Not a regular nor serious smoker at the time, when I saw American Gangster on the big screen many years ago, the scene where Armand Assante picks up a cigar out of his humidor and rolls between his fingers and listens always stuck with me since I saw it. I remember wondering if the act of doing that was scripted or was it something he just did instinctively? After doing a little research on him, I found out that he was an avid cigar smoker, so I figured what he did in the movie was a thing. But I didn’t pursue why he did it any further.
Then I got more into cigars and began participating in online forums. Then in a thread where someone asked how to tell if the humidity is correct besides a hygrometer, another person mentioned rolling the stick between your fingers and listening to it. If it crackles, chances are the environment’s too dry and if the cigar feels spongy, it’s too wet.
As soon as I read that, it triggered my memory of that movie scene in American Gangster and that’s when the lightbulb went off! So THAT’S why he did that! And I also realized that with him being an aficionado, there was a real purpose behind him doing that. It wasn’t at all an accident or some nervous tick.
And this technique is how I check the health of all my cigars. I have one humidor that has a hygrometer and that’s my electric humidor. I don’t think it’s accurate because if I get the humidity up to 69%, my cigars start getting spongy. Not good. So, I keep it at around 62-64% for this time of year. When it gets warmer, depending on how my cigars feel I’ll make adjustments up. But irrespective of what my hygrometer reads or the Boveda packs I use in my tupperdores, I have learned that the rolling technique has never once failed me because it has made me listen to my cigars, both literally and figuratively.
It’s like with baking. I run a small micro-bakery out of my home and from years of working with dough, I’ve learned to listen to what my dough is telling me at any given time. Paying attention to those visual, audio, and tactile cues informs me of when to do certain things. When I pull it, is it resistant? Probably needs some rest to relax. Does it sound squishy when I’m working it? It might need a little more work to ensure that water is fully incorporated.
And it is like that with caring for my cigars. Do I hear a crackle when I roll? Probably need to up my rH a bit. Do they feel soft? Let’s lower the rH and if I want to smoke one that feels that way, I’ll dry box it for a day or so.
I realize that if I had digital hygrometers in all my storage containers, it would give me an accurate picture of my humidity levels. But it’s not as if I’m checking those numbers every single fucking day. I just use my fingers and my ears then adjust as needed. Besides, using plastic storage has totally simplified storage for me. As a rule of thumb, I use 65% rH Boveda packs for my singles and use 69% packs for my boxes. My cigars are happy.
As for my electric humidor, since its humidity seems to fluctuate, I may invest in a small humidity controller. But that will be a last resort. Once the weather cooled, I just pulled out the extra humidification packs I had because my cigars got a little soft and just used the little container at the bottom and soaked the sponges in it. That did the trick. Within a week, my sticks regained their solidness have stabilized.
Who knows? I may just be acting foolish but going by feel works for me for now.
Unco B's Stogie Diary 