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Cigar Conservation |
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Ideal conditions for cigar storage are 70% humidity and 70°F (21°C) temperature. In such an environment, cigars keep aging properly.
Humidors will keep your cigars in good condition provided that you do not forget to maintain the humistat moist. Another good storage is a wine cellar : store your cigars with your best Burgundies. If you have neither a humidor nor wine cellar, fix a thermometer and a hygrometer inside the lid of a wooden box and put a cup inside for a lightly moistened sponge. Install the closed box in a fresh location in your house. You must control the temperature and the humidity (70ºF, 70%) daily. You may have to adjust the moisture content of the sponge and change the location of the box until you find what works best for your homemade humidor. Keep it away from sunlight and heaters and avoid the refrigerator.
The more bodied a cigar is, the longer it can be stored. A full-bodied cigar can be kept in good condition for months, even years. |
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| The cellophane tube is intended to protect cigars in unsafe and uncontrolled conditions, particularly in the path between the manufacturer’s storage and the consumer’s humidor. We suggest that you take off the cellophane if you own a well maintained humidor. Let the cigars rest a few days before smoking, they will breathe and age better. Note that if you keep strong and rich cigars with mild ones in a same humidor, the flavors will marry. You may choose to have two separate humidors or to keep the full-bodied cigars in the cello tube, because of their richness they will keep aging inside the tube. |
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| Calibrate your Hygrometer |
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| To calibrate your hygrometer, put one teaspoon of salt into a small cup. Moisten the salt with a few drops of water. Place the hygrometer and the cup inside a container (zip plastic bag) and seal tightly. Wait at least 6 hours. The hygrometer should show 75%. If not, adjust by turning the screw on the back. |
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| How often do I have to refill the humidifier? |
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| We recommend the unit be checked every two weeks until you become familiar with the environment. Dry climates require more attention than humid climates. It will also depend on your personal habits. If you smoke 1 cigar per week, you may need to fill the unit once every 3 months. If you smoke 3 cigars per day, refilling could be every 3 weeks. |
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| If your cigars are very dry, the process to restore them must be very slow to avoid too humid fillers that will inflate and explode the cigar. You will need a reliable hygrometer. Place the hygrometer and the cigars in an airtight, transparent container so that you can read the relative humidity (RH) without opening the container. After a few hours, read the RH. Use a humidifier device and put a little water (+/- a teaspoon) on the sponge and place it in the container. Keep it closed. After a while, RH should go up a little. Repeat every 24 hours until RH is 70%. Once you get this level, maintain it by adding water as needed during 2 or 3 weeks. Never go under 65%, and don't panic if RH goes up to 75%, but avoid going over this maximum. During this process, keep the container in the coolest place you have (but not your fridge!), away from light and heat. |
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