javajunkie
BoM July '12
if they have yet to crack or unravel, separate and box them out. you have nothing (further) to lose. this sucks bad, and good luck to you.
I need some help! A few questions about wet cigars and drying
- Thread starter CO Smokes
- Start date
Jfire
BoM 9/9' 9/11' 8/12'
Anything wet and intact is not a gonner.....yet. Lower temp under 66-68 degs and SEPERATE all the cigars with space in between. You need some 65 percent beads. Not alot. You don't want to pull to much out to quick. Like 1oz of beads for a box of cigars over a week. Them check them again. Still wet? Then dry the beads out and back in they go. Heartfelt beads will work fine. What type of hymidification are u using to create that much water?
njstone
BoM January 2010
This happened to me once, on a smaller scale.
I didn't throw out ANY of the sticks. They all ended up smoking just fine!
Clean up the water.
Wipe off the cigars.
Figure out how the water got there, and eliminate that problem.
In the mean time, keep the cigars in that same humidor/bin in some sort of open-top container (wide-but-shallow Tupperware w/out lid, etc). They will shed the excess moisture over time, just make sure the rH of the bin is right. And check for mold every few days.
For the sticks that were very wet, it's important to bring down the rH slowly--I.e. Do NOT dry-box them--just leave them in the humi and leet they dry out slowly.
Once the sticks are back to a normal rH (determined by how they feel and draw), then you can use some veggie Pectin or Cigar Glue to repair the ones that split. There is NO amount of breakage that cannot be repaired--if the stick is worth the time. For La Verite or TAA, I'd take the time to repair them!
I didn't throw out ANY of the sticks. They all ended up smoking just fine!
Clean up the water.
Wipe off the cigars.
Figure out how the water got there, and eliminate that problem.
In the mean time, keep the cigars in that same humidor/bin in some sort of open-top container (wide-but-shallow Tupperware w/out lid, etc). They will shed the excess moisture over time, just make sure the rH of the bin is right. And check for mold every few days.
For the sticks that were very wet, it's important to bring down the rH slowly--I.e. Do NOT dry-box them--just leave them in the humi and leet they dry out slowly.
Once the sticks are back to a normal rH (determined by how they feel and draw), then you can use some veggie Pectin or Cigar Glue to repair the ones that split. There is NO amount of breakage that cannot be repaired--if the stick is worth the time. For La Verite or TAA, I'd take the time to repair them!
I only say some are goners because they're split open so bad they probably won't be fixable. I'm gonna keep every stick for now until they are back to regular rh. Hopefully I won't be pitching any at all.
ciggy
"TommyBoy"
Gives new meaning to "Top Shelf Cigars"! Keep the good stuff on top and yard gars on the bottom till you can find the problem. That really sucks bro and I truly hope you can save these without issue. Keep us informed.
whodeeni
the Cigar "Gangsta" ;0(
^^ Agreed Brotha
Thanks guys. I'll update the thread when I see some changes. So far I've separated them from my other smokes. I put them in a small Tupperware inside my humidor. Lined it with some dry cedar (hopefully that can help take some moister out but not on a large scale). They do feel better than they did last night and for the time being I'm gonna keep an eye out for mold. I do appreciate all the suggestions and I'm definitely not giving up on these.
See? I knew you'd get some advice from Brothers who have had a similar experience....Awesome forum we have here
Cigary43
Just Another Ashhole
This is about the best advice you will get. This has happened to some of us before ( me too ) and you need to separate the damaged gars that are split or swelling and put them in another humi ( tupperware is good ) and wipe off excess water by wrapping them in a paper towel individually for about 10 minutes...this helps to soak up excess wetness. ( I've done experiments with "wetting" my cigars by putting them under a faucet and letting the water gently wash over them...then I'd wrap them in a paper towel to take off the moisture....smoked them the next day and they actually smoked better...but this is a whole different deal...suffice to say that the wrapper can take abuse )
After you've wrapped the cigars with a paper towel then move them into a humidor...preferably a tupperware that can hold the 'wet' cigars...place them in there with your favorite media ( I use KL because I know exactly what the RH is...put your hygrometer in there and don't let it get under about 72% for a good couple of weeks. This is going to keep them from swelling and splitting at the foot where things usually go wrong. After a couple of weeks then bring them down to around 70% and let them set...the whole idea is to bring them back s l o w l y...don't get in a rush. After those 4 weeks then leave them at the RH you like..usually around 67%. What usually happens when accidents happen is that they are put back into another humidor at the regular RH you had them in or worse...they are put into "drybox"...that will pretty much guarantee they are going to balloon up on you and the foot of the cigar is going to bust open...you don't want that. Bringing them back slowly is key...it's going to take some patience but at least you've given them the best chance of survival. The ones that couldn't be saved....well...get a pipe and smoke the tobacco in that as it's better than throwing them away and the pipe will give you 'almost' the same exact flavor. Good luck and keep us posted.
Thanks for the advise. Thankfully the only wet spots are on the heads of the cigars so hopefully the foot wont have any issues with popping open.
Just throwing it out there, you could also use an old Boveda pack or two, (ones that are hard) to try to draw some excess moisture out. since they are two way like beads you can control the rh they drop down to, ie they won't go past the Rh labeled on the pouch. good luck brother!
Just an update. The cigars are no longer soft and spongy and there is no mold as of yet. The pics below show some discoloration on a few sticks and either way they will be smoked im just curious if this can cause flavor loss at all.
Thanks again gents
Thanks again gents
There's a possibility of it causing some changes to the flavor, but it sounds like you caught them pretty quick too if they are already coming back to life, so you may be in luck. Only way to find out is to smoke then when you feel it's the right time.
Looks good to me though.