Read this first if you don't know what's going on...
Goal of this experiment: To find out if further experimentation would even be possible - will bugs take over? will mold appear? will it still taste alright? Nothing too scientific, just a quick test.
What I did: I took a Cabanas y Carbajal and placed it in my humidor overnight with cork off. It comes in a glass tube and I wanted to make sure there was proper humidification in the tube. Dipped cork in water to add a bit more boost to RH and put cork back on. I then taped the tube securely to a hot spot on the furnace. Left it there for 11 days. I figured the average temp it was subjected to was probably about 90 degrees with some periods higher and lower.
Results
Opening the tube up: No bad things happened! No bugs, no mold. Seemed a little dry, but I lit it up anyway.
Observations while smoking: No huge changes in taste either bad or good. I'm probably just dreaming, but it did seem a little aged. There did seem to be an increase in cedar taste, though (the cigar is wrapped in cedar). While it seemed a little dry when I took it out, it definately didn't burn hot. One thing that stuck out was the amazingly even burn, though - it was probably as even as I've ever had a cigar burn.
Conclusion
Goal: a Success! I will be continuing experiments as nothing horrible happened. It is possible for a cigar to be heated without causing mold and/or bugs and/or bad changes in taste.
Things to Test: Since this was only 1 cigar with only a moderate increase in heat for a short amount of time, I'm not going to be able to take anything concrete away from it (and didn't mean to for this test), but it has given me the following ideas to test to see if they are true:
1. Heating does increase aging enough.
2. Heating will greatly increase the infusion of cedar into the cigar.
3. Heating helps even out moisture to help promote an even burn.
Now to figure out a more controlled experiment #2...
Goal of this experiment: To find out if further experimentation would even be possible - will bugs take over? will mold appear? will it still taste alright? Nothing too scientific, just a quick test.
What I did: I took a Cabanas y Carbajal and placed it in my humidor overnight with cork off. It comes in a glass tube and I wanted to make sure there was proper humidification in the tube. Dipped cork in water to add a bit more boost to RH and put cork back on. I then taped the tube securely to a hot spot on the furnace. Left it there for 11 days. I figured the average temp it was subjected to was probably about 90 degrees with some periods higher and lower.
Results
Opening the tube up: No bad things happened! No bugs, no mold. Seemed a little dry, but I lit it up anyway.
Observations while smoking: No huge changes in taste either bad or good. I'm probably just dreaming, but it did seem a little aged. There did seem to be an increase in cedar taste, though (the cigar is wrapped in cedar). While it seemed a little dry when I took it out, it definately didn't burn hot. One thing that stuck out was the amazingly even burn, though - it was probably as even as I've ever had a cigar burn.
Conclusion
Goal: a Success! I will be continuing experiments as nothing horrible happened. It is possible for a cigar to be heated without causing mold and/or bugs and/or bad changes in taste.
Things to Test: Since this was only 1 cigar with only a moderate increase in heat for a short amount of time, I'm not going to be able to take anything concrete away from it (and didn't mean to for this test), but it has given me the following ideas to test to see if they are true:
1. Heating does increase aging enough.
2. Heating will greatly increase the infusion of cedar into the cigar.
3. Heating helps even out moisture to help promote an even burn.
Now to figure out a more controlled experiment #2...
