First a little back story, I have enjoyed cigars off and on for around 20 years without knowing much about them ( a cigar was a cigar right ).
Over the last five years I have started to get two to three cigars at a time, smoking them within a couple of days, nothing fancy, most would call them a step above drug store cigars ( I did find some I liked, most were ok ), In the last year I have gotten serious about collecting and smoking cigars, along with learning about the differences between them, in this time I bought a 40 cigar humidor along with making one with about a 500 cigar capacity ( Spanish Cedar lined, Spanish cedar tray's, along with a 3 volt fan system for air circulation. Both humidors are running at or near 68 rh and 70* ( figured I would split the difference in the 65 rh and 70 rh camps ).
The problem I am having is around 3/4 of the cigars I light up start out great, the first 1/3 is great ( depending on the type of cigar ) then some where in the second 1/3 the cigar starts to swell and split, usually about 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, all the way around the cigar ( as if it was a band around the cigar ) during this time the cigars are some of the nastiest tasting things I have tasted ( after about the fourth or fifth one I decided to hell with it I payed good money I was going to finish the cigar ), once past the swelling the cigars usually turn into some of the nicest smoking/tasting cigars I have smoked ( again depending on brand/type of cigar - cant make crap taste any better no matter what you do ).
I have several types/brands in the humidors so it is not a brand issue as far as I can tell ( every thing from Victor Sinclair, Olivia, ETC. to my favorite house brand -Thompson explorer- )
I keep the different types separated along with plenty of air space/flow, I have tried leaving them in the cellophane and removing them, I am using bead's along with distilled water, the 40 count is as I bought it, with natural air flow.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I would love to enjoy every cigar as much as I enjoy the ones that smoke properly.
I should note that most smoke evenly with a few running faster one one side or the other but as I understand this is semi common.
Thanks to anyone that wants to help or has any ideas
Over the last five years I have started to get two to three cigars at a time, smoking them within a couple of days, nothing fancy, most would call them a step above drug store cigars ( I did find some I liked, most were ok ), In the last year I have gotten serious about collecting and smoking cigars, along with learning about the differences between them, in this time I bought a 40 cigar humidor along with making one with about a 500 cigar capacity ( Spanish Cedar lined, Spanish cedar tray's, along with a 3 volt fan system for air circulation. Both humidors are running at or near 68 rh and 70* ( figured I would split the difference in the 65 rh and 70 rh camps ).
The problem I am having is around 3/4 of the cigars I light up start out great, the first 1/3 is great ( depending on the type of cigar ) then some where in the second 1/3 the cigar starts to swell and split, usually about 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, all the way around the cigar ( as if it was a band around the cigar ) during this time the cigars are some of the nastiest tasting things I have tasted ( after about the fourth or fifth one I decided to hell with it I payed good money I was going to finish the cigar ), once past the swelling the cigars usually turn into some of the nicest smoking/tasting cigars I have smoked ( again depending on brand/type of cigar - cant make crap taste any better no matter what you do ).
I have several types/brands in the humidors so it is not a brand issue as far as I can tell ( every thing from Victor Sinclair, Olivia, ETC. to my favorite house brand -Thompson explorer- )
I keep the different types separated along with plenty of air space/flow, I have tried leaving them in the cellophane and removing them, I am using bead's along with distilled water, the 40 count is as I bought it, with natural air flow.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I would love to enjoy every cigar as much as I enjoy the ones that smoke properly.
I should note that most smoke evenly with a few running faster one one side or the other but as I understand this is semi common.
Thanks to anyone that wants to help or has any ideas