I just received a box of dried-out cigars in the mail, the bulk of the box was reduced down to brown dust and flakes, but a few of the cigars only damage was small cracks in the wrapper. I can't bring myself to just throw away these once-beautful cigars.

So I have two questions;

1. is there anything I can do to repair small cracks in wrappers to make them smokable (if not pretty.) Can I patch them with flakes, can I find the binding gum for end-caps anywhere, anyone have any hints, know any tricks? Is burying them in the Humi for 6 months or so going to bring them back to life?

And B. Anyone have any ideas (don't be rude) about what to do with the rest of the box of flakes? I thought I heard some mention of steeping them to make a natural insecticide? Anyone?

Thank you!!

Send them back! You paid for good smokes that's what you should get! Im MHO of course.

you need to contact where ever they came from. That is not acceptable.

Hey my package heads your way tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

first off, wow... sorry you received such a package of cigars. was this from a vendor (no names) or ?

well, one thing i CAN tell you is that there's a product called Cigar Doctor(tm) wrapper repair. my local cigar shop sells it, but i've not taken note of the price. you can probably find it by doing a search for "cigar doctor inc" (the official name of the business making it). i've heard good things about it but haven't used it.

i can't throw out a cigar either, any cigar. if a wrapper cracks to the point where i can't smoke it with it on, i'll carefully peel it off and work with just binder/filler until it falls apart. 🙂 if the wrapper is damaged/cracked near the head, i've been known to put a piece of scotch tape around it to hold it together. not as enjoyable, but hey. it works.

a friend of mine used to get ultra-thin cigarette papers and use pieces of that to do a patch job where needed. he claims that the taste of the paper didn't alter things much. another friend made his own "gum paste" by using a cube of vegetable boullion and adding just enough water to make it gooey and then used it like "varnish" to paint over a damaged spot. no word on how that tasted, but he said that it did a good job of repairing the damage.

i'd love to hear about tobacco as an insecticide too! it got up to 78º here today, and i KNOW the skeeters are coming out soon! 😞

good luck! let us know how it goes, hey?

here's a link that describes cigar doctor(tm) but it's a wholesale dealio.

http://www.cigarcartel.com/doctor.htm 

Oh perfect, didn't think about the zig-zag angle, maybe I can lift the gum and use some of the flakes to repair? Going to check out that cigar repair link next.

As for the shipper, well, kinda friend who had them and said "Here! you like cigars" I really wish he knew a little more about storage, but oh well, gift horse and all.

And the insecticide? I thought I heard someone talking about mixing tobacco with vinegar to spray on your vegetables (Sorry Cav) to keep the crawlies off?

hey, arch -- well, who knows. maybe the wife will grow some 'maters this summer, and that'll give her another reason to let me keep schmokin'! 🙂

that link i listed just tells a bit about the product -- they don't sell to the public or anything. like i said, though, my local guy sells it, so if you want, i can check his prices and let you know. i'm sure he'd ship something out if you call or email him, too. (i don't get out there but maybe once a month, so you might do better directly -- email me if you want: BBELTRISI at ec.rr.com for info)

well, good on you for trying to salvage 'em! i wish you success, bro.

-sicilian tony

I must say, that if it was from this site they will amaze you with the customer service. In the past I have received one or two damaged smokes, and C-bid has always done the right thing. Believe me you will be impressed! Let them know they want to keep you around:)

OK Cav, went to the website, that looks perfect, it seems to be just the same type of natural vegetable gum that they use to seal the ends of cigars, bottled. Perfect! I e-mailed the company (which is in soCal and I am in NorCal) so hopefully they market it in thier backyard as well as where you are (back east?) Anyway I will give them a try before I impose on you to go shopping for me, thank you very much for the offer though. Will report back on progress. Still looking for the insect recipe!!

okee dokee arch. just let me know if you can't get hold of this, though. i'll be glad to hook you up with my local guys.

and ditto now on that insecticide recipe! lol

Have only had the problem you describe once. Never was able to restore good smokeable condition, however was sorta able to smoke them.

An observation from my experience: If you're going to re-humidify them, wait until that process is accomplished before attempting any repairs. Otherwise any repair effort will be undone by expansion due to introduction of moisture (BTW, you're probably going to find the end result is going to be more damage, for the same reason).

Just my thoughts.............

If they're dried up, be very careful about humidifying them. The process of humidifying them gradually requires a lot of patience, and should be no less than 2 months.

Tobacco may not be a good choice as an insecticide on plants. It can contaminate other plants (like tomatoes, peppers, and others) with tobacco mosaic virus. Smokers are even warned to wash their hands before handling or transplanting such plants.

For further reading:

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_hfrr/extensn/problems/tomtotmv.htm 

Thanks for the website, very interesting read, the only thing I didn't get out of it was wether the Tobacco Mosaic Virus was endemic to all tobacco plants or just random? If anyone ever comes up with this recipe I seem to remember that it also involved steeping in vinegar? I wonder what if that killed any diseases? Anyway, thanks for the info, but until I get more I am afraid I will have to chance it smoking my torpedo's while weeding my garden 😉