I got a delivery of some Habanos yesterday, from my buddy who got back from Cuba 3 weeks ago. I got a 25 cab of R&J Mille Fleurs (more on those later), a 10 cab of Montecristo No.4s & a 10 cab of H. Upmann Connoisseur No.1s!. Cost about 150 pounds Sterling. In preparation, I have put together a cheap tupperdore which has been up and running for a month or so. My 'dore consists of:
- 9 litre tupperware box, thoroughly cleaned, which isn't quite airtight but lockable
- old fashioned 'wet sponge' type humidifier (supposed to be good for up to 100 sticks), which is a slatted plastic container with two sections, each containing a dense sponge. Into this I initially poured about 100ml of distilled water/PG humidification solution. I poured another 50ml in yesterday;
- basic analogue hygrometer, the type you might find in a reptile vivarium.
I put about 10 loose sticks in there straight away and the 'dore hit desired levels (I'm going for 18-20c & 60-70% RH) pretty quick and maintained this, though the hygro RH reading tends to swing by 10% or so over the course of the day. I understand consistency is key with cigar storage, but overall I was pretty confident with this set-up and excited to get it filled up!
However, since I put in 50 Habanos in cabinets yesterday morning, the RH reading has decreased to just over 50% & isn't showing any signs of increasing after roughly 36 hours now. The Habanos have not been in a humidified environment since they were bought, so I'm guessing initially that they require more humidification then my humidifier is kicking out. There is also a considerable amount of cedar in there now too, so I can also guess that they will be absorbing a fair amount of moisture as well.
I hope this helps to inform/inspire any newbs. Feedback/suggestions welcome!
- 9 litre tupperware box, thoroughly cleaned, which isn't quite airtight but lockable
- old fashioned 'wet sponge' type humidifier (supposed to be good for up to 100 sticks), which is a slatted plastic container with two sections, each containing a dense sponge. Into this I initially poured about 100ml of distilled water/PG humidification solution. I poured another 50ml in yesterday;
- basic analogue hygrometer, the type you might find in a reptile vivarium.
I put about 10 loose sticks in there straight away and the 'dore hit desired levels (I'm going for 18-20c & 60-70% RH) pretty quick and maintained this, though the hygro RH reading tends to swing by 10% or so over the course of the day. I understand consistency is key with cigar storage, but overall I was pretty confident with this set-up and excited to get it filled up!
However, since I put in 50 Habanos in cabinets yesterday morning, the RH reading has decreased to just over 50% & isn't showing any signs of increasing after roughly 36 hours now. The Habanos have not been in a humidified environment since they were bought, so I'm guessing initially that they require more humidification then my humidifier is kicking out. There is also a considerable amount of cedar in there now too, so I can also guess that they will be absorbing a fair amount of moisture as well.
I hope this helps to inform/inspire any newbs. Feedback/suggestions welcome!