Stogie CPR

[LT Rich]

I have come accross some dried out ISOM's. I was wondering how to restore them to their original splendor. Any ideas?

LT

[kenstogie]

If they are really completely dried out.. use em for kindling as there is no saving them. If not, just stick them in a 70% humi for a while and let them "drink" the RH. Of course that's no way to treat an ISOM but $h!## happens I guess.

[Scott M]

If the sticks have been dry for a while, (like months), they may be DOA. If it's only a couple of weeks, they can probably be salvaged.

Place the sticks in a moderately humid environment, (like a 55% tupperdor), and expose them to that for a week or two. Then it'll be safe to put them in a more normal environment (for cigars).

Ya dont' want to expoe them to too much humidity too rapidly. Damage / splitting can occur as the cigar swells from the increased humidity.


HTH.
Scott

[mels95yj]

I agree with Scott on this. You want to do it slowly. Here's the question and answer from CigarNexus.

Quote: Q: Can I revive dried out cigars?

A: Sometimes. It depends on whether they have lost all of the essential oils. The best way to revive dried out cigars is to slowly bring them up to the desired humidity within a dry humidor. Basically you allow the humidor and the cigars reach the desired humidity simultaneously. If the cigars retained their oils then they will still be worthwhile to smoke, however if they have been dry for too long then they will have lost most if not all of their desirable flavors.

Mel

[MoTheMan]

I'd start off slow so as not to shock the stick with too much humidity at once (& risk cracking/tearing the wrapper). One good way to start is use a small freezer strength zip lock bag. Place the cigar in it and exhale some warm moist air into it. Be careful not to allow moisture to collect on the inside of the bag. Every couple of days open the bag and exhale into it again until the cigar atarts to soften up a bit. You can then transfer it to your regular humidor for long term keeping.
I've seen some dried out sticks revive very nuicely and go on to smoke quite well. On the other hand, I've also seen some sticks that never recovered and could only be used for kinlin'.

Good Luck!

[Nooner]

I was thinking that another good method would be to use a dried out cigar box(I have quite a few sitting in a closet - or you can purchase at your local B&M - yeah kinda hard to do in Afganistan!) put the cigar in there, close up the box and let the box and cigar humidify slowly. I've never done it, but I'd think it could work as a relatively hands off way to rehydrate a dry cigar. Maybe to further slow things down you could put the cigar(still inside the box) inside a partially closed zip-lock.

[LT Rich]

The exhaling idea sounds like a good idea, but unfortunatly i have no clue how long they have been dried out for. There arent too many humidors here in Afghan, and when you buy them they are usually dried out already. I have them sitting in a tupadore right now with a salt/water solution as a humidification devise. Its all i really have here. I didnt put them into the tupador i have with my other stogies because i am affraid they might dry out the more moist cigars... I noticed one of the ISOMs did crack, i thought it was wierd, but now i know... Oh well, they are really cheap here, so its not a big deal, and they are relativly small cigars (5X32?), so im not too worried. It would be nice if i could restore them a bit thought and be able to smoke 'em, cause it is not often that i am able to get to a foriegn base to buy them. How long should it take to get good and humidified? Also i have some RyJ ISOMs that a CPT is giving me cause they are dried out, so those are the ones im going to give my 100% to restore... Any suggestions on what else i should do?

LT

[LT Rich]

Originally Posted by Nooner

I was thinking that another good method would be to use a dried out cigar box(I have quite a few sitting in a closet - or you can purchase at your local B&M - yeah kinda hard to do in Afganistan!)

Yeah...

Maybe i can find something...

LT

[kenstogie]

Originally Posted by Scott M

If the sticks have been dry for a while, (like months), they may be DOA. If it's only a couple of weeks, they can probably be salvaged.

Place the sticks in a moderately humid environment, (like a 55% tupperdor), and expose them to that for a week or two. Then it'll be safe to put them in a more normal environment (for cigars).

Ya dont' want to expoe them to too much humidity too rapidly. Damage / splitting can occur as the cigar swells from the increased humidity.


HTH.
Scott

Yea Scott's Idea is better than mine. Let them gradually pick up some moisture so they don't split and crack.

[LT Rich]

Originally Posted by kenstogie

Yea Scott's Idea is better than mine. Let them gradually pick up some moisture so they don't split and crack.

Any ideas on how to get 55% humidity?

LT

[Franksmith]

Ha....

I saw the title and thought maybe someone was asking so we would know how to resuscitate PDS from the mother of all bombings

[Scott M]

Originally Posted by LT Rich

Any ideas on how to get 55% humidity?

Sorry, LT. Typing before thinking.

Just aim for less than the standard 60+%.


I like Mo's idea though, considering where you are and what you've got, (or haven't got), to work with. Or how about placing them in the tupperdor with some crappy but well humidified dog rockets, (i.e. the ones you wouldn't smoke on a bet...if such a thing exists where you are)?

I'd wager it'll take a couple of weeks at least to salvage a very dry cigar, probably more. I'd give the CPTs longer, just to make sure if nothing else.

Thanks for answering the call. Semper Fi!

[LT Rich]

Originally Posted by Franksmith

Ha....

I saw the title and thought maybe someone was asking so we would know how to resuscitate PDS from the mother of all bombings

Ha ha, looks like he'll need it!!

Nice hit guys!

LT