Storing My Smaller Cigars

[Coinguy89]

Greetings all! When my friends and I get together, we never have a bad time with Macanudo cigars. We really only smoke the smaller-sized ones that come in those tins of ten for around $13-$15. Someone told me because they're individually wrapped in the tin they don't require a humidor and someone else said it's best to unwrap them and stick them in a wooden cigar box, which I have. What's the right way to go? And if they do need a humidor, how long do I have until they're toast? Thanks a lot!

 

[NullSmurf]

Greetings all! When my friends and I get together, we never have a bad time with Macanudo cigars. We really only smoke the smaller-sized ones that come in those tins of ten for around $13-$15. Someone told me because they're individually wrapped in the tin they don't require a humidor and someone else said it's best to unwrap them and stick them in a wooden cigar box, which I have. What's the right way to go? And if they do need a humidor, how long do I have until they're toast? Thanks a lot!

It's clear you have much to learn, so post an intro in the Introductions forum and hang with us a while.

The key to preserving cigars is to preserve their humidity, 60 to 70% RH. Cigar wrapping is usually cellophane. Cellophane is a natural product (cellulose) and is somewhat porous. In or out of the unwrapped tin, I'd say a cigar is good for a few days before drying out. In a wrapped tin, perhaps a month. Either way, it depends on the ambient humidity. Putting them in a wooden box (humidor) will make little difference without added humidification. Store them properly humidified and they'll last indefinitely.

 

[Shooter]

search function .... Tupperdor

 

[Herfin Bigdog]

Hi Coinguy! Welcome to the CPBB!

It's a good thing that Nullsnurf was the first to suggest that you introduce yourself in the "Introduce Yourself Here" room. He did it nicely. Some of the anal members here suggest it not-so-nicely, a hobby that some seem to excel at and enjoy. Read some of the other posts of Newbies to get an idea of what to write.

As far as the tins of cigars and where you should store them, it certainly won't hurt to store them in a humidfied humidor of some type. The more moisture that a cigar has the cooler and better it will smoke. :thumbs:

 

[scthornton]

I'd highly recommend, at a bare minimum, putting them in tupperware. This will create an airtight seal. Then, you'll need to add something to keep them moist. Get some distilled water and something to hold that water, sponge, paper towel etc. Check on them periodically to make sure they're okay.

If this is going to be long lasting holiday, I'd suggest a humidor...Check out Holts, I just picked up an extra one there, Savoy for very cheap in the closeout section.

 

[AVB]

I know what HB meant but that is not what he wrote. You want to keep your cigars in an environment of 60-70% humidity. If they get wetter then that they won't burn properly, drier and they will burn to fast and taste harsh. Look into getting a tupperdor (use search) sooner rather then later.

The more moisture that a cigar has the cooler and better it will smoke. :thumbs:

 

[fna]

First let me ask if you are having any problems with your cigars now? If not, keep on doing what you are doing, because it apparently works.

We're talking about a tin of cigarillos here, right? Keep the tin and part of a moistened papertowel in a ziplock bag. Just a part of the towel, a corner like, and that's moistened not wet. If the piece of paper toweling dries out, wet it again. If you would like, keep the whole schmear in the cigar box.

"how long do I have until they're toast?"

This requires the question: How long does a tin of 10 cigarillos last you and your friends? If they don't last a month, I wouldn't even bother with the wet toweling.

 

[Dave]

First let me ask if you are having any problems with your cigars now? If not, keep on doing what you are doing, because it apparently works.

We're talking about a tin of cigarillos here, right? Keep the tin and part of a moistened papertowel in a ziplock bag. Just a part of the towel, a corner like, and that's moistened not wet. If the piece of paper toweling dries out, wet it again. If you would like, keep the whole schmear in the cigar box.

"how long do I have until they're toast?"

This requires the question: How long does a tin of 10 cigarillos last you and your friends? If they don't last a month, I wouldn't even bother with the wet toweling.

Unfortunately, no matter how inexpensive that is, that is not what you want to do. There is absolutely no way to regulate the humidity in that bag and it could ultimately lead to the filler over humidified and burst through the binder and wrapper, thus ruining the smoke for good. Tupperdor (do a search) and some beads, or the puck, or even maybe some 2oz humidicar gel (maybe 5 bucks for the small container) or a small sponge in a credo unit with 50/50 solution would be adequate enough until you get a proper humidor/coolidor.

As for the smokes themselves, smoke what you like, but the tins barely hold up to the bigger size cigars found on the shelves of your local B&M. Read some prevous threads on humidors and their proper care in this forum to gather more information. There is a knowledge waiting to be tapped here from many BOTL's with a lot of experience in maintaining smokes as well as proper humidification devices.

The cheapest method (I used this when I was waiting for my beads), create a salt slurry with ordinary table salt (this regulates the humidity to 75%). You might have to dry box them or dry them out before smoking though, so some planning is neccessary.

 

[Herfin Bigdog]

I know what HB meant but that is not what he wrote. You want to keep your cigars in an environment of 60-70% humidity. If they get wetter then that they won't burn properly, drier and they will burn to fast and taste harsh. Look into getting a tupperdor (use search) sooner rather then later.

The more moisture that a cigar has the cooler and better it will smoke. :thumbs:

I did mean what I wrote. But I wrote a poor explanation as to what I meant. AVB said it much better than I did.