Tar in my 'gar

[MaledettoToscano]

In the past month or so I've had a few cigars with tar build up; a couple (CI Legends Maroon Label and an Indian Legend Caneroon Maduro) only had a little tar towards the end, while one -a RASCC- was so tarry it completely covered any taste the cigar might have had; quite disappointing considering the high opinions around here on this smoke. Luckily I have another 2 which hopefully will make up for the disappointing one.

I was wondering if someone has an idea why this happens and if it is possible to reduce or solve the issue somehow.

A quick look online tells there is no definitive opinion on this:

- some claim tar comes from plant lymph which remains in the leaves after fermentation, even when this is carried out perfectly.

-others think it is just a sign of badly fermented tobacco

- and finally some think it is caused by cigars stored in humidors over 70% R.H.

Any opinions?

[SeanP]

Sounds like it's time to purge that baby! Purging will get rid of the oils and tar build up that are a byproduct of combustion. Since you are asking this I guess you don't know what purging is so here is my best description:

When you get a bitter taste or off taste in a cigar put it down and let it extinguish it's self. Go get a drink, walk the dog, wash up the dishes or do something other then smoking that cigar for a few moments.

Now, back to the cigar! Take said stick and grab a lighter (torch lighter works best but matches or cedar will work for the purists) and get the foot of the cigar glowing red.....real hot. Then, put said cigar in mouth and BLOW. Yep, I said blow, you are purging, not smoking. Keep blowing out and don't be scared if you get a bigish flame shooting out the end, that's the tar and oils that you were tasting burning off. Once you get past the larger flame let it rest again for a few minutes and continue to smoke with improved flavor. You might have to relight if the foot is not still completely lit.

You might have a bit of tar still in the body of the cigar from earlier but this should stop the major buildup. Also, if you keep getting this on the same brand of cigars try smoking them slower and thus cooler and plan on purging sometime during the smoke.

HTH

[MaledettoToscano]

Thanks Sean,

being a newbie to cigars I had never heard of purfing before, but if I get the same issue again I will certainly give it a go.

Cheers!

[G-man]

With all this pugring I say

BRAVOOOOOO!

WELL SAID !


I Couldn't have said it better myself

[Deano]

Well, I never knew that either!

Nice contribution, I'll put it to the test at some point! Though I'm not sure I'd even realise when I had a very tar'y cigar!

I is a noob.

[MaledettoToscano]

Well, I never knew that either!

Nice contribution, I'll put it to the test at some point! Though I'm not sure I'd even realise when I had a very tar'y cigar!

I is a noob.

I is a noob too, but I promise you'd notice because you'd only taste bitter .

[G-man]

All cigars should be purged

Well, I never knew that either!

Nice contribution, I'll put it to the test at some point! Though I'm not sure I'd even realise when I had a very tar'y cigar!

I is a noob.

Deano all cigars should be purged maybe not that extreme but about 2/3rds of the way down all should be purged.
Hope that helps all that read this tread!
Even some of the most experianced cigar smokers don't know this little tibit and swear their cigars are bitter and suck.

[TJCoro]

And this is a problem?

Hell, I likes the tar....the more the better!

But what the hell do I know, after all, I'm just a simple... bla, bla, bla!

JB, JBCoro


These lads are muy loco, boy!


(Hurump!) You two are idiots!

[SeanP]

I might purge every cigar a little bit but only do a full purge on ones that seem to "turn" on me and get a bit bitter. I notice the larger ring gauges (52+) give me the most trouble like the CAO Brazilia (56 ring & guaranteed to get tar!), Cu-Avana Intenso Gordo (54 ring), HdM Excalibur 1066 Dark Knight I (54) & the Oliva V Double Toro (60 ring).

Come to think of it, all of those cigars, as well as others I have had troubles with and the ones Maledetto was having trouble with, were darker wrapper cigars...is it tars? or is it sugars? Not sure but I know it happens and purging takes care of the issues.

[cj121]

Out of curiosity Alberto, did you punch or cut the cigar? Punching some cigars that as noted here, might have higher oil/tar, can concentrate said scchhtuff in the exhaust

[MaledettoToscano]

Come to think of it, all of those cigars, as well as others I have had troubles with and the ones Maledetto was having trouble with, were darker wrapper cigars...is it tars? or is it sugars? Not sure but I know it happens and purging takes care of the issues.

Was thinking the same thing, but then the tar seems to come from the filler and not the wrapper. Haven't checked how much maduro is in those fillers though .

Out of curiosity Alberto, did you punch or cut the cigar? Punching some cigars that as noted here, might have higher oil/tar, can concentrate said scchhtuff in the exhaust

Two were cut with a double blade guillotine and one with a V cut. The V cut was the worst, so there might be some truth there.

[Ramon]

As previously noted, using a punch or v-cutter can allow tar to accumulate at the end of the cigar.

When purging a cigar it is not necessary to allow the cigar to go out, just simply blow through it rather than sucking. By allowing the cigar to go out all that happens is the smoke cools down and the tar condenses along the full length of the cigar. When relighting no amount of blowing will shift that. If you do want to lay your cigar down part way to self extinguish, blow through it before you lay it down thus avoiding this problem.

[Paulie]

I have noticed that when I use a cut which is smaller than normal I sometimes get a little tar building up on the large gauge cigars too. In the past when I was not into cigars that much and would buy the machine made packets of large gauge cigars that had holes in them already they would often have tar build up in them.

I think it is a combination of natural 'issues' in the cigar itself and also the size or quality of the cut/punch made.

[tupacboy]

hmm, i have a question on purging, somehow it doesn't make sense to me.

I can see how the heat, while you suck in the cigar moves the tar toward the sucking point.

However, if you have the heat again at the end, I don't see how blowing would move the tar. To me, the tar is near the suck point now and blowing without heat won't move the tar. I guess it would only make sense if the heat from our body through our lungs is hot enough to move the tar back out.

[Mr_White]

Might be useful.