Your summary thoughts of the Water Test Review week?

[El Presidente]

Your summary thoughts of the Water Test Review week?

Thank you you to all who participated!  What a great set of reviews. 

Steve will draw the winners later today and I will arrange the mailout of the FOH cigar stands over the next week. 

Just so that no one who participated misses out, give us a brief summary of your thoughts on this thread. 

[Bijan]

Dry was crisper with more defined flavours, wet had more muted and muddled flavours.

Fun experiment and a good excuse to smoke cigars back to back.

[Benson]

I thought it was pretty cool! I’m only a few years in to the hobby so I find these review experiments to good for honing tasting abilities.   I smoked Mag 54’s, the dipped one seemed to have a more “wet earth” flavor going on, not too much change in how the stick smoked. Thumbs up from me for any similar review ideas from FoH

[Notsocleaver]

My wet Mag 50 seemed a little more complex at first, but was muted in the last third. The fact that I was smoking in an environment that was more humid than my humidor probably hurt the experiment. I'll have to try again on a drier day.

[Chucko8]

My Perla dunked in the water gave a better showing than the dry by way of a creamier aspect and more consistent burn.

[Subcomandante]

My PLPC the flavors were muddled and less defined in the wet cigar. I’d like to do another test with the same cigar. I think it might work better with a stronger young cigar to help mellow it out. 

[mprach024]

My Monte 4 dry was just ok, and the wet was a better smoke.  Although to me it was enjoyable on its, not as a good example of the cigar itself, it was much different than any other Monte 4 I’d had, good or bad.  Very smooth, quite mild, lost a lot of the flavors I want in a Monte, but still was a good smoke.

[Zaxeiler]

13 minutes ago, Subcomandante said:

My PLPC the flavors were muddled and less defined in the wet cigar. I’d like to do another test with the same cigar. I think it might work better with a stronger young cigar to help mellow it out. 

I had the exact same experience (with the same cigar). 
 

Lighter flavors rose to the surface more, but general flavors were more melded together, not necessarily bad, but less individual flavors, more a bouquet. 
 

Unsure, but the moisture may have messed up the draw in the final third. More testing (smoking) needed... ?

[smitte3]

Both of the 2016 Monte 4's scored the same for me at 90/100.  The wet cigar kept a shorter ash than the dry one and started with a better burst of chocolate in the 1st couple minutes.  The wet cigar didn't end up cracking in the end so that was a plus, but it didn't have any affect on performance nonetheless. Will keep the water test as an interesting bar trip to have up my sleeve "Yo Steve! Check this out..."   

[El Presidente]

For those that participated, I have just put up a poll to help focus the results. 

So please give us a summary (needed so we can tick of the FOH stands) and jump in on the poll. 

[TTP21]

I'd say the water drop is much like anything else in this hobby- there's no blanket method or strategy that works for us all.  Mine ended up proving that I prefer my sticks more dry than not, but also showed me when it might be beneficial to give it a run under the faucet. 

 

Fun experiment!

[Shatner's Bassoon]

I slightly preferred my dry JL1, as I felt the flavours were slightly muted and the body a bit less full. There wasn’t much in it, though, and I’m going to try the method on a couple of boxes which have so far been slightly dry. It might have a positive effect on them.

[GVan]

I enjoyed the wet El Principe more!  That said, I have dipped CC's many times to help with a very loose draw.  It always helps tighten up the draw as well as (seems crazy), helps the burn be much more consistent.  Several other reviewer's thought their wet CC burned better as well.  I do believe that some cigars perform better at a higher RH than others that are better dry.  As an example, I prefer all of my NC's at a higher RH than my CC's.

[LLC]

I preferred the dry one but only because the cigar was better in terms of flavor. I do think wetting it helped the burn and will try it again. 

[Hammer Smokin']

joint smokers have been "christening" the doob for as long as I've been smoking.

this is the same principle.

[btort910]

For this test I preferred the dry RG PC's flavor characteristics to those of the wet one. However, the burn on the wet cigar was better than on the dry one. I have used the water method on a number of cigars in the past and have always enjoyed them. It definitely seemed to improve the burn of most of them. Not smoking a dry sample right after the wet ones, I wasn't able to discern the muting of the flavors as easily as I was during this test. I will continue to occasionally wet a cigar I think might give me burn problems.

[Gorangutang]

Anyone that has cigars on hand that they are disappointed with... give it a try.

May save them.


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[ChangBang]

Preferred my dry cigar as it had more flavor nuances vs the wet cigar which made 2 flavors overwhelm the others.  It was a cool experiment, I didn't expect the cigar to dry and be smokeable after a dunk in water.  In the future, if I have a disappointing cigar, maybe try to rub it with a wet paper towel or something in hopes that it changes for the better!

[djrey]

Wet certainly seemed to mute flavors. Became smoother in some instances but also found some sourness. I did have a good experience with the HUHC however. Maybe it depends on the cigar.

[Chas.Alpha]

I participated in the study, but was too lazy to write my impressions. I found the wet (activated) wrapper produced a stronger flavor. I have always been a believer in the wrapper accounting for a great percentage of the flavor of a cigar... I used PLPC's for the comparison. 

[Meklown]

Wet was a better smoke for me but I'm pretty sure it's a case of the dry one being rolled too tight in the first place. Smoke seemed more velvety in the wet as well. Should repeat the experiment a few more times to account for the cigar inconsistencies! 

[david9985]

Reviewers have summarised their individual findings but what are our thoughts on the results in general? Especially when studied in conjunction with the FOHrensics Monte #4 experiment.

For example, do CCs smoke better when the inner leaf is drier than the wrapper? This would be the opposite of most sticks that are too dry, assuming the wrapper dries out first? Just trying to make some sense of all the results!

[kawaii]

I thought the wet perla was better but it wasn't a clear apple to apple comparison. There are parts of the wet perla I liked better (the start of the smoke, the creaminess) but I also got a bit bored with it because it didn't develop as much as the dry perla (not sure if it was that cigar specifically or what but will have to try again).

[KavalanWhisky]

I couldn't really tell much difference, think the ash was slightly more dirty but for the effort it's easier to smoke the dry cigar if it doesn't give much benefit.

Like the poll and idea, really fun concept!