A few questions and a statement
- Thread starter the camaro show
- Start date
Mata Fina?
or wax?
ChuckMejia
The General
Well, that’s the last time I open BOTL on - a work computer in my office full of older women.
Are you positive that we know what we know? I’m not certain that we know that.
Unless you’ve done extensive research and testing into how RH effects the cigars, all you know is just info that has been passed down to you by others who don’t actually know either.
People keep their cigars at all kinds of different temps and humidities. Just use the search button, you’ll see. Most people, myself included, keep them at levels that produce good results for them. It’s mostly a matter of personal preference, but I wouldn’t characterize it as some known truth about what level is correct.
Not trying to harp on you specifically. I don’t know either.
Yes. I was trying to differentiate between “resting” and “aging” of new cigars. That I usually call “acclimating”. All three seem to be used somewhat interchangeably.
I agree. I would guess that 9 out of 10 customers at a B&M are just casual smokers and cigars there are kept humid to accommodate poor storage of those customers.
If not I’ll be your cuddle buddyIf it means we can still cuddle later, I'm willing to tell you I'm sorry.
It'll be a complete and utter lie, but I'm willing to say it.
You guys could be called the Lewinski Brothers.If not I’ll be your cuddle buddy
squaresoft
It's dangerous to go alone, take this.
big shops with walk in humidors might ere on the high side of RH because of how often the doors open and such, maybe in those situation going a little higher is safer they think. but for reasons like that I (like many others) prefer to take sticks we buy home and let them sit in our humidor for a while because we know for sure that it's at the RH we prefer.
I also believe that it's a general rule to go higher on the RH when you're gonna be storing/aging for the long term, so maybe larger stores are setting their RH with the idea that their sticks may be sitting there for 6 months to a year or more before getting bought in some cases.
I also believe that it's a general rule to go higher on the RH when you're gonna be storing/aging for the long term, so maybe larger stores are setting their RH with the idea that their sticks may be sitting there for 6 months to a year or more before getting bought in some cases.
The research I have seen done by Boveda in their labs show that cigars will release water content faster than adsorbing water from the air in the humidor. I have heard the guy that heads the Boveda lads in Boveda videos on their YouTube channel, say it takes 4 times longer to rehydrate a cigar than it did to dry it out.
So letting a cigar to ‘rest’ because of high water content takes less time than ‘resting’ to add water content to the cigar. So, ‘resting’ time is a variable length of time depending on the problem you are trying to fix. Also, different tobacco varieties and type of leaves will absorb water from the surrounding air at different rates.
Remember, a cigar’s water content can’t be measured in RH. RH is the me measurement of water content at a specific temperature of only the air. Water content of organic, like cigars, are measured in Water Activity. When one says a humidor should have a RH of 65% it really means the RH of 65% will, generally, provide a cigar smoking experience he/she likes. Someone else may prefer their cigar in a humidor of 68% RH to provide their optimum smoking experience.
Bottom line, unless you are a true aficionado or a Certified Cigar Sommelier, most of the time you won’t notice much difference. It’s rare that one can make a silk purse out of a pigs ear (or dog rocket). Usually a bad cigar is a bad cigar, whether fatigued, rested or aged. One expects that the smoking experience would improve or be enhanced with rest and or age. It won’t change the general nature of a 50 point cigar into a 90+ score cigar.
So letting a cigar to ‘rest’ because of high water content takes less time than ‘resting’ to add water content to the cigar. So, ‘resting’ time is a variable length of time depending on the problem you are trying to fix. Also, different tobacco varieties and type of leaves will absorb water from the surrounding air at different rates.
Remember, a cigar’s water content can’t be measured in RH. RH is the me measurement of water content at a specific temperature of only the air. Water content of organic, like cigars, are measured in Water Activity. When one says a humidor should have a RH of 65% it really means the RH of 65% will, generally, provide a cigar smoking experience he/she likes. Someone else may prefer their cigar in a humidor of 68% RH to provide their optimum smoking experience.
Bottom line, unless you are a true aficionado or a Certified Cigar Sommelier, most of the time you won’t notice much difference. It’s rare that one can make a silk purse out of a pigs ear (or dog rocket). Usually a bad cigar is a bad cigar, whether fatigued, rested or aged. One expects that the smoking experience would improve or be enhanced with rest and or age. It won’t change the general nature of a 50 point cigar into a 90+ score cigar.
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You have a point there. It does seem, however, that the supernerds of cigars tend to congregate here, and have a general consensus in terms of rh and storage. As for my own personal opinion, as I said, +/- 5% rh probably isn't that big of a deal to most, but I find cigars taste better and burn better when they come out of my 65% stash than when they come out of the B&M walk-in.
All I ever had at ~70% was problems. Burn problems, flavor problems, "exploding" cigar problems, etc. especially Connecticut wrapper sticks; those things would be cracked/popping open/wrapper falling apart halfway through!
65% works perfectly in my dry climate. As long as I let new cigars sit in the humi for a few weeks to acclimate, they smoke great for me.
65% works perfectly in my dry climate. As long as I let new cigars sit in the humi for a few weeks to acclimate, they smoke great for me.
I’ve noticed more even burns from my humi then just walking in and buying a cigar I’ll smoke that day.
Original post edited to remove dig at Glassman. Same treatment horse for you Camaro Show. Enough
Very good article. One of the first I read when I really got serious about cigars. I personally rest any cigar I get a minimum of 30 days @ 65-67% RH before smoking.
squaresoft
It's dangerous to go alone, take this.
On the subject of aging, if you're looking for a cheap cigar that does VERY well with age, then picking up a box of padron x000 series is a great idea. Those do incredibly well with a couple years on them