To purge, or not to purge: that is the question

[BDSpiritual1]

I went to my local B&M today to pick up something and even asked the owner about his experience with purging!

He said he's always heard about it but never actually tried it so he was going to give it a try and let me know his experience the next time I see him!

For all of those who haven't tried it and are interested in giving it a shot, I'd love to hear your opinions on it post-experimentation! 

These are some great conversations. I really appreciate everyone's input! 

[Meklown]

On 8/26/2019 at 3:34 AM, OldEasy said:

Since smoke is drawn from the ember through the length of unsmoked tobacco, when one stops drawing, the cigar itself is still filled with smoke. Presumably the smoke which passes through the unsmoked tobacco, and deposits particles along the way, contributes greatly to changes in flavor from beginning to end. 

I tend to agree with this.

I rarely purge unless a cigar is getting really harsh towards the end. I find that it refreshes the flavour and brings it back up around 1-2 inches (assuming the cigar gets stronger and stronger).

[BDSpiritual1]

2 minutes ago, Meklown said:

I tend to agree with this.

I rarely purge unless a cigar is getting really harsh towards the end. I find that it refreshes the flavour and brings it back up around 1-2 inches (assuming the cigar gets stronger and stronger).

It's interesting that you say that.

The last time I experimented with purging, I did feel like the flavours of the cigar didn't quite develop as much as it did when I did not purge. However, that could have been the cigar in general or a coincidence. I haven't been able to confirm as yet. 

[BDSpiritual1]

42 minutes ago, crking3 said:

i try to do this as much as possible...but with smokes that arent adequately dryboxed, or ones that are a bit tightly rolled, it is hard to consistently do this

I try to take single long draws as often as possible. However, sometimes I find myself needing to take mini "primer" puffs to get the cigar going evenly again if I put it down for a tad too long. 

Though, now I am now wondering if that's a good opportunity tonexperiment with a combination of purging and pulling to get things hot and toasty again without canoeing or using a lighter.  

Also, I completely agree. If the draw is too tight, not much you can do.

[Meklown]

3 hours ago, Jequan_sparxxx said:

It's interesting that you say that.

The last time I experimented with purging, I did feel like the flavours of the cigar didn't quite develop as much as it did when I did not purge. However, that could have been the cigar in general or a coincidence. I haven't been able to confirm as yet. 

I guess to clarify, I purge only once sometime during the last 1/3 of the cigar, not multiple times throughout. I also tend to agree that multiple purges will make the cigar develop less than it normally does. 

Which brings me back to why I said what @OldEasymentioned about the smoke of the cigar staying in the rest of the cigar makes sense, as maybe that smoke helps the cigar develop its evolving flavours? 

[Nico]

I experimented with this several years ago. I had two of each: Boli RC, RyJ PC, and a third one I can’t remember. Smoked one of each where I didn’t purge and one where I did. I purged the around the beginning of the 2/3 and the 1st half, and again during the last quarter. One of these duos didn’t make a difference, but the other two duos I noticed the purged ones responded better in terms of flavor. It was like the flavors got muddled/muted/less pronounced when I didn’t purge. And the last quarter got really harsh on all three samples in the non purged ones.

From that day I purge all my cigars two times, and even a third time if the cigar is longer. My only exception is petit robustos where I only purge once around halfway in. I think it also helps when the cigar has construction problems like canoeing, moderate tunneling or other issues. I find purging helps more then trying to correct it with a lighter anyway.

Interesting that people have the opposite experience from mine in terms of flavor. Makes me question my experiment because it was like 5-6 years ago I conducted it.