Storage question

[CigaryGuy07]

My ISOMs seem a bit off recently. They seem a little "wet", perhaps too much humidity, resulting in uneven burn and sometimes they don't stay lit. I'm keeping them in a coolerdor at around 70 degrees/65%. I've tried a few from different boxes and they seemed to have the same issue. I've narrowed it down the following: 1) RH is too high? 2) They are in the sick period (most of these are vintage 06 or 07). I would think they should be ready by now though. I do have a box of older ones from '05 and they are great though. Any tips? Just keep hating to lite one up and be disappointed.

 

[dvickery]

CigaryGuy07

every year at about this time...on lots of cigar forums...this question comes up.

as your house/furnace cycles go down and in april/may approach zero(heating season is over)...the need for artificial humidity also approaches zero.from furnace running to furnace not running may change your household relative humidity from 35% to 60%.

air conditioning may add even more humidity to the air...i dont have a/c so i dont know for sure...i suspect it does tho.

even here in northern alberta were the heating season is 9 months per year...it could be deemed a "dry" climate...i dont add humidity of any kind(refill humidifiers or add water to beads)from may to september.

try it(remove humidifiers or dont refill)...in sept or so you will know when it is time to start adding water again...your cigars will get a bit dry and papery when it is time to start adding moisture again(if you are "attuned" to your cigars you will notice this and a bit of moisture will eliminate it in a day or two).

hope this helps
derrek

derrek

 

[armedak]

Good advice above for managing your humidity. It sure sounds like your sticks are still a bit wet. You might try dry boxing a stick for a couple days to dry out and see if that resolves the problem.

 

[dagoR6]

You might consider stratification, take your hygro and calibrate it properly then move it around your cooledor and see if there's a big variance in certain sections.

My experience is that 65 is dead on for ISOM's but you may find sections of your humidor (after calibration) are at 70 or 60.

 

[SiriusBlack]

CigaryGuy07

every year at about this time...on lots of cigar forums...this question comes up.

as your house/furnace cycles go down and in april/may approach zero(heating season is over)...the need for artificial humidity also approaches zero.from furnace running to furnace not running may change your household relative humidity from 35% to 60%.

air conditioning may add even more humidity to the air...i dont have a/c so i dont know for sure...i suspect it does tho.

even here in northern alberta were the heating season is 9 months per year...it could be deemed a "dry" climate...i dont add humidity of any kind(refill humidifiers or add water to beads)from may to september.

try it(remove humidifiers or dont refill)...in sept or so you will know when it is time to start adding water again...your cigars will get a bit dry and papery when it is time to start adding moisture again(if you are "attuned" to your cigars you will notice this and a bit of moisture will eliminate it in a day or two).

hope this helps
derrek

derrek

Great post. This is exactly what I experienced but you articulated it much better. As I mentioned in another post I am running my vinotemp with zero beads and its running at about 71% humidity.

 

[Mike33]

60% for Cubans works best for me. If nothing else, try and drybox some cigars for a day to see if that helps.

 

[Rural Guy]

I'm not really adding anything new here but I've found, as others have mentioned, best is around 62% ish for me. I had to separate my CCs and NCs, NCs with 70% beads (keeps about 68%) and CCs with 65% beads (keeps at 62%). I had issues with them above 65% staying lit as well.

Mike

 

[txraddoc]

air conditioning may add even more humidity to the air...i dont have a/c so i dont know for sure...i suspect it does tho.

Air conditioning removes a significant amount of humidity from the air. I live in Houston and had to put my humidor in a separate room with its own A/C unit and a dehumidifier because the humidity in the house runs in the low 70s when the whole house A/C is not on. My cigars were starting to get a little wet hence the move.