Why do I even bother.

[MrMaduro]

2 for 2 out of a fresh 25 box for Monte 4's literally unsmokeable. I've almost reamed a clear tunnel with the perfect draw too and still nothing.

NOV 24 box.

Cubans have always been my bag but my god they're making it very bl@@dy difficult at the minute.

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[oskihen]

That's harsh Dan. Feel for you buddy

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[oskihen]

Got a lovely box of ems monte 2s available 😉

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[MrMaduro]

Got a lovely box of ems monte 2s available 😉

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Wanna swap?!

[oskihen]

Wanna swap?!

🤣🤣

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[MrMaduro]

Cut in half and HS2 bored up the middle

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[ha_banos]

Apparently they are teaching convicts to roll cigars now.

[Bigdog]

2 for 2 out of a fresh 25 box for Monte 4's literally unsmokeable. I've almost reamed a clear tunnel with the perfect draw too and still nothing.

NOV 24 box.

Cubans have always been my bag but my god they're making it very bl@@dy difficult at the minute.

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My 10p worth is, I think humidity and storage has something to with the draw on Cuban cigars sometimes to, if there stored with fluctuating heat and humidity the oil’s and moisture in the cigar can turn to concrete, making it impossible for any smoke to circulate through, rightly or wrongly if I purchase a box or get consistently rock solid cigar’s that don’t pull (even with a draw tool) I purchase my cigar’s from a different source, they usually cost more but walk in humidor’s with perfectly consistent temperature and humidity obviously will cost more to run, this is only my opinion but unfortunately I’ve had more than my fair share of unsmokable Cubans🫡👍🏻

[Simon Bolivar]

Wanna swap?!

No harm in asking!

[PeeJay]

You're not alone, I had to ream out a No. 3 yesterday

[ha_banos]

Keep a tally. 4 bad cigars in 25 is not a surprise unfortunately. Disaster at 600£ a box over here. But consistency has always been an issue. Question is at what price point do/did we put up with it and at what point we cut off?

If we buy from a reputable retailer could we realistically go back to them? I mean boxes take a while to go through. For me years so that's no use!

[Simon Bolivar]

Keep a tally. 4 bad cigars in 25 is not a surprise unfortunately. Disaster at 600£ a box over here. But consistency has always been an issue. Question is at what price point do/did we put up with it and at what point we cut off?

If we buy from a reputable retailer could we realistically go back to them? I mean boxes take a while to go through. For me years so that's no use!

I took a couple of cigars back to my supplier in Antwerp & got a one for one exchange, worked for singles back in the day, interesting if anyone has tried it recently. Indeed, like you I smoke a box over 5yrs or so & won't have tried one for 5yrs so no chance of refunds then. But age does seem to reduce tight sticks, if you keep at 63-65%.

[NorthernPuro]

Feel your pain..... with todays prices and quality control it starts to become hard to overlook the NW offerings who give better QC at a lower price. I recently bought 3 davidoff singles ... two lanceros and a limited edition churchill.... cuban prices and some of my favourite vitolas, but with hopefully all but perfect QC.

[MrMaduro]

Keep a tally. 4 bad cigars in 25 is not a surprise unfortunately. Disaster at 600£ a box over here. But consistency has always been an issue. Question is at what price point do/did we put up with it and at what point we cut off?

If we buy from a reputable retailer could we realistically go back to them? I mean boxes take a while to go through. For me years so that's no use!

Box has a few tightly rolled examples. Some almost box pressed. Going by feel, about 40% feel like the last two unsmokeables. The rest a little looser so hopefully some worth smoking.

Just infuriating. I got a couple out the box in the shop and they felt ok, just luck of the draw as to which ones i inspected.

The shop had a nice decent sized walk in, humidity looked good. Very slim pickings on Cubans as expected but a good selection of NW sticks so I'd like to think the storage wasn't an issue. I also store in 62/64 on preference.

Maybe they will ease up over time. I'll prioritise the ones that feel a little looser. They are still relatively fresh.

[ha_banos]

Box has a few tightly rolled examples. Some almost box pressed. Going by feel, about 40% feel like the last two unsmokeables. The rest a little looser so hopefully some worth smoking.

Just infuriating. I got a couple out the box in the shop and they felt ok, just luck of the draw as to which ones i inspected.

The shop had a nice decent sized walk in, humidity looked good. Very slim pickings on Cubans as expected but a good selection of NW sticks so I'd like to think the storage wasn't an issue. I also store in 62/64 on preference.

Maybe they will ease up over time. I'll prioritise the ones that feel a little looser. They are still relatively fresh.

Forgot to mention - weigh them. You can't always tell by feel. You can't always tell by weight either hahah Its just another parameter...

Reference weight here https://www.cubancigarwebsite.com/ci...ontecristo-no4