Search the Community

As I may have mentioned to the forum before, I live between BKK and YVR (Vancouver) - I know polar opposites However, I need some serious cigar advice on the storage setup I have on going and recently I understand I have committed newbie mistakes See below I have not ordered a fridge yet but simply put these guys out to pasture with a ziploc and boveda till a few days ago my lounge cigar smoking buddy showed me something - then he proceeds to tell me in temperate climate like BKK this is bound to happen and now I am paranoid AF. I opened the all cigars checked for holes, mold etc - what should I be looking for, any advice to mitigate this and moving fwd if you have anything I can do better please lemme know.

Is this acceptable? My stash includes cigars from many different brands (all Habanos) stacked together in contact with each other in two tightly packed tupperdors. The rH is ~65 and the temp is around 74F. I have a newair coolidor coming in and I will store each vitola in their own box with a much lower temperature from now on but my cigars have been stored like I said above for the past ~8 months so I'm wondering if I've done any irreparable damage... I'm asking because some cigars in my collection have been tasting bland lately.

Hey everyone! So going camping for this weekend,noob to cigars so wanted some advice...going for 3 nights 4 days, weather will b 75-80 during day dropping to 50-55 (f) at night...i bought a small 9 quart cooler plus I have the boveda humidor bags I will put my cigars in before they go into cooler...will this be enough? Should I worry about them going bad? If it rains will they become soggy logs? Sorry everyone worried about my sticks...4 days, that's a few cigars lol....all info appreciated!

I have accumulated more boxes than I will smoke in the next 2-3 years. Some Anejodas or Reservas, but some regular production boxes ranging from 2011, 2014, etc. When I pull out a stick I haven't enjoyed for a long time, I find that some are better than I remembered, but some really aren't. I recall reading El Presidente saying that SLR Regios may be at their best 60 days through about 2 years from the box date. That made me wonder. Are there other sticks that seem to have a short peak aging time? Do some cigars decline with age? Or just not get any better? Just wondering what experience everyone's had with their own collections, and what everyone's sense of peak aging time is. Thanks as always.

Hi Everyone, Long time reader, first time poster. I'm a British expat living in Singapore and having spent about year getting into cigars through buying singles, I decided to make the decision to get set up with a humidor of my own and buy in bulk to save on the exorbitant cost of cigars in this fine city state. As many of you will know, Singapore is hot and humid. A normal day is 32 degrees C with humidity levels routinely topping 90%. My house has air conditioning, however I'm not there during the working day, and can't leave my aircon running all the time, particularly not when I'm travelling. I therefore decided to get a nice Vintec 50 bottle wine fridge; for my cigars but also for my wife's wine collection. Instead of turning the entire unit into a "wineador" I elected just to take my Siglo 75 capacity humidor and place the whole thing in the fridge. Prior to doing this, I wiped the whole fridge down with water and baking soda to take away any plastic smell. The maximum temperature I can keep the fridge at is about 18.6 degrees C (65.5 F) so, based on reading a number of the threads on this forum, I went for a higher RH reading (around 74-75%) to factor in lower temperatures. I had about 60 sticks in there (combination of H Upmann Connie As, Partagas No.4, and RYJ Dukes) and they were smoking very nicely, if not just ever so slightly on the moist side to the touch; but tasted great. Now without wanting to ignite the RH/AH/temperature relationship debate, as a newbie I started to doubt myself and took out my humidification unit and the cigar box thin cedar sheets I had in there (humidor is already spansih cedar lined) and took the RH down to a reading of 70%. Since I have done this, the cigars have taken on what I can only describe as a slightly acrid but also slightly plastic taste. I read multiple threads on this fantastic forum that address wineador problems, but didn't read of anyone reporting a plastic taste in their sticks. I checked my humidor and seal is in good working order so I'm not sure it could be the smell of the fridge seeping into the sticks. Obviously I'm fairly concerned as to why my cigars suddenly taste bad so I wanted to get some expert views on what the diagnosis might be? Is the problem: I had too low RH for the temperature and therefore the sticks dried out and tasted bitter and/or the lining of the humidor became too dry and gave the sticks a nasty taste? The smell of my fridge is somehow seeping into the humidor? I removed the cedar cigar box sheets My cigars are going through a part of the ageing process where they don't taste as good? (N.B I smoked a partagas and an upmann and both had a funky taste) Any tips would be greatly appreciated. JK

Recently did a quick inventory of my 2 large humidors and found that a 50 cab of Punch DC and 10 box of Cohiba Piramides contained sticks that were damaged. It appeared the ends on some of the cigars were frayed and the wrappers seemed to be disintegrating somehow. Appreciate if anyone who has had this occur to them can clue me in on whether its a humidor humidity issue or possibly a knock off characteristic. I do not believe I had purchased these boxes from FOH and no other boxes seem to have his issue!

Dear FOH: I'm so happy to have found a group of serious cigar smokers with Friends of Habanos International. Your feedback will help me immensely. I'll be 59 in June so I decided to get started building my "Retirement Collection". I started my collection in 2014 like a crazy man and must have ordered maybe 8-10 boxes. Now I have 5- humidors and am running out of space That's problem #1. I want to store cigars properly so that they will taste great within that 5-7 year time frame. Problem #2 I can't seem to keep my hands out of the cookie jar. I need a strategy but don't have a clue Problem #3. I don't know what I don't know Problem #4. So I'd like to throw myself down to the mercy and collective intelligence of you all for your kind, thoughtful and sage advice. Got any great ideas as to what to purchase and store for that time frame, storage advice, etc.? What questions are important to ask? I have to do something quick about storage. What do I do? I'm looking for fellow collaborators. Raymond-Michael Kornfeind [email protected]

Good morning, I have been smoking cigars for 20 years now, cubans exclusively, but I would like to know the point of view from foh forum aficionados. As I am quadraplegic since a rugby scrum it is quite complicate with my "hands" to properly cut my cigar alone so I must beg for help....I have an efficient cabinet humidor for aging my cigars and I wonder if I could cut all my cigars in advance even if I don't smoke them before months/years. Will it change the aging process ? Thanks for your advices.

My Montegue cabinet humidor has served me well, but the Tetris game is getting harder and harder! I’m at about 1,100 cigars, and with 8 more boxes in the air, it’s gonna be tight for a bit Fortunately, I have a MXT on order from Bob Staebell. It should be here in about 6-7 weeks. It can’t get here soon enough! My 24:24 activity will have to go on hiatus for a bit, I think.

Hello, I have a question about storing Cuban cigars… But first, I found many online cigar sites and it looks like this one may be the best. I have been a cigar “dabbler” for 20+ years - willing to spend 15-20$ US on a cigar but not really knowing the Good from the Bad and the Ugly. Prior to the recent Cuban embargo relaxation, I preferred Nicaraguan cigars. I have recently come into an (I think) amazing windfall… A friend has a client that needed some political help - they needed to get their remaining family out of Cuba, so this friend of mine had a connection in the U.S Senate, and pulled some strings to get the Cuban family into the U.S.; so long story short - as a thank you gift, this Cuban native presented my friend with a box of Cuban cigars and a bottle of fine bourbon. Unfortunately, (fortunately for me), my friend has nothing to do with tobacco, so because I was the only one he knew that would be interested in cigars, he GAVE me the box of Cuban cigars. I’ve researched these, and my best guess is that their worth is somewhere between $600 and $1000. They are Cohibas Siglo Vi, 25 in a sealed box, and the date on the bottom of the wooden box is June ’16. With my brief internet research on the various labels and box, coupled with the personal connections, it appears legit. So, I can’t personally smoke these in the next 6 months, so my question to this forum - what is the best way to store these cigars? I have a TINY humidor - meant to hold half a dozen large cigars at most, intended for traveling with cigars. I’m not likely going to become a serious cigar aficionado, but i don’t want to waste this opportunity - and I’d like to keep these Cubans for future special occasions. Conversely, I’m open to suggestions that these cigars need to be smoked immediately, in that case I’ll have a party and invite my favorite cigar-smoking friends! Or of course, I'd be willing to sell them... What’s the recommended method for storing these Cubans for the near future? thanks Tom P.

Many of us share in a common problem of limited storage space. Do you mix sticks within boxes and cabs to maximize your storage space? Other than not being able to find certain cigars easily, do you see any issues with this for longer term storage (years)? To get as many sticks as possible in my Humis, I will mix sticks in boxes and cabs. I even bought a 25 Cab to store mixed double coronas:

Hey, So I recently bought some Custom Rolls from local guy. He told me that they like higher humidity levels...72RH. I told him I'm using Bovedas in my Wineador...He said to get rid of em...Something about Boveda using a newer solution with some salts or something that Rob cigars of their natural oils. I searched around online and on this forum a bunch and didn't find anything on the matter. Has anyone else heard anything about this? Can anyone present evidence that Bovedas are ore aren't robbing cigars of their natural oils? Thanks! E

This thing is SO tempting. Would basically need nothing IMO, but 60mm CPU fans up at the top blowing right to left and inside the ice box itself blowing up would promote wonderful circulation I'm thinking.... Each side is 14x14" square and ought to handle two dress boxes side by side easily. Metal shelves already in place would not hinder air circulation. I have an unused LeVeil humidification unit that ought to be ideal for this box and I don't believe I would even have to drill any holes to get power inside. A wire should easily fit up through the ice box water drain hole.... Doors seal quite well already, but maybe a foam weatherstrip would be a benefit. Someone (besides my wife) tell me it's a bad idea please.....

So, took the fam on a year long trip around the US - made it to Phoenix where it was 108°. Forgot the cigars were in the RV with no air conditioning... and so the humidors read over 120°. They were in that condition for around 8 hours. They are now at 70°. They have been for a few days. They were all in with Bovada packs that held at 62%. I need not do the math for y'all... 62% rh at 120°+ is not ideal. The cigars do feel a bit dry, but not too dry. But as I sit here smoking them, they are harsh and seem ultra dry to taste. I normally don't worry much - they are leaves. You can dry them or add some humidity to them... but have a couple hundred cigars that are my favs, which simple seemed unsmokable at this point. Thoughts? Are they toast, or dust....? Not worried about beetles right now. Mostly just want to be able to figure out if they will ever taste right again....

Hey guys, Finally finishing up a long journey with my sleeve tattoo, so that means more money for cigars!!! I am currently working with a small tupperdor big enough for a few empty boxes in which I store singles. I want to upgrade as my funds will be allocated to my other vice I am torn between wanting a nice solution like a wineador and cost friendly solution like a coolerdor. My main concerns with the windeador is that I have heard horror stories of condensation ruining thousands of dollars worth of stock. Also, I don't want to spend $250 on a wineador and run out of space. Plus extra money for nice cedar shelves and such.. The issue with a coolerdor basically comes down to cosmetics and limited access to stock. To access a box on the bottom I would have to remove a lot of boxes to get to it.. Please, if anyone has advice, comments, experience.. anything to help me decide!!! Thanks, Collin

Hey guys. Looking to start my CC collection with a few boxes.. What is everyone's take on storing and aging for long periods of time?? My current setup is a few empty boxes with singles in medium sized tupperdor with a hygrometer and a few Boveda 65%. I was thinking of buying another, much larger, tupperdor for long term storage (3+ years) of boxes. Throwing a few Boveda packs in there with a few hygrometers (depending on size of the tupperdor) and possibly a small fan that I can control if I can find one. What is everyone's take on storage? Store boxes individually in a zip-lock back inside the tupperdor? Freezing boxes upon arrival? .. things like that. Also I don't want the sticks to be too inaccessible, as I would want to pull out a cigar a year to see how they are aging. Any info and advice would be awesome. Thanks!

Please redirect me if I'm repeating another topic as I know there are many topics on storage. I've seen many suggest CC's store best closer to 65F/65RH and NC's 70F/70RH. And I know much related to this topic is subjective, however, as I've lowered my temperature and humidity closer to 65/65 I feel like my Opus and Anejo are smoking much faster and also some Monte2 that were stored at 70/70 when I first smoked a few of them, and they also seem to have lost a little flavor character. There were more burn issues at 70/70 but I miss the flavor. And I got almost three hours from the first Monte2's and often smoked 2.1/2 hours from several Opus. Now I'm thinking 1.1/2 to 2 hours max on any of them. So is there really that much more risk of beetle hatching at 70/70? Is a plugged cigar more of a moisture issue when it was rolled vs storage? Do we lose flavor and time at dryer storage with either CC or NC?

There has been considerable talk in the Humidor forum as of late regarding the “dehydration process.” In a recent topic about a walk-in humidor project it was mentioned as a recommendation by a tobacconist that a new walk-in be built without sealing it, assuming that the exterior ambient would provide sufficient diffusion of water so that no dehydration process would be necessary. It was at least implied, as I read it, that without leakage and transfer of water to the outside environment, the humidor would over hydrate. That ‘leaving the door open’ or leakage to the outside macroclimate would solve the problem. I find it interesting that dehydration is rarely a topic of humidor study unless I bring it up! In talking to a lot of smokers looking to solve humidor problems, I find it one of the main reasons a cigar enthusiast contacts me. It does appear, at least to me, that this important topic is all but ignored by the mainstream community and humidor builder alike. It would appear also, that many of the folks that I speak with have some sort of issue with high rH. It also appears, that most folks live with it rather than deal with it… While I am not going to bore you with an in-depth discussion of how I solve the problem, I do find it an interesting topic. After studying hundreds of charts of humidor performance, I thought I would parse down yet another chart of one of my humidors to show how I deal with the issue. Of course you need the proper appliances and controls to meet the foe of over-hydration in order to beat it down! I use refrigeration to perform the task, as there is little that strips water from space like a cold plate that is at or below the dew point. Chart A shows an overall view of the process. The chart shows one of my humidors at work in my lab at about 3am. For the record the outside conditions are such that the heater is running in the humidor to keep the temperature up. This has little actual effect on the process itself, but it does act to keep the temperature in the range that I wish to store. Repeated dehydration cycles when the ambient is below the storage set point would eventually decrease the heat and temperature in the humidor over time. This is off topic! Chart B be gives you an idea about how a sealed humidor will act at a low temperature and the duration of the natural cycle of a sealed humidor to over saturate itself with water if left to its own devices. As you can see, it takes 9 to 10 minutes to move from a low-end rH condition to a high-end rH condition in this particular ambient set of conditions. Chart C shows some of the dehydration process and the duration of the dehydration cycle. The dehydration cycle itself runs about a minute and a half. It should be noted that most processes in humidors overshoot their run times. Knowing how to deal with this is learned empirically and learning how to produce desired results is borne out of experience. There is no handbook for it! Only testing and experimentation will yield these kinds of results. Knowing when, how and how long to run appliances is as much art as science. The two square-wave signals are generated by my appliances to track their performance. What you see here is the time line of these appliances actually switching on and off. Without such data I would simply be guessing at where and what to adjust. I thought it would be interesting to show how precision instrumentation performs to keep my humidor ‘in line’ so I included the signals on the chart. This is ‘inside baseball stuff,’ but I thought it might be informative. If I analyze the chart with my software the actual range for the rH throughout the cycle is only about 1.5rH. A cooling cycle itself will take a greater toll as it is easier to remove water than to cool air but that is another story. In my opinion a sealed humidor with an active (wet) humidifier requires a dehydration cycle to remain within [my] limits. If you were at all interesting in how I came to that conclusion… well… this is how! Thanks for reading! -the Pig

With all the effort we put into properly storing our beloved smokes I began to wonder how proper humidity is maintained during the warehouse storage phase of the cigar supply chain. How do you humidify a commercial warehouse? Or is it not needed because the stock is constantly moving out to customers on a regular basis?