Very discouraged: I might have ruined my Flor de Allones

[craigchilds]

About six weeks ago, I bought a box of Flor de Allones Bellicoso from JR Cigars. Figuring they needed to age, I threw a Drymistat tube into the cedar box the cigars came in (it is advertised on JR Cigars as being good for long-term storage of cigars). The box looked to be air tight (or pretty close to it). The Drymistat tubes have always served me well in the past; one tube is supposed to keep 20-30 cigars fresh.

I opened the box for the first time yesterday, figuring it was time to sample the first cigar and possibly refill the tube.

But I was disappointed to see the crystals in the tube were completely dried up and the cigars were very, very dry and withered. I went ahead and smoked one--the taste was great but the wrapper was brittle and it burned too fast.

I'm not sure what happened. I think part of the problem is that I must have lost some of the gel crystals in the tube when I was filling it with water. It seemed to have four or five less crystals than my other tubes. I moved the Flor de Allones to my regular humidor. I'm hoping I can get them back up to smokeable standards again.

[Little General]

As you now know, cigar boxes are not air tight. They will allow RH in/out. That's why so many store the entire box in a cooler/vino.

Sorry to hear about your situation. You may be able to bring them "close" to back by letting them rest a cpl months in a properly sealed humi of some form.

[JCK]

how long have they been sitting in the box?

[Little General]

Originally Posted by craigchilds

About six weeks ago, .

...

[ellisb]

From JR's site:

"They are packed without cellophane in heavy Spanish Cedar cabinets suitable for long-term storage and aging"

The above sentence is a bit ambiguous, however the intent is that the cabinet style box (without any paper lining or dressing) with cigars without cello is suited for aging in a humidor (vino, cooler, etc)

If you were able to smoke it and somewhat enjoy it, I would bet that the cigars are recoverable. If you dont have space in your humidor, I would go back to the drymistat tube and put the whole cabinet in a heavy duty zip bag.

Best wishes,
-EB

[craigchilds]

Originally Posted by ellisb

From JR's site:

"They are packed without cellophane in heavy Spanish Cedar cabinets suitable for long-term storage and aging"

The above sentence is a bit ambiguous, however the intent is that the cabinet style box (without any paper lining or dressing) with cigars without cello is suited for aging in a humidor (vino, cooler, etc)

Yes, I see that now. I took the sentence to mean the box itself could act as a humidor. Lesson learned.

Originally Posted by ellisb

If you were able to smoke it and somewhat enjoy it, I would bet that the cigars are recoverable.

I sure hope so. The cigar tasted great, it was just dry. It's only been six weeks, so I hope I caught the problem before it was too late. I'll give 2-3 months in the humi, then try again.

[craigchilds]

Pleased to report these cigars are back up to serviceable standards. This is a really, really good cigar

[Rolando]

Nice update. I am glad it worked out in the end.

[troutbreath]

So, 4 months is the answer to the question "How long does it take to restore a dry cigar?"

Glad it worked out for you.