I have discovered low humidity!

[fizguy]

I have been a closet 70% rh guy. I don't know why, except I worry about my cigars drying out and cracking. My cooler is at 70% right now. But my desktop was dropping and I thought "meh, let's see what happens." It is at around 65% now and has been for a few weeks.

Let me say that my cigars have been smoking GREAT! Last night I had one of my favorites, a Pepin blue label, and it was better than ever before. I mean that literally, it was better than ever!

I have been converted.

[Mullet]

i think for short term storage high humidity is okay. But if you've got dozens or hundreds of smokes lying in wait, the 60%-65% is much better.

[madurolover]

Yep, I learned about this a couple of years ago here and was surprised at how much more flavor I started getting from my smokes.
Isn't it amazing the things these gorillas here in the jungle know?

[ssutton219]

LOL.....


I was there once....I lived by the 70% rule...till my humi started leaking and it would only hold between 60-63% and ALL my cigars somked SO MUCH BETTER!!

again its just an opinion but...alot of opinions say the same thing.







Shawn

[DKPRLP]

I don't add H2O till the RH drops to 60%...63 is great for me. I cringe when it goes up near 68%.. 70 and I panic

[texasbadbob]

All the "cigar people" say store at 70%. Those of us that actually amoke them prefer 65% or lower. I don't know but maybe the 70% is for cubans. They also say dogs have no long term memory.

[sonick]

This is exactly how I was converted as well. First-hand observation of improved burn. Was resistant at first due to conventional wisdom but the results have spoke for themselves...

[Hermit]

I have 65% Heartfelt beads in all of my coolers and humidors.
I hardly bother with hygrometers.
I have a few I kinda spot check with.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by texasbadbob

All the "cigar people" say store at 70%. Those of us that actually amoke them prefer 65% or lower. I don't know but maybe the 70% is for cubans. They also say dogs have no long term memory.

Actually, the cigar peeps say 70% for NCs and 65% for Cubans. I keep my cigars at 63%, and much prefer how they taste and smoke at that RH.

[Misha]

Sub 70% RH levels can cause dehydration of oils etc. In other words LONG TERM storage should be above 70% RH. Low RH could negatively affect the long term aging process, and cause the slow disappearance of flavours.
SHORT TERM storage could be done at a lower RH. A lot of people use a "dry box" with, for example, a RH of 65% or lower. Just be careful switching from a dry box to a higher humidity as the wrapper might crack.
So ideally long-term storage at a minimum of 70%, and a dry box for the "soon to be smoked" cigars.

[n2advnture]

Originally Posted by fizguy

I have been a closet 70% rh guy. I don't know why, except I worry about my cigars drying out and cracking. My cooler is at 70% right now. But my desktop was dropping and I thought "meh, let's see what happens." It is at around 65% now and has been for a few weeks.

Let me say that my cigars have been smoking GREAT! Last night I had one of my favorites, a Pepin blue label, and it was better than ever before. I mean that literally, it was better than ever!

I have been converted.

Glad you converted bro.

I converted 9+ years ago to 65% and found far superior burn, draw and flavor (on aged smokes).

Any draw problems can be directly attributed to construction now vs over humidification that was previously thought to be construction.

Enjoy!

~Mark

[Trajan]

I started out with 70% and started suspecting that was a problem. A silver back post about the 100s of cigars he smokes each year and the insignificant problems with plugged cigars he has set me straight.

Most and basically all my burn/draw problems evaporated when I went to 65% in the cooler. Now that I'm getting a feel for this I need some 60% beads in my 100ct so I can experiment with different smokes.

[Scimmia]

Originally Posted by Misha

Sub 70% RH levels can cause dehydration of oils etc. In other words LONG TERM storage should be above 70% RH. Low RH could negatively affect the long term aging process, and cause the slow disappearance of flavours.
SHORT TERM storage could be done at a lower RH. A lot of people use a "dry box" with, for example, a RH of 65% or lower. Just be careful switching from a dry box to a higher humidity as the wrapper might crack.
So ideally long-term storage at a minimum of 70%, and a dry box for the "soon to be smoked" cigars.

Except that a lot of big name collectors store at 55% for long term, just at lower temperatures.

[n2advnture]

Originally Posted by Misha

Sub 70% RH levels can cause dehydration of oils etc. In other words LONG TERM storage should be above 70% RH. Low RH could negatively affect the long term aging process, and cause the slow disappearance of flavours.
SHORT TERM storage could be done at a lower RH. A lot of people use a "dry box" with, for example, a RH of 65% or lower. Just be careful switching from a dry box to a higher humidity as the wrapper might crack.
So ideally long-term storage at a minimum of 70%, and a dry box for the "soon to be smoked" cigars.

This is what "Min" has to say on aging:

I store all my cigars at 12°C (53.6°F), wrapped airtight, regardless of anything.

For RH:

New cigars (0 to 5 years old): 65% RH

Old cigars, i.e. cigars I bought when over 5 years old, or cigars I plan to age long term: 60% RH

Very old cigars, a few decades old when purchased: 55% RH

Note for the RHs and Temps in °F, the figure are always round to 5s. Because no matter how good your storage facility is. It fluctuates. It runs on a thermostat mechanism, the temp and RH are never static, when the temp is cold enough, the cooling mechanism stops, when the temp rises to a certain level, it triggers the thermostat and the cooling mechanism is turned on. It is quite like when doctors measures blood pressures it’s always in units of 5 , like 125/85 etc. Why? Blood pressure fluctuates. This minute you measure it, no matter how accurate your measuring device is, it may be 127.312/84.404, the next minute you measure it, it becomes 124.274/86.692.

For practical purpose for everyone.
I think 65°RH and 65°F (~ 18°C) should be fine.

Interesting note:
65°F = ~ 18°C. Comfortable room temperature is ~ 24 – 25 °C, which is ~75°F to 77°F, which means all expensive humidors without temp control are totally lame for storing cigars, even if you buy the 70/70 bullshit. 70°F is ~21°C, which is way too cool for any comfortable room temperature. A fact they didn’t tell you when selling you those US$2,000 humidors with exquisite wood inlay.

Personally, I store everything between 60-65% RH and 60-65 degrees.

I hope this helps

~Mark

[skibumdc]

I also used to subscribe to the 70/70 method but felt it was affecting draw too many times.
Switched last year to 65% and now I know when I have draw peoblems it's construction or the humidity outside when I smoke...not my storage.

Temp control and beads is the ultimate storage. Go Vino!