Acclimating new cigars

[Capn_Jackson]

Hello, Jackson again.

I just got a shipment of great Nicaraguan cigars, mostly from Pepin Garcia lines, sent from Famous. Also some Cubans, from a different source obviously. Each shipment is acclimating in Boveda bags with 65% packets inside. My Boveda butler, just calibrated last week, is reading 71% in both bags. I know cigars are shipped “wet” from companies such as these, and that it takes some time to acclimate. The Famous shipment is 30 sticks, mostly toro, and have been in there since Wednesday, three days ago. The ten Montecristo #2’s have been in their bag since Thursday, two days ago. The RH hasn’t budged since placing them in their bags. I added more Boveda to the bag with 30 cigars, and actually have 4 Boveda total in there. The montecristo’s just have one Boveda. How much longer before I start to see a change in RH, or should I even worry about it? Ideally I’d like them all to get down near 65%. The Montecristo’s will actually be stored around 62% after acclimation. I just don’t see any decrease yet, and its a little concerning. Or is it? Isn’t the purpose of acclimation so that I don’t shock the environment inside my humidors? Any advice, or suggestion, is welcome and appreciated.

Cheers,
Jackson

 

[Boudie]

Sounds like you have everything under control. Only thing you are missing is patience. Bovedas are great tools but they are slow. How long you wait depends on a lot of things, could be a couple of weeks or a couple of months, depends.

Lots of ways to dry out cigars if you want a smoke right now. Place a couple in a dry room for a day or so, but be careful rapid changes in temp and humidity can cause lots of problems.

 

[OneStrangeOne]

A rough average would be about 1% point per week, so 6 weeks or so to get from 71 to 65 adding more Boveda’s won’t change it.

 

[IronW]

A rough average would be about 1% point per week, so 6 weeks or so to get from 71 to 65 adding more Boveda’s won’t change it.

I second this

 

[Capn_Jackson]

A rough average would be about 1% point per week, so 6 weeks or so to get from 71 to 65 adding more Boveda’s won’t change it.

Wow, I thought two weeks was “the sweet spot.” By this standard of 1% per week, perhaps I should go ahead and put them in the humidor, and let them ride it out in there? There are currently no other sticks in my Cuban humidor to “shock,” although I’ll be getting more this week. I’m not overly concerned about affecting the other cigars in my NC humidor. Perhaps I should let them go straight to the box?

Jackson

 

[OneStrangeOne]

In my opinion, the purpose of acclamation is to get the cigars to their prime smokeability. The air inside your wood humidors is going to bounce around no matter what you do, even just the air circulation can cause a swing, as long as your box is properly seasoned and the cigars are stable it’s not a problem, it takes some time for the cigars to absorb or release enough humidity to make a big difference. Of course if you have 20 cigars in a box and add 75 more then the 20 will absorb the extra moisture.
one thing that will help with stability is having the box about 80% full, if you don’t have enough cigars to fill the space you can use the air pillows that come with some orders, or even just blow up a ziplock bag or balloon to fill up the extra volume.

 

[Boudie]

Or you can do like most of us and just buy more cigars! An empty humidor is a wasted humidor.

 

[Rupe]

A rough average would be about 1% point per week, so 6 weeks or so to get from 71 to 65 adding more Boveda’s won’t change it.

I second this

Me three. 1% a week is the general rule of thumb I use as well.

 

[Capn_Jackson]

So, strangely, the humidity in my Boveda bag is rising, even though there’s now a 62% Boveda pack in there. Boveda butler is reading 72% RH. Temp is 67 degrees, so I’m not worried about beetles yet (should I be?) but can’t figure out why the Rh is going UP and not down. Thinking maybe I’ll just throw caution to the wind and put those things in my humidor, which is currently at 65%. As always, I appreciate any advice or suggestions.

 

[Tacket]

Buy enough so they can sit for 30-90 days. You’ll notice a difference.


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[Cigary43]

The biggest selling point in using kitty litter is its versatility in dialing in RH at whatever number you want....I can take care of issues within 24-48 hours.