Newcomer (Newbie) Q&A

[mikem2780]

I know this is not a question that has one definite answer because preference is part of it, but what temperature and humidity should cc's be stored at? Not for aging purposes, just general storage. Thanks in advance.

[Riverstyx]

Has anyone heard of aging cigars at 80rh?  (ignoring the threat of beetles of course.)  And is there anything to this "funk" or is it just TV bullsh$t? 

 

 

[El Presidente]

9 hours ago, fitzy said:

If a cigar has an ammonia taste/smell in the second half is that due to lack of aging?

Could be:

• the sign of a young cigar
• the sign of an overly wet cigar
• the sign of an improperly fermented cigar

If in doubt, dry box one for 2-3 days. Hell you can cheat a little on that and 

1. clip it
2. put it in a zip lock but keep ziplock open
3. put it in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours. 

Has all or much of the ammonia taste/aroma gone away? if so then you have points 1 &/or 2. 

[El Presidente]

4 hours ago, Riverstyx said:

Has anyone heard of aging cigars at 80rh?  (ignoring the threat of beetles of course.)  And is there anything to this "funk" or is it just TV bullsh$t? 

 

 

Rivers, can you please post that as a separate thread in order that we get a wider array of member input. We will link your question here to that thread.  Many thanks 

[El Presidente]

 

[Diabolicalpherpher]

So wrapper oils/ sheen equate to flavor, how does aging factor into these oils?  I've been reading posts where 'elbows', 'youngness', 'mongrel', 'rough edges', etc.  to describe fresh CC, do oils factor into this or something else?  My assumption is that oils evaporate, breakdown, or degrade as they age and that is why there is a point of no return for aging cigars, so perhaps some oils are more volatile than others and these more volatile oils cause the roughness?  

[Cmelle]

Hi guys. I have 1 humidor and 2 coolidors. I have 65% bovedas in all. I don't have air conditioning in the house, and I've been lazy and too broke to buy a winador. 

I live in Melbourne, and throughout summer the temp in my humidor and coolidors go upto 30° (86° fahrenheit) at times. 

What effect does this have on my cigars? Am i doing permanent damage? 

My rh stays between 60-66.

[El Presidente]

2 hours ago, Cmelle said:

Hi guys. I have 1 humidor and 2 coolidors. I have 65% bovedas in all. I don't have air conditioning in the house, and I've been lazy and too broke to buy a winador. 

I live in Melbourne, and throughout summer the temp in my humidor and coolidors go upto 30° (86° fahrenheit) at times. 

What effect does this have on my cigars? Am i doing permanent damage? 

My rh stays between 60-66.

The risk is Tobacco beetles which feel the need to hatch, feed and breed when the temperature rises above 70 F.  Say 68 F to be safe. 

You need to freeze your stock to kill any larvae. Put the complete boxes in zip lock bags and into a deep freezer for a week and then on a bench for a day and back into your humidor. 

People will tell you a day in a fridge and then a week in the freezer and a day in the fridge and a day on the bench and then into your humidor.  It all works.  You just need to freeze the cigars if you want to be safe in hot climates where temp isn't controlled. 

At the same time clean out your humidors. 

No damage is done to the cigars through the freezing process. Before you put anything in your humidors again, freeze them. 

Peace of mind. 

[nvrp813]

I recently bought my first, high dollar, high capacity humidor and want to season the "right way".  While I've seasoned my other 3 humidors, I suspect it was not done in the best operating procedure. 

After unpacking the humidor I wiped everything down with a dry, lint-free, cloth.  Then filled 2 bowls with distilled water and have the sitting on the top and bottom of the humidor.  My question is, at what RH should I remove the bowls of water and replace with my 65% Bovedas?

There is a lot of info floating around, and some claim to remove the water when RH reaches what you'd like to store cigars at.  Others say to bring RH up to mid 70's before removing water.  And then there is info that says to take RH up to 80 before removing bowls of water. 

What do you suggest?  Thanks!

[HiPower]

22 hours ago, mikem2780 said:

I know this is not a question that has one definite answer because preference is part of it, but what temperature and humidity should cc's be stored at? Not for aging purposes, just general storage. Thanks in advance.

 I started out storing at 65rh/65t and after a couple years went to 62rh/65t. The upside seemingly has been better tasting cigars with fewer burn issues. I can pull almost anything out of the cooler and smoke it immediately with no dry boxing.  Downside is the wife still hates that I keep the house at 65 year round.

[zeedubbya]

I recently bought my first, high dollar, high capacity humidor and want to season the "right way".  While I've seasoned my other 3 humidors, I suspect it was not done in the best operating procedure. 
After unpacking the humidor I wiped everything down with a dry, lint-free, cloth.  Then filled 2 bowls with distilled water and have the sitting on the top and bottom of the humidor.  My question is, at what RH should I remove the bowls of water and replace with my 65% Bovedas?
There is a lot of info floating around, and some claim to remove the water when RH reaches what you'd like to store cigars at.  Others say to bring RH up to mid 70's before removing water.  And then there is info that says to take RH up to 80 before removing bowls of water. 
What do you suggest?  Thanks!

I’ll take a swing at this one. First off—no one can tell you exactly what rH Is best for you. Through experimenting with different levels you’ll find the best option for you.

My opinion on seasoning (and what I’ve done) is to take it to about what you’re going to want the humidor to stay around. Say 65 for this example. Put in your Bovedas (if this is your preferred humidity control method) and make sure you have 4-5 days of stability. Stable is what you want. If you see the hygrometer(s) (make sure they’re calibrated, and move them around) reading lower than you want go back to seasoning again.

Also realize when you put in cigars and boxes they will affect the humidity some as well. You may see a drop or an increase initially, but it will stabilize. As long as you’re confident the environment is pretty stable you’re good to go. Please realize the limitation of the medium you’re using too. Bovedas will have some level of error and this is to be expected.

I ran down the rabbit hole of precision control (with generous help from@pigfish) and now have my main humidor stable between 61.8-62.2 constantly. The problem I have now is how much the system runs to maintain this precision in an imperfect “wood box”. This is why I will be switching it all over into a large wine cooler here in a few months. Just my 2 cents. Hope this helps!



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[Hookmaker]

7 hours ago, nvrp813 said:

I recently bought my first, high dollar, high capacity humidor and want to season the "right way".  While I've seasoned my other 3 humidors, I suspect it was not done in the best operating procedure. 

After unpacking the humidor I wiped everything down with a dry, lint-free, cloth.  Then filled 2 bowls with distilled water and have the sitting on the top and bottom of the humidor.  My question is, at what RH should I remove the bowls of water and replace with my 65% Bovedas?

There is a lot of info floating around, and some claim to remove the water when RH reaches what you'd like to store cigars at.  Others say to bring RH up to mid 70's before removing water.  And then there is info that says to take RH up to 80 before removing bowls of water. 

What do you suggest?  Thanks!

If you have bought a high $ humidor with big capacity I assume it’s not just the box type but some sort af cabinet. Then I would not save on control and use Bovedas, I’d buy a proper humidification system, like a cigar oasis for instance.

[nvrp813]

If you have bought a high $ humidor with big capacity I assume it’s not just the box type but some sort af cabinet. Then I would not save on control and use Bovedas, I’d buy a proper humidification system, like a cigar oasis for instance.

Yes it’s a large “wineador” of sorts. I guess cost is all relative but it was close to $400, which to me is a pricey humidor purchase. I know some on this board spent way more, but still being new to the hobby (passion), this is what i was comfortable putting down.

My only issue with cigar oasis is i do not like adding humidity in such a dramatic fashion. Correct me if I’m wrong but i am under the impression cigar oasis puts off a steam, or vapor, to add humidity. I’m much more comfortable with the “passive” humidification of a boveda. Scientifically i might not be using the correct terms but i hope you understand what I’m trying to say.

Thanks for the response and input. Very much appreciated.

[Hookmaker]

5 minutes ago, nvrp813 said:

 

Yes it’s a large “wineador” of sorts. I guess cost is all relative but it was close to $400, which to me is a pricey humidor purchase. I know some on this board spent way more, but still being new to the hobby (passion), this is what i was comfortable putting down.

My only issue with cigar oasis is i do not like adding humidity in such a dramatic fashion. Correct me if I’m wrong but i am under the impression cigar oasis puts off a steam, or vapor, to add humidity. I’m much more comfortable with the “passive” humidification of a boveda. Scientifically i might not be using the correct terms but i hope you understand what I’m trying to say.

Thanks for the response and input. Very much appreciated.

 

Well the CO uses passive release from beads just as the bovedas. I have 3 humidors, and just installed a CO MAGNA into the largest which is a 6 foot tall cabinet and it works like a dream. If you’re crazy enough you can even install a WiFi element and use an app for long distance controls. Recommendable.

[HoyoFan]

Yes it’s a large “wineador” of sorts. I guess cost is all relative but it was close to $400, which to me is a pricey humidor purchase. I know some on this board spent way more, but still being new to the hobby (passion), this is what i was comfortable putting down.

My only issue with cigar oasis is i do not like adding humidity in such a dramatic fashion. Correct me if I’m wrong but i am under the impression cigar oasis puts off a steam, or vapor, to add humidity. I’m much more comfortable with the “passive” humidification of a boveda. Scientifically i might not be using the correct terms but i hope you understand what I’m trying to say.

Thanks for the response and input. Very much appreciated.

One thing I would suggest is replacing the Bovedas with a couple of pounds of Heartfelt beads. I run a NewAir wineador with 2lbs of 60rh beads and am usually sitting steady at 65f / 63rh

[Fuzz]

57 minutes ago, Hookmaker said:

Well the CO uses passive release from beads just as the bovedas. I have 3 humidors, and just installed a CO MAGNA into the largest which is a 6 foot tall cabinet and it works like a dream. If you’re crazy enough you can even install a WiFi element and use an app for long distance controls. Recommendable.

Looking at the design of the CO (especially the smaller units), it does not seem to be able to remove excess moisture from the environment. I personally would not be wanting to rely on a humidification device that can only add moisture.

[PrairieSmoke]

Looking at the design of the CO (especially the smaller units), it does not seem to be able to remove excess moisture from the environment. I personally would not be wanting to rely on a humidification device that can only add moisture.

Yes, it can only add. Works great in a dryer climate, but if the ambient humidity gets high it would run into trouble.


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[HabanoHam]

Greetings all, I had a question about long term aging in cardboard 3 packs. I have a few sitting in my cooler and was wondering if keeping them intact would negatively impact their flavor. I' m currently keeping them intact just for organizational and trading purposes. The cooler that's being used for storage has a few large planks of Spanish cedar inside to help aging and regulate humidity. Thanks!

[El Presidente]

10 minutes ago, HabanoHam said:

Greetings all, I had a question about long term aging in cardboard 3 packs. I have a few sitting in my cooler and was wondering if keeping them intact would negatively impact their flavor. I' m currently keeping them intact just for organizational and trading purposes. The cooler that's being used for storage has a few large planks of Spanish cedar inside to help aging and regulate humidity. Thanks!

I am not a fan of CP's for long term aging. 5-7 years and for me I can increasingly taste the paper compared to the same cigar in 25's or 50's. 

The exceptions for me are those in cellophane but that is not the domain of Cuban cigars. 

[cashews39]

There's something I've always wondered regarding cigar nomenclature: 

As an example, I'll use Cohiba Siglo IV, which is a Corona Gorda. My understanding is that Cohiba is the marca and (I think) that Corona Gorda is the vitola. Do I have that correct? If that is correct, then what is the appropriate term for Siglo IV? 

[HabanoHam]

Thanks for the insight Prez! 

[Buck14]

14 hours ago, cashews39 said:

There's something I've always wondered regarding cigar nomenclature: 

As an example, I'll use Cohiba Siglo IV, which is a Corona Gorda. My understanding is that Cohiba is the marca and (I think) that Corona Gorda is the vitola. Do I have that correct? If that is correct, then what is the appropriate term for Siglo IV? 

Here’s my understanding...

Let’s use the Bolivar Corona Gigante as an example.

Marca or “Brand” = Bolivar

Vitola de Galera or “Habanos Factory Name” based on the size of the cigar = Julieta No. 2

Vitola de Salida or “Cigar Name” or “Size name you find on the cigar box” or “Market Name” = Corona Gigante

Common Name or Popular Name or Street Name = Churchill

****

Now let’s do it for the cigar you asked about.

Cohiba Siglo IV...

Marca = Cohiba

Vitola de Galera = Coronas Gordas

Vitola de Salida = Siglo IV

Common Name = Grand Corona

[Maybee86]

@Buck14 great breakdown, I was curious about this as well 

[cashews39]

2 hours ago, Buck14 said:

Here’s my understanding...

Let’s use the Bolivar Corona Gigante as an example.

Marca or “Brand” = Bolivar

Vitola de Galera or “Habanos Factory Name” based on the size of the cigar = Julieta No. 2

Vitola de Salida or “Cigar Name” or “Size name you find on the cigar box” or “Market Name” = Corona Gigante

Common Name or Popular Name or Street Name = Churchill

****

Now let’s do it for the cigar you asked about.

Cohiba Siglo IV...

Marca = Cohiba

Vitola de Galera = Coronas Gordas

Vitola de Salida = Siglo IV

Common Name = Grand Corona

Thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for. 

[JLFIRST]

I had a question about construction issues in Cubans. I ordered the 2 sampler Montecristo 80th Anniversario a couple of weeks ago from 24:24. They arrived yesterday and I noticed one of the Monte 80th was slightly crooked i.e not straight.
Will the cigar still smoke fine without issues? Is this a normal construction issue for a CC? I don't have that many large Cubans to compare with, so much obliged for your answers!
 

Smoked like a dream!

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