Trouble with "activator" solution...

When I got my first humidor I was given the BAD advice of seasoning it with the glycol crap. NEVER AGAIN...but that is the past. Strictly distilled now.

Anyhow I have still about 30 cigars which were purchased in honduras and a few other places that I loved. However once I seasoned my humidor with that crap they absorbed the flavor. I used to much. I realized after about 4 cigars that I lit and promply discarded that I had a problem. Finally realized after I tasted the solution it was the same bitter taste my cigars had absorbed.

I let them dry out for about a month(in constant temperature) and have now placed them back in the humidor with distilled only. They seem to have gotten slightly better however most still maintain the bitter taste.

Is there any possibilty or is this a dying cause? A friend told me possibly getting a bundle and putting them in the humidor with them. However I faer tainting good cigars.

Any help would be greatly appreciative.

Also wanted to add for the first time EVER I heard about tobacco beetles and saw pictures on this site. I have never felt so hurt and scared before. :smiley19: this little demons are EVIL!

I never smoked a cigar in my life but this is what I would do. I take one of the tainted cigars and dry it out some. Then slowly bring it back with a few cigars that are not so expensive. Basically what you did but redo it and add cigars that are not that big of a deal to taint. There are charcoal filters that are used to filter out smells which are located in some air purifiers. Maybe fitting a charcoal filter to the top of the humidor's inside cover, or fitting it in what ever you decide to use to hold the cigars, will help draw the scent out. It all just a guess
Good Luck!

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Originally Posted by guado

When I got my first humidor I was given the BAD advice of seasoning it with the glycol crap. NEVER AGAIN...but that is the past. Strictly distilled now.

Anyhow I have still about 30 cigars which were purchased in Honduras and a few other places that I loved. However once I seasoned my humidor with that crap they absorbed the flavor. I used to much. I realized after about 4 cigars that I lit and promptly discarded that I had a problem. Finally realized after I tasted the solution it was the same bitter taste my cigars had absorbed.

I let them dry out for about a month(in constant temperature) and have now placed them back in the humidor with distilled only. They seem to have gotten slightly better however most still maintain the bitter taste.

Is there any possibility or is this a dying cause? A friend told me possibly getting a bundle and putting them in the humidor with them. However I fear tainting good cigars.

Any help would be greatly appreciative.

Also wanted to add for the first time EVER I heard about tobacco beetles and saw pictures on this site. I have never felt so hurt and scared before. :smiley19: this little demons are EVIL!

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I'm amazed you're getting the bitter taste. The activator solution contains Glycol which has a sweet taste (which is why animals are so attracted to it). I'm assuming you're talking about the 50/50 solution you buy?

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Originally Posted by Newfie

I'm amazed you're getting the bitter taste. The activator solution contains Glycol which has a sweet taste (which is why animals are so attracted to it). I'm assuming you're talking about the 50/50 solution you buy?

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I drink it straight up. Tastes like chicken. Puts hair on my chest.

possibly not bitter but it has altered the taste of the cigars.

To me the glycol gives me a slightly bitter after taste. My mistake was slathering the insides of the humidor with activator(not 50/50) and putting my sitcks right back in because RH was around 40%. After much frustration over the next few weeks I realized(when I did the salt test) the hygrometer had become defective.

Every cigar that was in that box has the same distinct "flavor" the ones that never touched the sides/bottom hwoever MUCH less that the others.:smiley6:

If you don't have any particular attachment to your humidor, you might want to just get a new one. If it's small, you can replace it with a cuban crafters for $40 or so.

Better to spend forty bucks than risk hundreds of dollars in sticks.

The humidor itself is fine now. It is just the cigars that have retained the "tainted" flavor.

I will mix in good, but not expensive, sticks here in the next few days and then see what happens after a month or two.