This is a discussion on Cuesta Rey Disappointment within the General Cigar Discussion forums, part of the The Cigar Lounges at Puff category; A couple of months ago, I went on a B&M binge, part of which included a couple of Cuesta Rey ...
A couple of months ago, I went on a B&M binge, part of which included a couple of Cuesta Rey Centenarios. I'm generally a big fan of just about anything with a Fuente pedigree, but most of them are outside my daily budget, at B&M singles prices ($12+). Anyway, being a fan, I was looking forward to trying these.
About three weeks ago, I sparked up a maduro toro, and it was a superb cigar. It was everything I've come to expect from Fuente. The flavor, burn, construction, and appearance were all top-notch.
Thursday night, I smoked the other one, a natural belicoso, and it was a total disaster. The wrapper started coming apart almost immediately. The head started to crack and unravel, so bad it was affecting the draw, letting in so much air I had trouble tasting the cigar, and even keeping it lit. I got my pectin out of the fridge and got it re-sealed enough to smoke, which in itself can be a tricky, delicate operation on a lit cigar. It only worked for a while, too. The longer I smoked, the more it kept unwinding. By the time I was 1/3 into it, the wrapper was almost completely detached from the binder. I tried to very gently open it up enough to get more pectin in there to glue it back together, but even being extremely careful, I still broke the wrapper. I managed to get it put back together, but it was an ugly affair, looking remarkably like it was done by an ignorant hillbilly who didn't know what he was doing. Let's just say, Zino would not have approved.
This was definitely the worst I've ever had a cigar disintegrate on me. I could have just gotten a dud, but I don't know since I only had the one. I'm going to assume it was a humidity problem, and not a construction problem. Even with Spring finally arriving, we still have RH down in the mid-30's, and it seems like non-maduro wrappers are just not generally robust enough to handle it.
It was such a PITA, I almost tossed it and got something else, but I like the flavor so much, and I'm a cheap, stubborn SOB, so I just couldn't bring myself to do it. So here's the plan: I'm going to go pick up a couple more, smoke one now, and see if I have the same problem. If I don't, that will tell me the other one was a dud. If I do, I'll save the other one for later in the Summer when the humidity is higher, and see if that helps. That will be my 'tie-breaker', so to speak.
I've been sort of using Puff to keep a record of the cigars that I've had wrapper problems with over the drier months. I haven't totally figured out the reasons, yet, but one thing I notice is that not a single one of them has been a maduro. I'm working on a theory that the thinner, more delicate leaves maybe aren't as suitable for the maduro-ization process in the first place, so they're more likely to be the thicker, more physically robust leaves, and thus better able to hold enough moisture to remain supple long enough to smoke, and they were just tougher leaves to start with.
This is my first Winter as a dedicated cigar smoker, so I only have a few months of observation to base my theory on, so it could be complete crap for all I know. I would love to hear comments from other Brothers who live in drier climes, (and Cuesta Rey fans) to see if you have similar experiences. Even in the dead of Winter, my humidors are consistently at 60-65%, so I don't think that has anything to do with it.
I realize that we talk about wrapper problems pretty frequently, and this may bore you long-time members into a coma, but I think it comes up so often because it's such a common problem. Just when I was thinking I finally had a grasp on the causes and cures, this happens and makes me question what I thought I knew.
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05-02-2009, 01:45 PM
Cuesta Rey Disappointment
