More Ashtray Than Flavor

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

New Cigars




PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Status
Not open for further replies.

crawdad

Lifer
Jul 19, 2019
1,471
11,447
Virginia
Been smoking an Oliva Connecticut petite corona and instead of getting a sweetness and flavor I'm getting mostly ashtray mouth. Draw was tight in beginning.

Truth is I used Diamond wood matches to light it but surely that wouldn't be the issue?
 

alaskanpiper

Enabler in Chief
May 23, 2019
9,348
42,247
Alaska
Been smoking an Oliva Connecticut petite corona and instead of getting a sweetness and flavor I'm getting mostly ashtray mouth. Draw was tight in beginning.

Truth is I used Diamond wood matches to light it but surely that wouldn't be the issue?
Had one a few weeks ago with a similar experience. First one I had a while back I liked alot. Odd. They arent my favorite CT. I like RP 1999s and Padron Damasos.
 

odobenus

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 15, 2018
728
2,567
Vermont
I get ashtray-mouth from time to time. Not pleasant. Seems like sometimes it's the Ecuadorian CT wrapper, or the combo of CT wrapper and Nic. filler -- got the exact same thing from the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniv. Champagne Series and the Roma Craft Intemperance EC XVIII -- and sometimes happens either when the draw is too tight, so I'm huffing and puffing and it gets overly-hot, or counter-intuitively, when the draw is too open and it gets hot no matter how slow my cadence is. I realize this is heresy, but that's my one gripe with Padron Delicias -- I think the draw is too loose and the tobacco gets charred (as opposed to the Londres, which seems to have a reliably perfect draw and flavor).
That being said, I didn't have that particular issue with the Olvia CT petit corona, but I did find the mustard-like greenish-yellow color of its wrapper to be weirdly off-putting.
 
Last edited:
Jan 28, 2018
12,955
134,673
67
Sarasota, FL
Tight draws cause you to draw harder which results in more heat, just like a pipe. It also could be too moist. Anytime any tobacco starts to taste ashy, there is a 90% plus chance it has gotten too hot. A cigar, just like a pipe, should draw relatively effortlessly. When I get one that is rolled too tight or has a plug, I feel the cigar to see if I can find an area that is "stiffer" than it should be. I put pressure on that area to try to work out the plug. In most cases, it is a waste of time and I just toss it. Life is too short to smoke crappy cigars, or pipes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: crawdad

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
I'll Google it, but offhand I don't know what a Perfectdraw cigar tool is, not being a big cigar person.

...Okay, it is a little skewer that cuts an airway into the cigar to improve the draw, and it looks like it might also remove the tip.
 
Last edited:
Jan 28, 2018
12,955
134,673
67
Sarasota, FL
I just use a Perfecdraw cigar tool , that sorts the problem of a tight draw.

Mixed results. If the plug is really tight, it plugs up pretty soon after you start smoking again. The only thing I've experienced that works consistently is using a long drill bit, around 1/8", to actually ream out the plug and remove some tobacco. You can rotate it with your fingers.

Many plugs are exacerbated by keeping the cigars at a higher than needed humidity level. When lit, the wet tobacco swells up. Plugged cigars are also a bigger problem in the summer when the outside humidity is higher.
 
  • Like
Reactions: odobenus
Status
Not open for further replies.