I've seen a few people on here talking about dry boxing cigars before smoking them, but couldn't find a good explanation on what to do, how long, ect. Anyone feel up to writing a guide or pointin g me to one I may have missed in my search?
Printable View
I've seen a few people on here talking about dry boxing cigars before smoking them, but couldn't find a good explanation on what to do, how long, ect. Anyone feel up to writing a guide or pointin g me to one I may have missed in my search?
Take cigars you want to smoke out of your humi the night before and place in an extra cigar box outside the humi. Depends on how humid you keep your humidor whether you need to do this, also depends on the cigar. Some you'll discover need it, others won't.
Over time and many cigars you will kind of "just know" how much dry box time is needed frmo storage RH to smoking RH...
Well that was a good concise answer. What's the deal with it though? I thought the idea of a humidor was too keep them in good condition for smoking?
too humid=burn problems and can effect flavor
too dry=easy burn but loss of most, if not all flavor
IOW, you want a cigar to be moist, but not too moist.
Optimum RH for long term storage is different from that of the "smoking" rh. There is some debate on which way it differs. Some people keep the Rh around 70% for long term storage, and around 60% for smoking. Others do it the other way. I personally prefer lower Rh for smoking.
I've noticed this with a some of my sticks as well. I keep my humi between 70-73% and with some I notice some restriction to the draw, (I've always chalked it up to how the cigar deals with certain levels of humidity). I also have a small desk-top humidor that I do not maintian the the RH in, that hovers around 60% on its own. Typically at the beginning of the week, I'll pull out a few cigars and place in there. Then when I smoke them throughout the week they smoke much better, (smoother draw). I have not noticed any loss of flavor but I would imagine they would lose some if they were allowed to remain in that environment for an extended period of time.
I recently moved from one of the driest places in the country to arguably one of the most humid. I've just started noticing my cigars smoking a bit differently, so I need to put them in the dry box for an extra day or so. I smoke infrequently enough to where if I know I'm going to smoke on a Sunday afternoon, I'll put it in the drybox probably Friday morning, but definitely no later than Friday evening.
I'll agree with some of the guys on here and say it's all about how the cigar smokes. I am also from central ohio, and i generally dry box my cigars in the summer since it gets really humid (especially when your house is a crap campus deal with poor insulation:smiley35:) but in the winter it tends to be drier and i smoke them as is. Where in central OH are you?
Are you saying Louisiana is humid?!:smiley36:Quote:
Originally Posted by mrtr33
I keep my humidors and coolidors around 65%. I smoke them right out of the humidors.
Rich
I can attest to pulling them out of a 70% humidor and smoking them will bust a few wrappers. My long term coolerdor has 65% beads and I can smoke them without tempering. I usually pull 5 or so out and put them in a small table top humi without beads. They are good for a week or so as I smoke them.Quote:
Originally Posted by ashauler
I'm looking at dropping to 65% beads in my humidor too. I'm not finding a valid reason for keeping them at 70%.
Up around Coshocton, would you happen to know of a good B&M in the area? All the ones I've found so far have a really small selection, and I'm not allowed to order online.Quote:
Where in central OH are you?
I've just been doing the by guess and by golly method with my one little humidor, jsut adding distilled water to the puck when it feel light, my cigars seem in good condition, though I should prolly break down and get a good hygro.Quote:
I'm looking at dropping to 65% beads in my humidor too. I'm not finding a valid reason for keeping them at 70%.
If you're just maintaining a small desktop, you could also opt for beads at your desired RH and forget about the hygro, imho.Quote:
Originally Posted by Galvanicfish
Sounds like a damn fine plan to me.Quote:
If you're just maintaining a small desktop, you could also opt for beads at your desired RH and forget about the hygro, imho.
I also believe that cigars age best at 70 but smoke best lower. But I'm generally too lazy to drybox my cigars.