acts as a little slippy layer in case the lid does not go on straight. Do the hinges at the back look securely planted in the wood?

Wilkey
 
Wilkey,

They are as you describe. The have the paper over them, and the little diploma thingy that tells you how lovingly they are made, the yellow ribbon around them (I'm getting excited!). The box is solid without any markings, either on the cardboard outerbox or the wooden cabinet. The hinges are in fine condition, and the clasp is secure. This is my very first cabinet ever, so forgive me if I'm overexplaining a bit. The cover, when open at a 90 degree angle has a little give side to side, but when closed is solid.

To mouth this bad boy over the gash by the head I'd have to put an inch and a half into my mouth, not very manly at all, not to mention impractical.

I could take a couple of pictures and post a link if you think it would help.

Thank you again for your help.
 
Dadster1960 said:
Wilkey,

They are as you describe. The have the paper over them, and the little diploma thingy that tells you how lovingly they are made, the yellow ribbon around them (I'm getting excited!). The box is solid without any markings, either on the cardboard outerbox or the wooden cabinet. The hinges are in fine condition, and the clasp is secure. This is my very first cabinet ever, so forgive me if I'm overexplaining a bit. The cover, when open at a 90 degree angle has a little give side to side, but when closed is solid.

To mouth this bad boy over the gash by the head I'd have to put an inch and a half into my mouth, not very manly at all, not to mention impractical.

I could take a couple of pictures and post a link if you think it would help.

Thank you again for your help.
Click to expand...
Well, if it wouldn't put you out, I think it'd help us see what you're talking about.

As for "swallow-em deep" approach, IIRC, DevilDoc recounted his experience with this esoteric technique in the last year or so. Maybe he knew a guy who did it. I can't pin it down for sure. In any case, I think it was in reference to preparing a dry cigar for smoking as opposed to patching a hole.

Wilkey
 
Wilkey,

DevilDoc is a better man than I :) Dry cigar smoking techniques? I have much to learn.

I took a few shots, not the greatest, but what the camera allowed me.

Here's the outer box.
The cabinet.

The split. It doesn't show too well, but it goes up to about halfway to the ribbon. It stops where the wrapper goes over itself.
Another view.
A side view.
and one more.

The split by the head came out like a vein in the pics, but it's similar in nature to this one... If Mike hooks me up with the pectin technique I figure I can patch it up; if not I guess I can just put some rolling paper over it and give it a go.

The cigars are not dry at all; they are supple, and to my untrained senses they feel a bit too wet, like mushy a bit, although the last box I got (my first) felt the same way, and they were nice and firm a few days later.

One more time, thank you.
 
Here's a good video how to.
Linky-Loo


I think It's much better than text at explaining the procedure. This guy does some great cigar reviews to boot. I may be mistaken as I can't really tell how deep it is but i don't know if the pectin trick will work on that. You could try anyway. My .02 would be after you nub one of those beauties unravel some of the wrapper off it and use it to repair the damaged one with the pectin. Hope it helps. If you want just send it to me, and I'll try to fix it. No guaranteed return though :whistling:
 
Good photos. From the looks of it, I wouldn't even bother with pectin. I would try to just light it up and smoke it. You'll know once you clip the head and take an unlit pre-draw. Put your open, flat palm over the whole foot opening. If your pre-draw is tight like you're not getting any air or just a very small amount of air, smoke it. If you get what feels like a full draw, your options are 1) clip off nearly all of the split portion or 2) apply a wrapper patch with pectin.

Cheers!
Wilkey
 
Thanks again, Wilkey, for sharing your expertise with me. I truly appreciate it.

Q-the-Cop, thank you for the link, I'll check it this evening from home (youtube is blocked at work, and my proxy isn't working.)

I'm going to let it sit for a few days and then follow Wilkey's advise and smoke that sucker!
 
All's well that ends well. The vendor replied to my email that they will be happy to send me a fresh cigar when I place a new order :)

Life is good!
 
Personally I would not use a toothpick to mix or apply the pectin. You may accidentally tear the wrapper even further. Artists paint brush is safer. I would use distilled water if I was going to let it sit in the humi any amount of time. The pectin mix should be applied to the wrapper "patch" and not the cigar itself. I would at least let it set overnight, to see if it had not sealed well and then I would apply more. The pectin mix will last for a long time if you put it away in the fridge in a sealed container. If it gells up you can just add a little bit of distilled water for your next use. John
 
one sock said:
I've been searching for the self-contained little nail polish like bottles with a convenient brush.
Every website I've tried that lists it has been out of stock.
In case anyone is interested:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Credo-El-Torcedor-Repa...VQQcmdZViewItem
Click to expand...
I wanted to see if this stuff was legit...so I did a search and it lead me to Cigarcyclopedia....


No. 6: El Torcedor Cigar Repair Kit
This item is critical for anyone who has more than a few cigars. Whether from a manufacturing error or some rough handling, a wrapper occasionally comes loose. If there’s no way to fix it, the cigar usually has to be discarded.

Enter Rafael Belaubre, leader of the inventive Credo line of accessories. He now offers “El Torcedor,” a 5 ml bottle of the same vegetal adhesive actually used by cigar rollers to seal wrappers and caps on cigars as they are made.

The little bottle comes with an applicator brush not unlike that found on other liquid glues. Just a touch underneath the errant wrapper, brush over the wrapper onto the bunch and hold for about a minute and you’ve got a well-repaired stick. Enjoy!

It’s a part of the Credo line and an inexpensive – and useful – addition to your accessory drawer.

I guess it's legit! I never saw anything like this before....meaning a pre-made, fix-it product. I never saw it in a B&M either.

Cool...Thanks 1sock :thumbs:
 
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