Help...dry cigars, can I save them?

jorswift

A friend mailed me some old sticks he had in his collection. They got held up a little longer than we suspected in the mail.  They seem to be dry and some are cracking. Can I save them by putting them in my humi or are they lost? Thanks.

bigharpoon

Putting them in the humi certainly isn't going to hurt anything. Try to nurse them back to life slowly and keep an eye on the RH, you don't want them robbing all the humidity from your other sticks and making everything else just as dry. Good luck!

Russ55

Yeah, I'd probably try to add humidity slowly first before I put them in the humidor. Ziploc and a barely wet water pillow. Then a few days later get the pillow a little more damp. Rinse and repeat until they get to the 60ish range. Then put them in the humi. Wouldn't hurt to put a hygro in there too so you can see what's going on. That's what I'd do at least. Maybe someone else will have a better idea.

bandyt09

Russ55:

Yeah, I'd probably try to add humidity slowly first before I put them in the humidor. Ziploc and a barely wet water pillow. Then a few days later get the pillow a little more damp. Rinse and repeat until they get to the 60ish range. Then put them in the humi. Wouldn't hurt to put a hygro in there too so you can see what's going on. That's what I'd do at least. Maybe someone else will have a better idea.

+1 on this, if they are really dry you NEED to bring them back SLOWLY.......

jorswift

Well I out them in an extra humidor. I keep it at 60 but it might be up to 65 now. Do I need to do anything else to them?

Amos Umwhat

jorswift:

Well I out them in an extra humidor. I keep it at 60 but it might be up to 65 now. Do I need to do anything else to them?

sounds like you're on the right track. A couple years ago I resuscitated a cigar that had been on a back shelf (in cellophane) for about 10 years. It took about a year, going slow, and I'm sure the end result wasn't what the cigar once was, but it was OK, kind of mellow whereas the other one I'd had when it was young was pretty peppery, but it made for a good afternoon of reading, burned well, etc. So, it's always worth a try.

lilwing88

DON'T put them in your humi..... If you introduce them to too much humidity too fast the filler leaves will swell faster than the wrapper and explode on you, literally. You need a separate humi or tuperware container. Start out at around 50% rh and increase humidity by 5% a month for 4 months till you get to 65%. Then I'd still let them sleep for another few months at 65% rh before you try one. You may lose a few, but you should be able to save most of them.

docbp87

The only problem with doing this is that once the oil is lost, it isn't coming back. You can get the tobacco moist enough to be in good smoking condition, but the flavor is not going to be the same.