Post by StickStickler on Jul 30, 2013 17:32:16 GMT
Feel free to reply to this thread with more questions and we will be happy to place your questions in the original post or edit your post with the answers.
Q1. My cigars have become overhumidified. Can I save them?!
A:This questions is all too common and it’s not necessarily always from beginners. We see experts ask this question time and time again because it’s really not as simple as it may seem. It’s not easy enough to just open your humidifier and let moisture escape. Your best bet is to find some strips of cedar wood and placing them in your closed humidor to allow them to soak up the added moisture. Make sure to keep an eye on your humidity to make sure you remove the strips at the proper moment or add more if needed.
Q2. Why do I get strange looks when I light up with a zippo or bic?
A:The main reason for this is, cigars are NOT cigarettes. This is a hobby and life that requires respect and a little bit of dignity. When you finish a cigar, you aren’t going to toss it to the ground and stomp it out like you would a cheap cigarette. You also aren’t going to want to ruin the flavors of a beautiful cigar with that of the oily fumes of a gasoline lighter. This is why you might get strange looks, gasoline lighters ruin cigar flavors. If you really need to use a lighter, use one that takes butane. Best of all, invest in some boxes of wooden matches.
Q3. I’ve got bugs in my humidor and holes in my cigars! What do I do?
A:This is a really big problem to have and it’s very difficult to fight off these pests. Tobacco beetles naturally grow and live off of tobacco and can sometimes survive through the cigar making process. Your best bet is to get the ruined cigars out of your household and placing the salvageable into a freezer for about 3 days in order to kill the bugs. Once three days are up, move your cigars to the refrigerator to allow them to slowly warm up and then the next day, you should be able to place them back in your humidor in order to slowly re-humidify. Be sure to place a beetle trap in your humidor to avoid further infestations.
Q4. What’s better, a guillotine or wedge cutter?
A:First off, the wedge cutter was the first commercial cutter around and was intended for thinner cigars. Many experts have grown to enjoy the guillotine over the wedge because using a wedge on a larger gauge cigar can cause tar buildup and damage the cigar. Your best bet is to use a guillotine if you only use one cutter. If you want to use more than one cutter, use the wedge on small gauges and the guillotine on large.
Q5. How can I age my cigars in the best way possible?
A:Our best suggestions is to allow your cigars to age at a lower humidity than what you will eventually be storing them at. Some smokers prefer to age them by placing them in cigar boxes with similar cigars in the same box to preserve flavor and allow a consistent age.
Q6. What’s this powder on my cigars?
A:Often times you will see a crystalline form of powder on your cigar that resembles powder sugar in a way and you’ll think, “Oh man, I should toss these,” don’t. This sugar-like powder is called plume and its caused from your cigars “sweating” out some oils and has no harmful affect. Just dust them off a little before smoking. Now if the powder is an off-blue or greenish color and is staining the cigar wrapper, then you have a mold issue. Toss molding cigars as far as possible, reach the pits of Mordor if you have to, just lose ‘em. To avoid mold, try to keep cigars at an even 70°F/70% humidity.
Q7. I only smoked half of my cigar, is it okay to put it back in the humidor for later?
A:Simply put… NO! You do not want to put a half-smoked cigar back in with your perfectly good smokes. This will cause your humidor and other smokes to take on the stench of stale ash and smoke. If you NEED to save that half of a stogie, let it sit on your ashtray for at the most an hour before getting back to smoking it. If not, simply toss it away.
Q8. I went to a B&M and the owner freaked out on me for sniffing a cigar, what was the issue?
A:This may seem like a very blunt answer, which it is, but we want to help. Simply think of this reaction this way, would you want to smoke a cigar that someone else has held up under their nose?
Q9. I bought my first pack of cigars a few months ago when they tasted good but now they seem to have dried out. What do I do?
A:This is a great question. First, we have to ask you a question in turn, did you buy a humidor when you got all of those cigars? If not, then stop reading and get a humidor before you’ve wasted your money. If you DID buy a humidor for the cigars and they still seem dried out, try adding a shot glass of distilled water to your humidor to up the humidity and monitor the humidity for a day or so, allowing your cigars to get some needed moisture back. Try a smoke in a day or two and see if they are any better. Also, it never hurts to go straight for a large humidor, you will catch cigar buying fever at some point.
Q10. Why can’t you smoke a cigar down to a nub like you would a cigarette?
A:The answer to this one is a little bit hazy. We’re not saying that it’s completely impossible to smoke a cigar down to a nub, but it’s usually not the brightest idea. As you smoke a cigar, it builds up tar and moisture as it shortens and starts to burn hotter and hotter. Most of the time it will get to a point where you just don’t enjoy it anymore and you’re just puffing to puff. Simply put, only smoke a cigar for as long as you enjoy it. It may seem like you’re wasting money by only smoking half of it, but think about how long it takes to even smoke that half compared to a cigarette. These stogies are meant to be enjoyed, not burnt to a crisp.
Q1. My cigars have become overhumidified. Can I save them?!
A:This questions is all too common and it’s not necessarily always from beginners. We see experts ask this question time and time again because it’s really not as simple as it may seem. It’s not easy enough to just open your humidifier and let moisture escape. Your best bet is to find some strips of cedar wood and placing them in your closed humidor to allow them to soak up the added moisture. Make sure to keep an eye on your humidity to make sure you remove the strips at the proper moment or add more if needed.
Q2. Why do I get strange looks when I light up with a zippo or bic?
A:The main reason for this is, cigars are NOT cigarettes. This is a hobby and life that requires respect and a little bit of dignity. When you finish a cigar, you aren’t going to toss it to the ground and stomp it out like you would a cheap cigarette. You also aren’t going to want to ruin the flavors of a beautiful cigar with that of the oily fumes of a gasoline lighter. This is why you might get strange looks, gasoline lighters ruin cigar flavors. If you really need to use a lighter, use one that takes butane. Best of all, invest in some boxes of wooden matches.
Q3. I’ve got bugs in my humidor and holes in my cigars! What do I do?
A:This is a really big problem to have and it’s very difficult to fight off these pests. Tobacco beetles naturally grow and live off of tobacco and can sometimes survive through the cigar making process. Your best bet is to get the ruined cigars out of your household and placing the salvageable into a freezer for about 3 days in order to kill the bugs. Once three days are up, move your cigars to the refrigerator to allow them to slowly warm up and then the next day, you should be able to place them back in your humidor in order to slowly re-humidify. Be sure to place a beetle trap in your humidor to avoid further infestations.
Q4. What’s better, a guillotine or wedge cutter?
A:First off, the wedge cutter was the first commercial cutter around and was intended for thinner cigars. Many experts have grown to enjoy the guillotine over the wedge because using a wedge on a larger gauge cigar can cause tar buildup and damage the cigar. Your best bet is to use a guillotine if you only use one cutter. If you want to use more than one cutter, use the wedge on small gauges and the guillotine on large.
Q5. How can I age my cigars in the best way possible?
A:Our best suggestions is to allow your cigars to age at a lower humidity than what you will eventually be storing them at. Some smokers prefer to age them by placing them in cigar boxes with similar cigars in the same box to preserve flavor and allow a consistent age.
Q6. What’s this powder on my cigars?
A:Often times you will see a crystalline form of powder on your cigar that resembles powder sugar in a way and you’ll think, “Oh man, I should toss these,” don’t. This sugar-like powder is called plume and its caused from your cigars “sweating” out some oils and has no harmful affect. Just dust them off a little before smoking. Now if the powder is an off-blue or greenish color and is staining the cigar wrapper, then you have a mold issue. Toss molding cigars as far as possible, reach the pits of Mordor if you have to, just lose ‘em. To avoid mold, try to keep cigars at an even 70°F/70% humidity.
Q7. I only smoked half of my cigar, is it okay to put it back in the humidor for later?
A:Simply put… NO! You do not want to put a half-smoked cigar back in with your perfectly good smokes. This will cause your humidor and other smokes to take on the stench of stale ash and smoke. If you NEED to save that half of a stogie, let it sit on your ashtray for at the most an hour before getting back to smoking it. If not, simply toss it away.
Q8. I went to a B&M and the owner freaked out on me for sniffing a cigar, what was the issue?
A:This may seem like a very blunt answer, which it is, but we want to help. Simply think of this reaction this way, would you want to smoke a cigar that someone else has held up under their nose?
Q9. I bought my first pack of cigars a few months ago when they tasted good but now they seem to have dried out. What do I do?
A:This is a great question. First, we have to ask you a question in turn, did you buy a humidor when you got all of those cigars? If not, then stop reading and get a humidor before you’ve wasted your money. If you DID buy a humidor for the cigars and they still seem dried out, try adding a shot glass of distilled water to your humidor to up the humidity and monitor the humidity for a day or so, allowing your cigars to get some needed moisture back. Try a smoke in a day or two and see if they are any better. Also, it never hurts to go straight for a large humidor, you will catch cigar buying fever at some point.
Q10. Why can’t you smoke a cigar down to a nub like you would a cigarette?
A:The answer to this one is a little bit hazy. We’re not saying that it’s completely impossible to smoke a cigar down to a nub, but it’s usually not the brightest idea. As you smoke a cigar, it builds up tar and moisture as it shortens and starts to burn hotter and hotter. Most of the time it will get to a point where you just don’t enjoy it anymore and you’re just puffing to puff. Simply put, only smoke a cigar for as long as you enjoy it. It may seem like you’re wasting money by only smoking half of it, but think about how long it takes to even smoke that half compared to a cigarette. These stogies are meant to be enjoyed, not burnt to a crisp.