I have to admit that for years I stored my cigars in Ziploc bags my freezer. I only had a small humidor and would take cigars out of my freezer a few at a time and stick them in my little box to equalize with the outside world. But until I started investing in much better storage containers, I must admit that I was rather clueless about good cigar care.
I originally got the idea of storing them in the freezer from a long time cigar smoking friend who did that. What I didn’t realize was he was actually rotating them out of the freezer regularly because he was smoking so much so they never really stayed that long in his freezer. I was storing cigars in my freezer for months at a time, and in a few cases, years.
I don’t know if it really affected the taste that much. I still enjoyed all the cigars that I took out of freezer storage. But now that I have good containers that I maintain at a constant and consistent temperature and humidity, I understand just how impactful good cigar care can be.
For instance, I’ve developed a system where I store my cigars in airtight plastic containers at 69% relative humidity. That’s for long term storage. On my desk, I have a 50 count electric humidor that I maintain at 63 to 65% relative humidity. This is what I call my ready box.
Cigars I smoke in my ready box stay there for several days to equalize with the humidor. It also helps to dry them out a little before I smoke them. The system works great and my cigars, even the cheap ones, have seem to benefit to the TLC that I give them.
For instance, the Montecristo that’s shown at the top just came out of my ready box this morning. It is probably been in there for about a month. When I first got my box of these cigars, I could tell that they were solidly built. But they seemed a little squishy perhaps due to being stored at the facility at a fairly high relative humidity. So, they sat in my long-term storage for about a month, then when I felt that they had solidified a little, I moved them into my ready box.
Of course, I love these cigars so much that I did smoke a couple out of my long-term storage. But the rest I left alone. The big difference between those early cigars and what I am smoking today is that what my system did seems to have settled the construction of the cigars. They are solid with no soft spots. Also, where I could slip the bands off easily, I no longer can. It’s almost as if giving these cigars a bit of shelf time help them regain their shape.
Another effect this has had is how even most of my cigars, again, even the cheap ones, burn relatively even. Granted, the cheap ones tend to be a bit wavy and in some rare cases will tunnel, but frankly that’s beyond my control. However, but keeping my cigars in consistent conditions I truly feel that it gives the cigars the chance to be the best that they can be.
Unco B's Stogie Diary 