I don't think you guys "missed" anything. Sometimes a cigar just sucks, and that's okay.
Don't ever think you have to suffer through a cigar that isn't doing it for you. We have a saying around here "Life is too short to smoke sh1tty cigars." Sh1tty is in the eye of the beholder.
I know it's tough to chuck a smoke when you're in mid-review, but I'd do it in a minute and grab something else. I'm awful when it comes to chucking cigars. A lot of times I want to toss it as soon as I spark it up and it's hard for me to get through the first half inch or inch till it gets good.
I've often thought I'd start clipping the foot of cigars to knock that first half inch off of there. My thinking is that it's been out in the air for so long that the foot just ain't got what it takes, that it might just be better if I clipped it back a little. I think I'll ask the guys what they think.