• Hi Guest - Come check out all of the new CP Merch Shop! Now you can support CigarPass buy purchasing hats, apparel, and more...
    Click here to visit! here...

Cigar & Humidity

RichYhlen

New Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2010
Messages
171
Just out of curiosity is their or does their even exist a list of what cigars go good in what humidity. I have read in certain forums that certain cigars go good with 70% and some are better at 65% so on and so such. Does this list exist or is it the holy grail of cigar lore. Some people will turn their Humi's into certain companies or regions. But with that is a good point but wouldn't it work to the cigars taste to have it set to its pristine humidity for the best aging. Would love to know and if 1 can be created I think it deserves a stickie and if needed I can work on it to make the stickie possible

Rich
 
Just out of curiosity is their or does their even exist a list of what cigars go good in what humidity.
In my limited time, I have never come across one, and if I did, I would just laugh.

I have read in certain forums that certain cigars go good with 70% and some are better at 65% so on and so such. Does this list exist or is it the holy grail of cigar lore.
That, my friend, is a load of bollocks. Yes, there are those that agree that they like their entire humidor at 65%, or 70%, and some even at 60%, but there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to store each cigar at a different humidty.

Some people will turn their Humi's into certain companies or regions.
I can't say this enough, whoever is doing this is smoking something other than cigars. No freakin' reason to do this. Cigars are best kept at a humidity that is to YOUR liking.

But with that is a good point but wouldn't it work to the cigars taste to have it set to its pristine humidity for the best aging.
No. I have cigars aging at 72%, and I have friends that are aging them at 67%, 65%, 70%, 75%, and so on. Guess what? All their cigars smoke the same as mine. It has everything to do with the cigar itself and storage conditions that affect the aging.


I don't mean to belittle your question, so do not misinterpret it as such, but I have just never heard a more outrageous claim that Cigar X smokes better than Cigar Y when Cigar X is stored at XX% humidity. Sounds like the work of CA Kool-Aid drinkers to me.
 
There are two areas you need to consider. What you believe is the best humidity for long term aging, and which humidity you like to smoke your cigars at. I am a firm believer that cigars age more gracefully ay higher humidity, subscribing to the idea that cigars start losing essential oils at under 69% humidity. My own empirical data suggests that this is indeed true.

I started an experiment when I joined CP, as so many were stating that 65% was the best. I set up two humidors with Boveda packs. One at 65%, and the other at 69%. I put several of the same cigars in each. Some Opus, some Padron, Tatuaje, PSD4, etc. I started smoking them about a month or so ago, after transferring most the 69% smokes to a 65% Humidor for 3 weeks min. (I like to smoke most cigars at 65% or lower, except for Fuente Don Carlos and Hemingway) The 69% aged smokes tasted better to me, in the area of how rich the cigar tasted. I.e., more and better flavor, yet more rounded than when I put them down. The biggest positive differance was in the Cubans and Opus X. This experiment has convinced me to try a new batch at 72%. This is in line with what I believe Oliva Cigar company has printed on their website. There is also something to be said about long term storage of cigars with fragile wrappers requiring higher humidity.

As a side note, I have never seen nice oily wrappers at lower humidities. I have seen beautiful oils, and plume develop at higher humidities.

I will also state that this is MY experience, MY preferences, based on My desires for what I want from a cigar.
You need to experiment to determine what you like. If you are a new smoker, it makes sense to approach this slowly, and
try not to have too many schools of thought running through your head. This will only lead to confusion, and neurosis.
Pick one that feels right to you, and stick with it for a year, or more.
 
I will also state that this is MY experience, MY preferences, based on My desires for what I want from a cigar.
You need to experiment to determine what you like. If you are a new smoker, it makes sense to approach this slowly, and
try not to have too many schools of thought running through your head. This will only lead to confusion, and neurosis.
Pick one that feels right to you, and stick with it for a year, or more.

Great post! Personal preference, that's what it all boils down to.
 
There are two areas you need to consider. What you believe is the best humidity for long term aging, and which humidity you like to smoke your cigars at. I am a firm believer that cigars age more gracefully ay higher humidity, subscribing to the idea that cigars start losing essential oils at under 69% humidity. My own empirical data suggests that this is indeed true.

I started an experiment when I joined CP, as so many were stating that 65% was the best. I set up two humidors with Boveda packs. One at 65%, and the other at 69%. I put several of the same cigars in each. Some Opus, some Padron, Tatuaje, PSD4, etc. I started smoking them about a month or so ago, after transferring most the 69% smokes to a 65% Humidor for 3 weeks min. (I like to smoke most cigars at 65% or lower, except for Fuente Don Carlos and Hemingway) The 69% aged smokes tasted better to me, in the area of how rich the cigar tasted. I.e., more and better flavor, yet more rounded than when I put them down. The biggest positive differance was in the Cubans and Opus X. This experiment has convinced me to try a new batch at 72%. This is in line with what I believe Oliva Cigar company has printed on their website. There is also something to be said about long term storage of cigars with fragile wrappers requiring higher humidity.

As a side note, I have never seen nice oily wrappers at lower humidities. I have seen beautiful oils, and plume develop at higher humidities.

I will also state that this is MY experience, MY preferences, based on My desires for what I want from a cigar.
You need to experiment to determine what you like. If you are a new smoker, it makes sense to approach this slowly, and
try not to have too many schools of thought running through your head. This will only lead to confusion, and neurosis.
Pick one that feels right to you, and stick with it for a year, or more.

Wow! Thank you. That is something that I have never considered... RH for aging and RH for regular smoking.

I guess i'll have to get/make another humidor ;)
 
WOW- great info Monk.. I will have to experiment on my own when I get home to my big humis. I prefer 65% for smoking so I have been using HF 65%beads.. Like SC I will now have to set up a smoker humi at 65 and an aging humi at 70+ and experiment myself. Thanks for the knowledge.

R
 
A good rule of thumb is long term aging 70%.

But many cigars don't smoke well at 70% so some use a dry box and others store what they are pulling from at 65%. If you find that a cigar tastes better at a lower RH that doesn't mean you should store all of them at that RH.

***Beware storing cigars at 60% - many will eventually lose their lighter oils at that RH.***

Edit to add: Pepin advises storing his Criollo\Corojo cigars at 65%.
 
I get plume at 60% if the cigar is given time to age. I've seen plume at 70% as well. The key is its personal preference and time allowed to possibly develop plume. I will describe what I encountered on a trip.

When I went to Moscow, Russia for 2 months from March 2nd till April 29th 2008, I took my Armored Humidor 18 count. A perfect seal. I had one of the humipaks in it. It was the 69% one. Some of the cigars experienced burn issues. When I say burn issues, I mean where the cigar would only burn one half the side of the cigar. As to what cigars I took...Opus X was what I had. One Power Ranger had the burn issue I described. It actually made me sick when I smoked it. All cigars had their cellophane on it.

Yet, the humipak caused a couple of cigars to have problems. Out of the 25 or so cigars I took, maybe 4 gave me some minor problems and the Power Ranger was a major problem. I had 2 of each type of cigar I took so I was able to see if it was an isolated problem or could possibly have been a problem when rolled. Also a note of reference each cigars was from the same box. So the Power Rangers came from the same box while the Reserva d'Chateau's was from the same box they came in.

Did the cigars taste better at 69% RH? I didn't notice any difference in taste at all. Only thing I experienced was an increase amount of touch ups on my Opus X. I run my humidor at home between 60-61% RH. Its s controlled RH so its always at that percentage except when I open the door. Then it has to kick back on to reach the RH setting I have at 60%. I have less burn issues at 60% with my Opus X than I do at 69% RH.

Now this is from my personal experience with RH% while storing my Opus X regular line, Forbidden X's and my CFCF Opus X. And I still don't taste any difference of the cigars at different RH%.
 
With everything that has been said here, I think I will have to setup another humi at 70ish% for the sticks that I want to age. Then have a 65% humi for the sticks that I am going to be smoking regularly...
 
With everything that has been said here, I think I will have to setup another humi at 70ish% for the sticks that I want to age. Then have a 65% humi for the sticks that I am going to be smoking regularly...

+ 1
 
So glad I found this topic. I was on Heartfelt's site ordering the beads, and switched to the 70% Humidity Bead Case with 1/2 pound of extra for later on. I plan on storing a few boxes of CCs in a 100 count humidor for a few years. Is it a bad idea to have 75 cigars aging in a 100 ct.? They will (hopefully) be Cohiba Maduro 5 Genios, Cohiba Siglo IV, and Partagas Serie D No. 4. For those veterans, any contraindications of having those three age together?
 
I have a tall, vertical cabinet. I set the humidifer at 65%; it runs about 63% in the top, about 68% in the bottom.

Cabs for aging go in the bottom, ready to smoke goes in the top. Simple stuff......
cool.gif
 
So glad I found this topic. I was on Heartfelt's site ordering the beads, and switched to the 70% Humidity Bead Case with 1/2 pound of extra for later on. I plan on storing a few boxes of CCs in a 100 count humidor for a few years. Is it a bad idea to have 75 cigars aging in a 100 ct.? They will (hopefully) be Cohiba Maduro 5 Genios, Cohiba Siglo IV, and Partagas Serie D No. 4. For those veterans, any contraindications of having those three age together?

Hiya IAP, 2 considerations for your aging project.

1- humidors are given a count based on corona sized cigars, meaning a 100-ct won't fit (or may just barely fit) 75 robusto sized (5 X 50) cigars.

2-Humidity is relative to temprature, especially where you (okay, we ) live. You'll notice if you cannot keep the temp at 70 degrees, as the temp rises, so will the humidity reading on your hygrometers (up to a certain point due to the 70% beads in there). Humidity is relative to temperature.

There are threads about this, but I have to go out right now so I can't link any threads for you.

Just my .02 cents.
smile.gif
 
I don't overthink it. I just store all my cigars in the same cooler at the same humidity (65%). They all taste just fine to me.
 
For my personal preferences I think Opus and cubans tend to burn/smoke better at around 64-65% RH, and my other stuff I was storing around 67%. When I stored my opus a bit lower I noticed better burning (less tunneling and less touching up).

Like others have said it's a matter of personal preference. I think a safe % to go with across the board is 65-66.
 
Top