Aging cigars at higher humidity levels

[Keystone_Raider]

found this on the Oliva website:

Aging
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Aging is a complex process which requires special attention. While all cigars show some degree of maturity from additional aging, not all cigars age well. A common misconception is that a cigar which was rolled with “new” tobacco will lose its bite and harshness through humidor aging. No amount of humidor aging will mellow “new” or un-cured tobacco.

“The best cigars for aging are those which were well balanced and enjoyable to being with.”

Proper aging requires a designated humidor which will not be used for daily use. It should have a capacity that exceeds the amount of cigars to be aged by at least 20%. Cigars should be placed in the humidor without cellophane. Allow for space for the head and foot of the cigars evenly. The humidity source should be one that can exceed 70% humidity. Aging cigars should be kept at 70%-79% humidity depending on the thickness of the wrapper. Thicker wrapper require higher levels of humidity. Once desired age is achieved a cigar should be brought to 70% before smoking.

Recommended Aging
High Primes (Thicker Wrappers) Maduro/Habano/Corojo/Habano 2000/Criollo/Sumatra/3-7 years

2-3 Primes (Medium Wrappers) Low Primes/Ecuador Connecticut/2-5 years

1st Cut (Thinner Wrappers) USA Connecticut/Cameroon/1-4 years.



I'm curious as to your thoughts of the recommended higher humidity levels for long term storage of thick wrappers and if anyone has actually tried this at the higher humidity


Here is the link-

http://www.olivacigar.com/fundamentals.aspx

KR

 

[khari]

Very interesting read, KR. This is new to me so I am interested to hear what others have to say as well.

 

[CigarStone]

This is a great post Jim.

Regardless of the ultimate validity of this source, it is always good to read this kind of stuff.

 

[Infinity]

It is a good post. However, it goes against everything I know and do.

Forget the aging RH for one minute, the RH number is what bothers me. Beetles will hatch at a consistent 79 RH. I would be concerned at 75 RH.

Brian

 

[tomthirtysix]

It is a good post. However, it goes against everything I know and do.

Forget the aging RH for one minute, the RH number is what bothers me. Beetles will hatch at a consistent 79 RH. I would be concerned at 75 RH.

Brian

I thought beetle hatching was more concerned with temperature, as opposed to RH.

 

[lucasbuck]

It is a good post. However, it goes against everything I know and do.

Forget the aging RH for one minute, the RH number is what bothers me. Beetles will hatch at a consistent 79 RH. I would be concerned at 75 RH.

Brian

Brian is dead on. It's crazy to store cigars over 70% regardless. Unless of course you're interest is cultivating a beetle farm. It's just my opinion but I've been aging cigars myself for about five years now and I have found that lower humidity gives the best results. Besides the obvious, never having to worry about mold or beetles, I've also found lower RH yields more flavorful cigars. Again this is just my opinion based on my own lay research.

 

[cigar smoke]

Based on my experience RH has far less to do with beetles hatching then temp. If a humidor was kept at say 68F and humidity at 78% it is highly unlikely that beetles would hatch IMO. Now if the Temp were at 72F or higher and the humidity were at 78% then I would start to worry.

Bob

 

[badhangover]

I thought beetle hatching was more concerned with temperature, as opposed to RH.

This is my understanding as well, and I have never read anything (I can recall) that suggests otherwise. Increased temperatures (70 degrees Farenheit and above being the generally accepted benchmark) bring upon the potential for beetles. Increased relative humidity is entirely different. At extreme high levels, if one keeps their humidor at tropical rain forest levels, the humidity may cause the wrapper to split. But really, with that high of humidity, it is mold that will be your enemy. I'd expect cigars to look like a furry rabbit if stored long term at up to 80% relative humidity.

Now then, a slightly elevated humidity may indeed be beneficial. Increased humidity helps cause cigars to sweat their oils. That in turn helps the marriage of the different cigar components (filler/binder/wrapper) to join together as their respective oils are in contact with each other in a more pronounced state than is normal (at "regular rh" levels). Slightly elevated humidified storage may also help bring about plume, which is of debatable effect to a cigar, but many enthusiasts profess to favor.

For what it's worth, I do not espouse a higher than normal humidity, nor do I maintain my own cigars in an elevated humidity environment. I prefer for my cigars to marry (conjoin) their component flavors and mature at a slower pace rather than by having them quickly wick their oils. I hold this preference not by direct experience, but in my belief that slow aging/cooking is preferable over quick aging/cooking. My analogy would be the taste difference between microwaved foods and slow cooked barbecued foods.

 

[Mike33]

Based on my experience RH has far less to do with beetles hatching then temp. If a humidor was kept at say 68F and humidity at 78% it is highly unlikely that beetles would hatch IMO. Now if the Temp were at 72F or higher and the humidity were at 78% then I would start to worry.

Bob

Correct. Temp. is the main concern with beetles.

I can see no benefit in storing cigars at a high humidity no matter when they are going to be smoked. All the advice I have ever heard on long-term storage is a relatively low humidity, say 60% or even upper 50's. On the other hand, I know of a couple well-known European shops that keep their humidity at around 70%, even for their long-term aging or vintage boxes. So, who knows

 

[BobbyRitz]

Different strokes for different folks!

I'm with Raymond and Mike on this. Assuming temperature isn't an issue (less than 70 degrees), mold is your main concern if you maintain your humidor at 79% RH.

I keep my cabinet at 65% and try (key word) to smoke cigars from my desktop, which I keep towards, or at 70%.

 

[tone-ny]

I wouldn't want to try that experiment for what it is worth with my cigars. I can see long term to keep the cigars for a long period the humidity level should be 70-72%. But higher than that I can't see YMMV.

 

[Ginseng]

I keep my cabinet at 65% and try (key word) to smoke cigars from my desktop, which I keep towards, or at 70%.

:thumbs:
In my case, the ready-to-smoke coolers are at 70+ a bit and the long storage coolers are 63-67%. Long for me, being 5-10 years. I am tend to enjoy the more direct profiles of younger cigars.

Wilkey

 

[Jack Straw]

I have my cabinet for long term storage set at 67% rh, and my desktops, that I smoke from at 70% rh. With the exception of some overcharged Anejo humipaks, I have never had any issues with mold or beetles. I think that attempting to store cigars at above 75% rh for any length of time, may be an open invitation to many problems like split wrappers and mold to name a few. As I've come to expect swings in humidity here in SC, can get into the high 90's and higher here in the summer, by maintaining around 67%, if it does jump a bit during the summer, I don't get overly concerned. But if I was trying to maintain 79% rh, a couple of sweltering summer days, and I could easily get into the 80% or higher range, and would not want to risk it.

 

[BobbyRitz]

I keep my cabinet at 65% and try (key word) to smoke cigars from my desktop, which I keep towards, or at 70%.

:thumbs:
In my case, the ready-to-smoke coolers are at 70+ a bit and the long storage coolers are 63-67%. Long for me, being 5-10 years. I am tend to enjoy the more direct profiles of younger cigars.

Wilkey

Wilkey,

With respect to your ready-to-smoke coolers, how to you organize their contents? In other words, do you keep full boxes in your R-T-S coolers that, at one point, were in your long storage coolers? If so, at what point do you switch coolers from storage to ready-to-smoke?

For those who read this and wonder, "it's only a few percent!", I ask you to try this experiment, you might be surprised at the results!

 

[ashauler]

This is a very educational thread and I thank you all for it. I have been keeping my "aging" cooler (such that it is) at 70% + a bit and my ready to smoke humi at 65-68% or as close as I can maintain.....appears that I may have been bassackwards in my approach.

 

[Ginseng]

I keep my cabinet at 65% and try (key word) to smoke cigars from my desktop, which I keep towards, or at 70%.

:thumbs:
In my case, the ready-to-smoke coolers are at 70+ a bit and the long storage coolers are 63-67%. Long for me, being 5-10 years. I am tend to enjoy the more direct profiles of younger cigars.

Wilkey

Wilkey,

With respect to your ready-to-smoke coolers, how to you organize their contents? In other words, do you keep full boxes in your R-T-S coolers that, at one point, were in your long storage coolers? If so, at what point do you switch coolers from storage to ready-to-smoke?

For those who read this and wonder, "it's only a few percent!", I ask you to try this experiment, you might be surprised at the results!

In my RTS coolers, I keep cigars either in ziploc bags or spare cabs and boxes. I migrate cigars in 1's and 2's to the boxes and cabs as I anticipate smoking them. These are then kept there until I'm ready to tackle them. I do not move entire boxes from storage coolers to the RTS coolers. My RTS coolers are kept pretty stocked with a cross section of things such that I rarely pull from the storage coolers unless I'm looking for something in particular. I will dig deeply though for things like pass P/T's. Now, the cigars that I pull from the storage coolers for immediate smoking are usually good to smoke as is because they are not very dry (<60-62%). Still, I will typically dampen them in cool/dry weather to keep them from splitting. If I were to guess, I'd say cigars live in my RTS coolers from a few days to a year.

Does that help?

Wilkey

 

[vortex]

I get best results from smoking at around 65% and store long term a bit higher at 67 - 68%. With Cubans, I generally smoke them closer to 60% when possible.

The wrapper splitting is from having the outside dry when the inside is more moist. When the moist inside is heated it expands and the dry wrapper doesn't. That's why sometimes a cigar will split OTT but even 24 hours in the humi and they smoke fine.

 

[BobbyRitz]

I keep my cabinet at 65% and try (key word) to smoke cigars from my desktop, which I keep towards, or at 70%.

:thumbs:
In my case, the ready-to-smoke coolers are at 70+ a bit and the long storage coolers are 63-67%. Long for me, being 5-10 years. I am tend to enjoy the more direct profiles of younger cigars.

Wilkey

Wilkey,

With respect to your ready-to-smoke coolers, how to you organize their contents? In other words, do you keep full boxes in your R-T-S coolers that, at one point, were in your long storage coolers? If so, at what point do you switch coolers from storage to ready-to-smoke?

For those who read this and wonder, "it's only a few percent!", I ask you to try this experiment, you might be surprised at the results!

In my RTS coolers, I keep cigars either in ziploc bags or spare cabs and boxes. I migrate cigars in 1's and 2's to the boxes and cabs as I anticipate smoking them. These are then kept there until I'm ready to tackle them. I do not move entire boxes from storage coolers to the RTS coolers. My RTS coolers are kept pretty stocked with a cross section of things such that I rarely pull from the storage coolers unless I'm looking for something in particular. I will dig deeply though for things like pass P/T's. Now, the cigars that I pull from the storage coolers for immediate smoking are usually good to smoke as is because they are not very dry (<60-62%). Still, I will typically dampen them in cool/dry weather to keep them from splitting. If I were to guess, I'd say cigars live in my RTS coolers from a few days to a year.

Does that help?

Wilkey

It does, thank you. Sounds like we share the same thought process.