Fresh out of the fridge

[iergeni]

What would you suggest to do with cigars that have been stored in a refridgerator (not the freezer) for a prolonged period of time (couple of years)?

Personally, I know I'm not supposed to keep them there, but I'm about to recieve a box of cigars from a non-smoking friend who got them as a gift and didn't know what to do with them.

Are they ruined completely or is there still hope to get a decent smoking experience out of them?

Also, being a novice cigar smoker, I don't have a humidor (yet). However, I am in Eastern Europe and in this time of year, it's pretty much like living in a humidor (65% - 70% moisture, average temperature around 75), so I figured there's no need to rush the purchase. Or is there?

 

[jmatkins]

First off stop over and introduce yourself please.

http://www.botl.org/community/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=23


I have never heard of keeping them in a Frig for that long(some do to stop the possiblity if beetles). But I do fear that a year is too long and they might not be good. I would get some sort of storage system, standard Hummi, a small coolior will work too. I would also get some Hearfelt beads to have in there as well to helpl things out. Maybe some others could chim in and give more advice to help you out.

 

[daniyal]

I don't think there should be an issue if they've survived thus far the only problem I see if that they might've started unwrapping given the environment they were in I'd open the box in a fairly cool room or inside a fridge (to avoid unneccessary shock) and scan them to see if they're intact and haven't started unwrapping. If they appear in good shape I'd place a humidification device like a boveda or a humidity pillow in the package and leave them in there for a few days to stabilise before removing them and placing them in the humidor.

My biggest concern in the instant case would be the wrappers unravelling due to sudden temp or humidity changes as long as you can manage that they should be good to go in no time.

 

[orangedog]

refrigerators dehydrate the air when they cool, so odds are those things are nice and dry unless some other step was taken.

my guess is that the cigars are no good. I'd say give them the pinch test, and if they don't pass, well there you go. You could try to rehydrate them slowly over an extended period of time, but after sitting in a fridge for 2 years, they have probably lost their oils, etc.

 

[CigarNut]

The refrigerator will drop the RH of the cigars to around 45%, so I would slowly rehydrate them up to at least 65% RH so that they will smoke better.

There is a lot of information on this site about raising the RH of cigars.

Whatever you do, when you take them out of the refrigerator put them in a ziplock or tupperware container immediately. Otherwise the rapid change in temperature will cause them to get too moist too fast (wrappers will crack, etc.).

Welcome to BOTL!

 

[iergeni]

I want to thank you all for your advice. As it turns out, however, a humidor just might not be necessary at this moment. I got the cigars today. Was very excited when I got the box - Cohiba. Before I even opened it, though, I was told that "there was only one left". Technically, there were two sticks inside, but I think one of them is beyond repair. On the left one, the wrapper has been almost completely peeled off, the butt is kinda starting to unroll and, worst of all, it was covered with some green fungus. I tried to get off as much of it as I could (using a soft brush), but the stench of the fungus or mold (I'm guessing here) remains. The other one looks okay, but still smells a bit funky. (Or it may be just the ordinary smell of Cohibas, I don't know). I did the pinch test, though, and it doesn't look too dry to me.

However, there was one more cigar in the box, a Don Sebastian. In a nice plastic case, so, from what I can tell, it's still in pretty good shape. Anyway, the Cohibas are stored in my utility room. There's a (partially) burst water pipe for the washing machine in one of the walls, so it's nice and moist inside. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't, but I don't think trying to save the Cohibas justifies investing in a humidor just yet.

 

[Craig Mac]

Hate to say it but that looks like you should just pitch it in the trash to me. Green fungus sounds like mold and being stored in a refrigerator that could easily be the case.

 

[blooz4u]

Yuck!

Like Craig said... I'd toss them... never mind the authenticity of the Cohibas.

 

[Fitze55]

Very interesting to say the least.

Good luck with that. I'd like to know of you put fire to any of those cigars and how they smoke.

Thanks

 

[Fitze55]

Oh and welcome to BOTL!

 

[Docbp87]

Yikes! Those things look like an infection ready to happen...

 

[orangedog]

Hate to say it but that looks like you should just pitch it in the trash to me. Green fungus sounds like mold and being stored in a refrigerator that could easily be the case.

Yuck!

Like Craig said... I'd toss them... never mind the authenticity of the Cohibas.

was a nice gesture from your friend... but agree on all points here... I'd 86 the Cauxibas asap. the last one may be ok... worth trying it to find out.

 

[nofeardiver]

:crying:

 

[hawaiian]

I'm no expert at CCs but I agree with everyone here, that is definitely not Cohiba... and the other stick is a $1 stick. Get rid of them both, drive to your local B&M and pick up few sticks there. Problem solved.

 

[iergeni]

Okay, so I decided I needed a humidor anyway. However, as I am a rather stingy person, I decided I'd make my own, rather than shell out big bucks ($30 or more!) for a commercially avaliable model.

The container would be a tupperware-like box, since this is a recommended option even on this forum. The part of the humifying unit would be played by a dish-washing sponge, stuffed in a plastic container. The sponge may not look much, but the writing on the package assured me that it was a top brand in Sardegna. If it's good enough for Italians, then it's definitely good enough for me. The plastic boxes are used for storing of samples (of all kinds). I drilled holes in the lid to make it look like what you see on the internet when you browse for humidors. And to let water actually evaporate from the sponge. I would have liked to drill more holes, but the lid started to crack under the pressure of the drill. When I was done, I poured in some distilled (more probably just deionized, to be frank) water, closed the lid and the humifying unit was complete. I call the resulting humidor The Benito, after the famous Mexican president, patriot and revolutionary Benito Juárez. Note that this is the export model, the one aimed at the domestic market would be obviously called El Benito.

Then I simply put it in the tupperware-ish box, put in all my cigars and said, there we go. (The cigars, from top to bottom - the already mentioned Cohiba or not-Cohiba exquisito, Quorum Robusto, Macanudo Maduro Lord, Don Sebastian un-indentified model).

Then I did a rather supid thing. About a month ago, I smoked a RyJ short Churchill. Smoked it halfway, then put it back into the tube, along with the cedar wood. I know, I know. Finished smoking it couple days later, but I held on to the tin tube and the cedar lining. It smelled like cigarette butts, but after leaving the tin & the cedarwood out in the open for a while, the stench had completely vanished.

Or so I thought. I put the cedarwood into the humidor, thinking what could possibly go wrong? A lot, as it turns out. When I opened the humidor today, I was greeted by a waft of cigarette-butt stench. Apparently, the humidity brought it back to life from the cedarwood. Not only was the stench in the air, but also in the humidor walls, the humifying unit but worst of all - in the cigars.

The humidor container and humidifying unit have already been either replaced or put in the dishwasher, but what should I do about the cigars? Other than throw them away.

 

[Fitze55]

Congrats on your first humi!

Also, I really enjoyed reading your post, very well written.

 

[TreeFrog Frank]

Uhm..... :sadstare:

 

[The EVP]

There's nothing you can do to get the smell of stale smoke out of the cigars. I'd just toss them. As far as the humidor, you can try baking soda or activated charcoal and let it sit in the box for a month or so. Toss the sponge and the container you put it in. Start over again and just don't make the same mistake twice. BTW, not to be discouraging (just honest) but if $30 for a humidor is "Big Bucks" you're in the wrong hobby.

 

[iergeni]

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for their comments and advice.

Here's a little update. Given the low construction costs of El Benito, and because the degree of contamination was not equal for all of the cigars, I quarantined each cigar in a seperate mini-humidor (a small tupperware container and a smaller piece of foam soaked in distilled water).

It turned out that storing a cigar is not as simple as that - the humidifying device I used is, shall we say, too potent and the cigars were over-humidified. On one of them, the wrapper even started peeling off (fortunately, it was a cheap one, so nothing to lose sleep over). The stench of stale smoke, however, proved to be less of a problem. After a day or so of being left on the window sill (on the inside, though) to "air out", the cigars turned out ok. Smoked two of them so far and they seemed fine.


Currently, I'm considering buying a real humidor, so I'd like to ask you for your expert opinion on the model I've set my eyes upon:

http://www.puroexpress.com/Online_Shop/Service/Detail/Product/1407/Glass_Top_Humidors/Capri_Elegant.html

http://www.puroexpress.com/Online_Shop/Service/Detail/Product/1406/Glass_Top_Humidors/Capri_Glass_Top___Mahogany.html

As you can see, these are really low-cost models. Usually, when I talk to people about humidors, they talk about hundreds of euros (or dollars). I know that you get what you pay for, but for a 10 5/16" W x 8 3/4" D x 4 5/16"H wooden box, 30 bucks seems about the right price.

 

[AlohaStyle]

If I were you, I would still use a tupperware container. Use the money saved by not buying the humidor, and buy a digital hygrometer and some sort of humidification like beads or the proper kitty litter. I've never used kitty litter, but I know some people do and they claim it works just fine for them but make sure you do some research to learn the correct type to use. Then use the few bucks left to buy a cigar or two.

The humidor you link to is just fine, but you will still need to keep the proper humidity level inside.

By the way... did you ever smoke that fake Cohiba??? Sorry to say, but that was a terrible attempt at a Cohiba.