For the recently initiated...let them rest.

[Colt45]

41 minutes ago, PapaDisco said:

Wish there was a better explanation for Travel Shock than the guesswork we have now.

I'm not sure it's so much about "travel shock" per se as it is allowing for acclimatizing to preferred storage / smoking conditions. I'm another who's had truly outstanding cigars smoked day of delivery. There's something about that deep aroma of a freshly unpacked box.....

[PigFish]

2 hours ago, PapaDisco said:

I used to not give much credence to the notion of 'Travel Shock.'  How is one supposed to take cigars on vacation if you have to rest them a month once you land?   And like the rest of you, I've had plenty of sticks ROTT that were just fine, but then I take a box of Sir Winstons to NYC, a mere 5 hour flight, and they don't taste like Sir Winstons anymore (the box is now resting in a pal's humidor).  Likewise I remember a box of Upmann PC's that were harsh upon landing in Saigon.  Letting them rest brought them back to their glorious selves.

Wish there was a better explanation for Travel Shock than the guesswork we have now.  Why are some cigars affected and others not?  it's a mystery! 

I think that you discount that cigars are individuals. There is no hard and fast set of rules about them then. There are preferences and then there is playing the odds based on anecdotal evidence! That is all there is...

The cigars that you take with you have already been refined by you. Travel has noting to do with it. Wild temperature changes may have something to do with it, but you are not likely letting your cigars take the beating that they do as shipped parcels.

Understanding that no two cigars are the same to me is more sensible than, sick, healing and better, then sick again cigar theories. That is just my take.

My rules have been distilled down to the simplest of forms. It is about water content to me in most cases, and cigar individualism (and QC) answers most of the rest of the questions of variation. No 'way out' theories are necessary. You then take what you know and play the odds.

Cheers! -Piggy

[backbone]

What about cigars with really high oil content?

Do they need extra time down?

[PigFish]

1 hour ago, backbone said:

What about cigars with really high oil content?

Do they need extra time down?

... how does one determine oil content? A wrapper is just one part of the cigar. -Piggy

[FLB03TT]

1 hour ago, backbone said:

What about cigars with really high oil content?

Do they need extra time down?

Yes, extra time down. How much extra depends on your preferences and oil content.

[Jimmy_jack]

16 hours ago, Mycroft said:

This morning at 8am I received a box of HDM du Prince from a recent 24:24 hand picked clearance. At 10am I took one out to smoke and put the others in a zip lock with a calibrated hygrometer. Ambient temperature 21C. Then I smoked the cigar. 

Appearance was dark mottled wrapper, dry looking without oily sheen. Cigar felt firm but pliant, no hard areas, and the foot did not look tight. It did not feel over hydrated. I would have guessed low to mid 60s.

The cigar smoked very well. The Draw was perfect. Burn was perfect. Part way through I left it for 5 minutes to make coffee and it did not go out. 

Taste started low-medium and steadily progessed to medium-full. Predominantly coffee (paired well with the black coffee I was drinking) with some interesting gingery/spice notes at various points. No harshness. Plenty of smoke. A very good cigar. Made my day. 

I checked the ziplock after a few hours. Humidity was 68.

I divided the cigars into a dry box at 62% humidity, a wet box at 72%, both with bovedas, and the sealed ziplock with no humidity regulation. I assume the ziplock will maintain the original humidity. 

I will re-test in 30 days. Hard to imagine that they will get much better though. 

I like this experiment very much. Your delivery is the controlled sample. Moving forward you can test the three RH. Please start a new thread with this. It deserves its own attention. I will do this as well and report back in the same thread.

[Mycroft]

4 hours ago, Jimmy_jack said:

I like this experiment very much. Your delivery is the controlled sample. Moving forward you can test the three RH. Please start a new thread with this. It deserves its own attention. I will do this as well and report back in the same thread.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. New thread is started.

[cigaraholic]

I guess I'm just too old for this nonsense, they're just cigars, smoke them. Smoke them when they come, after a month, after 6 months, 6 years, whenever. If you have lots of cigars, like I do, it may be years before you have a cigar out of a box. But if your not even going to have a smoke because your waiting for the fairy dust to settle, your missing out on life.

[backbone]

In my short experience, the PSP oilier looking sticks, have had draw issues and I have to relight often when they are within a month off the truck.

It is probably a moisture content issue, but after 60-90 days they open up and smoke well.

I have had to trash smokes ROTT because they are too wet for my tastes, so I have learned to let them get to my RH% for my tastes.

YMMV

[cigcars]

    Well, being the extremely patient individual that I am - NOT! - I usually don't look forward to ordering my smokes and then putting them away to not be touched for years! I want my damn stinkin' smokes NOW!!!  However, I do even reluctantly have to confess, that the ones in my humi that have been resting untouched for long periods...they're absolutely heavenly in flavor and aroma!

[cigcars]

1 hour ago, cigaraholic said:

I guess I'm just too old for this nonsense, they're just cigars, smoke them. Smoke them when they come, after a month, after 6 months, 6 years, whenever. If you have lots of cigars, like I do, it may be years before you have a cigar out of a box. But if your not even going to have a smoke because your waiting for the fairy dust to settle, your missing out on life.

    HERE, HERE!

 

[shamz84]

I totally agreed you need to put the cigars away for at least 30 days before you light one up.

Last year was my first year in collecting cigars and of course I could wait to smoke them when I got a delivery.. I always used to hate smoking them at first an put me off me my new cigars until I visited them a month or two later... This also happened to me when I visited lcdh in Dubai which I found odd.

Sent from my U007 Pro using Tapatalk

[mwaller]

Most of my cigars seem to arrive slightly over-humidified for my tastes.  Being still relatively new to CC's, I was pretty alarmed and concerned to find that many well-regarded cigars tasted terrible even after a few weeks rest.  For whatever reason, my the Bolivars were fine from the start, but other sticks, including MC Edmundo, Trinidad Coloniales, PLPC, Upmann No. 2, all started out with an awful grassy / sour character that was really unpleasant.  After letting them settle and dry out a bit, a few are coming around.  I had another Edmundo last night, and the difference couldn't be more obvious.  With a few months rest, this cigar opened with *classic* MC flavors. Just delicious.     

[jackupster]

I usually try one right away...can't resist. But I got a box of CORO from the Prez a couple months ago and have yet to try one. He said you have to with this lot or give it extensive dry boxing. I have one in my desktop humi that I keep at about 62RH since I got it. I will be trying that one soon. They do get better after acclimatizing to your humidor.

[Dude]

I didn't believe all the talk about letting your cigars rest. My first trip to Cuba I brought back a box of RASS. They were good, but about 6 months into the box they took on a flavour that jumped out at me. And it wasn't just a single or a few. The entire remainder of the box really shined.  I'm experiencing the exact same thing today. Box of RASS, this time from Rob, good smokes for the first 3 months and then BOOM I'm getting that unbelievable distinctive RASS flavour. 

It's a very mysterious thing. 

[planetary]

For me, waiting 30-60 days is cheap insurance.