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Humidors, General Storage and Aging

chrisloldschrislolds Posts: 434 ✭✭
I had a few random questions in regards to storing cigars, both long term for aging and short term for smoking.

I see a lot of people storing cigars in ziplocks etc, and I see different reasons for this like quarantine etc, but is this only for short term? How does humidity affect inside a ziplock? It won't benefit from the humidity in the humi right?

For aging, is it as simple as just keeping them in the humi and rotating them around, or should they be in their own humi and hardly opened and only opened to rotate? Is there anything else special needed for aging? Do they need cedar to age or can they be aged in a coolidor?

Will a coolidor have problems because of no cedar? Is cedar just to help absorb and release humidity?

I bought the Arturo Fuente Destino al Siglo 2012 Sampler, it comes in a cedar box, should I age these in the box? I was basically wanting to age these until my wedding anniversaries and when my children are born, so they will be aging for 5+ years. What would be the best way to age these? Out of the box and in their own small humidor? In the box in a coolidor? In a small/medium humidor (50ct) with 20-30 more cigars? I've read cigars themselves help stabilize humidity so I wasn't sure if aging them with a bunch of other cigars would help?

Also, if I age them with other cigars, any non infused cigars, or a certain type? Do I need to age them with other expensive cigars? Should I just get something like the thrifty thirty sampler to age them with? Or should I age them with a full box of some other type of cigar?

Thanks for the help in advance!

Comments

  • chrisloldschrislolds Posts: 434 ✭✭
    Also, any general guidelines for cigars? Should they be quarantined? Should I only quarantine specific times like during hot shipping months? Do I not need to worry about quarantine from online like CCOM, or from my B&M? Does anyone ever have major problems with bugs or anything? Should I freeze or does that ruin cigars?
  • RhamlinRhamlin Posts: 8,908 ✭✭✭✭✭
    IMHO long term aging is done best in a humidor. That being said any of the methods you mentioned is very acceptable and cheaper. It's mostly a personal preference. As far as quaranteing that's mainly for mold or beetles. And of course any infused sticks need to be kept separately.
  • Darktower007Darktower007 Posts: 2,580 ✭✭✭✭
    Rhamlin:
    IMHO long term aging is done best in a humidor. That being said any of the methods you mentioned is very acceptable and cheaper. It's mostly a personal preference. As far as quaranteing that's mainly for mold or beetles. And of course any infused sticks need to be kept separately.
    Agreed. I age only in humidors. I have them labeled and dated as well as a saparate book on them. I also rotate them and do a visual inspection every so often...
  • Bob_LukenBob_Luken Posts: 10,004 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I second everything Ricky said and I'll try to add a few insights of my own.

    How does humidity affect inside a ziplock? -- -- In my view there are two kinds of ziplocks. Those that seal well, (airtight) and those that seal sloppily (zippered type or otherwise not airtight. ) Those that seal well will keep cigars for a week or two without any extra humidification. Those that seal sloppily might need extra help like a Boveda packet or a water pillow. But, keep in mind that water pillows can over-humidify inside a small sealed container. In my opinion we use water pillows more than necessary. Our cigars can hold their own humidity inside a good ziplock for a few days in shipment. To me that's better than over-humidifying with a water pillow, especially in the summer when the shipment might also get hot. Hot AND extra humid? Bettles LOVE that. And speaking of humidity, after receiving cigar shipments it's a good idea to allow a week or so of rest in a stable humi or coolidor where the possible/probable humidity swings from shipment can be stabilized.

    but is this only for short-term? -- -- If you need to store a bunch of sticks in a ziplock for an extended period, until you can make a better home for them, I'd say it's OK, but I would insist on using a Boveda backet. Or if you use anything other than Boveda, use a good hygrometer to make sure your RH is where you need it to be.

    It won't benefit from the humidity in the humi right? -- -- If you want to use ziplock bags to help you stay organized INSIDE a humi or coolidor, keep the seal un-zipped to allow the humidity in and out.

    Will a coolidor have problems because of no cedar? -- -- No, But it smells great if you can add some. Many cooler users don't add extra cedar. Plastic trays work just fine, but many cooler users are also storing cigars inside boxes that are made of cedar or using cedar trays inside their cooler. I have one small cooler that I have singles stacked in trays of spanish cedar. That cooler has the lovely tobacco/cedar smell that I like. Does it affect the cigars flavor that much? I'm thinking it's minimal for storage. (If you do use cedar in a cooler or other plastic container, it must be spanish cedar. That aromatic cedar for making your closets and drawers smell great is too strong for cigar use.)

    I bought the Arturo Fuente Destino al Siglo 2012 Sampler, it comes in a cedar box, should I age these in the box? -- -- Great idea. How many cigars are in this sampler? I looked this up and there are a few different versions. But I'll assume that you have the seven count sampler for the purposes of my answer. I'd try and age them inside its original box placed inside a wood humi, or a coolidor. Or my second choice would be to take the cigars out and age them in a wood humi as singles. As for the company they keep as singles, I'm really not sure. As for rotating the sticks, besides for patroling for beetles, I think it's more fun than function. Have fun :)
  • catfishbluezzcatfishbluezz Posts: 7,000 ✭✭✭
    Cedar is also there to reject tobacco beetles, you don't need cedar to age at all. However, if you are concerned and want to age in a cooler, use boxes, problem solved. If you want to age in bags, put a cedar divider in, problem solved. Cigars do help stabilize themselves, the more the merrier. Cheap cigars do not age into gems either. It's all about the tobacco.
  • rsherman24rsherman24 Posts: 6,736 ✭✭✭✭✭
    In my opinion, you can't beat a cooler with some cigar boxes for storage. I have a couple of wood humidors that I keep cigars I plan to smoke soon in, but this winter I struggled to keep up with the RH. The cooler with some KL stays perfect on my number. Open it up and it smells like a walkin humidor. Buy the biggest one you can find. If you buy anything smaller, you will fill it up and have to buy another one within a month.

    My next step is to add a remote hygrometer and a fan.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    catfishbluezz:
    Cheap cigars do not age into gems either. It's all about the tobacco.
    yes. very well said.

    so many people think that age is a cure all. it isnt.
  • chrisloldschrislolds Posts: 434 ✭✭
    All amazing information, thank you guys!

    So cedar will actually help prevent beetles?

    How frequent are outbreaks of beetles?
  • Lee.mcglynnLee.mcglynn Posts: 5,960 ✭✭✭✭
    Beetles don't like the taste of cedar...if you have them sealed in a cedar container they will not spread out as much...they will stay in the box but will eat what ever is in there! Personally I keep most of my long term stuff sealed in ziplock freezer bags with boveda in them. If the box can fit in the bag even better! But I also store the bags in a cooler to prevent big temp swings and also keep some beads in it as well. Really there is no right or wrong way for long term it's all in opinion once again
    Money can't buy taste
  • chrisloldschrislolds Posts: 434 ✭✭
    Lee.mcglynn:
    Beetles don't like the taste of cedar...if you have them sealed in a cedar container they will not spread out as much...they will stay in the box but will eat what ever is in there! Personally I keep most of my long term stuff sealed in ziplock freezer bags with boveda in them. If the box can fit in the bag even better! But I also store the bags in a cooler to prevent big temp swings and also keep some beads in it as well. Really there is no right or wrong way for long term it's all in opinion once again
    So in your case, the beads in the cooler don't affect the cigars in the bags right, the only humidity for those would be the bovedas? are the beads for other loose cigars in the cooler? And how often do you need to replace the bovedas when they are in a ziploc like that? Also, do you need to monitor the RH in each bag or does the boveda act pretty stable on that?
  • Lee.mcglynnLee.mcglynn Posts: 5,960 ✭✭✭✭
    chrislolds:
    Lee.mcglynn:
    Beetles don't like the taste of cedar...if you have them sealed in a cedar container they will not spread out as much...they will stay in the box but will eat what ever is in there! Personally I keep most of my long term stuff sealed in ziplock freezer bags with boveda in them. If the box can fit in the bag even better! But I also store the bags in a cooler to prevent big temp swings and also keep some beads in it as well. Really there is no right or wrong way for long term it's all in opinion once again
    So in your case, the beads in the cooler don't affect the cigars in the bags right, the only humidity for those would be the bovedas? are the beads for other loose cigars in the cooler? And how often do you need to replace the bovedas when they are in a ziploc like that? Also, do you need to monitor the RH in each bag or does the boveda act pretty stable on that?
    not even the ziplock freezer bags are air tight so humidity can come and go very slowly. This is why I keep the cooler humidity around 65 rh and the boveda packs I use are 62rh. This way the boveda will last a very long time and keep everything as stable as possible.
    Money can't buy taste
  • The3StogiesThe3Stogies Posts: 2,652 ✭✭✭✭
    All I barely know about cigars I learned from this forum, so IMHO:

    Not crazy about plastic. Get a humi for aging, maybe 300 count. My aging humi (Evanston dome 250, not big enough) is at 65%, some cigars are cello'd some are not. I usually buy 10-20 at a time and group them together but in the same sections. My San Lotanos are stacked together in the same section as all my MOWs and DPGs, Cask Strengths are stacked together in the same section as the Opus-X bundle, and so on. I open the humi every few days and take a whiff, circulate the air a bit. Un-cello'd cigars smell so good. I rotate them every month or so, bottom to top, check them out. Handle them carefully my friend. It's fun to smoke one when you get them then after a a few months of resting, then after a year of aging, then 2 years. If you spend good coin on good cigars they should have a good place to live, just have fun with it.
  • RainRain Posts: 8,958 ✭✭✭
    MOW FTW?
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