Anyone wetting their cigars before smoking?

[AUguy]

I know it sounds crazy but my brother read about it somewhere and tried it last week. He swears by it now. From what I understand you run a small stream of tap water over everything but the foot just to get the wrapper slightly damp. He swears it eliminates uneven burns and brings out the flavor. This is supposed to work really well with cigars with several years of age when the wrapper gets flakey.

If anyone else told me this I would call BS but I trust my brother. As soon as my sinuses stop acting up I'm goin to give this a try.

[AdamJoshua]

Well I try to keep my cigars well kept, so no flaking on the wrappers, even then I would not "wet" them down, if you really want to try it just jump into a PPP with Jwintosh

[markem]

I use the technique especially in the winter when a warm cigar meets cold air can mean a quickly cracking wrapper. Several of us did this experiment when a video of the technique surfaced and found that the technique had merit.

I don't tend to use it frequently, but when it is very cold here, I do try to wet the cigar for better wrapper burn. I just run the tap water quickly over the cigar (held at an angle so that none gets in to the foot), spin the cigar and then immediately roll in to a paper towel to help distribute the moisture.

Too much water and the wrapper doesn't burn well at all, so there is some experimentation.

[markem]

Here's a pointer to a 2011 thread here about the technique. Bobarian did a great job with this.

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=26872

[8zeros]

I tried this after reading about it here before I was a member. It worked well, as i recall. Then I forgot about it. I will have to try it again because I don't remember what happened.
I have a stick here that the last one I smoked cracked open all the way through it. Only a month ago. I think I'll wet the next one and see how it goes. Thanks for the reminder!

[bobarian]

I used to do this fairly regularly but not so much today. The technique I found the most convenient was to use the same spray bottle I used to dampen my beads. With the Vinotemp door open and as a backdrop, a couple of spritzes would do the trick. The excess would hit the door and help rehydrate my beads. I found this to have beneficial effect with many of the "sale" cigars from 99-00 production. But as I ran low on these cigars, I found it had less of an effect on fresher cigars. I never found any positive results on non-Cuban cigars of any age.

[8zeros]

Originally Posted by markem

Here's a pointer to a 2011 thread here about the technique. Bobarian did a great job with this.

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=26872

Must be out of bounds for noobs.

[markem]

Originally Posted by 8zeros

Must be out of bounds for noobs.

Good things come to those who wait. It will open up for you before too long, I expect, if you keep up your participation and contributions.

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by 8zeros

Must be out of bounds for noobs.

Roger, Some sub-forums are restricted for new members.
After a short time and participation, doors will open.

[pnoon]

Looks like Mark and are were on the same wavelength. (Not an uncommon occurrence)

[Sadden]

I have a good friend / BOTL that French kisses his sticks before he lights one up. Every single time.

Never did get an explanation from him.

I was just about to scoff and laugh at this till I read that TOE members have tried this and it works...

Guess it just goes to show you can't be too close minded about anything...

That being said, I probably won't do it. But its good to know you can at least.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by bobarian

I found this to have beneficial effect with many of the "sale" cigars from 99-00 production. But as I ran low on these cigars, I found it had less of an effect on fresher cigars.

Double Ditto.

Originally Posted by Sadden

I have a good friend / BOTL that French kisses his sticks before he lights one up. Every single time.

Never did get an explanation from him.

I won't be in any puff-puff-passes with that Dude, Colin.

[mikesr1963]

I watched my grandfather lick cigars to moisten them before smoking them when I was little back in the 60's. I would think it be more common today for smokes not properly kept at the right humidity.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by mikesr1963

I watched my grandfather lick cigars to moisten them before smoking them when I was little back in the 60's. I would think it be more common today for smokes not properly kept at the right humidity.

If the wrapper leaf is dry it might help a bit, but having wet down many wrappers leaves to the point where they would be unsmokeably wet in order to remove them and re-roll them onto another cigar, I can tell you that it will do nothing for under humidified filler as the large volumes of water I was using barely penetrated the wrapper, so the light amount of water being discussed here will probably not even penetrate through the wrapper leaf. If it does, there's no way it will even make it through the binder.

[equetefue]

Blown away. Never heard off such a thing

[MrClean]

I love this place, the things I learn here everyday truly makes me appreciate everyone that contributes and provides information. I've had more than a few sticks over the last few years that could have benefited from this. Another thing for me to keep in mind while smoking.

[Sadden]

So what are the real world advantages to doing this?

Would rolling it up in a damp paper towel for a few moments have the same effect with less risk?

[T.G]

Originally Posted by Sadden

So what are the real world advantages to doing this?

Best thing to do is take a few different cigars that you are familiar with and just try it. It isn't a miracle flavor enhancer, some cigars it helps a little bit, a few it helps a lot, a number of them it might not be noticeable.

At least to me, it seemed to do the most good for the old CC sale cigars from the 99-01 production, and I recall it helping out a few NCs. Unfortunately, I can no longer recall which specific cigars, CC or NC.

Originally Posted by Sadden

Would rolling it up in a damp paper towel for a few moments have the same effect with less risk?

Maybe but it might take longer than "a few moments". I think a spray bottle of distilled water is probably the lowest risk.

[irratebass]

Just like Colin said, there is a regular at the shop who will take his cigar and basically perform fellacio on the stick, we all poke fun, but maybe he's onto something. My self I will wet the head with my mouth before cutting it........I know there's a joke in there somewhere