Reader be warned... I am newb and I am learning a lot as I go. I am hoping I can get some advice on my problem but please, be gentle. 
I recently purchased two boxes of cigars at an event from my local B&M. I unfortunately I think they may be over humidified and may be ruined. I am waiting to rent a locker from a local B&M as my home will not allow cigar storage due to low humidity levels and temps close to 90º during the summer months when I am not home. Right now my conditions vary between 70º and 78º inside the home with RH ~25-35% but this may or may not be a factor to my problem, please see below.
Let me explain what's going on...
When I purchased these cigars from the B&M they were stored in their original boxes within their celo with two of the gel vials (2") in a large zip-locked bagged. The cigars stayed in this bag, in their boxs, for about a week before I removed them. The reason I removed them from their boxes was because they felt a little too firm to me. So, I removed them from the boxes and placed them in the zip lock baggie (still in their celo) with 72% boveda bag. Last week I decided to take them out of their celo because they still felt hard and a friend told me "you don't really need to remove them from the celo, but give it a shot..." so I did. I did not smoke one but I wanted to see if they would losen up a little and feel a little less firm and more of what I am used to feeling when I buy a cigar from my B&M. Over the weekend I removed one from the bag, still felt just as firm, but I decided to smoke it anyway. Gross... It was unsmokeable. I chaulked this up to "has to have been a bad cigar" so I tried another one tonight, same thing, tasted like crap. The taste can only be decribed as incredibly bitter and paint-like. There was some of the flavor there but it was definitely unsmokeable... My friend had indicated this is probably the result of an over humidified cigar. The cigars are all very hard though... I would think of an over humidified cigar to be very spongey or soggy... However, I did find one the 2" gel vials in the bag and this is leading me to think that he was right about over humidification. Is it possibly that the 2" gel vial and that Boveda Bag just introduced too much humidity? It is also noted that up until now the bag had very little air in it and was packed with ~40 cigars, not sure if this is also a favor but it's worth mentioning.
Either way, I don't want to lose the $300 worth of cigars I have purchased and I am wondering what i can do to bring my cigars back to smokeable status. It is noted that I will be taking these cigars to a B&M locker at the end of this week which has ideal temp and humidity settings. Lastly, I have separated the cigars into two baggies... One with a small 72% boveda pack and the other with a bigger 72% pack. There is also about 50/50 (50% air to 50% cigars) in each bag but I am wondering if it's too late and I should just chaulk this up and an expensive lesson learned on how to care of cigars.
Any thoughts on this issue is appreciated.
I recently purchased two boxes of cigars at an event from my local B&M. I unfortunately I think they may be over humidified and may be ruined. I am waiting to rent a locker from a local B&M as my home will not allow cigar storage due to low humidity levels and temps close to 90º during the summer months when I am not home. Right now my conditions vary between 70º and 78º inside the home with RH ~25-35% but this may or may not be a factor to my problem, please see below.
Let me explain what's going on...
When I purchased these cigars from the B&M they were stored in their original boxes within their celo with two of the gel vials (2") in a large zip-locked bagged. The cigars stayed in this bag, in their boxs, for about a week before I removed them. The reason I removed them from their boxes was because they felt a little too firm to me. So, I removed them from the boxes and placed them in the zip lock baggie (still in their celo) with 72% boveda bag. Last week I decided to take them out of their celo because they still felt hard and a friend told me "you don't really need to remove them from the celo, but give it a shot..." so I did. I did not smoke one but I wanted to see if they would losen up a little and feel a little less firm and more of what I am used to feeling when I buy a cigar from my B&M. Over the weekend I removed one from the bag, still felt just as firm, but I decided to smoke it anyway. Gross... It was unsmokeable. I chaulked this up to "has to have been a bad cigar" so I tried another one tonight, same thing, tasted like crap. The taste can only be decribed as incredibly bitter and paint-like. There was some of the flavor there but it was definitely unsmokeable... My friend had indicated this is probably the result of an over humidified cigar. The cigars are all very hard though... I would think of an over humidified cigar to be very spongey or soggy... However, I did find one the 2" gel vials in the bag and this is leading me to think that he was right about over humidification. Is it possibly that the 2" gel vial and that Boveda Bag just introduced too much humidity? It is also noted that up until now the bag had very little air in it and was packed with ~40 cigars, not sure if this is also a favor but it's worth mentioning.
Either way, I don't want to lose the $300 worth of cigars I have purchased and I am wondering what i can do to bring my cigars back to smokeable status. It is noted that I will be taking these cigars to a B&M locker at the end of this week which has ideal temp and humidity settings. Lastly, I have separated the cigars into two baggies... One with a small 72% boveda pack and the other with a bigger 72% pack. There is also about 50/50 (50% air to 50% cigars) in each bag but I am wondering if it's too late and I should just chaulk this up and an expensive lesson learned on how to care of cigars.
Any thoughts on this issue is appreciated.
