I tried SteveR's method for dealing with plugs, which works very well. I did find that the needle will follow the contour of the filler, and care must be taken not to puncture the wrapper on the sides of the cigar. Also, a 6 or 7 inch needle, as he suggested, works best. These needles, which I found under the name of "dollmaker's needles", also come in 10 inch, which is too thick for smaller ring sizes. Thanks, Steve.

I just use those bamboo Shish Kabob skewers ...

put some serrations for about 2 inches near the top, but not at the top of your needle. the point is to remove some material to keep the hole a little more open. the hole you drill tends to want to close back up, and a little removed material from the shaft you made will help. You may also want to keep your rh closer to 65%....a little drier cigar may reveal that it wasn't really plugged, just too moist.

I keep the bamboo skewers on hand too, but you have to be careful and get the really skinny ones. The ones I have are about 1 to 1.5 mm in diameter. Any larger and the wrapper will probably pop. If you hold the cigar in one hand, and the skewer in the other, you can rotate the cigar as you slide the skewer in to see that the alignment is true, that way you can run the skewer all the way through if necessary. I usually go in a few inches at the proximal end, if that doesn't work, then do the same at the distal end, if that doesn't work, it needs to be run clean through; that's where rotating for alignment is critical. As mentioned, cigars are spongy and will sometimes reclose. One way to avoid this is to leave the skewer in a few inches at the proximal end, and only remove it to draw, that way each draw is loaded with volumnuous, rich smoke. Now that I smoke only quality cigars, and keep the rh at 65, this is rarely necessary anymore, but a good trick to know just in case.

All good advice. My problem was with some Very Good cigars, and I wasn't about to pitch them. I tried the skewer method, but ruined the cigar.The ring was too small for the smallest bamboo stick I had. Steve suggested using a needle and running a double thread of dental tape through the length of the cigar then returning them to the humidor to season.I tried it on some cheap coronas first and it worked like magic. Sticks which were tighter than an amphibian's fundament are now smokeable.