<insert witty title about dried out cigars here>

[Mrs BeeKeeper]

Several years ago, Will and I were on vacation in a country known for their cigars. Starts with C, ends in uba.
We brought home as many cigars as we were allowed. Being, we thought we would sell them when we got home. Never got around to it. I have kept them undisturbed, but they have just been in a cupboard and are extremely dried out.
Is there a way to re-hydrate them? If we're not going to sell them, I might as well get them into shape for Will to smoke them. We don't have a humidor.

 

[MarcL]

Slowly, and by them selves. I like to use hydrated scrap tobacco. If you can keep the relative humidity below 65% for a while. Have your container only 1/3 full of cigars and, don't allow cigar to touch water directly. It's best for ambient hydration.

Oh yeah. Always use distilled water.

 

[Mrs BeeKeeper]

Slowly, and by them selves.

But what method? I've heard piece of bread in a brown bag, the tobacco will leech the moisture out of the bread. Is that valid? Or are there better ways? Or in a box with the cigars spaced with a moist (not wet) paper towel?

 

[johnlee1933]

Several years ago, Will and I were on vacation in a country known for their cigars. Starts with C, ends in uba.
We brought home as many cigars as we were allowed. Being, we thought we would sell them when we got home. Never got around to it. I have kept them undisturbed, but they have just been in a cupboard and are extremely dried out.
Is there a way to re-hydrate them? If we're not going to sell them, I might as well get them into shape for Will to smoke them. We don't have a humidor.

You can easily make a small humidor. Take any small airtight container (plastic is OK). Inside that container place your cigars and a humidifier. It can be as simple as a table salt and water paste or one of the fancy (and expensive) dedicated humidifiers. Seal the container and wait a week. Check the cigars to see if they are starting to moisten up If not check your humidifier, add water if necessary. Any un-clorinated water will do since it is only the water vapor you are using. Seal the container and repeat till you have what you desire.

There are much more sophisticated ways to accomplish this but this will work.

 

[webmost]

An ordinary drink cooler makes a fine humidor. Other than the fact it's not a fancy Spanish cedar bit of furniture, it actually seals way better than an official humidor. There would be ample room to scatter the sticks in there.

Say, know what? How many cigars do you have? The local cigar store here has a big jar full of HumiPaks for a buck a pop. These paks are scientifically excellent for bringing things to just the required humidity without any attention or finagling at all. I'll score as many as you need according to how many sticks you have and how big a cooler you are going to use and shoot them out to you. I'll PM you now for an address.

 

[MarcL]

But what method? I've heard piece of bread in a brown bag, the tobacco will leech the moisture out of the bread. Is that valid? Or are there better ways? Or in a box with the cigars spaced with a moist (not wet) paper towel?

Tobacco is very sensitive to smells and stuff. jonlee1933's salt and water paste will keep it from getting to wet to fast. Most aroma will be imparted into tobacco. Infusion. ... though rye bread might be nice. No, don't do that ... I like Tupperware or alike.

 

[Mrs BeeKeeper]

Would also love your opinions on brands:
Honestly, I think Cuban cigars are over-rated. I prefer American / Canadian cigars, when I've had the occasion to smoke one. I think Cuban cigars are just "good" because they're taboo. Perhaps I've only had "touristy" brands.
The one Will made last year wasn't cigar tobacco or cured for it, yet it was the nicest cigar I've ever tasted.

 

[Mrs BeeKeeper]

Tobacco is very sensitive to smells and stuff.

We learned that last year. Our leaf was hanging from our patio roof, and we bbq'd. Will had steak flavored smokes. Wasn't as nice as it may sound. LOL.
Also, he had some in the livingroom, and I have a scented wax burner. That also got into his leaf. BLECH!

 

[DonH]

The nice thing about the water/salt paste or solution is that it will keep the humidity at the right 70% point. Any higher and the salt pulls water out of the air, any lower and water gets pulled into the air.

 

[MarcL]

It's almost painful the amount of different cigars we have here. Perdomo, Perdomo, Perdomo. A.J. Fernandez and Jesus Fuego are great blenders. I understand y'all don't have very much to choose from. We've got it to good in the US.

 

[Knucklehead]

Would also love your opinions on brands:
Honestly, I think Cuban cigars are over-rated. I prefer American / Canadian cigars, when I've had the occasion to smoke one. I think Cuban cigars are just "good" because they're taboo. Perhaps I've only had "touristy" brands.
The one Will made last year wasn't cigar tobacco or cured for it, yet it was the nicest cigar I've ever tasted.

I've had two "real" Cubans that I know of. Of the two I tried, I still preferred my Padron's from Nicaragua. However, there are probably some Cuban brands that would taste as good or better to me than the Padron's, I just haven't had the opportunity to sample enough brands to find them. It all comes down to preference in the end. If we all liked the same thing, there would only be one brand of cigar. The Nicaraguan filler and Maduro wrapper that FmGrowit currently has in stock makes as fine a cigar as I've ever smoked, but I prefer that flavor, while someone like Johnlee may find it too strong. (I know he likes mild cigars)

 

[Mrs BeeKeeper]

The only cigar I can actually recall the name of that I really liked was a King Edward.

 

[johnlee1933]

The one Will made last year wasn't cigar tobacco or cured for it, yet it was the nicest cigar I've ever tasted.

This is what we're preachin' girl. Roll your own and get what YOU like.

 

[MarcL]

There's a site some call the devil site. Maybe you've heard of it ? cigarbid.com I've got to worn you some say it's addictive.

 

[FmGrowit]

The best thing to do...and I think this is really the only proper way to do it is..

Send them to me and I'll bring them back to life. Of course I'll have to test them to make sure they're right, but I'll let you know how they turned out.

 

[Mrs BeeKeeper]

The best thing to do...and I think this is really the only proper way to do it is..

Send them to me and I'll bring them back to life. of course I'll have to test them to make sure they're right, but I'll let you know how they turned out.

LOL!

 

[Mrs BeeKeeper]

Ok, so here's my dried out cigars. They're in not too bad shape. Hope to get them moistened up for WillieBee to smoke.
All the boxes are double layer. Looks like we smoked a couple!

 

[deluxestogie]

They look like they're in excellent shape. Whatever container you use to rehumidify them, I would be inclined to leave them inside their boxes during rehumidification, in order to slow the process. If they rehumidify too rapidly, the wrapper will split from the bottom end as the filler swells, since the head of each cigar is closed. Expect to leave them alone in modest humidity for a couple of months.

Everybody here is drooling.

Bob

 

[DGBAMA]

Only one I recognize is the Cohiba. A really good smoke but not the be_all_end_all just because it is Cuban.

 

[FmGrowit]

I'm officially jealous.