Cigars Too Moist?

[Curmudgeon76]

Hi guys,

Just finished seasoning my humi (might have overdone it, at one point, with a sponge in there, it was up to 95% RH). Anyhow, just bought a box of Siglo 21's and dropped em' in my humi with the beads. When I purchased the smokes from a local cigar shop, they were kept in a room with tons of other boxes of cigars (sealed of course) and the room's humidity was maintained at 70.

My hygro is calibrated and with the beads in there, the RH varies between 64% and 67% over the past few days. I have smoked a couple of these cigars and noticed a couple things: first, the cigar is not burning overly fast and certainly isn't dried out, which is great. Secondly, I've noticed that the cigar, when gently squeezed between my fingers, has a a bit of give to it, but not squishy which I also understand to be a good thing. However, I'm wondering if it might be a bit too moist: i've noticed that, when using a punch or cutter, the cigar feels like it's a bit difficult to draw on; it does not produce much smoke when I draw on it comfortably, but perhaps this is normal because I'm not used to smoking cigars that have been kept at optimal humidity levels? Finally, I've noticed the cigars have the tendency to crack and peel a little bit: nothing major but doesn't seem like it should happen. Are my cigars too moist, or am I just being too critical? Thanks in advance for any input!

Cheers,
justin

 

[dpricenator]

some retailers keep their cigars stored a little moist, so maybe they just need some tine to aclimate to your humi. Alo try dryboxing a couple of smokes. This is to put a few smokes in a dry cigar box a day or two before smoking them. This will allow excess moisture to escape and makes them easier to draw, and more smoke. This is nt or everyone, but I just started doing this and have noticed the difference between a dry boxed smoke and on straight from the humi.

 

[Angry Bill]

Easy solution, dry box the ones you are going to smoke the day before. That way, if there is too much humidity, you get rid of it.

 

[RigilKent]

yep do what bill says if they are to moist drybox for a day or two

 

[Jwrussell]

How long have the smokes been in the humi? My guess is they just need a bit more time to aclimate. Between now and then, go with Dave and Bill's suggestion of dry boxing.



Really off color things going through my head right now with all this "dry boxing" talk...

 

[Electric Sheep]

Oh my!

 

[Curmudgeon76]

Hi guys!

I'm thinking I may not have properly seasoned my humi, I had a sponge in there and the humidity was fluctuating all over the place, at one point it was up to 95%! I probably should have used the boveda packs. I sprayed the beads last night and this evening a good portion of them are white. Resprayed them again tonight, but I only have a half ounce in my Montecristo Afrique humidor and only about 25 cigars in there, so I figured that it'd be enough. Nonetheless, I'm thinking of adding more beads so I have an ounce total.

My cigars are still cracking - is this a sign of TOO dry or TOO moist? If I squeeze the stick gently between my fingers I can hear a subtle cracking sound. When I squeezed it with a bit more force the wrapper split a small amount in a couple places.

Once again, appreciate the continuing support and advice on this forum, some really fine folks on here.

Cheers,
justin

 

[oneaday]

Are they cracking/spliting when you smoke them, just sitting in the humi or when you squeeze the crap outta em.

 

[Curmudgeon76]

Hello again,

There's one in the humi that looks like the wrapper near the band is coming off a bit. I smoked one the other night and it split a tiny bit as I was lighting it. But to answer your other question, I wasn't really squeezing the cigar hard, just a little bit of pressure because I was trying to determine how most it was (still haven't mastered how to gauge this just by feel yet) and upon squeezing the cigar a little bit, the wrapper cracked slightly.

Justin

 

[TBone]

The constant change in humidity from say 90% to 60% will cause cigars to crack, split, and unravell. My suggestion would be to put a small glass of distilled water in your humi for a few days. Pull glass out and replace with beads. My 65% beads keep my humi at 65% with the room temp at between 65-70 degrees. Then add your cigars. Hope this helps. I tried to keep it as simple as possible for ya.

 

[dpricenator]

The constant change in humidity from say 90% to 60% will cause cigars to crack, split, and unravell. My suggestion would be to put a small glass of distilled water in your humi for a few days. Pull glass out and replace with beads. My 65% beads keep my humi at 65% with the room temp at between 65-70 degrees. Then add your cigars. Hope this helps. I tried to keep it as simple as possible for ya.

Of course move the cigars to a tupperware during this process. I think you should do as Tbone says and reseason the humi, and once it holds steady between 80 and 90%, replace the water with beads. Then wait for the RH to come down to a 65-70 percent range. At theat time add the smokes back to the humi.

 

[tubaman]

How long and in what manner did you season your humidor?

It should take a few weeks to properly season a humidor. For desktop humidors, take a couple of shot glasses of distilled water and let them sit in the humi for a couple of weeks. The humidor will slowly absorb the water and come up to the correct rh. If you are wiping down the humidor to bring up the rh, not only is this not good for the wood, it will cause the spike in humidity you encountered. I don't know if you did that, it's one explanation however. Once you get the humidor to your desired rh, then put in the beads. Again, get the rh to your desired setting and THEN put in the cigars. This will avoid any of the large swings in humidity.

I'm not a fan of dryboxing myself. There are guys that do it and enjoy their smokes. I'm not passing judgment on anyone that does!!! I feel that if you have your humidor at an appropriate rh setting, they will smoke fine right out of the humidor. If your cigar seems squishy and the foot cracks as soon as you heat it up, it's probably overhumidified. If the wrapper seems dry and flaky, you might need to ratchet up your humidity. I go by how the cigar feels more than anything else.

Dont' know if I answered your question, but take it for what it's worth.

 

[CWS]

I think Kevin hit the nail on the head. My dors are running 65%. I took a number of cigars to Las Vegas. I transfered one to a baggie and carried it around for 4 hours in the evening. The baggie did not seal and when I went to smoke the cigar it unrolled like bounty towels at a hockey game.

 

[Curmudgeon76]

Hi all,

Just an update. Beads have been in there for about 4 days now and humidity is dropping below sixty now, I find myself having to recharge the beads daily. I imagine I probably did not properly season my humi. I'm just going to buy a couple of Boveda seasoning packets, and leave them in there for 10 days, as per instructions. I left shotglasses in there for like 2 weeks but apparently it didn't season well. So just place my sticks in a big tupperware container while performing the seasoning?

Secondly, The RH in my apartment is 43 percent. I put my WH Cal III in my boveda test kit a couple days ago, and just checked it, around the 50 hour mark, and it was dead on at 75 percent, so doesn't seem my hygro is the issue. Seems like an issue with seasoning. I know many of the users here use beads: how often on average do you guys have to recharge your beads?

Thanks again,
Justin

 

[oneaday]

I live in the desert and Spritz the beads once a month in the winter, every 3 weeks starting about now with the RH in the 10-15% range outside.

 

[dpricenator]

It pretty dry around here as well and I never have to do it more than every 3 weeks or so.

 

[Curmudgeon76]

Wow, then I definitely shouldn't have to be spraying them this frequently. The seal on my humidor is pretty good from what I can tell: anyone have any input as to what could be causing the beads to dry up faster, or to not be able to keep the humidity up over sixty? Would you guys say that it's most likely a seasoning issue? Thanks,

Justin

 

[dpricenator]

You can use the dollar bill test to check the seal. try closing the humi on a dollar bill, in several places. If it pulls out with no resistance, BAD SEAL. If it takes seveal LBS of pull to get it out then you are good there

I think is is the seasoning almost certainly. Also if your smokes dried out a bit, they could be sucking up the moisture. Put all your smokes in the tupperware, use beads for humidity in the tupperware. Re-season the humi, until the RH is gets at at least 80%. The put the beads in the humi until the rh comes down. Now it's time to add the sticks.
Your sticks will stay good in a tuperware for several days with out the beads. Just be suare they get a little fresh air every few days.

 

[a2058]

Another factor is, how well is your humi sealed? When you close the lid, does it feel like there is a small resistance of wood against wood?

oops, sorry didn't read the thread all the way...