Wet Cigars, Help Please!

[fastkiller13]

Hi Guys,

I just opened up a package from our host and it must've gotten soaked during shipping. So they were getting mighty plumey and are mushy to the touch right now. I gently wiped off the mold I could without ripping the wrapper but what should I do to dry them out? It's mostly the feet that seem to have got the worst of it and the paper in the box feels dry but the wood underneath might be damp

.

I was thinking of putting them in the Fridge for an hour. Or maybe I should just open the lid on the box and let them dry box? 

Whats my best move here?

Thanks in advance

[fastkiller13]

I am not blaming El Pres or his guys.   I just know he's on Vaca  and figured this would be my quickest response approach. I never liked my mailman, he just ruined his xmas gift.

[Cubadust]

I don’t think you should do anything to be honest. You could dry box for a day or two but I usually just put them with the rest of the boxes and let them dry out the ”natural” way. I mean you shouldn’t smoke those for at least a month anyway and I think they’ll be fine by then.


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[Cubadust]

And nice cigars by the way, great price tag and worthy of the LE program. I really want more of this kind.


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[fastkiller13]

Thanks, Ill just keep an eye to make sure no more mold gets started. I love these cigars, figured when they came up it'd be my last shot at them so I got a box. 

[Fuzz]

If you have any RH beads, isolate the cigars with dry beads.

[fastkiller13]

I have 65 and 70 heartfelt beads. Should I use 70 first?

 

[Cubadust]

If you have any RH beads, isolate the cigars with dry beads.

If you have spare beads this is what I would do. The 65 will soak it up in no time. If not, just put them in gen pop.

[fastkiller13]

I have some 65 not in rotation; so Ill get them in a container with the cigars. 

I feel like Golem in Lord of the rings. My precious, why you do this to my precious. (Moans and howls like an animal.) 

 

Thanks guys advice much appreciated. 

[Martin_F]

I would do the highest number beads first. Let them acclimate and then do the lower.

[Fuzz]

4 hours ago, fastkiller13 said:

I have some 65 not in rotation; so Ill get them in a container with the cigars. 

I feel like Golem in Lord of the rings. My precious, why you do this to my precious. (Moans and howls like an animal.) 

 

Thanks guys advice much appreciated. 

Precious? We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. 

[fastkiller13]

34 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

Precious? We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. 

I’m going to have to track you down and that which is rightfully mine. 

Seriously though that is awesome. 

[addictedtooranges]

Drybox for a week or 2 and then throw them into your humidor hoping for the best. This is all assuming you are in a low RH climate or have central AC to bring it down.

 

Good luck

[Philc2001]

I'm going against the grain here, but when cigars get soaked as you describe I'd be quite worried about their ability to recover. If you don't intend to send them back, then I would dry them out for a few days in the fridge to avoid mould returning and contaminating them again. Beads may do the job too, but given how damp the box is, and the spongy cigars, I'd place the whole box in the fridge, no ziplocks or anything. Check on them daily, do the crackle test until they feel like they've returned to normal, then take them and give them 6-8 weeks to acclimate in your humidor.

Just my $0.02.

[BarryNY]

Every box ever received from FOH (i think about 80 in 2 years but who's counting) is <moderated> wrapped?

Was this not the case with your shipment? 

For you to claim so much moisture in a box sent the normal way - it had to have been submerged in water....seems weird?

Was the packaging water stained?

[Buck14]

I’d alert El Prez right away and send them back and/or get his advice. I for one would never accept those sticks if they arrived soaked.

[Colt45]

On 12/18/2017 at 11:44 PM, Fuzz said:

Precious? We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious.

Would you just throw that in the cracks of doom and be done with it?!

[Fuzz]

5 hours ago, Colt45 said:

Would you just throw that in the cracks of doom and be done with it?!

[Ken Gargett]

a friend (no names, rob) gave me a dodgy humidor many years ago and water seeped up from the bottom and destroyed the bottom three boxes - needless to say, they were three of the top boxes i owned - cohiba DC LE 03, cohiba mixed box of thirty (forget what they were called) and another box. fortunately i had a 2nd box of both the cohibas. this all resulted in a battle with the insurance company that went for 18 months and finished with the ombudsman in canberra and the filth being defeated on all fronts (i do hope that cgu and anyone ever associated with them is enjoying their own corner of hell).

all of which is not terribly relevant.

i tried everything to salvage what i could at the time. mine were far worse than what your pic suggests yours endured and largely condemned to the furnace. sadly. but my thoughts would be to lie them out on a towel somewhere quite airy and not too warm and just let them dry. a very gentle fan from a distance. perhaps roll them over every couple of days. from your pic, you should, at the very worst, have cigars you can smoke, though they are unlikely to ever be stellar examples. i tried smoking some of the mess i was left with. they all had a very strong minty note that came through. weird.

you should also have contacted the service delivering the cigars as clearly, for them to be wet, they have taken absolutely zero care of them. of course, if you are dealing with illegal material, then lodging a claim may be problematic.

[fastkiller13]

It wasn’t my usual mailman that day and instead of leaving the bag on the porch and out of the rain the idiot stuck it in my mailbox with top open. So it got rained on and some water must’ve pooled in the bottom of the mailbox. 

The box was packaged well, <moderated>. It’s the same packaging I’ve always gotten from Rob. 

I put beads in with them but the mold started coming back so they are now in the fridge being closely monitored. 

I really don’t want to bother Rob on his vacation and I’d feel a jerk sending them back for something an idiot fill in mailman did. 

I just hope they’re ok. I really love those cigars. 

Edited December 21, 2017 by Fuzz

[fastkiller13]

3 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

a friend (no names, rob) gave me a dodgy humidor many years ago and water seeped up from the bottom and destroyed the bottom three boxes - needless to say, they were three of the top boxes i owned - cohiba DC LE 03, cohiba mixed box of thirty (forget what they were called) and another box. fortunately i had a 2nd box of both the cohibas. this all resulted in a battle with the insurance company that went for 18 months and finished with the ombudsman in canberra and the filth being defeated on all fronts (i do hope that cgu and anyone ever associated with them is enjoying their own corner of hell).

all of which is not terribly relevant.

i tried everything to salvage what i could at the time. mine were far worse than what your pic suggests yours endured and largely condemned to the furnace. sadly. but my thoughts would be to lie them out on a towel somewhere quite airy and not too warm and just let them dry. a very gentle fan from a distance. perhaps roll them over every couple of days. from your pic, you should, at the very worst, have cigars you can smoke, though they are unlikely to ever be stellar examples. i tried smoking some of the mess i was left with. they all had a very strong minty note that came through. weird.

you should also have contacted the service delivering the cigars as clearly, for them to be wet, they have taken absolutely zero care of them. of course, if you are dealing with illegal material, then lodging a claim may be problematic.

Yes, I really can’t file a complaint because of the US regulations. I’d also agree the mailman gave zero F***s about the package. It was raining at the time of delivery so I can’t even give the guy the benefit of the doubt. 

Im sorry about your cigars. You got it a lot worse then I did. 

[Colt45]

20 hours ago, Fuzz said:

Chip the glasses crack the plates, that's what Fuzzy Baggins hates!

[Cubadust]

On 2017-12-21 at 6:05 AM, fastkiller13 said:

It wasn’t my usual mailman that day and instead of leaving the bag on the porch and out of the rain the idiot stuck it in my mailbox with top open. So it got rained on and some water must’ve pooled in the bottom of the mailbox. 

The box was packaged well, <moderated>. It’s the same packaging I’ve always gotten from Rob. 

I put beads in with them but the mold started coming back so they are now in the fridge being closely monitored. 

I really don’t want to bother Rob on his vacation and I’d feel a jerk sending them back for something an idiot fill in mailman did. 

I just hope they’re ok. I really love those cigars. 

Any luck with the cigars? How do they look?

[fastkiller13]

4 hours ago, Cubadust said:

Any luck with the cigars? How do they look?

Actually I think they look great. Only two cigars were left with the foot misshapen. Even though they dried out they still look swollen but thankfully they didn't crack,they also don't smell as good as other RA EL's I have but I'm hopeful that all will be well. Once they hit 30 days down I'll fire one up and report back. 

Thanks for all the advice guys!!

Ted