aging with cellophane

**Shelby07** · 07-09-2009, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by daredog4

I suppose it could be a combination of things. Have you guys noticed much difference from box to box. Yesterday i enjoyed a cigar that had only been in the humi for about a week. It had lots of pepper and coffee flavor. A few days before i smoked the exact same cigar only it had been in the humi without cellophane for probably six months. I know for a fact that it was not near as strong.

Sounds like you're convinced that there is a reason for yet another "cello on or cello off" discussion. It's been discussed many times before on this and every other board in existence, and probably on thousands of blogs and in hundreds of magazine articles. It's personal preference, that's all. The biggest thing it will do is protect the wrapper against physical damage and if you plan on aging cigars for several years it MAY slow down the aging process and prevent marrying of flavors in loose sticks (if you believe in such things... I don't.) Six months in or out of cello isn't going to make a bit of difference.

Yes, there may be differences from box to box or even from cigar to cigar within the same box. Tobacco is a plant, so there's no guarantee of consistency from leaf to leaf. Cigars may be rolled by different torcedors or even differently by the same torcedor, you may smoke a cigar in different conditions (hot day, cold day, sunny, shady, windy, calm, dry, humid, raining, inside, outside, etc.) or with a different mindset. Morning or evening seems to make a difference for many folks. A cigar you enjoy in the morning with your coffee may be too mild for you after you've had a big meal in the evening. You may be smoking with a different beverage or none at all, you may have just eaten or not, they may have been stored in different conditions before you received them, they may be wetter or drier, which is what I suspect happened to your cigar - it takes several weeks for the cigar to settle in your humidor (personally, I let mine rest for at least a month.) If you get a cigar that is overly wet or dry from a B&M and smoke it within a week or so it's going to smoke differently than one that's been stabilized for a longer period of time.

I'd suggest that rather than fret over the age-old cello on or cello off question that you start experimenting with different RH's. That is probably going to be the single most thing that will affect how your cigars smoke. Get a small humidor and some beads with a different RH. See if you prefer a slightly wetter or drier cigar. Just let them rest for several weeks to a month before you smoke them. And even if a cigar smokes differently from one to another you will eventually find consistency in which cigars you like and don't like and under what conditions.

Unlike eating, smoking is a hobby where you will discover something new every day. Don't try to pin something down to a single factor, you'll go crazy.

As they say... enjoy the ride.

**DeeDubya** · 07-09-2009, 09:11 AM

Shelby07,
What RH do you prefer? Do you dry-box, if so how long before smoking?

**Shelby07** · 07-09-2009, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by DeeDubya

Shelby07,
What RH do you prefer? Do you dry-box, if so how long before smoking?

I like to smoke a cigar at around 64-65% RH. CC's most definitely smoke better when dry boxed for at least a day, but I prefer 2 days for them. NC's I rarely find a need to dry box but as I said before, I rarely smoke anything that hasn't been in my humi for at least a month.

**ashauler** · 07-09-2009, 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by Shelby07

I like to smoke a cigar at around 64-65% RH. CC's most definitely smoke better when dry boxed for at least a day, but I prefer 2 days for them. NC's I rarely find a need to dry box but as I said before, I rarely smoke anything that hasn't been in my humi for at least a month.

Ditto. I find longer dry-boxing is beneficial, for me, with broadleaf and maduro wrapped cigars than with others. I like less dry-boxing with Cameroon wrappers, I seem to get more flavor at a little higher Rh with these, though I run the risk of the occasional wrapper split but that happens rarely now.

As with all things, YMMV.