Anyone have this happen to them?

I was at SJ Cigars in Philly today and selected a fine Exhibit (reserva edition I believe). I lit the cigar, (or I thought I lit it) and just the inside was burning. I sparked my ligher again and the filler was burning but the wrapper was being extremely stubborn. Lighting it would only turn the wrapper black and the wrapper wouldn't burn harmoniously with the filler and binder.

Surprizingly this was still a good cigar, its made by Crown David that makes a few brands for SJ Cigars only. This is the first time this happened to me, my question is has this happened to anyone before? What the hell was happening?:smiley22:

From what I understand, tunneling is usually a humidity issue. I rarely smoke a cigar that hasn't been sitting in my home humidor for a while, and can't recall the last time I've had any problems like that.

Its more a problem that the wrapper was stubborn and wouldn't even burn when I held my lighter directly up to it.

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Originally Posted by latenightcigars

Its more a problem that the wrapper was stubborn and wouldn't even burn when I held my lighter directly up to it.

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That is a humidity issue. The wrapper is too wet and the inside is where it needs to be.

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Originally Posted by heftysmokes

From what I understand, tunneling is usually a humidity issue. I rarely smoke a cigar that hasn't been sitting in my home humidor for a while, and can't recall the last time I've had any problems like that.

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Yep, I think hefty and guado are right......uneven RH. The wrapper is the first to pick up moisture and the filler is less humidified than the wrapper. Time and constant RH are the only cures.

I guess the reverse would be when the wrapper runs and burns ahead of the filler. Like the wrapper has dried out and the filler is at a higher RH.
The Oliva people say to remove the cellophane before storing them. It makes sense that the cellophane would slow the RH equalization process.

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Originally Posted by DeeDubya

I guess the reverse would be when the wrapper runs and burns ahead of the filler. Like the wrapper has dried out and the filler is at a higher RH.
The Oliva people say to remove the cellophane before storing them. It makes sense that the cellophane would slow the RH equalization process.

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In my experience if the filler is "wetter" than the wrapper you get the splits. Which usually leads to a bunch of "Oh, shits". The filler heats up, the moisture expands, and whammo, the wrapper splits. I have at times been able to actually see the cigar swelling just behind the ember when I first started.....still sometimes happens when I just can't wait for that 5er to equalize.

Tunneling and splitting has probably happened to everybody here. Personally, I keep a little desktop humi at a lower RH than my cooler. I usually put cigars that I am going to smoke in the near future in there so that by the time I partake, they burn real nice. Someone on this board gave me that idea I just can't remember who, but whoever you are...thanks!!:smiley20:

spiffy

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Originally Posted by ashauler

In my experience if the filler is "wetter" than the wrapper you get the splits. Which usually leads to a bunch of "Oh, shits". The filler heats up, the moisture expands, and whammo, the wrapper splits. I have at times been able to actually see the cigar swelling just behind the ember when I first started.....still sometimes happens when I just can't wait for that 5er to equalize.

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Now that is an impressive observation. I had some Gurhka Perfectos blow up on me. I was so pissed that I fed them to the goats. Next time I'll give them more time to equalize.