Burn Problems
A hand made cigar has a long way to go before becoming the excellent product that you will be fond of. Certainly, not each item produced by a lot of professionals, will achieve the top-notch level it was aimed at. The main idea of this review is to make its best by aiding those smokers who wish to be in touch with the situation of different burn problems, like runners, canoeing, tunneling, etc
What do we usually mean by saying a bad burn? It is an insignificant alteration in the burn contour - more than three eights of an inch (3/8). Unfortunately for the most of smokers, it is almost impossible to find an ideal burn in cigars, so anything less than 3/8 would be fine.
When there appears a bad burn line, it probably means you precipitated the course of events, i.e. the lightning process. We recommend that you read our article on lighting to avoid this.
Sometimes, even though you are very attentive while kindling your stogie, there still could arise some burn issues. For example, the irregular burn can happen because of the wind. Generally, this occurs while puffing outside when the wind is blowing. As soon as you light up your cigar, the air motion touches one part of the cigar which will be the reason for the excessive flame formation.
The other reason for irregular burn can be the irregular level of moisture all along the stick. In most cases, this takes place when a bare cigar is put on a damp area. The cover of the stogie touches the surface functioning like a sponge, i.e. it draws the superfluous humidity and soaks it up to the internal tobacco leaf. In such case the wetter cigar part burns slowly unlike the drier one.
Because of an incorrect burn, you may get into a difficult situation, becoming grave. You can always anticipate the problem grasping it as soon as possible. The only thing is to know what to search for and how to improve it.
Canoeing
This is the most usual burn issue. It can be noticed when the burn edge has free course and burns through one side of the cigar. It seems like the cigar was divided into two parts and only one side can burn.
One can prevent this problem by paying attention to the burn line which is wider on one side than on the other. This usually signifies that your stick is getting more heated on that side and it may flare up quicker.
In this case, undertake some additional measures, such as decelerating the smoking tempo. Be very careful to take more infrequent and gentle puffs. This will lead to cooling the superheated cigar's side which, in its turn, will level the burn along the end of the stogie.
In case you still have this problem, you can put your stick apart and let it get cool. As this happens, take a cigar cutter to clip the end of it. Thus you will be able to start your smoking again. After that, draw through the cigar to eliminate all chemicals that might occur there because of the combustion. And, finally, light it once again to enjoy the smoke.
Tunneling
The term refers to the situations when the binder leaf combusts much slower than the filler, thus, the core of the cigar is a lot hotter than its surface.
Such kind of issue is usual for those who smoke cigars at a slow rate. While the cigar is in the ash-pot for a long time or it is not puffed as often as necessary, its flaming end slakes little by little. Since the external side of the stogie dies out in the first place, the filling continues moldering. When you take seldom draws, the wrapper of the cigar remains cold and unlit and the filling is kindling.
You can notice tunneling when there is a somewhat absence of smoke in the course of fuming. It can be also observed that ash will stop occur on the foot of the cigar. The best thing to do in that kind of situation is to fix the burn with a lighter and begin puffing a little bit faster. You might also remove the ash as it can cause unpleasant taste on your tongue.
As in the case of canoeing, you can let the cigar cool down, then cut it and kindle it once again in order to continue your smoking.
Coning
This kind of burn issue is contrary to the tunneling and is itself a jag sticking out from the stogie's end. It is, as opposite to the tunneling, the problem of aficionados smoking too fast. Since the draws are produced too quickly, the thick filler leaves start warming and have not enough time to cool down as it should be. The filler fires the binder and the wrapper making them burning out much faster. Because of this, it sticks up at the foot away from the wrapper and the binder. The thick and resinous sort of tobacco which fills the cigar will aggravate the issue since it does not burn as easily as other tobacco leaves.
A typical feature of this problem might detect itself making the smoking rough.
As soon as one finds out there is an issue of coning, the stogie should be let apart to cool down for a while. Since the filler leave gets cold, you can continue enjoying the cigar. But be careful to smoke it a little slower in order to keep filler a bit cool and let it reach the wrapper's and binder's burning levels.
One more way to solve the problem is to let the ash on the end of the cigar as long as possible until it will seem as dropping. This will help preserve the foot chillness and will not let the airflow get into the flaming filler.
Runners
This issue is the most serious one. It can damage a cigar in a few minutes. When this problem happens to your stogie, its burn line alters strikingly and seems to climb down one side of the cigar.
Usually this occurs because of a rough vein in the outer leaf. As it starts burning, this vein functions like a wick and burns through the length of the stogie, ruining the wrapper.
Sometimes people determine a tunnel with an offset center as a runner. In such situation, a tunnel starts developing near to the wrapper. Once it goes down and the heat intensifies, there will appear an opening near to the burn contour (often at a distance of 1 inch).
And, again, if you find yourself to be in such a situation when a tunneling is the reason for runner, cut the foot of the stogie and resume smoking. Attempt to moisten the vein with a small quantity of spittle, if this is the reason for the trouble. In case that does not help, look if the vein is getting smaller or stopping. If it proves to be the case, continue smoking hoping the problem will end off before damaging too much of your cigar.
Just don't panic beforehand! If you noticed a big streak on the stogie, that does not mean you will face a runner.
Troubles during Smoking
Let's finally discuss some other burn issues. Though these inconveniences do not cause any severe problems, they can bring some annoyance to you while appearing.
Sometimes, when puffing a cigar, one can notice some bubbling at the burning contour. Though that does not bring you some kind of big problems, it means that the stogie is extra moistened. The high temperature in tobacco might boil the plenty of moist which dwells in the stogie. This excessive damp is converted into steam which swells the binder and the wrapper.
The most accessible method to get this problem to normal is to begin smoking in a slower manner.
Besides some exterior concerns, it can also be difficult lighting the cigar with excessive moisture. Because of this humidity occurring in stogies, the burn is changed into a kind of smoldering. Tobacco leaf will be fading away as you slow down the rate of smoking to solve other troubles such as blistering and crackling. Trying to light your stogies again every couple of minutes and making everything possible in order to give it back to life is the worst thing in the world.
To solve the problem, the smoker should pay a careful attention to the burning line. Try different rates of smoking to keep the stick lit and the wrapper intact during burning process.
The best way to avoid the problem of extra moisture in cigars is to pay close attention to the RH level in the humidor. Store your stogies at a permanent humidity level of about 65-70% and you will be able to resolve a lot of problems before they evolve.
Of course, it can be much easier to throw your damaged stogie away and pick a new one. Still, you can save your money and cigars taking into consideration the advices above.