Help! Water soaked cigars

[phlee]

Help! Wife spilt some distilled water into my tupperdor and a few sticks are soaked.

What can I do to save them?

Of all the sticks soaked... My only 2 RA H&F 225 got soaked

[JoeyGunz]

Throw them in a bag of rice?

[JohnS]

Help! Wife spilt some distilled water into my tupperdor and a few sticks are soaked.

What can I do to save them?

Of all the sticks soaked... My only 2 RA H&F 225 got soaked

It depends how soaked. Your cigars can be salvageable...

http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=123723

[PapaDisco]

Put the offended sticks in their own wood cab or box. Not a wallpapered dress box, but rather an empty 5 count wood box that you've got to spare. Let them gradually come back to their own balance for a week or so, then they can rejoin your regular humi.

I had a small box of Party P2's that had a Boveda squish on top of them. The salt solution soaked through the wood and into the box and all of the cigars had their lower halves soaked. I thought they were goners, but Boveda is food grade salt, so I switched the P2's to a clean, empty box and let them slowly dry out. Cracked one foot from the extra hydration of the Boveda, but all the other sticks came back. Had to clip the foot of the cracked cigar and one other. They smoked beautifully and left the gang and I wondering if maybe we shouldn't be squeezing Boveda juice on more of our cigars!

[CaptainQuintero]

How soaked? Like is water beading on the wrappers or are the cigars literally soggy?

[phlee]

How soaked? Like is water beading on the wrappers or are the cigars literally soggy?

One of which is half soggy... Not sure if soaked thru

[phlee]

How soaked? Like is water beading on the wrappers or are the cigars literally soggy?

One of which is half soggy... Not sure if soaked thru

[CaptainQuintero]

Maybe separate the ones which look and feel fine and pop them into a bag with a few 72% boveda packs, after a month swap the packs to 70%, after a month swap with 65%.

My gut would say the ones that are literally soaked are ruined, however you have nothing to loose with them. The oils are still in the cigar and no chemicals have been spilt on them. Maybe give them a pat down with some tissue and try the same bag deal as above, seal them in a zip lock bag with 75% then 72 then 70 then 65. A month for each step. There isn't really a reason why they cant be rescued.

Just take your time, keep with the month between boveda pack swaps, maybe even extend the first month to 6 weeks. This way the wrapper and rest of the cigar should keep together and not burst or split, unravel etc; rushing drying out or rehumidifying cigars can damage the cigar so it wouldn't matter if you get the tobacco back to smoking conditions or not

[bigben]

I would dry box them until they stabilize then put them in the humi for 6 months before you smoke one. I betcha they will be okay.

[Habana Mike]

Had a small wineador overcondensate as the door wasn't quite closed for some time, to the point there was water pooling on the bottom which of course the lowest box absorbed.

Aghast, I pulled out all the sticks, rolled them in paper towel to absorb as much surface moisture as possible and put them in a small tupperdore with beads.

They dried out fairly well though I figured they were goners and probably mold to hell.

Well a few weeks later they seemed fine though some of the wrappers were wrinkly and the anillas stained.

Fired one up and while it had a bit musty note to it (may have been in my mind alone), smoked fine and all in all was quite enjoyable.

Fast forward a year or so and the remainders are actually quite good smokes and without that initial mustiness.

Yours should be fine!

[CaptainQuintero]

I'm thinking, but could be wrong, keep then in a normal temperature place, ie don't keep them anywhere warm so mould doesn't become an issue while they have high water content