5 Things You Need to Know About Fixing a Cigar

Let’s face it, not every cigar you smoke will be perfect. The more you light up, the more likely you are to encounter rogue sticks misbehaving. In this Cigar 101 guide, I’ll show you the top five problems cigar smokers encounter and some handy fixes for each scenario.

While premium cigars are handmade and primarily produced in countries like Nicaragua, Honduras, and Cuba, most issues stem from factors at home—despite the long journey to your humidor. Cracks, uneven burns, draw issues, and their ilk are often factors of user error or the local environment. Learning these causes and solutions will help you fix your cigar now, and prevent many of these issues in the future.

Check these solutions to common cigar problems before you chuck one in the bin, and you'll save not only some outstanding premiums from an early demise, but also your hard-earned money.

Thing 1. Unraveling, Cracking, or Peeling

A peeling cigar wrapper most commonly results from cutting the head too far down. Additionally, cracks that lead to peeling can be caused by a lack of humidification. Let’s talk about why.

What causes my cigar to unravel?

The head of a cigar is what essentially holds it together. A small cap of circular tobacco is ‘glued’ (with food-grade pectin) to the top of the head to cover the wrapper and prevent it from unraveling. The wrapper will come loose if a cut is made below the cap line.

What causes my cigar to crack?

When the filler tobacco has more moisture than the outer wrapper leaf, it can expand as it dries, causing the wrapper to crack. Proper cigar humidification can prevent these cracks altogether. A dull cigar cutter can cause cracks, too.

How to fix an unraveling or cracking cigar:

Take the problematic flag of leaf and lick its underside, then gently reattach it to the cigar. Your saliva should dry and act as a mild adhesive to hold it in place. You can even try some unflavored lip balm for larger pieces of unraveling leaf as a ‘glue’.

Thing 2: Uneven Burn (Canoeing)

There are many ways that your cigar burn can get wonky, but the most common issue is what we call ‘canoeing’. It gets its name from the canoe-like shape a cigar gets when it burns up one side. Let’s go over how this happens.

What causes my cigar to burn unevenly?

Inconsistent humidification can play a part, but windy conditions or an inadequate toast and light are usually the causes of canoeing. The good news is that uneven burns tend to correct themselves over time. But if your cigar’s being extra fussy, we have the fix!

How to fix a cigar that isn’t burning straight:

Spin it to win it. When wind is the culprit, slowly turn your cigar as you smoke it. Those gusts act like bellows, keeping the leeward side of your cigar burning slower. Rotating it keeps the wind across the entire cigar wrapper consistently, and you’ll notice your burn even up quickly. For severe situations, relighting (a touch-up) may be necessary. We’ll talk more about that in the next section.

Thing 3: Tunneling Burn

Ever look at the cherry of your cigar and notice one or more dark holes in the ash? It’s the tell-tale sign of tunneling. And that means your cigar's heat is channeling through narrow ‘passages’ inside the cigar. But why?

What causes my cigar to tunnel?

Throw a bunch of kindling under a wet log, light it, and guess what? The dry stuff’s gonna burn, but a (slightly less) damp log will be left intact. It works similarly for your stogie stash. When a cigar is over-humidified, it struggles to burn. The air moving through it as you draw will take the path of least resistance; the same channels bringing the smoke to your mouth will dry out faster, leaving the damp tobacco fillers intact. Drier tobacco = an easier burn, and the problem will compound from there.

Tunneling can even happen from smoking too fast.

How to fix a cigar that’s tunneling:

Pace yourself. Most tunneling issues will work themselves out by increasing the time between draws. If not, you may need to do a touch-up or relight. But worry not! Gary’s got the 411 on how it’s done.

Thing 4: A Cigar That Won’t Stay Lit

One or two puffs. Then nothing. Talk about frustration! If your cigar keeps going out on you, one of two things is wrong.

Why does my cigar keep going out?

First, the easy answer: improper lighting. You gotta light it right! Second, the answer you don’t want to read: over-humidification (yet again). The wet log has returned. And as we’ve already established, wet logs don’t burn.

How to fix a cigar that won’t stay lit:

Your first step is to completely relight the cigar, ensuring that the entire business end of the cigar is glowing hot. Get yourself a double or triple torch lighter to make the job easier. And if your cigar stays lit from that point, the light was your culprit. If not, unfortunately, you’re a bit out of luck. Your only recourse is to let the cigar sit a while and dry out.

Thing 5: Unpleasant Cigar Flavors

Taste is a funny, fickle thing. Flavors that one identifies as delicious may be off-putting to another. And since taste is such a subjective topic, we will focus on what you can control.

Why does my cigar taste so bad?

If you’ve never smoked the cigar in question, you may just not like it. But if a blend that has become a regular in your rotation suddenly goes rogue on your taste buds, it might be a you problem. The culprit? Smoking too fast.

How to improve a cigar’s flavor:

Slow down. There are no winners in the smoking race—only cigar sweats and tarry flavors. Pace your puffs as slow as 30-60 second intervals, and you should notice that your cigar doesn’t burn as hot, nor will its taste be as pungent. Smoking too quickly invites unwanted tar build-up inside your sticks. And that nasty ick can even leak out into your mouth. Take your time and savor the moment. If flavors still don’t improve, you might have a bad batch—and that’s what the Famous Freshness Guarantee is for!