Help!

**Shelby07** · 06-11-2009, 05:16 PM

I met with a friend from out of town last Friday night. We exchanged cigars, as usual. He gave me some hand-rolled cigars from a local shop where he lives. As I usually do, I segregated the cigars, but I took the humi pak that was in the bag and put it in my humidor. Today I opened up the drawer and found a beetle hole in one of the cigars directly under it.

I have examined everything and that is the only one that I found, but I'm wondering if it would be best to freeze everything or just keep an eye on them. I have tossed the one with the hole and have taken the rest of the loose ones and put them in the freezer. My other cigars are stored in boxes inside the humidor.

What do y'all think? I'm thinking I should just keep a close eye on the boxed ones rather than going thru the freezing process. Is this a dumb thing to do?

**cinda** · 06-11-2009, 05:59 PM

What's the cash value of that humidor contents? So your theory is the beetle, the lone one hopped a ride on the humi pack and was able to dig his way though the cigar in a day? How long can a beetle live on a humi pack? You are sure there is no way that cigar got the bug anywhere else? I just think your naive to think that just one beetle was taking a ride on that pack if thats the way you belive it happened. You are sure it a beetle hole? I might of kept one of those cigars out to see if it itself had beatles. In any event I am guessing you have a grand in the humi knowing how you roll so I would be proactive, but what do I know....

**Shelby07** · 06-11-2009, 07:22 PM

Originally Posted by cinda

What's the cash value of that humidor contents? So your theory is the beetle, the lone one hopped a ride on the humi pack and was able to dig his way though the cigar in a day? How long can a beetle live on a humi pack? You are sure there is no way that cigar got the bug anywhere else? I just think your naive to think that just one beetle was taking a ride on that pack if thats the way you belive it happened. You are sure it a beetle hole? I might of kept one of those cigars out to see if it itself had beatles. In any event I am guessing you have a grand in the humi knowing how you roll so I would be proactive, but what do I know....

The humipack was in the bag with the cigars until I took it out, so it's real plausible that it hitched a ride in the cigars and jumped ship when I took them out. If there are any more they are now in the deep freeze. The humipack is in the trash.

Of course I can't be 100% sure if it got there from the humipack... but it makes more sense than not. I check my singles every 2 or 3 days and the boxes less frequently. The one that was drilled has been in there for over two years. I took the humipack directly from the cigars and put it into the humi (stupid, I know now.) 2 days later there's a hole in the cigar directly under it. Yes, it was a beetle hole. I've been looking at that cigar for a long time and the hole wasn't there the last time I looked. No other cigars anywhere around it showed any sign of infection.

Is it possible the cigar has been infected for a while? Sure, but unlikely. What are the chances of the one lone infected cigar just happening to be under the humipack that just came out of a new bag of locally rolled cigars in a humidor with several hundred cigars in it. I've inspected every cigar, loose and boxed, and there is no sign of any other cigar being infected. Odds are the gifted cigars were infected and the beetle hatched in transit and was transferred inside a fold of the humipack.

In any event, all of my loose cigars, including the new ones, are in the deep freeze. I'm wondering if it's overkill to take the boxes out (maybe 25-30 boxes or so) and freeze them, too. I'm thinking it probably is overkill, at least for the moment.

**ashauler** · 06-11-2009, 07:54 PM

Absent any other evidence in you humi (dust, other damaged cigars), I think I'd keep the eagle eye out for a while and take immediate and drastic action if I saw anything else suspicious.

There is some risk in the freeze / thaw process itself, and imho, not a necessary one right now.

**denver24** · 06-11-2009, 09:18 PM

Originally Posted by ashauler

There is some risk in the freeze / thaw process itself, and imho, not a necessary one right now.

I've never frozen cigars, but in the case that I need to, does freezing cigars affect their quality when you bring them out of the deep freeze and they thaw?

**Shelby07** · 06-11-2009, 10:03 PM

Originally Posted by denver24

I've never frozen cigars, but in the case that I need to, does freezing cigars affect their quality when you bring them out of the deep freeze and they thaw?

You need to do it slowly. I plan on 3 days in the freeze and 3 days in the refrigerator. Those who have done it say it has no effect on the flavor once the cigars re acclimate in the humi for a couple of weeks. As with any shock change in temperature and humidity the construction of the cigar could suffer.

**CoventryCat86** · 06-12-2009, 12:08 AM

Originally Posted by denver24

I've never frozen cigars, but in the case that I need to, does freezing cigars affect their quality when you bring them out of the deep freeze and they thaw?

I've never done it either but I've talked with a couple of guys who have. They say it's very important to double zip lock the cigars and do every thing you can to remove as much air from each bag during the initial packing process.

If done correctly, freezing has no effect on the cigars, you'll never know that they were ever frozen.

Mark, if I were you, I'd just keep a careful eye on things for a while. If you see another beetle hole or two, then you probably should consider freezing them.

**BigMacFU** · 06-12-2009, 09:05 AM

I'd keep the watchful eye. If you do freeze them, get the new vacuu-zip locks from glad. They come in quart and gallon size and come with a hand-vac pump (mechanical, not electric). The bags are great, I can freeze steak with no ice crystals for weeks.

**Roger** · 06-12-2009, 01:11 PM

Would it be possible to "quarenteen" the one in a ziploc type bag and put it in the humidor or would that particular cigar or cigars be affected by the humidity in the humidor? Good luck on that. Roger.

**Shelby07** · 06-12-2009, 03:01 PM

Originally Posted by Roger

Would it be possible to "quarenteen" the one in a ziploc type bag and put it in the humidor or would that particular cigar or cigars be affected by the humidity in the humidor? Good luck on that. Roger.

Wouldn't want to do that. I need to kill the little bugger. Freezing is the only way. I don't know whether any other cigars have been attacked, so I'm freezing anything loose also. If that weren't an issue I'd just smoke the one with the hole in it.

Protein!

**Shelby07** · 06-15-2009, 01:08 PM

This is the first time I had to resort to freezing cigars so I was curious about how they'd hold up. Took them out of the freezer and into the fridge yesterday and figured, for the sake of experimentation, I'd smoke one this morning. I could find no adverse effects. Burn was fine, moisture content was fine (spongy, no bitterness or hard draw) and flavors were just what I expected.

We have one of those kitchen vacuum food savers, so I put the cigars in the bag and suctioned ALMOST all of the air out before hitting the seal button. There was just enough room in the bag for the cigars to be loose. If you ever have to freeze loose cigars and have one of these gadgets they work great!

**nhcigarfan** · 06-15-2009, 06:48 PM

I say it's time for a good ol college smoke session. The bugs can get them if they are burnt.

**MasterCylinder** · 06-20-2009, 12:25 PM

So I've been keeping a close eye on my little humi since it tends to be a little high in humidity this time of year and I have no way of regulating the temperature in my room (have a radiator which will not turn off for the life of me...), and sure enough, I got bugs. I havn't noticed any holes, but I saw a critter roaming around - being unfamiliar with the fauna here in the UK, I was guessing it could have been a random bug, but thought I would check everything else just to be sure. And there were several - fitting the description of early stage beetles. So, my little humi holds all my ISOMs (including two pre-embargos I was saving for graduation...) and they are now all in the freezer.

Now here's my question, my little humi is your normal cedar-lined humidor - what should I be using to clean this puppy out?

**MasterCylinder** · 06-20-2009, 12:31 PM

They're in my big humi too! half the ones in there are in cellophane and other half not - do you reckon the ones in cellophane will be okay and I can keep out of the freezer? I'm just not sure I have the freezer space for all these cigars...

**craig** · 06-21-2009, 01:39 AM

Cello does squat to stop beetles - they eat cello. However, they don't eat plastic, so you can isolate cigars/groups of cigars with ziplocks while you process them. Divide and conquer.

Spanish cedar is not beetle friendly. They shouldn't be able to eat the stuff, lay eggs there, or pupate or whatever. A good vacuuming with the crevice tool is all that is needed (unlike mould).

Good luck!