Humidity droped significantly when I added a bunch of cigars?

[StreetSpeed]

Hola,

I have a 100 ct humidor, with the standard larger rectangle humidifier, that until recently had about 25 cigars in it and it's been holding 67% very nicely. But, in the span of about 3 days I got a nice cigar bomb, a Box of Brazilias, 10 Rocky Patels, 5 CAO Blacks, 5 Royal Brigades, 5 more Brazilias, and 5 Italias. Since then the humidity as dropped to 62% and it's not coming back up. Today I smoked a Gurkha Legend that I had in there for a few weeks and it burned hot, bitter, one dimensionally, with a mediocre draw and not much smoke, making me think that perhaps the cigar was a bit dried out. Before I got this massive amount of cigarage (for me anyway) I smoked a Royal Brigade and it was the the sweetest damn thing I ever had, and I couldn't imagine the Legend being completely different which leads me to blame things on my lower humidity of the past few days.

SO, looking for many answers. 1) Does adding a bunch of cigars to a stable humidor upset things, and if so does it correct itself after a short while? 2) Am I overly concerned about a 5% drop in humidity in the short term? 3) Does a dry(ish) cigar tend to have the characteristics I described in my Gurkha Legend 4) Do I need another humidification device to keep up with my now full humidor?

I have a date with my last Gurkha Royal Brigade (of my older stash) tomorrow and if it tastes anything like The Legend I had tonight then I'll start concerning myself with my humidor. Any input in the mean time would be very much appreciated, oh Cigar Gods.
:support:

[Dustinl-cl]

Mark, I don't know much and I may need to get some guys to back me up, but here's my opinion:

1)yes, yes
2)yes, my sticks tunnel at 66 and smoke great at 63-64
3)yes, well actually a dry stick should have a loose burn (but burn hot) and a wet stick should have a tite draw.
4)buy the puck

DL

[ArrowJ]

Good to know. I have a box and a couple of samplers coming in the mail tomorrow that I will be adding to my almost empty coolidor. I'm going to get a Puck-ifier, but I'm waiting till cigarmony has cedar trays so I can place my order all at once. I'll have to set a dish of water in there somewhere.

Good post.

[chinomalo]

I have noticed the same at one point when I had just flower foam or some gels for humidification.. Go with the RH beads from Cigarmony or Heartfelt...

The good thing about the beads is that they regulate the RH rather well when you use them right.. They either take in humidity or release it..

Measure your box in cubic inches and proceed onto either website for the size you need.. Heartfelt has a calculator to figure out your cubic inches..

I use the puck and RH beads in all my stuff right now.. Holding down many sticks with humidity within 1-2% change (digital hygrometers in all and the temp. fluctuates too, but no real humidity change)..

I usually dry box cigars that I am going to smoke. I take a variety of what I think I am going to smoke and put them in a small humi (50 count)..

Within 1-2 weeks, I will smoke them with no problems to date.. Only problems I have had is smoking cigars right from a distributor (CI, Famous, whoever).. They tend to be 'wet' or semi in need of some RH..

Hope this helps..

[iloveclmore]

Well, adding that many sticks at a time can cause a huge drop as you described. And your old style humidification system can't keep up. A lot of cigars will be a little dry when you first get them, so they take a lot of moisture in from your humidor. It can take awhile for it to completely stabilize in an environment with essentially a bunch of sponges in it.

[N2Advnture-cl]

Originally Posted by StreetSpeed

SO, looking for many answers.

1) Does adding a bunch of cigars to a stable humidor upset things, and if so does it correct itself after a short while?

Possible. Dry cigars can/do absorb moisture which may quickly lower your RH. Wet cigars can/do raise your RH as well.

Recovery of the RH depends on the humidification system you use, especially if your RH spikes. Most don't do anything to absorb excess RH (the Puck-ifier & RH Beads are the only technology that I know of that does)

2) Am I overly concerned about a 5% drop in humidity in the short term?

5% in the short term is not bad. You should always allow your cigars to acclimate to the RH that you like to store them in for approx 3-4 weeks. Some shops over humidify and others may under humidify (often occurs during shipping).

Very dry cigars tend to burn hot and fast which can cause them to become bitter and harsh. Wet cigars can tunnel and have draw & burn problems.

Try 65% RH storage and 70% RH storage and see which you prefer as it's all about personal preference. I have found that 65% RH produces much fewer draw, burn and flavor problems that can be attributed to 70% RH vs construction issues. (eg many people think their problems are construction issues when they can actually be attributed to over humidification)

3) Does a dry(ish) cigar tend to have the characteristics I described in my Gurkha Legend

yes, see #2

4) Do I need another humidification device to keep up with my now full humidor?

see sig link

I hope this helps!

~Mark

[StreetSpeed]

Thanks all. Mark I will be pucking my humidor up ASAP. Thanks.

[poriggity-cl]

The puck is where its at! Mark is the bomb.
Scott

[StreetSpeed]

Aight lemme throw this at you:

I bought the beads, threw em' in, and whilst doing so I moved my digital gauge to the other side of the box and got 71% humidity. Moved back to the right side, settles at 63%, and in the middle of the box it's right in the middle, 67%. So, any reason why on the top shelf of my humidor there would be a 8% swing in humidity? I mean the proof is in the pudding, so what can I do to even things out?

[stlcards]

Many of us use an Oust fan to push the air around in the humi. You can get them at Wal Mart for around $7, just don't put the smell good stuff in there lol. That should take care of any inconsistancy issues.

[LkyLindy]

What he said