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Last post 7 years ago by Stinkdyr. 31 replies replies.
Earthy and non gasoline/ hydrocarbon cigar suggestions?
JEBoatwright Offline
#1 Posted:
Joined: 11-18-2016
Posts: 5
Hello all,

I'm pretty new to cigars, I've been smoking them all of six months or so, and I keep encountering a certain sort of gasoline, or lighter fluid like flavor I'm not a huge fan of.

To try and give you an idea of what I'm tasting I'll list some cigars I've smoked, and what I got from them, so hopefully you can give me some suggestions and save me some money spent trying to find the "right" cigar:

Leccia Luchdor: starts with that gasoline flavor I don't like, along with some leather and pepper, but by the second half becomes very earthy, and great with hints of earthy spices like thyme, rosemary, etc.

La Imperiosa: no flaws, no gasoline, lots of cooked meat, savory spice, and many, many other flavors, great cigar.

CAO Brazilia: coffee, creamer, charred meat, cedar, solid cigar, but the flavors could stand to be more in your face, no gasoline

La Hoja 1962 Maduro: apples and cinnamon, this is an apple pie masquerading as a cigar, right up there with the Imperiosa in my book, no gasoline

Undercrown shade: lots of citrus, and light desserts, no gasoline, but too light for my daily smoke, great when I want something light.

Olivia Habano: pepper and beef, tastes like heavily peppered jerky, no, or very little gasoline, not for me, but not bad

Leccia White: Chinese breaded chicken, yaki soba, soy sauce, salt, leather, but unfortunately some gasoline

Warped Futuro: lots of wood, maybe rosewood? and unfortunately some gasoline, I found this cigar really boring

I could list more, but already I doubt many will read through all that! Is there a certain filler, binder, or wrapper known to throw out gasoline-like flavors? I want the massive earthiness of the last half of the Leccia Luchador, without the gasoline finish. I also really like the Leccia White's salty elements, but again, I wish I could ditch the gasoline...

Any ideas? Will the gasoline flavor age out of the Leccias? I like them more than nearly everything else I've smoked despite it, I just really wish I could get the other flavors without it.

Cheers!

SRH1 Offline
#2 Posted:
Joined: 12-16-2009
Posts: 1,943
Perhaps it's your storage.........

opelmanta1900 Offline
#3 Posted:
Joined: 01-10-2012
Posts: 13,954
twenty bucks says this guy's lightin his cigars with a zippo...
SRH1 Offline
#4 Posted:
Joined: 12-16-2009
Posts: 1,943
opelmanta1900 wrote:
twenty bucks says this guy's lightin his cigars with a zippo...

Good call!
ajerrils Offline
#5 Posted:
Joined: 07-27-2016
Posts: 179
opelmanta1900 wrote:
twenty bucks says this guy's lightin his cigars with a zippo...


That or storing them next the gasoline in the garage.
DrafterX Offline
#6 Posted:
Joined: 10-18-2005
Posts: 98,508
I blame Ethanol..!! Mad
JEBoatwright Offline
#7 Posted:
Joined: 11-18-2016
Posts: 5
Nope on the zippo, I use cedar spills. I do light them with a bic, the spills that is, but I doubt that is the problem. I plan to pick up a turrim from Xikar to light the spills in the future. Storage is a cedar lined humidor, a Geneve from quality importers, humidity is delivered via a Le Veil DCH12, I keep it at 67% and 70F, the humidor is in my bedroom, so no storage near gasoline.

DrafterX, what do you mean you blame ethanol? I don't drink, but I don't think that's what you meant. Do you mean ethanol produced by fermentation of the tobacco?
DrafterX Offline
#8 Posted:
Joined: 10-18-2005
Posts: 98,508
Mellow
DrMaddVibe Offline
#9 Posted:
Joined: 10-21-2000
Posts: 55,301
Could be clean coal.
bgz Offline
#10 Posted:
Joined: 07-29-2014
Posts: 13,023
I know exactly what you're talking about.

Buy better cigars. I've ran into that same thing with low end cigars when I first started on auction purchases (luckily I only ended up with 5ers of these beasties).

I haven't experienced this phenomenon since the beginning of my time here, and luckily I wasn't bit by many craptastic smokes...

Anyway, long story short, don't buy sh1tty cigars :)
JEBoatwright Offline
#11 Posted:
Joined: 11-18-2016
Posts: 5
Huh? What is clean coal?

Also DrafterX, I take it from your response you did mean drinking ethanol while smoking?

Oh well, at any rate I've got a box of Imperiosas, and a box of La Hojas, so at least I have some good cigars to smoke for awhile that don't taste like gasoline to me. I guess I'm totally alone on this one, what with the off flavor...meh, such is life I guess.
JEBoatwright Offline
#12 Posted:
Joined: 11-18-2016
Posts: 5
Bgz,

Awesome, I was beginning to think it was just me! I didn't really think Warped, or Leccia cigars were ****, but I'm a total newb, so I don't know **** from nice atm. Any recommendations?
KingoftheCove Offline
#13 Posted:
Joined: 10-08-2011
Posts: 7,600
Gasoline?
Most people describe the odor/flavor coming off the head of a cigar containing poorly fermented tobacco as "ammonia" like.
Maybe you smell/taste it as gasoline.
bgz Offline
#14 Posted:
Joined: 07-29-2014
Posts: 13,023
JEBoatwright wrote:
Bgz,

Awesome, I was beginning to think it was just me! I didn't really think Warped, or Leccia cigars were ****, but I'm a total newb, so I don't know **** from nice atm. Any recommendations?


Fuente, Padron, Tatuaje, Myfather, LFD, Oliva (V and MB3), Habanos S.A.

Recommendations posted by many all the time, the above are what I would recommend.
KingoftheCove Offline
#15 Posted:
Joined: 10-08-2011
Posts: 7,600
Your storage may be an issue, as in your RH might be too high.
MACS Offline
#16 Posted:
Joined: 02-26-2004
Posts: 79,593
Welcome aboard Boatwright. We're a gang of smart asses here, so that was the responses by Drafter and DMV.

As far as the advice, 'buy better cigars'... that's about right.

Now, on to business - does your name mean you work on/repair boats?
dharbolt Offline
#17 Posted:
Joined: 08-03-2013
Posts: 6,931
High humidity and tobacco that is too young/crappy.

New releases of bueso give me this
SMOKEYOU Offline
#18 Posted:
Joined: 10-14-2015
Posts: 2,275
My one experience with the gasoline was an old band Oliva O. It had lots of time on it (age). My guess as well would be a high RH.
frankj1 Offline
#19 Posted:
Joined: 02-08-2007
Posts: 44,211
KingoftheCove wrote:
Gasoline?
Most people describe the odor/flavor coming off the head of a cigar containing poorly fermented tobacco as "ammonia" like.
Maybe you smell/taste it as gasoline.

makes sense.
tamapatom Offline
#20 Posted:
Joined: 03-19-2015
Posts: 7,381
Never gasoline...even from cheapies. Maybe you should stop siphoning gas from your neighbor's car.
JEBoatwright Offline
#21 Posted:
Joined: 11-18-2016
Posts: 5
Kingofthecove,
I think you hit the nail on the head. I'll let the sticks that suffer from this age for one to two years. I read that Cuban cigar smokers have this issue sometimes, and that's what they do. Apparently secondary fermentation can occur from the moisture added during rolling if the tobacco is too green, and it takes on average two years to finish, and for the by products to dissipate.

In the meantime I'll follow bgz's advice and buy some My Father Centurions, and hunt around for a box of La Nox from LFD.

I also took the advice many offered here and dropped my RH to 65%.

MACS, no my name comes from when my dad's side of the family immigrated from Scotland, they were the Allens, but I guess there were some problems the family got into with the church, so they came here and started building ships, and took up the boatwright name. I myself am a waste about, good only for smoking cheap cigars and being generally useless. Could be worse.

Tampatom,
How would I get my pre-smoke buzz then?
tamapatom Offline
#22 Posted:
Joined: 03-19-2015
Posts: 7,381
I just now experienced a flavor that might be described as gasoline. Drawing on a cigar as it was about to go out.....caused by slow smoking or high RH. And this was a great cigar except for that moment before a relight.
tamapatom Offline
#23 Posted:
Joined: 03-19-2015
Posts: 7,381
As far as pre-smoke buzz, try Drafter's suggestion. Did you say your father's side of family were Aliens? That might be part of your problem.
frankj1 Offline
#24 Posted:
Joined: 02-08-2007
Posts: 44,211
what octane? cheap stuff or high test?
bgz Offline
#25 Posted:
Joined: 07-29-2014
Posts: 13,023
frankj1 wrote:
what octane? cheap stuff or high test?


All I can get is 91 Octane :/
frankj1 Offline
#26 Posted:
Joined: 02-08-2007
Posts: 44,211
bgz wrote:
All I can get is 91 Octane :/

elitist!
bet you light it with $100 bills.
coolbreeze68 Offline
#27 Posted:
Joined: 02-02-2010
Posts: 3,665
CAO Flathead series.
Carb, Sparkplug and Big Block should give the desired gasoline profile.


In theory.
ZRX1200 Offline
#28 Posted:
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,476
"I don't know **** from nice atm"


Hmmmm.........I'm sensing foreplay before some more posts.
madspackler Offline
#29 Posted:
Joined: 03-07-2000
Posts: 3,608
Sounds like you may be experiencing a "sick cigar" issue. A cigar should be smoked either within a month or two of rolling , or after it has aged for at least nine months. The in-between time is commonly called the sick period. The binder and fillers are still reacting with each other and produce an acrid flavor. Higher end cigars are typically rested by their manufacturers for six months to let the flavors mellow and even out. Storing your cigars at too high a humidity can also aggravate the situation. Most here try to build up a stock of cigars by ordering twice as many as you think you will smoke, and allow the excess to rest for extended periods. When new cigars arrive, try one right off the truck, and put the rest down for a nap. In time you will be smoking cigars with a years age while resting you new arrivals. Goes a long way to smoothing out the flavors.

I have had a similar taste issue with some of the recent CAO Brazilia cigars after the Family sold out. They have never tasted the same. I'm certain it has to do with a cheaper wrapper. It just reinforces that it does not pay to smoke cheap cigars.
Pudding Mittens Offline
#30 Posted:
Joined: 08-15-2016
Posts: 1,291
madspackler wrote:
I have had a similar taste issue with some of the recent CAO Brazilia cigars after the Family sold out. They have never tasted the same. I'm certain it has to do with a cheaper wrapper. It just reinforces that it does not pay to smoke cheap cigars.

It all depends. Some cheap cigars are quite good. Those are the ones you load up on before the FDA screws us all over (and all you can get are cigars that are flavorless, $15+ each, or both those things), so you have a massive, tasty and yet cheaply-acquired selection for the rest of your life, while you laugh at people who didn't have the foresight to stock up heavily today, during the "golden days" we'll look back on longingly (yes, they're right now!)

CAO, though, I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole these days. After the shenanigans with later versions of the Sopranos and other lines being seriously dumbed-down in tobacco quality with the change unannounced and the new schitty versions having the same name, band, boxes, price, etc.... hell no. They can stuff it. There are MANY other brands at similar or lesser prices that are far better and more consistent too, that don't play such dishonest games.
Stinkdyr Offline
#31 Posted:
Joined: 06-16-2009
Posts: 9,948
JEBoatwright wrote:
Hello all,

I'm pretty new to cigars, I've been smoking them all of six months or so, and I keep encountering a certain sort of gasoline, or lighter fluid like flavor I'm not a huge fan of.

To try and give you an idea of what I'm tasting I'll list some cigars I've smoked, and what I got from them, so hopefully you can give me some suggestions and save me some money spent trying to find the "right" cigar:


La Imperiosa: no flaws, no gasoline, lots of cooked meat, great cigar.

CAO Brazilia: coffee, creamer, charred meat ....

Olivia Habano: pepper and beef, tastes like heavily peppered jerky,...
Leccia White: Chinese breaded chicken, yaki soba, soy sauce, salt, leather...

Any other suggestions for long, thick, glistening dark meaty sticks to roll around my lips are appreciated!

Cheers!




From most of your reviews, it sounds like you enjoy a nice tube of meat in your mouth....

Think
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