Gifted dried out cigars.

[Unclebillybonz]

Long story short, an uncle of mine had been a cigar smoker for some years but quit a while back.

After talking with him this wk-end he said I could have all the sticks he has left (including some CC's). He did mentione that since he quit smoking he hasn't been putting any solution or water into the humidifier of his humidor. So, these sticks after being neglected for 6-7 months are bound to be hard as rocks.

Are these salvageble at all? Provided they are just dry and not moldy or anything can they be re-humidified? I was a bit excited when he told me he had some CC's I could have being I have not have the pleasure of trying one yet.

Thanks


Edit for spelling

 

[rob300c]

It's worth a shot.
I wouldn't have high expectations though.

-Rob

 

[northernmoris]

Copy and pasted:

Dry cigars can be salvaged, as long as they haven't been out of humidity for too long. (Great-grandpa's 45-year-old La Corona coronas, the ones that you found under the ornaments in the attic, have been too dry for too long, and have lost essential oils that cannot be replaced.) Bernard needs to rehumidify his cigars, but he needs to do so gradually. That means don't put the cigars in the bathroom while you take a shower, which can cause them to split as they take on too much humidity too quickly.

Put the cigars in a humidor, but keep them as far away from the humidification element as possible. Gradually reintroduce the humidity, and allow them to take it on slowly. You won't be smoking these cigars anytime soon. Give them at least a month, moving them ever closer to the humidity source, week-by-week.

 

[Swissy]

speaking from experience...

yes and no. You can re-hydrate them somewhat. But they will never be the lush, yummy smokable cigars they once were. I tried everything with a batch of Padron 64's I got some time ago (posted same question here on CP actually and searchable I would think). Tried sloooooowly adding RH, tried adding RH fast, even tried an apple slice in a ziplock with a couple of cigars (no kidding... was told tha would work). They all hydrated the cigars to a degree... but... the oils in the cigars are gone. dried up. kaput.

So yes, you can smoke them, if you get them up to a decent RH (I think the sloooow adding worked the best) But do NOT expect them to be as they once were. The Padron Anni 1964's I tried this on, at the VERY best, taste like (maybe on a good day) a bad batch of Padron x000 cigars. I use them strictly when I don't care if I drop or toss the cigar... out on the boat fishing, mowing the yard, that kind of thing. And, they are VERY prone to cracking of the wrappers. I have some that have split caps, cracks wrappers and bad foot areas. I will not, and have not, given these to anyone... they are strictly, in the best sense on the word, my yard gars. I got these some time ago and I still have a number of them... they are not that great to smoke but I just can't get myself to throw away some PAM's! :laugh:

If they still have any RH to them, and are not all dry and hard... you might fare better. But if the oils have gone from them, there is not much hope.

 

[mufflerman]

I had a friend of mine give me 100+ cigars that had been dry for about 6 months. They were good cigars, too. No cheapies. I slowly brought them back up over the course of a month or two. I used and old humidor, and kept the RH going up slowly. They got back to a nice state, but still tasted "dry".

 

[LOCAL669]

I got a bunch of old crusty opus from a friend and slowly gave them a little humidity love and after about 8 months they started to come back. You may never get them 100% to original condition but they will become smokable if they were to far gone. Good Luck!!!

 

[Napa_Smokes]

I use them strictly when I don't care if I drop or toss the cigar... mowing the yard Shoveling Snow that kind of thing. And, they are VERY prone to cracking of the wrappers. I have some that have split caps, cracks wrappers and bad foot areas. I will not, and have not, given these to anyone... they are strictly, in the best sense on the word, my yard gars. I got these some time ago and I still have a number of them... they are not that great to smoke but I just can't get myself to throw away some PAM's! :laugh:

If they still have any RH to them, and are not all dry and hard... you might fare better. But if the oils have gone from them, there is not much hope.

Fixed it for ya. We all know you don't have any grass up there in Alaska. Well at least not the kind that you need to mow!!
:laugh: :laugh: