The Half Ashed Cigar Forum

So...back in February, I brought down 200-300 cigars and left them in a cooler to await my return. No temperature control and only a 65% humidipak in case they needed it. Those cigars were exposed to 100+ F a number of times, and in all likelihood were never housed at less than 85F. When I came back in June, they were fine. I opened the cooler they were in, it smelled like a tobacco barn - specifically, they smelled *a lot* like perique. They're smoking fine, don't taste any different, no construction issues...no mold...no beetles. The same for the remainder of my cigars. Since I've been here I found the coolest spot in the house to be about 80-84F and relative humidity between 65%-75% depending on the weather. Everything is copacetic so far with both the sticks that have been in this for almost 6 months and those for a month. This all flies in the face of my previous notions about cigar storage. What thinkest thou?

Pete, in Australia, has never had temp control for his cigars. He lives in Brisbane, actually inland a bit from town, where it constantly gets into the 100's every day for a couple months. It doesn't cool down all that much at night either, and yet he has had zero issues with this.
I don't think these "rules" are as set in stone as they claim. I do think the 65 and under for aging purposes does ring true, but other than that it is mainly a preferance for how moist you like the cigars you smoke.

Cigar F^iend

An old friend was relatively close to proving that barometric pressure played into the equation. He ended up requiring hospitalization and subsequently could never finish his thesis. I wonder what he would say here.

Or, a simpler solution wuold be that you've been opening the cooler enough for required air exchanges and the cigars you have were successfully purged of their eggs prior to being distributed.

The cooler was sealed with duct tape from February until the end of June...

Hello, is there some one "here", this is the first time I've tried this.

Swede214 wrote:Hello, is there some one "here", this is the first time I've tried this.

Loud and clear, Swede!

While I have a humidor and I do try to keep the environment relatively stable, I've always kind of wondered in the back of my mind if all this concern with humidors is just a bit of over kill.

The main reason I somewhat question the whole thing is because of my grandfather. He smoked cigars from the time he was a young man rolling cigars back in the day in Ybor City until he was about 80. I can assure you that he never owned a humidor. He kept his cigars in a box in the night stand of their second bedroom. No wooden box mind you, it was the old white pressed paper boxes that the Fuentes used come in (I can distinctly remember sneaking in there as a kid when no one was looking to get a whiff of the cigars). Furthermore, the was no AC either so needless to say it could get fairly hot in that house. Granted, he was no connoisseur (never once heard him mention anything about marzipan.) He was just an old Cuban guy that liked his "tobaccos."

Maybe those of us who live in humid locals don't have to worry quite as much as the people selling humidors and humidity beads would like us to believe. It is likely something that our brethren in arid places need to be more concerned about.

No data to back this up though, just me waxing profound.

CigarCity

Warm forecast incoming....

CigarCity wrote:While I have a humidor and I do try to keep the environment relatively stable, I've always kind of wondered in the back of my mind if all this concern with humidors is just a bit of over kill.

CigarCity

Yes.

While I think things are GROSSLY over-complicated, that doesn't mean that they are set and forget for those of us in the north(ish). I find that TOO MUCH humidity is troubling in many places. Now, this is too much humidity without air flow. Mold is my only real concern when I walk in a shop. Typically humidors with too much humidity end up growing mold because there's little to no air exchange. That's primarily why too moist becomes an issue. Up until last generation no one had air conditioning. Walk into many factories today and there's no AC. Walk into anywhere in Cuba and there's no AC. Humidity and temp can't be a be all and end all. That's, frankly, an ignorant perspective for someone to have. I love reading this post because it's Kip's unintended "scoff in the face" at those who are strict humidophiles. Sometimes we combine the niche (long term aging) with the norm (to smoke) and end up with laws that ensure nothing but fear.