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Beetle in my Graycliff Double Espresso?

M

mp928

Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Messages
111
Location
Long Island, NY
Hey everyone,

I won a 10 pack of Double Espresso's off of cbid on April 30th. I put them right in my humi when I got them (70F, 69%RH), and just grabbed one out to smoke. This is the first from the 10 pack that I went to smoke, and when I removed the "Double Espresso" band, there was a little hole. Only one hole.

(Click each picture for an enlarged image)


Is this a beetle!?!? I am not too happy because the sticks have been in my humi for 2 weeks now, and hopefully have not damaged any other sticks.
If this is a beetle, should I freeze all the sticks in the humi, just the Double Espresso's, or just the one with the hole?

Any info would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks!!
 
Sorry to hear about your problem. I cannot see the pictures where I am viewing the site but I am not an expert anyway.

Here is a thread about beetles and Graycliff cigars:

Beetles and Graycliff's

There are also other threads about the same type of issue. I would look around to get a better idea if you have a problem or not.

I just placed an order with c-bid and given the warmer temperature, I am very leery of what it going to be coming. I am thinking I will seperate those sticks when they arrive from my "general population" in the coolerdor, unless anyone has a better idea.
 
I dunno...

Smoke the one with the hole, freeze the rest. If you have beetles, there will be "cigar dust". Before you torch it, tap it over a sheet of copy paper to see if dust shakes out.
 
I have limited experience first hand with beetles thankfully, but I would definitely say from the pictures that it was a beetle. How many cigars do you have in your humi? I would say that the safest thing would be to freeze all of them if possible although it would be a pain. The other thing you could do would be to smoke them all now and just order a new stock! :D

You probably won't have a problem at those temps and humidity with it being a continued problem, but it is better to be safe than sorry.
 
Well, I just went through the rest of the Double Espresso's, and they all seem to been OK, except for one other stick, which I have uploaded pictures of as well.

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I have removed all of the Double Espresso's from my humi and put them in a tupperware for the time being. At quick glance, the rest of the sticks in my humidor have no holes and most are in cellophane sleeves (but I'm not sure if the sleeves prevent the beetles from getting in the cigars). I have other Graycliff's from cbid in my humi also, professionale series PGX cigars. They seem to be OK at the moment.

Thanks for the quick replies so far . I have about 40 cigars in my humi at the moment. As for the cigar dust, it is definitely in the cigar. Little specks of cigar came out of the hole.

I started this day planning on smoking one cigar. Now, It may be time to test out my nicotine tolerance and smoke the 40!

Thanks again for the help everyone. I appreciate it.
 
Graycliffs need to be stored in a separate container. Could still be in your humi, but in a separate plastic container so all the bugs are contained, if there are bugs. Do not buy from CI or CBid between the months of April thru Oct because of the possible outbreaks. No one listens to me. Read what I said HERE.
 
Graycliff seems to be having some serious problems with beetle infections. Does anyone know any reps they can contact to see what they plan on doing about it?

As far as I'm concerned, until I hear from the horse's mouth that going forward they will be doing something to control the beetle outbreaks in their cigars I will not keep any in my main humidor, and once the few that I have (about 6 probably) are gone I won't be buying more.
 
mp928 said:
Well, I just went through the rest of the Double Espresso's, and they all seem to been OK, except for one other stick, which I have uploaded pictures of as well.

......
Click to expand...

The damage to that cigar does not look to me like beetle damage. Just looks like normal handling damage that can occur. Beetles from my experience will always leave the small pin hole like you saw in the first stick.

Having the cello on will help to prevent the beetles from spreading if it is caught quickly, but it by no means eliminates all of the risk. Did you see the beetle when you took the cello off of that one cigar. If it was in the humi and left in the cello I would venture to say that it was contained to that cigar although they can eventually eat through the cello. I would definitely freeze the graycliffs, it is up to you on the rest of the stash, but if it was in cello you are probably safe.

Nimrod said:
Graycliffs need to be stored in a separate container. Could still be in your humi, but in a separate plastic container so all the bugs are contained, if there are bugs. Do not buy from CI or CBid between the months of April thru Oct because of the possible outbreaks. No one listens to me. Read what I said HERE.
Click to expand...

I have done a fair number purchases in the summer months through CI and haven't had any issues yet. I do however keep them in a separate container in my humi for a while to make sure they are safe. This is really the best practice for ANY new additions that you get to your stash, but it can be worse in the summer for sure.
 
Gonz said:
Graycliff seems to be having some serious problems with beetle infections. Does anyone know any reps they can contact to see what they plan on doing about it?

As far as I'm concerned, until I hear from the horse's mouth that going forward they will be doing something to control the beetle outbreaks in their cigars I will not keep any in my main humidor, and once the few that I have (about 6 probably) are gone I won't be buying more.
Click to expand...

A year or two ago I had to scrap a whole box of espresso elegantes for this reason =\
 
Sounds like every month or so, someone has a beetle outbreak with these sticks. If they're all coming from CI, then it's a storage issue. I really doubt that this is coming from Graycliff this way. But I don't buy them so I wouldn't know. Has anyone had any problems with beetle outbreaks on other CI orders?
 
I sent them the following inquiry to see if they respond, and what they have to say. I'm interested to hear if they are even aware if they have this beetle perception amongst retailers and customers.


Thought you might be interested to know about a thread on a large cigar forum pertaining to a perceived beetle problem with Graycliff Cigars. Thought it would be a good oppourtunity for you to respond to the situation and give your thoughts, or a little background. This forum is a large community with around 9k members, and your voice could go a long way to changing any perceptions.
You can join the forum as a manufacturer I believe and respond in the thread, or contact the owner through the "contact" link at the top of the home page. Hope to hear from you
Best Regards,
John Fields (CP member)

Link to forum thread: http://www.cigarpass.com/forums/index.php?...c=57348&hl=
Click to expand...

Edit to add: Your last picture just looks like damage to the wrapper MP928.
 
Thanks so much for all the quick replies and help with my situation.

Unfortunately, the Graycliffs were not in cellophane wrappers, but most of the other cigars in my humidor are in wrappers. I thoroughly went threw my main humidor and did not find any beetles. Hopefully this does not mean that they are inside a different cigar.

In the past 3 weeks, I have made 5 separate purchases off of CBid, and everything, with the exception of the Double Espresso seems fine at the moment. However, I am going to move all of my CBid purchases into their own humi just so I know they are all contained.

JFields, Thanks for taking the time to write that letter. I know a few people have had problems with these particular cigars, so hopefully, a rep will address the boards and speak to this issue.

I am going to keep a close eye on everything and will hopefully not have anymore problems!

Thanks again for all of the replies

MP
 
Quick update:

I contacted CBid about the situation and they promptly responded and took care of the issue for me. I was a little worried since it is an auction based company, but dealing with them has been a pleasure. They offered to replace or refund my Graycliffs.

Goodbye Graycliff Double Espressos. :(
 
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