Last evening while watching a very, very good movie (I'll go back to that shortly) I lit up a '98 El Rey del Mundo PC. It started out with plenty of smoke, medium bodied, with a slight nutty flavor. About a third the way into the cigar it seemed the smoke just disappeared and all I was bringing in was air. I checked the foot - a bright red cherry was still glowing, but in the center of that cherry was a black hole. Awe, this explains the excess air, I thought. Something wasn't burning correct and where a flame should have been, I'm supposing was unburnt leaves causing an air passage. This continued until I managed to smoke the cigar down to an inch and gave up on it.

There was nothing foul about this cigar so I don't really think anything but leaves were in the mix, but the center just wanted to smolder and not really burn.

I've had cigars occasionally do this, but it always happened when the cigars were over humidified. This one wasn't. My humidity has been steady at 60 for the past month.

Any ideas on what may have caused this?

Anyway, the movie. I rented Mystic River. Damn, what a great flick. Eastwood did a fantastic job of directing and I even have to give props to Sean Penn. The best I've ever seen him act. Rent it if you haven't already seen it.

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A small void in a cigar, while not common, should not have THAT drastic an effect on the cigar unless someone pulled a part of the stalk out of the cigar or something like that. Cigars made with long filler (i.e., full leaf...bunched together) are rolled with the entire leaf...some ligero (the strength), some seco (aroma), some volado (combustion) (that comprise the tripa or ligada), and is wrapped in capote, and then finished with capa. So, as the leaf is bunched with the others, sometimes, a part of the vein that joins 2 halves of the leaf that the torcedor ordinarily would pick out of the leaf might be left there, and then, at the end, someone pulls it out leaving a gaping void. That MIGHT affect the draw, and will more likely have an effect with a smaller cigar like your pc, because there is less of the other leaf to compensate. But if there is a 'stem' part that is that big, the roller should have caught it BEFORE putting it into the cigar. Assuming that is not the case, and someone subsequently pulled this hard piece of the tobacco leaf, then, yeah, that might account for the draw.

Another possibility is that a lasioderma ate its way through the length of your cigar to create that void.

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Santa Cabilla...patron saint of Quericæstan. VIVE COULTER! VIVE CPD!

I hadn't even considered the possibility of a beetle larvae causing this. While possible, I doubt it in this case. There's no sign of beetle investation in the entire cab and remember, this cab was from '98 so if a beetle was present, it had ample time to leave a trail.

The pulled stem, leaving a hollow area seems more probable. Thanks for the info.

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Great info ryj7x47.

I've wanted to ask that same question for a couple years, but never knew how to word it. Thanks for the wording Hard Ash. I have had what Hard Ash described happen 3 time already in the same box of Sancho Panza Non Plus and yes they left me Non Plus'd. I have 2 cigars left from that box and they have been in my humidor since May 99...I don't know the year on the original box.

I have no beetle traces in the humidor, either. I have kept the humidity at 62-64% from the beginning. I originally thought it might have had something to do with when I was refilling the element. But I varied when I smoke them so much that I discounted that theory.

At least now I can quit kicking myself and blame the manufacturer. Naive as I am I never considered blaming them.

I hope the roller that rolled this box has found another career....good luck in Cuba.

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"Time is a thief, it will steal your tomorrows. So, smoke a cigar today."
--BB King (and a little Paleto)

Can't offer up any explanation that hasn't been offered.

I agree, Mystic River is one great flick. The way the characters are developed is great. Not a feel good movie huh?

HA, another possibility is that even in proper humidification sitchos, the degree of moisture distributed throughout the cigar can be very different. Also the binders of cuban cigars, (and in almost every case there are two leaves), can be pretty dense in their structure and slow burning, causing the tunneling you describe. I have that happen occasionally, and what I do is treat it like the cigar has gone out and knock all of the ash off of the end and relight. It brings back all of the flavor of the cigar usually with no charred flavor or tarriness. The most recent time that it happend to me badly was with a Cuaba Salomone and it was obvious that the leaves were not firmly packed enough and the cigar was pretty new, and did not burn like a fine puro should, getting very airy and tarry draws and would not stay lit very well.

KinnickKinnick