Newcomer (Newbie) Q&A

[MooseAMuffin]

Is there any difference between Partagas 898 Varnished and unvarnished besides the box?

[Stump89]

52 minutes ago, MooseAMuffin said:

Is there any difference between Partagas 898 Varnished and unvarnished besides the box?

The varnished is the Dalias vitola, 6.7x43, and the unvarnished is a Coronas Grandes, 6.1x42.  I am curious as to why they were different sizes.

[MooseAMuffin]

3 minutes ago, Stump89 said:

The varnished is the Dalias vitola, 6.7x43, and the unvarnished is a Coronas Grandes, 6.1x42.  I am curious as to why they were different sizes.

Is one better than the other in terms of flavor or are they pretty much the same?

[Stump89]

7 minutes ago, MooseAMuffin said:

Is one better than the other in terms of flavor or are they pretty much the same?

The unvarnished was discontinued in the early 2000s.  I've never had one before, and I'd imagine they're pretty tough to find these days.  The current production 898 are very good, though I think they need some time down to really shine. Strong, rich, earthy/wood flavor.  And the Dalias vitola is one of my favorites.

[cfc1016]

18 minutes ago, Stump89 said:

The unvarnished was discontinued in the early 2000s.  I've never had one before, and I'd imagine they're pretty tough to find these days.  The current production 898 are very good, though I think they need some time down to really shine. Strong, rich, earthy/wood flavor.  And the Dalias vitola is one of my favorites.

I had the great pleasure of burning through a bunch of boxes of early 90s unvarnished, in the mid90s-early aughts. 

 

That was a supremely fantastic cigar. My all time favorite, hands down. The varnished is good too, but I’ve only enjoyed specimens from 2016 production so far. Got a box of BLP OCT 08 resting in the humi at the moment. I’m gonna give them a few months (if i can stand it) before test driving. 

[Stump89]

18 minutes ago, cfc1016 said:

That was a supremely fantastic cigar. My all time favorite, hands down. The varnished is good too, but I’ve only enjoyed specimens from 2016 production so far. Got a box of BLP OCT 08 resting in the humi at the moment. I’m gonna give them a few months (if i can stand it) before test driving.

Very cool, lucky!  I have some '13s that are starting to hit their stride.  The others I've had were '08s as well and they were fantastic.

[prodigy]

Why are my cigars overheating is it that they are too dry or too wet? Or am I lighting them too eagerly? I generally use matches or cedar spills because torch lighters just seem to incinerate the cigar leaving them tasteless and overheated. But lately they have been overheating even with matches... I used to use 65 Rh Boveda pack, but after about 50 ruined cigars I realised that they were to dry... Now I am using 69rh Boveda packs but they still seem to dry... The cigars have acclimatised for over a month but they feel dry, if I squeeze them they crack... They aren't spongy... Should I switch to Heartfelt beads? If so should I use 65 or 70rh beads? Right now I am smoking a 6 year old Cohiba Lancero, and it is sweet and herbaceous and delicious, but there is a backdrop of harshness and it is overheating? I tried cutting and relighting it gently but to no avail... What should I do? I keep them at 20 degrees Celsius as recommended by Boveda... But they don't seem to work properly...
 
 
 
 
 

What are you storing them in? Cooler, wine cooler, cabinet, desktop humidor? How long are the bovedas lasting before they dry out? If it gets hot, it's likely from smoking too fast. Slow down and see if that helps.

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[IanMcLean68]

21 minutes ago, Kierkegaard said:

I generally smoke very slowly, an ERDM Demi Tasse, takes me about 40-50 minutes... But it depends on the cigar... But I will say that mine seems to overheat even before I puff... If I hold the cigar from about 1-2 cm from the burning foot, it nearly burns me, and if I know correctly it is not supposed to... And this didn't happen until 4 months ago... As for the Boveda pack, I don't have that many cigars but I have never needed to replace it... They have never dried out, even when I had, 50 cigars... I keep them in tupperware... But I am thinking of switching to a cooler... In fact I think I will go tomorrow to buy one...

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May I suggest that, unless you are averse to the smell of cedar, that if you are only keeping 50 cigars on average that a nice spanish cedar lined desktop humidor might be better value? It is much easier to keep a full or nearly humidor at a constant rH, and my thoughts are you might be struggling to keep a cooler stable with that few cigars in it, unless you buy a little one, like the small ones you buy as can coolers.

[PhilB]

1 hour ago, Kierkegaard said:

I generally smoke very slowly, an ERDM Demi Tasse, takes me about 40-50 minutes... But it depends on the cigar... But I will say that mine seems to overheat even before I puff... If I hold the cigar from about 1-2 cm from the burning foot, it nearly burns me, and if I know correctly it is not supposed to... And this didn't happen until 4 months ago... As for the Boveda pack, I don't have that many cigars but I have never needed to replace it... They have never dried out, even when I had, 50 cigars... I keep them in tupperware... But I am thinking of switching to a cooler... In fact I think I will go tomorrow to buy one...
 

 

Are you sure that Boveda doesn't need replacing?  Do you have a proper, digital, calibrated hygrometer in there, and if so, what is the RH in the Tupperware?

[Colt45]

19 hours ago, Stump89 said:

I am curious as to why they were different sizes.

the 898 designation refers to the packaging only - three layers in the box, eight, nine, eight = twenty five cigars.

[nvrp813]

Has anyone had their cigars change color in a week? I recently got a new box of Magnum 50s and the wrapper color has dramatically changed in 7 days. I also recently upgraded to a larger, climate controlled humidor in the same time frame. Humidor was properly seasoned before sticks were added.

I’m fairly new to CC box purchases as before I’d usually get samplers. This might have happened before in my old humidor to my NC and i just never noticed. Any insight would be helpful. I’m adding two pictures.... First one taken when cigars arrived (7 days ago), the other today. Thanks

[prodigy]

Wow, I'd be happy if all my pale wrappers turned dark like that. Please figure out how that happened lol

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[nvrp813]

Forgot to add humidor conditions 61F/61RH.

[SCgarman]

On ‎2‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 4:41 PM, nvrp813 said:

 

Yes it’s a large “wineador” of sorts. I guess cost is all relative but it was close to $400, which to me is a pricey humidor purchase. I know some on this board spent way more, but still being new to the hobby (passion), this is what i was comfortable putting down.

My only issue with cigar oasis is i do not like adding humidity in such a dramatic fashion. Correct me if I’m wrong but i am under the impression cigar oasis puts off a steam, or vapor, to add humidity. I’m much more comfortable with the “passive” humidification of a boveda. Scientifically i might not be using the correct terms but i hope you understand what I’m trying to say.

Thanks for the response and input. Very much appreciated.

 

If you have a wooden cabinet humidor such as an end table style of larger, you will need "active" humidification such as a Cigar Oasis especially in the winter months when household humidity drops into the 30's and low 40's. This is what I have in my end table and it has worked like a charm for 10 years now. The same unit without fail. In the summer, I can regulate the humidity in the cabinet by cracking open the 2 wood doors and keeping an eye on the digital hygrometer inside the unit. 

[Kitchen]

8 hours ago, nvrp813 said:

Has anyone had their cigars change color in a week? I recently got a new box of Magnum 50s and the wrapper color has dramatically changed in 7 days. I also recently upgraded to a larger, climate controlled humidor in the same time frame. Humidor was properly seasoned before sticks were added.

I’m fairly new to CC box purchases as before I’d usually get samplers. This might have happened before in my old humidor to my NC and i just never noticed. Any insight would be helpful. I’m adding two pictures.... First one taken when cigars arrived (7 days ago), the other today. Thanks

As a commercial photographer, I am going to rack this up to lighting differences. 

Looks like you have a fairly broad and even (near overhead) light that was the main light source in the first image; notice the lack of any shadows and the large glare on the surface.  Also, since the surface is pretty dark overall, the light meter in the camera is exposing the image longer to expose for the overall dark image, making the cigars register lighting in color. 

In the second image, it appears your camera is using the flash as the main light source; you can see the glare of the flash in the wrappers and rather harsh shadows.  Also, the surface you are using is closer in color to the cigars and lighter then the black surface, thus the internal light meter is not exposing the image quite as long as before since the overall image is not as dark.  

A difference in lighting this drastic will produce a fairly large difference in the final images. 

[nvrp813]

As a commercial photographer, I am going to rack this up to lighting differences. 
Looks like you have a fairly broad and even (near overhead) light that was the main light source in the first image; notice the lack of any shadows and the large glare on the surface.  Also, since the surface is pretty dark overall, the light meter in the camera is exposing the image longer to expose for the overall dark image, making the cigars register lighting in color. 
In the second image, it appears your camera is using the flash as the main light source; you can see the glare of the flash in the wrappers and rather harsh shadows.  Also, the surface you are using is closer in color to the cigars and lighter then the black surface, thus the internal light meter is not exposing the image quite as long as before since the overall image is not as dark.  
A difference in lighting this drastic will produce a fairly large difference in the final images. 

Thanks for the reply. While yes, the pictures were taken in different parts of my house, at different times of the day, both lighting situations were fairly the same. I did not use the flash in either picture and only used the light that was in the room at the time. The cigars are noticeably darker today than they were 7 days ago. I cannot recall a time where this was ever the case with any other cigars. I’ll chalk this up to an anomaly but the cigars are definitely darker.

[Kitchen]

31 minutes ago, nvrp813 said:

 

Thanks for the reply. While yes, the pictures were taken in different parts of my house, at different times of the day, both lighting situations were fairly the same. I did not use the flash in either picture and only used the light that was in the room at the time. The cigars are noticeably darker today than they were 7 days ago. I cannot recall a time where this was ever the case with any other cigars. I’ll chalk this up to an anomaly but the cigars are definitely darker.

Regardless if you did or did not use the flash in the second image, I can tell immediately that the light is vastly different.  Look at the shadows and glares, even the texture of the wood (top panel in the cigar box) in the second versa no texture in the first.  Texture that fine is only brought out by harsh light.  There is no question the differences in these images are from lighting. 

I could capture the same cigar, or even the same product, with two different light set ups in the same day and easily produce this variation.  I mean no offense pointing this out, only it is hard to judge a product by an image since the lighting really alters that product so much. 

[George-eed]

I keep reading the acronym 'ROTT' could someone please explain what that means?
Thanks


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[Fuzz]

30 minutes ago, George-eed said:

I keep reading the acronym 'ROTT' could someone please explain what that means?
Thanks


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Right Off The Truck

However, it also refers to the game, "Rise Of The Triad".

[George-eed]

Ahh, the penny drops. Thank you


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[cfc1016]

On 3/1/2018 at 2:47 PM, Kierkegaard said:

Even stranger is that fact that even if they go out, they are still hot to the touch...

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Sounds like dengue fever 

[El Presidente]

19 hours ago, nvrp813 said:

 

Thanks for the reply. While yes, the pictures were taken in different parts of my house, at different times of the day, both lighting situations were fairly the same. I did not use the flash in either picture and only used the light that was in the room at the time. The cigars are noticeably darker today than they were 7 days ago. I cannot recall a time where this was ever the case with any other cigars. I’ll chalk this up to an anomaly but the cigars are definitely darker.

 

It is lighting. You just didn't notice it 

Wrapper doesn't change in a week.....unless you have a cigar genie. In that case I would be buying cabs of Double corona seconds before you waste your next wish. 

[nvrp813]

It is lighting. You just didn't notice it 
Wrapper doesn't change in a week.....unless you have a cigar genie. In that case I would be buying cabs of Double corona seconds before you waste your next wish. 

Maybe that cigar genie could pay off my mortgage so i have more money for cigars

Thanks for the reply Rob.

[FatPete]

At the beginning of the year I kept anxiously checking this forum for a Cuban cigar deletions 2018 thread. Thankfully I didn't find it.

How often do Tabacuba delete cigars, is it biannually or when they feel like it ?

Thanks 

 

[DevilDog72]

On ‎2‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 5:18 AM, El Presidente said:

The risk is Tobacco beetles which feel the need to hatch, feed and breed when the temperature rises above 70 F.  Say 68 F to be safe. 

You need to freeze your stock to kill any larvae. Put the complete boxes in zip lock bags and into a deep freezer for a week and then on a bench for a day and back into your humidor. 

People will tell you a day in a fridge and then a week in the freezer and a day in the fridge and a day on the bench and then into your humidor.  It all works.  You just need to freeze the cigars if you want to be safe in hot climates where temp isn't controlled. 

At the same time clean out your humidors. 

No damage is done to the cigars through the freezing process. Before you put anything in your humidors again, freeze them. 

Peace of mind. 

I was under the impression that all CC for export had gone thru the freezing process to control the Tobacco beetles.  Inside storage conditions at my home is around 70F to 72 F.  Do I need to go thru the freezing process for all boxes received ?