In the past, I've smoked the Monte Cristo Edmundo many times and have always found it to consistent with a perfect burn right down to the band.
The cigars have been in my humidor, in the tubes @ 69 degrees/65% humidity for 6 days.
Last night I smoked the first two and was totally disappointing in the burn. Both cigars required constant correction and both experienced "tunneling" throughout the entire burn.
I've been smoking Cuban Cigars for years and have never experienced anything like this.
When I received the cigars, the first thing I did was closely examine each cigar for authenticity.
The cigars were in three packs, in genuine Habanos boxes. They all had genuine (newest style) embossed, centered Monte Cristo labels that were perfectly lined up where they attach. The caps were correct (triple), and the tubes were genuine. I have some Edmundos three packs I purchased on a recent trip to Canada so I was able to do a side by side comparison of all the components. Other than the latest shipment wrappers being darker than the ones I purchased in Canada.....Everything appearance wise was identical and appeared correct. If they are fake, the retailer went to great extent to make them look authentic.
Smoking them is a completely different story. They tasted like Edmundo's, the draw was like an Edmundo, but the burn was awful.
The only suspicious thing I found was that I was able to peel the labels off where they overlap with very little effort. The seal was broken on each box, but I was informed that would be the case before I ordered, and that practice is not uncommon, as the retailer wants to make sure there are no issues with the cigars befoer they are shipped.
In the past I've found that the only way to get Monte labels off was to gently slide them off, and that took considerable careful effort.
Did I get duped, did I get a "bad" batch, or is this a humidity variance issue.
Any thoughts?
The cigars have been in my humidor, in the tubes @ 69 degrees/65% humidity for 6 days.
Last night I smoked the first two and was totally disappointing in the burn. Both cigars required constant correction and both experienced "tunneling" throughout the entire burn.
I've been smoking Cuban Cigars for years and have never experienced anything like this.
When I received the cigars, the first thing I did was closely examine each cigar for authenticity.
The cigars were in three packs, in genuine Habanos boxes. They all had genuine (newest style) embossed, centered Monte Cristo labels that were perfectly lined up where they attach. The caps were correct (triple), and the tubes were genuine. I have some Edmundos three packs I purchased on a recent trip to Canada so I was able to do a side by side comparison of all the components. Other than the latest shipment wrappers being darker than the ones I purchased in Canada.....Everything appearance wise was identical and appeared correct. If they are fake, the retailer went to great extent to make them look authentic.
Smoking them is a completely different story. They tasted like Edmundo's, the draw was like an Edmundo, but the burn was awful.
The only suspicious thing I found was that I was able to peel the labels off where they overlap with very little effort. The seal was broken on each box, but I was informed that would be the case before I ordered, and that practice is not uncommon, as the retailer wants to make sure there are no issues with the cigars befoer they are shipped.
In the past I've found that the only way to get Monte labels off was to gently slide them off, and that took considerable careful effort.
Did I get duped, did I get a "bad" batch, or is this a humidity variance issue.
Any thoughts?
Last edited: