I've had 3 cigars in the past couple of days. Two of them burned badly and one burned great. From last weeks CBid winnings I tried my first Ramon Allones brioso. Looked absolutely beautiful, wrapped up in its cedar cloak, but it was plugged like my daughters shower drain. After I made like Lewinski for half the smoke it suddenly opened up. By that time I was pretty disgusted.

Then I smoked an Astral TVS robusto from the same CBid winning batch. Again this cigar looked like a real winner; I just love square pressed cigars for some reason. Cut the end and gave it a dry run. Very loose draw, so at least it's not plugged. The rest of the cap began peeling away before I even had the entire end to ash. Then the thing made like Hogan Heros and tunneled on me. All the way down, even though I used half the CBid match box trying to get the wrapper to light. Hard to enjoy the flavors when I'm obsessing over the crummy burn.

Lastly, tried a Gran Habano (cheapie). Burned like a cigar should.

Oh well, maybe I should leave the rest of the RA and TVS alone for some more humidor time to equalize the RH.

....you get what you pay for (most of the time).

pool the funds together and buy Padron, Oliva, AF, Torano, RyJ, Bucanero, etc.

For the money, get some Onyx. You won't be disappointed.

yes Ive not been disappointed with Onyx or Oliva's.

What Sonny said, along with the suggestion to let all cigars you recieve, rest for atleast 2-3 weeks before expectations can be really high for an even burn.

The TVS has a dark, oily wrapper that needs to sit a bit, then dryboxed for an overnight.

The Gran Habano is easily one of the best cheapies out there, and is the first thing I reach for to give to friends that need Mild stuff.

Dave

All TVS are like that, age or not. I really enjoy them, for the flavor, but the burn with those 1/4 inch thick wrappers are always an adventure. Comes with the territory. If it didnt have that wrapper it wouldn't taste the same. Yeah, dry boxing does help a bit. And they arent cheap.

I must say, this whole concern of how a cigars burns is curious to me. If your are so concerned about how the dang thing burns, when do you have time to enjoy it? Does it really alter the taste of a cigar because it burns funny? I dont think so.

"Bad cigar, Bad Burn! Even tho I think you taste great Im never smoking you again...bad, bad, burn!!!

So, even tho I know they arent going to burn like the quinesntial cigar should, Ill keep buyin them because I dont care how they burn, I enjoy the taste.

those all sound good to me. i've got a TVS in the humi waiting for some good long smoking time. i've not had a ramon allones yet, and i have had a gran habano and liked that one a LOT. good burn to it, and great for a mild smoke.

i'd definitely suggest some lower humi (65%) time for the RA. and maybe dry box it for a day before you smoke it. also, i've noticed that if i smoke ANYTHING inside of a week after its arrival, the burn tends to be off or the draw is tight. i'd suggest giving any winnings or arrivals of any kind at least a week of humi time. try that and see how it goes on the rest of them. good luck!

Love my Gran Habanos! Haven't had one in awhile been too busy trying to smoke those that I haven't tried before - but a Gran Habano sounds good to light up after we eat our pizza tonight 🙂

What Cavallo said, I rest mine at least a week from receiving them on my doorstep...BTW Cavallo, how was the Maxim?