What smokes best at 70%?

[NHaze]

In my admittedly somewhat limited experience, most cigars seem to smoke the best at 65-67% RH. However the "standard," as it were, is 70% RH, 70°F. I assume there is a reason for this temperature/humidity combination. I was led to further this assumption through other brothers post's in which they stated that there are certain cigars in their inventories that perform better at around 70%RH.

Obviously, the answers to this question will be majorly subjective. That said, what cigar(s) do YOU think are best smoked at 70% RH?



I'll start with one of the cigars that got me into the hobby. While I don't smoke them often anymore, I will still enjoy one from time to time, and they are much better at 70% RH: Acid Kuba Kuba

 

[icehog3]

I have yet to find a cigar that I would rather smoke at 70% than at 65%.

 

[Knickerbocker]

my humidor is 100% CC's and I keep it at 62/62. in the summer months i might let the temp go a bit higher but not much.

 

[CigarGavin]

I have yet to find a cigar that I would rather smoke at 70% than at 65%.

+1; Keep the lot (about half CC/NC) at 65% and they smoke great. Usually let the local B&M purchases sit for a few weeks too come down a bit

 

[CasualStogie]

In my experience, they most all smoke better at 65%. But, if I'm just storing them or aging, I keep the rh at 70%. They seem to maintain the oils a little better at that rh IMHO. When I'm ready to smoke certain sticks, I'll move them from my aging humi to the smoke-ready one. Anyway, just how I like to do it but, to answer you're question, I smoke em all at 65% and that seems just about right.

 

[StogieNinja]

For those of you who age at a higher rH than you smoke, do you find that keeping them 5% higher makes a difference over a year or two, or is it primarily for long-term aging (say 5 or 10 years) that it makes any kind of difference in the oil retention?

 

[icehog3]

I am in the alternative camp....I keep my cigars at a lower RH (61-62%) for long term aging.

 

[38-50]

62-66% @ 69-71 degrees. No mold and everything stays fresh and smokable at all times.

 

[W.B.]

An old favorite of mine did, they're pretty much gone but the Rocky Patel 2009 Winter Collection were best at a higher rh imho. Best RP I've ever had by far, shoot one of my favorite cigars that have come and gone. In general though, I'm with many here who prefer lower than 70 rh. But sometimes if the complexity is 'tightly wound' or highly potent a little higher % opens that up, kind of like a drop of water or an ice cube in whiskey can. .02

 

[Cigary43]

The debate of what is the best RH to store/age/rest cigars has been around for so long....most will attest that the essential oils of cigars thrive in an environment of 70/70 and for some it means they will drybox for a day or so to get it down to a better RH which I believe in. I feel there are plenty of cigars that actually thrive and give a better richer taste to the cigar at this RH but that doesn't mean it smokes better because we'll run into burn issues....thus you deal with the dryboxing of those cigars. There are cigars with wrappers that are notorious for being thicker so these tolerate a higher RH as well.

The over riding factor is that we're dealing with our tastes....I have smoked cigars in the 62% range and for me they lose much of the oils that make them taste so good and thus they are a bit on the "dry side" for me so I tend to bump them up to 65%. I have gotten away from anything under 65% in the last year...even my beloved Cubans as I don't like them at 62 much less as some smoke them at 60%...but that's where peoples tastes come in.

 

[NHaze]

All good answers so far. Again this is obviously highly subjective, but I'm interested to hear what everyone has to say.

 

[Spfuzz]

62%-65% ftw

 

[NHaze]

62%-65% ftw

I get that most people, especially on this board, including myself, have a smoking RH% preference somewhere between 62-67%. What I'm really looking for is cigars people really seem to think smoke best outside of that range.

And I'll pose another question to the group, if you've ever tried a smoke you found harsh or hot, are you sure it wasn't just under-humidified? And if all your cigars are kept at, say 65%, how do you know some of them wouldn't be even better at 70%?

Not advocating anything here, just asking the question.

 

[CO Smokes]

My buddy likes all his stuff at 65% except his padrons. He keeps all his padrons at 70% and swears they smoke better and taste better there. I disagree but to each his own

 

[Cigary43]

62%-65% ftw

I get that most people, especially on this board, including myself, have a smoking RH% preference somewhere between 62-67%. What I'm really looking for is cigars people really seem to think smoke best outside of that range.

And I'll pose another question to the group, if you've ever tried a smoke you found harsh or hot, are you sure it wasn't just under-humidified? And if all your cigars are kept at, say 65%, how do you know some of them wouldn't be even better at 70%?

Not advocating anything here, just asking the question.

Questions are good and often we can find common ground in the answers...what usually happens though is that people are different and their tastes are different and what appeals to one person may not be applicable to another. I know people who get upset with others because what they consider a great cigar somebody will chime in with an opposite view. The same can be said with RH...there are guidelines as to the proper care of cigars and that is what is important. There is a 'sweet spot' for everybody when it comes to RH and some like it towards the lower end of 60 while others will swear by the upper part and even into the low 70's...it's just tastes. Considering the proper care, rest and age one would have to try multiple times smoking a cigar at those relative percentages to get the real point of view about what they like. Most won't go that far with experimentation as they just want to sit down and smoke their cigars. I've smoked cigars for well over 40 years and this is what I've taken away from all of this time....cigars change with rest and age....cigars smoke differently with a certain RG because of the ratio of wrapper to filler. Our tastes change from the time we're born til the time time we are almost dead...taste buds die off and what used to be offensive in our 20's suddenly take on a different taste...example: I use to hate broccoli...I hated Lobster tail...I hated other food items and now I love them. I used to hate CAO cigars...like the GOL and some others and now I really enjoy them so we can't tell others what is good for them unless we share the same exact tastes and that's impossible. Possibility of hot smoking cigars is a smaller RG...taking too many draws...taking too deep of a draw...improper lighting technique...a lot of variables that go into our tastes and our own procedures. AT times we even sabotage our own tastes...taking medications and then smoking a cigar...having a meal that is too spicy..taking a libation that is too strong.

 

[thejavaman]

^^^ I don't think you can break it down better than that.

 

[Reelman]

^^^ I don't think you can break it down better than that.

That was a very illuminating post, for sure. As a new cigar smoker, I am trying to find a balance of how deep to draw and how often. Are these things that one learns over time ir is there a "Cigars for Dummies" crib sheet? I don't want to waste money on good cigars, only to find that I am not getting out of them what I should in terms of taste. For example, I had a CR Exodus 1959 Gold this morning. It tasted good, but I did not sense specific flavors. It was my first one, and I have no idea what I tasted vs. the review that I read.

What is the best guide for draw and frequency? Does it change by vitola?

 

[Cigary43]

^^^ I don't think you can break it down better than that.

That was a very illuminating post, for sure. As a new cigar smoker, I am trying to find a balance of how deep to draw and how often. Are these things that one learns over time ir is there a "Cigars for Dummies" crib sheet? I don't want to waste money on good cigars, only to find that I am not getting out of them what I should in terms of taste. For example, I had a CR Exodus 1959 Gold this morning. It tasted good, but I did not sense specific flavors. It was my first one, and I have no idea what I tasted vs. the review that I read.

What is the best guide for draw and frequency? Does it change by vitola?

As a new smoker these are all the right questions and experience really is still the best teacher. Your tastes are going to change...often because your are "calibrating" what it is you like....and your likes and dislikes will change. Try not to buy cigars by the box right now...buy 5'rs as that will give you a good idea of what you like by trying them at different times...try to give them time to rest as they change in a period of time. Keep a journal unless you have great memory...as far as taking a draw a lot of experienced smokers are comfortable with the puff/puff/draw...two light draws and then a more prolonged draw. Try not to draw too hard or quickly as that turns into what we call..."hot boxing" and that will cause a cigar to smoke "hot" and turn bitter. A good rule of thumb is to take a draw about every 30 to 45 seconds depending on the RG...smaller RG you want to draw lightly and thicker RG you can draw more.

Flavor profiles are usually something you'll experience over time....like anything else when it comes to taste some things aren't specific until you taste them over and over...like a wine or coffee sommelier who actually go through extensive training to learn specific tastes through repition. Try also not to overthink this...just relax and let things come to you as it's all about your tastes and your comfort zone. There are a lot of nuances to this of which you'll be exposesd as you continue down this path...at the end of the day it's all about making this as pleasurable as you can but it's not a test...relax, read and enjoy.

 

[CasualStogie]

For those of you who age at a higher rH than you smoke, do you find that keeping them 5% higher makes a difference over a year or two, or is it primarily for long-term aging (say 5 or 10 years) that it makes any kind of difference in the oil retention?

I haven't been aging sticks for long enough to answer that directly. What I can say is that I started doing it that way because I noticed (IMO) a decreased fullness of flavor/oils in the ones that I had been aging for about 6 months- sort of a hotter, dryer kind of taste. Now, I realize that this could also have been because of the short time period in which I did this experiment; meaning that the sticks weren't yet into their prime stage. Could be, but regardless--I tried moving the storage rh back up to 70% and found (once again, IMO) that the new sticks which I added after that seemed to keep their oils a little better over the next six month period. No, they were not the same cigars so they may have had different thickness of wrapper tobacco, different RG's, etc- but at the end of the day, I wasn't trying to make a science experiment out of it, I was just trying to enjoy some cigars. After all, that's what it's all about. So that's how I do it now.:cbig:

 

[CasualStogie]

62%-65% ftw

I get that most people, especially on this board, including myself, have a smoking RH% preference somewhere between 62-67%. What I'm really looking for is cigars people really seem to think smoke best outside of that range.

And I'll pose another question to the group, if you've ever tried a smoke you found harsh or hot, are you sure it wasn't just under-humidified? And if all your cigars are kept at, say 65%, how do you know some of them wouldn't be even better at 70%?

Not advocating anything here, just asking the question.

Nice when you're thread gets hijacked isn't it? To directly answer your question I would say that I like cameroon wrappered sticks at 68-70% for smoking and some particularly smooth connecticut shade wrappered ones around 68%. That way, I feel more comfortable about avoiding cracks in the thinner wrappers as they burn and are handled.