Expert: James Yee - 1/22/2010

Question
Hi:  I have been smoking cigars regularly for approximately 15 years.  Recently, and for the first time in my life, I'm having consistently poor experiences smoking. For years, almost all cigars I smoked had wonderful aromas and burned beautifully (all I smoke are highly regarded, well know cigars).  Now, almost all cigars I smoke(whether from home or from my favorite cigar lounges) have poor or no aroma and burn terribly (requiring many re-lights, "smolder" rather than burn, and rarely develop a nice firm, long ash)  They get to this point in about 10 to 20 minutes.

At the risk of sounding arrogant, I've read everything there is to read on cigars, cigar maintenance, humidification, how to smoke a cigar, etc., and nobody has ever directly dealt with this issue.  I feel like the "cigar gods" just don't like me anymore.  How could it be that almost every cigar I light ends up being to moist?  That seems preposterous.  Have I forgotten how to properly smoke a cigar?  Have the humidors in my favorite cigar shops all gone wacko?  Is my butane Xikar lighter ruining my cigars?

In my home humidor, I have two hygrometers to make sure I never get over 68%.  Other than all the "usual" recommendations regarding humidification and temperature stability and consistency, I'm wondering whether you have any insights into what's happening to me.  Could the absence of aroma have anything to do with medication I'm taking?  Do people ever completely burn out on smoking cigars such that they no longer enjoy the beautiful aromas?  Has the quality control coming out of the manufacturers taken a turn for the worse in the last year?  Are manufacturers not drying their product adequately in order to get product to the market quicker?  Could I have begun to smoke improperly, i.e. too quickly or imparting too much moisture from my mouth? Is something wrong with my sinuses? Are my hands emitting moisture that I don't see as a result of medication I'm taking or because of aging?  Are all the aromas in the cigar shop mixing together and preventing me from enjoying my cigar?  (Certainly that never happened in the past).  Could it be the weather?  I realize this is a very strange post, but am hoping you may have some insight.  Yesterday I smoked a $12.00 cigar which went bad in twenty minutes, and switched to another $12.00 cigar which also went bad in about 20 minutes. Neither had the fine aromas that I've otherwise experienced from these same selections in the past.  They were both purchased at the same cigar shop and were smoked on the premises.

Help, I feel like I'm going nuts and losing all pleasure from one of my favorite hobbies.

Sincerely,

Jeff

Answer
Hi Jeff,

It's really hard to pinpoint what the exact cause of "smoker's stress" is but I would say that you may be burning yourself out with cigars so you should either cut back on the amount of cigars that you smoke or take a short break from smoking cigars altogether.  I've had a few smokers that have contacted me with the exact same problem that you're experiencing and for them, they also had a hard time finding out what the exact cause of their problem was.  In the end, they ultimately decided that they were smoking far too many cigars and decided to take a break from cigars.  Those that smoked 1-3 cigars a day cut back to 1 cigar a day or 1 cigar every other day.  For some of these smokers, taking a break from cigars for 1 or 2 months worked even better.  Some smokers also felt that they weren't enjoying their cigars because they were now smoking them too fast.  By slowing down their smoking pace, they were able to enjoy their cigars much more.

You mentioned many possible factors for not enjoying your cigars anymore so you should try to change some of them and see if your cigar smoking improves.  If your cigars have no flavour, they may be too dry.  This is pretty common during winter as the dry heat in our homes will wick away the humidity in our humidors faster than normal.  As a result, you may need to recharge your humidifiers twice as often during winter to keep your cigars fresh.  You also mentioned that you take medication so you should consult with your family doctor to see if your medication affects your sense of taste and/or smell.  During cold winter months, our sinuses can also be effected and this can cause our cigars to taste differently.  Have you noticed yourself smoking a cigar faster than normal?  Try to smoke a cigar at a slow and relaxed pace in a calm environment.  Sip a glass of ice water as you smoke as cigars taste better when your mouth is cooler and your palate is refreshed.

Again, it's very hard to determine what the cause of your smoker's stress is because it's different for everyone.  As I mentioned, if you feel your burned out from cigars, take a break and let your cigar palate recuperate.  Let your senses rest and forget what smoking a cigar feels like and when you return to smoking, your cigars may taste incredible again.

Hopes this helps.  If you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask and I will be happy to help.

Regards,
James