Expert: James Yee - 8/17/2008

Question
Hi James,

I have yet another question.  I tried a search but didnt find a similar question asked before.

Anyways, I just bought a few cigars one of them being an Arturo Fuente after I read so many positives.

Anyways, I was looking at the cigar very closely and noticed a bunch of little bumps on the cigar.  I couldnt figure out what they were, and you wouldnt notice it on a casual look

Normally, the outer cigar leaf is usually smooth.. but on this one, it has really really small bumps.   Doesnt look like cigar beetle holes, cause A its not a hole, and B, I looked up what they looked like, and those holes are huge compared to these bumps.   Just wondering what it could be

Also, just want to confirm.  Those yellow spots you see on cigars that are about 1-2mm in diameter, was it from water drops on the tobacco leaves before they were harvested or something?  just trying to broaden my knowledge here...

And one last question: I just bought some cigars from a cigar shop and I think when I do the pinch test, it is a bit firmer than the cigars in my humidor.  Does that mean the RH% in my humidor is too high?   right now, it is around 72%.   I opened the cellophane tips and unscrewed the tube tops and left them in my humidor...

any advice on whats best would be appreciated

thanks for all the help once again

Answer
Hi Andrew,

Though cigar manufacturers will try to use the best-looking wrapper leaves, sometimes the wrappers can be overly spotty, veiny or bumpy.  There's no explanation why leaves can look like this except that it's just the way that they were grown.  High-end cigar brands tend to not use these wrapper leaves but sometimes they get past inspection and end up being used.

Yes, the yellow and natural green spots that you see on cigars can be from water or chemical contact during cultivation.  These spots usually occurs when the leaves are still growing in the fields or sent to the fermentation rooms. (Usually the former.)  These spots are usually not created by water but instead, another type of liquid that leaves a stain.  When a stain is left on a leaf while it is grown, the rest of the leaf will change colour but that specific spot will either not change colour (and remain green) or change colour more slowly; creating a discolorated spot.  It's also possible that these spots are stains left by previous traces of mold.  When removing mold from cigars, there is usually a discolorated stain left on the cigar.

There could be a couple of reasons why the cigar store cigars were more firmer than the cigars in your humidor.  First, the store's humidity could be lower that your humidor's humidity.  This would cause the store cigars to be a bit stiffer than normal.  It's also possible that the cigars were tightly packed with filler tobacco or rolled too tightly.  With premium cigars, it's important to remember that not all cigars are rolled with the exact same amount of tobacco and sometimes a cigar can be under-filled or over-filled with tobacco.  This will affect how much give a cigar will have with the pinch test.

Regards,
James