Acclimating Newly Acquired Cigars

[ElAbogado]

How often do you "rest" your cigars to allow them to acclimate in your home storing conditions before smoking them?

Historically I let them be for two weeks before lighting up. More recently I extended it to three weeks. Some give them a month. I have at least one friend that gives them three months.

I have noticed that I've had cigars that after two weeks seemed blah, but after a couple of months really opened up and turned into incredible smokes.

So what say ye, fellow FOHers? How long do you put down new acquisitions before smoking them? How did you settle on that amount of time?

[foursite12]

No matter where sourced, they always arrive travel sick. I find 45 days of stabilization, at the bare minimum, is needed. Virtually impossible to resist trying JUST ONE out but I have learned that it is simply burning money to do so. Park 'em.

[BBS]

I'll usually have one 'right off the truck' and give them at least 60 days of rest before trying them again. Usually......

[JohnS]

Minimum 1-2 months (or 30 - 60 days). Sometimes it's longer and sometimes I smoke ROTT if it's a short cigar such as a Montecristo Media Corona, H.Upmann Half Corona or Partagas Serie D No.6.

[Habana Mike]

I'm guilty of firing one up soon as they arrive and sometimes those have been the best of the bunch. With today's packing techniques and transit times (4-5 days in many cases) I don't find significant degradation in general.

That said, unless the first one was the bomb I do let them rest a few weeks before the next.

[anjimj]

1 week of rest for everyday in shipment is what I usually do.

[Lasabar]

I try to give them at least 30 days. When I use my inventory spreadsheet to pick a cigar I look at the arrival date as a guide.

When I'm standing in front of the Humidor wide open like a fridge for a midnight snack, I will grab whatever tickles my fancy.

[Boosted]

I will usually let mine sit for 45 days before I try one, but there are exceptions. Earlier this year, I smoked a Sancho Panza Eslavo, and it only had 3 to 4 days of rest.

[PapaDisco]

I'd always been skeptical of 'travel sickness.' After all, if you bag up some cigars and take them on your 1 week beach vacation what are you supposed to do? Wait 30 days? The sticks have been sealed and not dried out. They test at 65% on arrival. What could be wrong?

But I must admit, the boxes I let sit in the humi for 1-3 months definitely seem better to me than the sticks I light up ROTT.

[DoubleDD]

I smoke one ROTT then again 30 days after that. Then I determine if they take a deep sleep or not.

[skalls]

I tend to resist the urge for 1-2 weeks to try one. Don't have more of them though until 4-6 weeks of rest

[wabashcr]

My primary concern is not travel sickness, but humidification. I think a lot of places tend to store their cigars a little higher on the RH, to account for shipping. If cigars feel like they're on the wet side when they arrive, I'll put them away for at least a month. I might dry box one for a day or two to smoke first. If the cigars don't feel too wet, I generally think it's ok to smoke them right away. I still let most of mine rest for at least a month, but I'm not nearly as concerned with it as I used to be. As long as the cigar isn't over-humidified, they smoke fine to me.

[Duxnutz]

If cigars are transported 'Boveda-ed' no need for rest!

[joeypots]

My primary concern is not travel sickness, but humidification. I think a lot of places tend to store their cigars a little higher on the RH, to account for shipping. If cigars feel like they're on the wet side when they arrive, I'll put them away for at least a month. I might dry box one for a day or two to smoke first. If the cigars don't feel too wet, I generally think it's ok to smoke them right away. I still let most of mine rest for at least a month, but I'm not nearly as concerned with it as I used to be. As long as the cigar isn't over-humidified, they smoke fine to me.

This.^^^^^ It took me a while to get it but a good bit of the youthful harshness is due to humidity, not age. IMVHO, of course. I usually let a box rest for at least a month. Then to the desktop for a few days. Your results may vary.

[Sigaar]

I try to let them acclimate for at least 30 days before trying one. Now that my cc stock is better, it's alot easier to wait than it was earlier this year when I was just getting started with cc's.

[subport]

30 days at least. Mostly more. Never ROTT

[DWC]

I try to let them acclimate for at least 30 days before trying one. Now that my cc stock is better, it's alot easier to wait than it was earlier this year when I was just getting started with cc's.

Ditto.

-Dan

[Elvis]

30 days seems to be the sweet spot for me.

[rmill3r]

Not saying I have the answers, but on the subject of cigars having a "sick period"...is there really any evidence to back this up? Is this just some cigar assumption that gets passed down among us?

That being said...I tend to let mine rest for about 30 days. Even though I'm skeptical that cigars have such a thing as a "sick period," I still find that about a month in the humidor works for me if I'm not aging it.

[LLC]

My normal routine is to open a box and inspect on arrival and then put it in a zip lock bag for a month and then inspect again. If all is ok I'll have one shorty after that and then may have one once in a while but often just leave them alone and smoke cigars already aged.

[Smallclub]

Not saying I have the answers, but on the subject of cigars having a "sick period"...is there really any evidence to back this up? Is this just some cigar assumption that gets passed down among us?

Are you serious? Of course there are evidences, at least for those who were already smoking 15+ years ago...

and btw there is absolutely no relation between "sick period" and the supposed "travel sickness"...

[rmill3r]

Are you serious? Of course there are evidences, at least for those who were already smoking 15+ years ago...

and btw there is absolutely no relation between "sick period" and the supposed "travel sickness"...

I mean scientific evidence. Too much stuff in the cigar community is just hearsay and anecdotal.

Sent from AOL in 1999

[msm1771]

Smoked 10 d4's in the last week right out of the box after shipment. First one was a bit harsh which tasted like the bubble wrap that was packaged on the foot of the cigar. The other 9 were magnificent. No patience to wait a month before smoking. They all had a perfect spongey springy feel ROTT- whatever rott means- im assuming right of the truck.

Maybe if I had 100 plus cc in my humi it would be easier. It's next to impossible for me to wait 2 weeks after ordering my stogies then waiting another month. However, if I ever notice the don't taste good then I will just put them away. Not smoking a cigar that sucks if I can just let it sot a couple weeks and it tastes amazing.

Wouldn't just throwing in some humid-packs during shipment fix all of this? I would happily pay 5$ more on every shipment for one of those thrown in the same rh as my humi if it would help.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Smallclub]

I mean scientific evidence. Too much stuff in the cigar community is just hearsay and anecdotal.

Who really needs science when a cigar is harsh and full of amonia? Only empiric experience is pertinent and useful. One doesn't need to understand everything about tanins, polyphenols and their degradation…

[garbandz]

Consider the closed box and how much Oxygen gets into it.

It probably takes a while for a cigar to react to the change from sealed to opened,and this could influence how a cigar will taste right out of a new box.

I age my stock in cabs,and I can tell a difference in a box after a couple of months,and a big difference in a year.