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Shibumi

Shibumi

Looking for Effortless Perfection
Joined
May 30, 2005
Messages
1,753
I had the day off yesterday, so I took the drive out to my favorite cigar store. Nothing new, which surprised me, because he's always good for fuente's. I did see a box of King B's, so I guess all wasn't lost. They were $7.90 a piece the cheapest I've seen around NY. I bought a few and some signitures, which he sells at MSRP. Anyway, I thought why not smoke one today on the way home from work. I haven't heard of anyone even trying one yet. Humi time?? Nah! So, this morning I went to put it in my cigar case and because it's so fat, I had to remove the cello and the cedar. Under the cedar was "wet". I thought it was dripping with water. Wrong, it doesn't rub off then I thought it was oil from the wrapper. :love: Wouldn't that be lovely :love:. Wrong, it didn't rub off. Ok, so now I think it's just sap from the cedar?? It also makes me think, this is why you get mold under the cedar sometimes. Anyone get this "sap" before? Here's a few pictures.

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That sure looks like cedar sap. In fact, some places that sell cedar wood note that some exudation may occur. Does that region smell particularly cedary?

Wilkey
 
Why does Fuente wrap some cigars in cedar, Is it just presentation or is there some sort of benefit? Seems to do more harm than good.
 
Maybe fuente has started lacing thier new smokes... they just hide it under the cedar so noe one notices it.
 
Several of the folks over at CF have commented on the cedar sap on their King Bs. The general consensous is that these are shipped wet and need at least a few weeks in your humi to stabalize and dry out a bit.

I haven't seen any of these yet, so I cannot speak from experience, but I can tell you some of my all time favorite cigars are early release Anejos that have the cedar sap on the wrapper and have had a few years to rest.

When I get a box of them, I believe they will be buried for at least three years before I even crack the seal.
 
For what it's worth, the humidor manager at my local shop said he wasn't touching his for atleast 2-4 years. The general consensus on these (according to him) was that they need age. I haven't tried mine yet and don't intend to based on his recommendation.

He also echoed the statement that these are shipping wet so that's probably what is causing the discoloration from the cedar. I'm mainly worried about mold under the moist cedar so I am storing mine at 62-65%.
 
Ginseng said:
That sure looks like cedar sap. In fact, some places that sell cedar wood note that some exudation may occur. Does that region smell particularly cedary?

Wilkey
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The whole cigar smells of cedar.


tpntp said:
When I get a box of them, I believe they will be buried for at least three years before I even crack the seal.
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If I can't smoke em now, why bother? I'm curious if they are good right out of the box. No one has commented on them yet. I'm going to try and store some of these away also. Sap Mold = Cello on / off?
 
Shibumi said:
If I can't smoke em now, why bother? I'm curious if they are good right out of the box. No one has commented on them yet. I'm going to try and store some of these away also. Sap Mold = Cello on / off?
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Good question.

People buy cuban cigars every day with no intention of smoking them for years.

Manufactures like Fuente tend to age their tobacco before rolling it and so most of their stuff is smokeable right out of the box.

In this case they seem to have rushed production and the cigars need a bit of downtime to stabalize.

My hope is that they will go from good to great after sleeping for awhile.

Here is a thread that reviews them.
 
Shibumi said:
tpntp said:
When I get a box of them, I believe they will be buried for at least three years before I even crack the seal.
[snapback]267004[/snapback]​
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If I can't smoke em now, why bother? I'm curious if they are good right out of the box. No one has commented on them yet. I'm going to try and store some of these away also. Sap Mold = Cello on / off?
[snapback]267014[/snapback]​
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My thought too. Why would you want to spend a significant amount of money on something that you could not enjoy within a reasonable amount of time. I do wait on my smokes to become acclimated to my humidor before attempting to smoke them...most of the time anyway. But no more than a month.

2 to 4 YEARS???

That seems like a completely unreasonable amount of time to have to wait to enjoy what you purchased, particularly when you consider how much you paid for it.
 
True, but when you've had the opportunity to taste something with age, you'll understand why.

It's like a bottle of wine. You go out and spend 30-40 on a bottle. Sure it's drinkable the second you get it. But the quality increases quite a bit with more age.

Look at it more like an investment.
 
jabba said:
Why does Fuente wrap some cigars in cedar, Is it just presentation or is there some sort of benefit? Seems to do more harm than good.
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I believe that cedar is there to impart its aroma/flavor in the cigars
 
What you have there is definitely cedar sap... I've seen it on some King B's, and not on others.

I smoked one that had little sap-lets all over it... didn't seem to affect the taste much. Cedar sap isn't going to go away with time, but it may dry out a bit and be easier to take off if you care.

As for aging, most cigars will benefit from aging. The King B's I've had have been pretty good now, but certainly will be better with age. They are certainly smokeable now, try one.
 
tpntp said:
People buy cuban cigars every day with no intention of smoking them for years.

Manufactures like Fuente tend to age their tobacco before rolling it and so most of their stuff is smokeable right out of the box.

In this case they seem to have rushed production and the cigars need a bit of downtime to stabalize.
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Well, I do know the wrapper used on the King B's is 3 years old or so... I'm not sure the cigar was rushed, it looks more like a problem with the batch of cedar they used. Perhaps it wasn't cured enough, and retained too much sap/moisture.
 
Do you think there will be an issue months or years down the road, when attempting to remove the cedar and taking some wrapper with it from the sap?
 
The tobacco in a King B is well aged and ready to smoke. The humidity level of the cigar is another story. They are way too wet and they need to dry out for a good couple of months. Once their humdity level has stabalized they will be good to go. This is one of the reasons I smoke as many Fuentes as I do. Their tobacco is well aged and are always ready to smoke once you get them to your favorite humidity level.My favorite for Fuentes is about 60-63 percent. I never age my Fuentes for 3-7 years like I do all of my Cubans.
 
Smoked it on the ride home today. I have to say it tasted nice. A little barnyard in the finish but still good flavor. I would really love to try one with some age on it. The sap made for holding the cigar a little sticky. The burn was an issue, but nothing major. Most likely from the sap. Great draw BTW. If you got some? Do yourself a favor and try one now, then sit on the rest. You have to know what to compare it to. That's why I bought a few! :thumbs: :laugh:
 
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