sealed vs. not sealed

[puffnstuff]

I'm wondering if anybody knows if there are any drawbacks to aging a box of cigars while leaving the box sealed in it's shrinkwrap. apart from not opening the box to inspect the cigars before lying them down for a nice long beauty rest, what about humidity (not oxygen) getting into or out of a sealed box if it's being kept in ideal conditions?
I've allowed my neuroticism to get the better of me after reading some of MRN's "scriptures". he mentions the importance of aging cigars in air-tight conditions for long term aging, slowing down the fermentation process and such (I'm specifically referring to the blue text on the bottom of page 7, if you've got the book).
I guess I should specify that the box would be kept in a humidor that might be opened fairly often to pull out singles that are also kept in it.
I realize that this is a pretty obsessive inquiry, but hey, I figure somebody must have some scientific-based knowledge on the subject.

 

[CoventryCat86]

Pesonally, I'd take the shrink wrap off as they did not come from the factory that way and when the good Doctor discusses aging, he did not consider dealer-added shrink wrap in his discussion.

Take it off.....

 

[moki]

The only reason not to take the shrinkwrap off, IMHO, if is you're planning to sell the box later. It makes a slight difference to people when purchasing a box wether it is still factory sealed or not.

I personally open all of my boxes to inspect 'em.

 

[CoventryCat86]

I do believe that in this case the shrinkwrap IS NOT factory sealed, it's sealing applied by a retailer and not HabanosSA.

 

[moki]

I do believe that in this case the shrinkwrap IS NOT factory sealed, it's sealing applied by a retailer and not HabanosSA.

Dunno -- other than referring to MRN, he doesn't say anything about the cigars in question.

 

[puffnstuff]

sorry guys, I should've specified that. it's not a box of havanas, but it did come factory shrinkwrapped (1926 #1's).

I think I definitely hear what you guys are saying, though.
I wouldn't keep the shrinkwrap on for resale value, since I definitely intend to enjoy them myself.
but I see what you mean, moki, by how the value of inspecting the cigars and having the piece of mind that I'll be investing all the time in aging a box of intact cigars outweighs whatever minor benefit would come from aging them in near air-tight conditions.

and for CC- if, hypothetically, HabanosSA boxes came factory-sealed, would you age them that way, or go with moki's logic? (assuming they were legal, and you could get them, of course)

 

[AVB]

Over the corse of long term agingi.e. years, the cello won't have any effect. In fact it may even help to preven major fluctuations for a short period of time because of the limited airflow. I always look at mine so the box cello comes off.