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I like my Amanda Cigars. I find it hard to get a constant supply. I live in Tasmania, Australia. Can I import my own, or who do i contact to get a good supply.

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I have no idea where to get your cigars but you shouldn't have any problem having them shipped to you. The biggest hurdle you will have will be tax and exise pricing on imported tobacco and allotment size for personal vs. commercial use. You will need to check with Australian Customs for answers as to personal use size and possible exemptions and/or tax requirements.

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Beginner Question here.

I started a Cigar the other day and smoked for about 30 min or so before something came up and I needed to leave the house with my wife. I returned within the hour. I took the cigar, which was only about half smoked, and cut the ash off. I decided to go ahead and put the remaining cigar in the humidor to be finished for another day.

So, my question is... what are the implications of finishing a cigar on another day?

Thanks :)

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Danger Will Robinson, Danger!

Please dont ever do this again. You may ruin every cigar in your humidor! If its still there take it out immediately! The stale taste will permeate every cigar in there.

Sometimes you can try relighting a cigar within a few hours. But after that all you will get is a bad stale tobacco taste in your mouth. If you decide to relight purge(blow through) the cigar through a flame to reduce the tars and unburnt charcoal.

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Bob knows stuff....get that cigar outta there!

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Haha, I can picture your robotic arms flailing around wildly. Ok, I get the picture. Consider cigar removed. ;)

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Oh! One more question.

I have an Oliva Serie G that I am trying to smoke. It seems to be what I assume you would consider to be plugged. The draw is very tight. I am definitely struggling with it.

In the future, I think I will check the draw before lighting. However, even if the cigar was plugged, I am not really sure I would feel comfortable returning the cigar to my B&M. So, is there anything I can do to fix this on my own? If the "Plug" is somewhere in the middle of the cigar, I figure there is nothing I can do. However, I was thinking this particular cigar was plugged right at the cap.

Thanks!

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I'll jump in Drew but i'm sure someone else will too.

I use a draw poker and massage. If you've already lit the smoke, then a draw poker works well. Just shove the poker thru the center of the stick and pull it out.

By massage, i mean, I roll the cigar between my fingers to loosen up and shift the tobacco inside. That helps as well.

If the cigar is not lit, meaning you cut it and checked draw and found it to be plugged, just throw it back in the humi. Time and patience just might be favorable to that smoke the next time you reach in to smoke it!

Hope that helps Brother!

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Good advice :tu That's exactly what I do with great success.

My only other question would be, what RH level are you currently storing your cigars in?

I have found that storing between 60-65% RH greatly improves draw & burn problems that aren't directly attributed to a poor roll.

I hope this helps.

~Mark

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My RH is hanging around %65 and my other cigars seem to be smoking fine. In fact, my last Oliva Serie G smoked quite well. So, I think the problem is directly related to the roll of the cigar in this case. Oh well. I figure this can happen from time to time with any cigar.

Thanks for the advise!

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Bumping this thread... :ss

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What is the theory behind it being no big deal to take numerous cigars in a travel humidor for 4-5 days without humidification and being good as gold, but having to rest a sealed box shipped from a reputable shop?

Wouldn’t it be, in theory, the exact same thing?

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They are two different scenarios really.

"Properly" (ie: the way you like them) stored cigars typically retain (or close to retain) their RH for a few days if kept in a sealed travel humidor (I've found it to be around 3-4 days).

The reason for resting a box after receiving them is to give them time to acclimate to your preferred RH (this takes approx. 3-4 weeks on avg).

I hope this helps

~Mark

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Lots of temperature fluctuations during shipping as well.

I keep a water pillow in my travel humi and it's been rock steady at 68% over the last 2 weeks.

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Quick question. I picked up a couple cigars from a B&M today (usually buy online). I went to smoke one about an hour after I got home, a JdN Antano 1970, and the band was loose. I was able to spin it in place as well as slide it up and down the cigar. I didn't think that was right, so I put it back and grabbed an Oliva V that I bought at the same time. The band was just as loose on the Oliva. So at this point I decided to leave all the new cigars alone and grabbed one out of the cigar caddy I brought with me.

I vaguely remember reading somewhere that a loose band means the cigars humidity is too high. Is this right?

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The cigars were probably wet. The B&M's keep their cigars at 70%-72% most of the time. At least mine do. I'll leave them in my humidor for 3 weeks or so then smoke them, much better.

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Nope, the humidity is possibly too low. Too much humidity will make the cigar swell, therefore making the band tight. Not enough and the cigar will shrink, making the band loose. Although, when the band starts to do what you describe, that's when I know they are perfect for smoking.

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I like to throw any thing I smoke into a dry box for an hour or so, it makes the burn and smoke amount better, but I keep my humidor at 60-65%, my B&M keep theirs at 70%

this is personal preference, and my climate is a bit more humid than some, but if I get one fresh from the B&M, unless I smoke it there, its going in a dry box unless I've let it rest for 2 weeks

I would also like to say that the bands moving is perfectly normal, I take my band off before I go smoke it so I don't loose it

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Gotcha. Thanks for the help.

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I smoked two JdN's this weekend, both of their bands were pretty loose. I keep my humidor at 65% and had kept them in there for a few weeks. Might just be the way they band their cigars? I've only had two so I don't have much experience with those cigars.

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Because it is a handmade product and the bands are put on as such there are always bands that will be some that are loose and some that are tight. Also variances from the time they are banded and smoked can result in shrinking or swelling cigars. :2

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Unless your drybox is a running convection oven, an hour in a dry box is highly unlikely to do anything noticeable, especially in a humid climate. Cigars simply don't drop in moisture content that quickly under anything other than extreme circumstances.

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Last night after class i decided to smoke a cruzado while doing some readings, and these are some of the 5 total beetle holes i found in the cigar! :jd

http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/t...0/IMAG0073.jpg

The cruzado was in a 25 count humidor of single NC sticks within my coolerador and after inspecting the rest of my stash i found no other issues. I did find a beetle crawling about the 25 count humi that contained the contaminated cigar, and he has met his maker

I have begun the freezing process with the remaining 20 or so sticks that were in the same humi as the cruzado and will keep an eye on the coolerador as a whole. However, I also have a couple of questions:

Do cellophane wrappers help protect cigars from beetles and/or impede beetle hatching?

After freezing, is it ok to smoke the cigar that had beetle holes in it or will it taste like beetle sh*t?

Thanks guys :tu

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Cellophane wrappers will not impede beetles.
...and smoke 'em.

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Thanks Tim!

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Okay....here's a REAL newbie question. How long will a cigar stay fresh in just the cellophane wrapper?(not in a humidor) From what I've read so far it will be several weeks from the time I receive my humidor until I can put the cigars in it. Also, do I take the cigars out of the cellophane when I put them in the humidor? Thanks in advance from an "Old dog that wants to learn new tricks".

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Cellophane is a preference it makes no difference on or off. If it came with cello I usually leave it on to protect the wrapper...if not I really don't care about it.

Yeah you're good to leave your sticks out until you get your humidor just let them rest for a few weeks in the humidor. I just zipbloc bagged all mine and used a straw to suck out the air in the bag. Vacuum seal them. Then put them anywhere COOL (60-65 degrees).

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yea, at the very minimum, put them in a zip lock baggie. A tupperware container with a good seal is ideal until your humidor comes in. Do you have any humidification beads at all? I wouldnt store them more than a couple weeks without water pillows or shilala's beads or some other type of cigar humidification.

J.R. - Head on over to the New Inmate Processing Area and introduce yourself to everyone! Welcome to the Asylum!
http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=7

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What causes a wrapper to split? I was smoking a face and the wrapper split all the way to the point where I could not smoke it any more, big bummer!

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Over humidification or extremely low humidification can cause this.

Also, rapid increase in RH rather than a gradual increase. This happens a lot during the humid summer months when you pull a smoke out of the humidor and take it outside into a higher ambient humidity.

I hope this helps.

~Mark

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:tu

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Been hearing this alot from The Face.

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Ill be letting my fiver rest a while then. Thanks!

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I did just get a new humidor but I really thought I had it seasoned right. It has been between 62-65% for 2 weeks now. When I put my cigars in it was at 70% but quickly went down to 65% after a few hours. I noticed last week some of my smokes were a little moist and were going out, so I dry boxed the face for about 2 days with a digital hygro that read 65% in the box. I'm smoking an NHC tat and it is smoking great right out of the humi so I am going to chalk it up to having to many changes in RH and try another one Saturday night. I was pretty pissed but this NHC is making it all better!

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I tried toasting and with a even burn but another important thing is having a great torch to keep the foot far away enough not to ruin the lighter like I did.

I have a Xikar but it never threw out a good flame. I'm going to see if they will give me a new one.

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Which Xikar do yo have. I often have to adjust the governor from the factory as many are set way too low. A very easy fix.

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Heck,

I don't know. It's a double flame where the flipper flips up when you push down on the front side. I don't have a model number.

But I'm glad you asked and got the box out with the instructions. Maybe it will tell me how to clean it. I have the flame adjusted all the way up.

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Sounds like the Element. The little silver cover you turn the gas with acts as the governor. Simply pop it off it's post and reposition it to get whatever level of flame you want.

:)

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I went out to smoke a cigar today, a Cuabo lancero, and half way through I got an odd, tangy sour taste. Then I noticed that a light brown fluid was seeping through the end of the cigar that literally stained my fingers.

Any idea what this was and how it happened??

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Tar...the bubbling crude. It can be very nasty and very thick. It happens, although I am not sure why. For some reason I associate it with reduced air flow within a part of the cigar. :sh

I had a Diamond Crown maduro torpedo years ago that tar just poured out of. :pu

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That makes sense. God it was gross. Normally Cubao's are some tasty

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Ive had a couple different cigars do it. It seems to be pretty random.

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Greg is right, definitely tar.

Tray slowing your smoking speed and purging every once in a while to see if that helps.

~Mark

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Thanks for the info guys!

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I am a new member of this forum, and also new to collecting cigars. I have just set up my humidor, and started buying cigars - where can I post my recent cigar purchases, and my progress?

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Specifically to post recent Non-Cuban purchases, head on over to "Show your recent NC purchases" thread, within this sub-forum

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=3440

Also, browse the various "stickies", which are atop each sub-forum

But most importantly, go the the "New Inmate Processing Area" and introduce yourself!

:tu

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Thank you for your quick reply! I did introduce myself in the "New Inmate Processing Area". Thanks again!

I tried to access the "show your latest NC purchase" but it keeps giving me a Fatal Error, is that normal?

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Patience. Some doors to the Asylum open in time. :D

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:tu

Just to add to that. It goes quicker than you think interact with inmates. Join up in the NST (Newbie sampler trade) and share with posts. You'll be opened to those areas before you know it!

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I have recently gotten my humidor seasoned, and calibrated my digital hygrometer, and I thought I had my humidity under control. Once I got the humidor itself in a place where the temprature stays around 72, but the humidity wants to stay at 74-75%

What I have is a Napoleon II humidor, 3 drawers. It has a rectangle brick humidifier 3x7" I tried to put the brick in all the drawers to get the humidity to adjust, and settled on leaving it in the bottom drawer.

The level in the top 2 drawers was within 1% of each other, but the bottom stays 4% higher.

Is it possible that the humidifier brick is too much for the humidor, and what do you think about using beads?

I currently have around 30 cigars in there, and am worried about the Beatles. Thanks.