Freeze Treatment

[buckwylde]

I just got done with my first freeze treatment on bunch of stogies that had been aging for quite some time before a small beetle problem. My questions are:

Has the aging process been reversed by the freezer, fridge, room temp process?

How long should I let em sit in the humidor before starting to indulge in some of them again?

I am not in a rush. I have a few other humidors and plenty of other cigars; however, this one had nothing but the best of the best in it and I can imagine that the smokes will start calling my name soon.

Any experience and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[Cypress]

Has it reversed the aging process? Good question. I never really thought of it in that way. The one time I had a problem was during a hurricane when power was out and it was a new box.

How long to take to rehydrate? At least two weeks but better for me a month and didnt have any other problems.

[Sweet_Cigars]

Serious question here.

Once you discover you have beetles. Do you throw away all the cigars with holes then freeze the rest?

I'm asking this because if you keep the one's with holes are any others there may be a chance you may be smoking dead beetles. I'm not sure if I would want to keep any cigars that may have been infected or around some that have. I can not stand bugs and I would not put my mouth on something that I know had some on it.

[Architeuthis]

Originally Posted by Sweet_Cigars

Serious question here.

Once you discover you have beetles. Do you throw away all the cigars with holes then freeze the rest?

I'm asking this because if you keep the one's with holes are any others there may be a chance you may be smoking dead beetles. I'm not sure if I would want to keep any cigars that may have been infected or around some that have. I can not stand bugs and I would not put my mouth on something that I know had some on it.

But dead beetles are good to smoke! I have about 3 pounds of them and I fill a pipe with them once in a while! They put hair on yer chest too!!! <G>

[Sweet_Cigars]

Originally Posted by Architeuthis

But dead beetles are good to smoke! I have about 3 pounds of them and I fill a pipe with them once in a while! They put hair on yer chest too!!! <G>

[Architeuthis]

Originally Posted by Sweet_Cigars

Seriously! Try it! You'll like it!

[buckwylde]

Yes, I threw away the couple of sticks that had holes in them before the freeze treatment started. This was a very mild case and I was lucky to have caught in early. It is not an option to just simply discard the other smokes. As stated before, this humidor only had the best of my best in it and everything had been aging for quite a while.

Does anyone have experience on this?

[buckwylde]

Wow, that is rather sad that after posting a serious question all I can get is a few jokes and no actual experience on the subject. I am suprised.

[texasbadbob]

I wpould give them 2 or 3 months to get back to normal. How long they were aged will determine how they turn out. Good luck!

[jledou]

The true aging process would not have been reversed, but you will want to give them some time to stabilize after the freezing.

[Herf N Turf]

Originally Posted by buckwylde

Has the aging process been reversed by the freezer, fridge, room temp process?

NO

How long should I let em sit in the humidor before starting to indulge in some of them again?

A MONTH

good luck

[Phantom57]

It's largely a matter of semantics. Aging has not stopped, they will continue to get older and milder. The fermentation/sweat cycle has been stopped, and they will no longer ferment. My opinion is it takes a couple months to bring them back, and I think I can tell the difference, others disagree. Many cigars you have are already frozen by the manufacturer or distributor.

[orca99usa]

Once you discover you have beetles. Do you throw away all the cigars with holes then freeze the rest?

That's what I did. I haven't had any problems with beetles coming back either.

The true aging process would not have been reversed, but you will want to give them some time to stabilize after the freezing.

Not a bad idea. I bought a few singles at a local B&M and a couple of fivers from CI to tide me over and let the sticks rest for a couple of weeks after I returned them to the humidor.

[buckwylde]

Thanks for the good responses guys. I have checked on my smokes a couple of times since the treatment and NO SIGNS OF BEETLES. Thank God! I am going to let them sit for at least a couple of months before starting to smoke them again; however, as with most aging, the more the better and I will hope to let many of them sit for another 6 months to a year before smoking.

This was definately an experience that I never hoped I would have to go through...but it is good to know that I can now help others that encounter the same problem.