Monday, October 04 2010
Q: I'm new to the cigar game. I agree with you that it's a hobby, so, I've purchased fairly expensive
cigars that I would consider dry. I've set up one
humidor with enough humidifiers to keep the RH at at least 85%. When can I expect them to be less dry? Is this a pipe-dream (pun intended)?
Thanks,
Steve N. in Whitefish, MT
A:Â First of all, you don't normally want your humidity too high, and I wouldn't recommend it be as high as 85% for re-hydrating either. Cigars must be re-hydrated SLOWLY, which makes the procedure a matter of patience. You might also want to let the RH get down closer to the normal 70% range first.
Once you've established that, keep the cigars
away from from the humidifier; you don't want them too close to the source. Check on them week-to-week, each week putting them a little closer to the humidifier. Or, if you have another humidor, put them in there with the other cigars, preferably between two rows. Being surrounded by fresh cigars, they will regain their moisture slowly and more evenly.
Depending on how dry they are it could take at least a month, but if they haven't lost their "
bouquet" from being overly dry yet, they should maintain their character, and nothing will be lost.
