New humidor
I am presently deployed in Afghanistan. My loving wife has bought me an Old World humidor, 100 count as a welcome home gift. I am new to all this and have no idea what to tell her to help out setting it up, seasoning, charging. She was also nice and picked out 100 CAO gold maduros. Not sure if those are any good or not. Not sure how long to wait to put the cigars in the humidor. Any suggestions?
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Secondly, you are one lucky man to have a wife like that!
Third, tell her for now to immediately get a sealed tupperware container, a four ounce tube of Heartfelt beads at 65% RH, and place the cigars and the beads in there so that they are in good condition for when you rotate back home. A small spray bottle with distilled water will do the trick for charging the beads. The cigars need to be stored in the coolest part of the home since it is summer (and assuming you two do not have A/C); 70 degrees is considered optimum, but don't sweat it if she keeps the house at 72 if you have A/C.
The humidor can be seasoned at her leisure; she simply needs to put a small bowl filled with distilled water only inside the humi and leave it there for a couple of weeks. The wood will absorb the water to the needed amount. Boveda also makes a nice product for seasoning humidors, but if she is patient, than the bowl of water will do the trick as long as she remembers to recharge the bowl every so often.
Did I mention you are one lucky man? o.O
I have heard folks say the same thing; rub it down inside with a soft cloth moistened, etc. But I would not want to take the risk of too rapidly over moisturizing, and possibly splitting the wood. Since you can be patient, go with the slow and steady method. I cannot over-emphasize patience with seasoning humidors.
One other thing, have your wife buy a digital hygrometer (moisture meter). Analog (with the needle, like a gauge) is not nearly as accurate. This way you two can monitor the health of your cigars.
+1 to everything Smoke=Fire has already explained (and again, thanks for your service!); only thing I'd add is that seasoning a 100-count may only take a week or so, but you'll know once the humidity is around 75-80% and is stable/not fluctuating.
Afterwards, about half a pound of Heartfelt beads (~$20) should keep the humidor at the proper humidity (just remember to keep about 70% of the beads charged with only distilled water - they're clear when charged, and white when dry - they need to be partially charged to release humidity, and partially dry to absorb any excess humidity)
If the beads absorb moisture to capacity, simply removing them from the humidor and using a blow dryer on low setting will chase the excess out, than they can be placed back inside none the worse for the wear.
Also, let your wife know that beads will fracture, but they lose none of their effectiveness when they do so.
Second: don't worry if you end up not loving those CAOs. You've just found the corner of the internet where the best, most generous cigar smokers in the world hang around. I'm pretty sure you could find some folks here that would be willing to trade you some nice stogies for those.
But as a starter, 5 Vegas Gold, RP Connecticut, Fonseca, MOW Virtue, 5 Vegas Gold Maduro are all good ones to try
1. It takes less time to season
2. I know how much water to use in wiping down the humi wear it doesn't warp.
but your wife might know, and I would hate to have you come home to a warped humidor! Heartfelt beads are wonderful little companions for your cigars. Makes keeping the RH pretty easy.
thanks for serving buddy.
-Chris
"Long ashes my friends."