I've been reading the forum for a while, but this is the first post. I've had a problem with some tunneling on a few of my stick. They'v mostly been in a separate humi and all wrapped in celo and they have ranged in quality from Punch Champions, Onyx to some naked hondurans. It could be a problem with the humi, but I'm concerned that it may be beatles. I live in the southwest and am not even sure if I would even have a problem with critters.

Anybody have any ideas what may be the cause?

Gb

I think your tunneling problem is more likely the result of other things than beetles. The little beasties usually evidence themselves by holes in the wrapper as they burrow out of the cigar.

Tunneling can sometimes be the result of smoking too fast or is a characteristic of a cigar which has not been aged sufficiently and has uneven moisture content. In theory the uneven moisture content could be a result of humidor conditions. I know some people religiously "turn" cigars in their humidors on a regular basis.

What turn said. A couple of other factors that can contribute to tunneling. Depending on the cigar, if it is rolled inconsistently in terms of firmness, the "looser" filler will tend to burn faster than that rolled more firmly. Also, if you don't get an even light all around the foot of the cigar in the beginning, one side may start burning faster than the other. When I have this problem I'll sometimes let the cigar go out, cut it off evenly across and above the tunneling, and relight it, making sure the foot is evenly lit. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn't (usually when it doesn't and the tunnel starts right back up after the even relight, it is due to the long filler tobacco not being evenly packed during the hand rolling process).

I usually can pin the blame on myself when I get a tunneling cigar. I tend to smoke fast until I catch myself. Actually the cigar catches me.

Thanks! It is probably a combination of the humidity levels and me. Thanks for the input.