What causes salty or sour off-tastes?

[Chè]

Yes the humidity is likely the cause of all your problems. @ 80% humidity I'd expect a very poor burn, not to mention mold any minute now. The tobacco is simply not as combustible as it should be at that humidity level.

Because the tobacco was not burning properly you likely had a build up of smoke and tar from what little you did burn which is the likely cause of the bitter or sour taste in particular. The wrappers didn't have signs of mold on them did they?

[Kenyth]

Nope, no mold. The humidity in the house has taken almost a week to stabilize at 65-70% again. Rainy weather didn't help. Although my humidifier with 50/50 Prop Glycol/water seems to do a good job of keeping things humidified when it's under 70% It doesn't seem to do so well at de-humidifying things. I've been told a good place to dry out damp cigars is in the fridge

Also, I'm finding out quick that there are a lot of cigars that are nothing but glorified cigarettes, and many that aren't rolled worth a damn. The cheaper the cigars are, the higher the chance of a bad smoke. I've found quite a few I like so far, so maybe I should do less experimenting and more buying of the ones I like.

So far, my favs are Romeo Y Julietta Maduro, JL Salazar Y Hermanos, Diablo Piemente, and Don Kiki Brown label.

Other milder ones I found enjoyable were made by Arturo Fuente, Montecristo, Cuesta-Rey, and Don Kiki.

[MMAB]

without a doubt, a cigar that's too moist. Sour taste goes along with it.

Salty? That's a new one on me too.

When the first H2000 wrapped cigars came out a few years back, I recall that many of them were terrible and I actually tasted a "briney fish" sort of taste. Horrible. Particularly Indian Tabac H2000 stuff but did notice it in others. I learned that many factories didn't know how to properly age H2000. That seems to be a problem that has been corrected lately though.

[Kenyth]

Well, I don't think my humidity is entirely to blame. I just smoked a Don Kiki Green last night. Nothing fancy, but a nice smoke while grilling or something. It tasted just fine. It's been in the same humidor for the same amount of time as the others. No doubt the sour one was a little moist, but also no doubt it was just a bad cigar too.

The salty one's burn problem was something someone called "booked" tobacco? I guess the leaves were simply stacked flat and rolled haphazardly? Apparently, that causes a hot burn chimney up the middle from a hole in the middle of the roll, and makes it very difficult to keep the edges lit because the leaves are packed together real tightly. The terrible burning this causes produces all kinds of strange off-flavors. Quality control at even the lowliest of factories should have caught this, but apparently, some sneak through. Badly fermented tobacco is also a possible culprit.

[Corona Gigante]

I've noticed saltiness on the lips before, most strongly with Bolivars, tubo #2 and belicoso fino both. I read somewhere that it's associated with a strong nicotine content. I couldn't really vouch for that theory though. I've had cigars that seemed to be much stronger in nicotine (Flor Domincana Double Ligero) that had no noticeable saltiness.

The salty Bolis burned just fine though. I don't associate saltiness with a poor burn.

As has already been pointed out, I find over-humidified cigars will burn weirdly.

[Kenyth]

This is an old thread. At any rate, the "booked" term was incorrect. I think that's a term used when bundling tobacco for fermentation. Regardless of the terminology, it was simply a very poorly rolled cigar with a sizable hole (I called it a chimney) up the middle. The salty taste was likely from me sucking in bits of ash through this hole. Anyway, a bad cigar is simply a bad cigar, regardless of the reason. Now that I know what I'm doing a bit more, I look for reviews online before buying. It's saved me from any further dog rockets.

[TheyCallMeManiX]

also kenyth, the tars that accumulate from a bad cut can make the finest premium taste like a dog rocket.