Cigars and humidity

[pbear1973]

Hi BOTLs,

I just finished a very enjoyable Montecristo Petit Edmundo - fresh nutty, cedar and cocoa flavors - but that's not what my post is about.. haha..

I had taken my cigar, an iPad and some stuff from my airconditioned room to the rooftop to enjoy the smoke while I get some work done. When I get there and take out my iPad first thing that strikes me is how cold it is. From my prior experiences of moving to the great humid outdoors from an airconditioned room, I knew there would be condensation on -everything- within minutes. Regardless eager to enjoy my Edmundo I took it out of my neat little travel humidor and lit up.

Bad mistake.

The cigar wouldn't burn more than an inch or so before going out. I had to relight my cigar something like 6 times, and the cigar kept tunneling and canoeing.

The Edmundos are well known for their excellent construction and burn characteristics, so I'm very sure this has a lot to do with my rather unwise decision to light up before the cigar warmed up properly.

Needless to say I had to draw harder and more frequently to keep the darn thing lit, resulting in very harsh and hot notes towards the end. :bangbang:

So lesson learnt here: If you live in a place with 80-90% humidity like I do and you're just coming out of an aircon room, wait about 5-10 minutes for the cigars to warm up before taking them out of the humidor. The better burn and flavors will make it all worthwhile.

But still the Edmundo was so excellent that now I don't want to brush my teeth so I can continue to enjoy the nutty cedary aftertaste..

Ok rambling done. Back to work.

(BTW my previous thread on where to buy non-Cubans got moved and I can't find it. Anyone knows where it is now? My apologies for posting it in the wrong place)

 

[zirotti]

Here are my thoughts...

Since your environmental RH is so high, it has nothing to do with the temperature. A wet cigar kept at 75 degrees will still burn as bad as a wet cigar at 50 degrees.

Humidors are used to regulate humidity. Sometimes used to create an RH that is higher than the surrounding environment (like most of us in NA) but also needs to be used to keep cigars below your RH is you live in an extremely humid environment.

Every semi-serious cigar smoker needs to at least invest in a small humidor and a digital hygrometer.

 

[pbear1973]

Here are my thoughts...

Since your environmental RH is so high, it has nothing to do with the temperature. A wet cigar kept at 75 degrees will still burn as bad as a wet cigar at 50 degrees.

Humidors are used to regulate humidity. Sometimes used to create an RH that is higher than the surrounding environment (like most of us in NA) but also needs to be used to keep cigars below your RH is you live in an extremely humid environment.

Every semi-serious cigar smoker needs to at least invest in a small humidor and a digital hygrometer.

I have desktop humidors for storage and a digital hygrometer. The travel humidor is only for transporting my smokes, otherwise they stay in the desktop humidors.

Main problem here is condensation on a cold cigar rather than the temperature per se. By letting the cigar warm up it decreases the likelihood of condensation. I learnt this in photography when we'd keep the lens cap on for 10-15 minutes after coming out of a cold place to reduce condensation.

 

[Gravity]

(BTW my previous thread on where to buy non-Cubans got moved and I can't find it. Anyone knows where it is now? My apologies for posting it in the wrong place)

You listed some places to buy CC's in your post, therefore I believe it was deleted. It's against the rules to post those site URL's or site names.





I've had that happen to me with a cigar as well, you're right about letting them sit for a little while to even out. My problem usually goes the opposite way though, inside is much warmer than outside, and I bring a warm cigar out into cold low humidity.

 

[pbear1973]

You listed some places to buy CC's in your post, therefore I believe it was deleted. It's against the rules to post those site URL's or site names.





I've had that happen to me with a cigar as well, you're right about letting them sit for a little while to even out. My problem usually goes the opposite way though, inside is much warmer than outside, and I bring a warm cigar out into cold low humidity.

Ahhh.. ok.. in any case I've now found Podman's Cigars with pretty good shipping rates, and Tim is very helpful. They will definitely be my "go to" for non-Cubans now! Can't wait for the BOTL 2012 cigars to come in.

I allowed my cigar to warm up today before taking it out of the humidor. The burn was perfect. Didn't have to relight even once.