Cedar flavor aging question for ya'll

[Çnote]

My wife & I have been enjoying cigars for the last few years and have come to vastly enjoy CC over (more easily obtainable in TX) NC. Until I discovered FOH 24:24, what CC we had were generously gifted. My wife has had a lifetime severe allergy to cedar, to the point where items like cedar chests are avoided. Thus, cigars that show a distinct cedar/woodsy profile are avoided as well. Before delving into CC, we had already discovered that we both preferred smaller vitolas, so when approaching 24:24 and box buying from other vendors (aside: so disappointing),  I focused on things like San Cristobal Principes, smaller RyJ, Party Shorts, BPC, MCMC, & RACSS; heavier, sweeter flavors in a small format.

What we has noticed is that virtually everything young is not to her liking what so ever, and everything dress box seems to retain some essence of cedar from direct contact, so aged in dress box cigars are out as well. Due to circumstances and availability, I did not obtain any cabinets for a test in that packing format. Some of the larger of the small vitolas will be ok for her after 5 minutes of resting lit, I'm assuming that the small amount of volatile cedar oil absorbed evaporates at a relatively low temperature...

So, given all of this

1) is this logic 'cigar sound?' I'm no more of an expert than Google lets me be.

2) have I simply been picking the wrong marcas/vitolas to avoid woodsy flavors?

3) have any of you experienced this and made measures in your storage to reduce the direct contact of cedar? If so, in your experience, how long would I expect to wait until this blows off?

Thank you for any assistance ya'll may be able to give me in this!

 

[awk6898]

There are so many variables here that would need expert input, but let me try to at least break it down a little bit...

I'm interested in your wife's allergy and what the exact allergen is. There are many different kinds of "Cedar" trees. What exactly is she allergic to and what happens when she is exposed? Just itchy skin, or a full blown anaphylactic response?

"Spanish Cedar" like what's used inside of a humidor or cigar box is actually more closely related to the mahogany family and not the common red cedar like what's used in old clothes dressers and chests.

If she were allergic to peanuts for example, you wouldn't be able to store your cigars in them and then brush them off, light it up, and not worry about being exposed to the allergen. Which leads me to believe that she's not actually allergic to Spanish cedar. Otherwise I'd have to assume she'd show signs or symptoms of an allergic reaction?

But I'm not a doctor. What do I know?

Also, if she just doesn't enjoy the flavor imparted by storage in cigar boxes take them out and store them naked in Tupperware. There's plenty of talk on here of different storage options and plenty of guys that have done long term storage outside of the box.

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[blakeLA]

3 minutes ago, awk6898 said:

Also, if she just doesn't enjoy the flavor imparted by storage in cigar boxes take them out and store them naked in Tupperware. There's plenty of talk on here of different storage options and plenty of guys that have done long term storage outside of the box.

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Agreed all around.  If there is a real allergy, it seems chatting with a dr. about what might be safe would be a good idea.  Spanish cedar is indeed part of the mahogany family, so I'm curious to know if that's an allergy as well. 

Re: spanish cedar flavor, plenty of folks store sticks outside of boxes if that's your preference - plastic bags inside of tupperdors or coolerdors is fairly common, and there are many threads about that on the forum.  I haven't personally tried to avoid spanish cedar, so can't really speak to how long it might take to have that wear off, but presumably on young sticks, they have not taken on much flavor from wood contact.

As far as non-woodsy sticks go, I find most montecristos to have predominant flavors of cocoa.  Something milder like Fonseca tends to be fairly floral in taste.  Cohiba's vitolas typically exhibit some hay, citrus, honey for me.  But that's what I get out of them.  Perhaps consider getting a sampler from the international store so you can try a wide range of marcas and see what suits her tastes before buying larger quantities to age.   It's a nice and cost effective way to try a huge array of flavor profiles.  Good luck, and welcome!

[TheGipper]

You may want to explore buying cigars in cardboard pack format.

That said, I suspect the sensitivity is to more than just cedar / mahogany, as there's really no Spanish Cedar (or I would guess cedar of any variety) in present day dress boxes or SBN boxes or SLB cabinets.  Some may have divider sheets that are Spanish Cedar, so you may want to trial a dress box where you remove the divider upon receipt.  See that improves the situation.

Oh, and the Romeo y Julieta Cedros series would be unadvisable your wife. 

[MD Puffer]

Is a new wife a viable option?

[Rrm7284]

Tubos might be worth exploring. You can even store those in a separate tuppadore, with no other boxes.


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[PaulPower]

Ok. Coming from Texas also (Austin) is she allergic to cedar wood, or cedar pollen? We have a lot of cedar pollen, I have swept it of my driveway, and seen my car look like it got flour bombed! And everyone is kinda allergic to it, some greatly. If it is a pollen allergy, i don’t think the wood would trigger it, and it may be psychosomatic, but I could be WAY off base. I would talk to a good allergy doctor to get some facts.


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[PaulPower]

This is a cedar tree in Texas!


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[BrightonCorgi]

Cabinet cigars will have a much less spanish cedar.  Not sure what the boxes are made of, but it's a neutral wood.  Could be mold in the cedar that negatively impacts her?

I'd imagine old boxes may may lose some of the allergen over time.  Stay away from tubo cigars lol.  Cardboard packaging could be the way to go.  Those are the most round cigars available and no cedar.

[bsubtown]

More information about the reaction the exposure may be helpful. Is it something that a prophylactic zyrtec or benadryl will help with? It may be that she needs a medicine cocktail with her cigars. 

[TheMonk]

19 hours ago, MD Puffer said:

Is a new wife a viable option?

Worth asking, right? ?

[MD Puffer]

 

14 minutes ago, TheMonk said:

Worth asking, right? ?

If you want to solve problems in life you have to look at all options.

[Çnote]

Finally circling back here...

1) my wife does not have allergic reaction to 'cedar infused' cigars, it's more as she has related the smell of cedar to her allergies and thus these flavors in a cigar are very off putting. I'm just trying to crowdsource an answer that will keep her CC inclined. She seems to get less of the off putting flavors in cellophane wrapped NC, and in general there's less cedar packing in boutique NC.

2) as she got me a new humidor for Christmas and accepts that cigars are reasonable addition to the budget, so not really an issue @MD Puffer as she's pro-cigar and actually she was the one who suggested I ask this forum.

Thank you for your answers and witticisms!

[Mossome]

On 2/17/2019 at 6:29 PM, Rrm7284 said:

Tubos might be worth exploring. You can even store those in a separate tuppadore, with no other boxes.


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Don’t all tubos come with a cedar sleeve inside? That would actually have more of the cigar in direct contact with cedar than ones inside an SLB. 

[mt1]

Are SLB's even made of cedar?  In fact, are any of the boxes actually made of cedar or just perhaps lined (and probably not all)?

[Edward7]

On 2/17/2019 at 3:29 PM, Rrm7284 said:

Tubos might be worth exploring. You can even store those in a separate tuppadore, with no other boxes.


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Don’t most tubos come with a cedar sleeve wrapped around the cigar inside the aluminum tube?