How to preserve cigars?

[Dr. Xikar]

Okay guys, here's the deal,

I have 50 cigars in the mail (2 boxes - Diesel UC and 5 Vegas Classic). The weather has been freezing rain all day, and they are slated to arrive tomorrow. There is NO way I'm driving them home in this, and I have no humidor/humidification available on campus...

Here's the simple question: How do I preserve the cigars? At the minimum, they'll be in my dorm from Wednesday until Friday... At the worst, they'll be in my dorm until it's safe to drive next week, potentially next friday.

How do I keep them safe and smokeable when all I have to store them is the box they come in? Any advice at all is valued.

Thanks guys!
Jeremy

 

[SuprHasan]

Tupperware + a few Boveda.
If boveda is not available, tupperware at the very least. That way the moisture won't escape.

 

[sofc]

Easy for me to say but they should be fine. I wouldn't worry about it. Boxes from stores are often overhumidified anyway.

 

[Dr. Xikar]

Supr: I literally have nothing but the Cigars and the boxes they come in...

I bought from CI, so hopefully there will be Bovedas included in the packaging, but that's just a hope. I have no Tupperware, 50 fairly large cigars, and that's it.

SOFC - Fingers crossed, man.

 

[GoingPostal]

Well if the boxes are shrink wrapped you shouldn't really have a problem. do you have a cooler? Just need to find some sort of sealed environment to keep humidity in.

 

[Dr. Xikar]

For what it's worth, My dorm is perpetually heated by furnace, so it stays around 75-80 at all times unless the windows open (and my roommate hates the cold)

I DO have a minifridge, but won't that be too cold?

 

[SuprHasan]

If nothing is available, then I wouldn't worry about it. Friday isn't too far away.

 

[Dr. Xikar]

They'll go home Friday at the earliest... Potentially next Friday

 

[GoingPostal]

For what it's worth, My dorm is perpetually heated by furnace, so it stays around 75-80 at all times unless the windows open (and my roommate hates the cold)

I DO have a minifridge, but won't that be too cold?

No Never in the fridge, if heat is a problem maybe get one of those styrafoam coolers to hold em in, or hell smoke em all before they dry out. :barf:

 

[Nickerson]

You wont see any permenant damage if you keep them in their box even for months. As long as you restore it to a good humidity before smoking. The boxes should be sealed so it shouldn't lose its humidity much. If anything throw em in a ziplock bag.

 

[Dr. Xikar]

I can't get the styrofoam coolers... I can't get /anything/. My plan was to drive the cigars home to my Humidor, but I can't drive ANYWHERE.

I literally have nothing by the cigars and whatever they come with in the package... If I get lucky, they'll come with Bovedas, or better, shrink wrapped.

Maybe my suitemates will have saran wrap or gallon ziplock bags so I can make them air-tight, but that's my best bet... There's no way I can even drive to wal-mart.

 

[veeref]

Supr: I literally have nothing but the Cigars and the boxes they come in...

I bought from CI, so hopefully there will be Bovedas included in the packaging, but that's just a hope.

They'll survive a week or so. In my experience with CI, they don't ship any humidification devices with them.

Good luck with the weather,
Randy

 

[Dr. Xikar]

I'll look for Saran Wrap or Gallon ziplock bags around the dorm, but that's all I have to work with

 

[Clint]

You only real problem is the heat. If the boxes are shrink wrapped, the humidity (which, as others have said, is usually pretty high in most retail warehouses) will be fine to keep them for a week...Just look them over carefully before putting them in your humi after the storm clears.

To combat the heat, find the coolest place in the room, and store them there. (Under a window, close to a door, wherever there's a draft, next to the coldest wall, etc.)

ALSO.....If the cigars appear dry when you are about to put them in your humi, be careful. ....Slightly underhumidified cigars tossed into a humi may cause the foot end to swell and crack the wrapper as they soak up the humidity.

Hope this helps...Best of luck!

 

[Dr. Xikar]

Alright... How cold is too cold? Because it's about 24* outside right now, and 27* during the day... I could crack the window and leave the boxes near that... If they're shrink wrapped, I'll keep them like that... If not, I bummed a bunch of Zip-Lock bags off of a guy in the dorm, so if one box isn't shrink wrapped, I can just zip-lock them.

What is the coldest temperature these guys should be exposed to? I can keep them about 4-feet away from the cracked window - 60-75* I'd guess, or closer(colder) or further (warmer).

Advice?

Thanks everyone!
Jeremy

 

[megladon8]

CI tends to ship stuff over-humidified so I really wouldn't worry about it.

I've had cigars sit in their original box/packaging up to 2 weeks before I actually got them into a humidor, and they were fine.

Just make sure they stay at a reasonably consistent room temperature, and you should have no problems.

 

[Jfire]

U said the magic words..... Gallon ziploc bags... Ding ding.

 

[Dr. Xikar]

Not gallon bags, but I have 7 bags that are 8"x6". Between the Ziplock bags and the single Tupperware I found, I should be okay...

But can anyone answer the temperature question? How cold is too cold?

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

[Cigar Cowboy]

Store the unopen box in an empty ice chest in a closet without a heater vent in it and they should be fine.

75 is too hot and 63 is too cold. 67 to 70 would be great

 

[Docbp87]

Too cold isn't nearly as big an issue as too hot. I think the problem with temperature getting low is that it is usually accompanied by a drop in humidity, which causes problems.