LilBastage
Meat is murder! Tasty, tasty murder.
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2005
- Messages
- 5,462
Edited to add: This was just a fun experiment I did in response to a conversation we had with Jorge Padron. It's not some new method for beetle prevention or anything other than something fun for me to try. I just wanted to clarify this after a few posts and several PMs seemed to be confusing things. I don't freeze my cigars, so I really have no "secrets" or special methods.
First, a little background.
While at The Outlaw this past weekend our group had a very nice discussion with Jorge Padron about the production of their cigars. He told us about the tobacco they have on hand (some aged as much as 20 years!), the fumigation schedules they follow, and the freezing of their cigars prior to shipment.
I don't want to speak for the others that were there, but I was simply amazed when he told us that they take the cigars out of the freezer after 4 days or so and basically ship them out. No "warming up" period or any kid glove treatment at all. He even told us that he had personally smoked many cigars that were just out of the freezer and that they were just fine! This went completely against everything I've read and have been told about freezing cigars. I think he could tell by the looks on our faces we were a little surprised. He told us to try it for ourselves. I did.
I threw a Padron 2000m into the freezer on Sunday evening after I got back. I just put it in a freezer bag and tossed it in the basket at the bottom of the freezer. In the back of my mind I thought it was pretty funny. There was no way this was going to work and I just knew I was wasting a good cigar.
I took the cigar out this AM. I removed it from the bag and cello, put it out on the counter for about 15 minutes (as instructed by Jorge Padron), clipped the cap, headed outdoors and commenced the smoking. The draw was quite loose and the flavor wasn't nearly as full as usual. The burn was also a little funky. Uh, oh. This is going to be a waste of time.
After the first inch or so the burn started to straighten out and the smoke volume began to increase.
Once I got about 1/3 of the way into the cigar, things got a lot better. The draw actually tightened up a little. The smoke volume increased to normal levels, and the flavor was almost as usual for this cigar (one of my absolute favorites). The cap end was still cool to the touch, and the smoke was warming it up much more gently than I expected.
Beyond the half way point, the cigar smoked as normal. It was just as flavorful as usual, there were no problems with the wrapper or any other parts of the cigar. The burn was razor sharp and straight the whole way after the initial problems.
I must say I was surprised, almost shocked, that the cigar didn't explode in my hand. I've taken cigars from the warm house out to the sub freezing temps of MN winter a few times and have ALWAYS had problems. I really did not expect the cigar to survive this.
The cigar went from The Outlaw humidor on Saturday to my otterbox (which was opened and closed several times during the day) where it remained for the entirety of my stay in KC and my drive home. Once I got home, I examined the cigar (seemed fine in regards to construction, humidity level, etc.) and it went into a freezer bag and into the freezer. It went from the freezer to the counter for about 15 minutes (it was about 67*F and 42%RH in the house this AM) and then outside (53*F and about 53% humidity) for smoking.
This was one cigar. I'm not saying that it will work every time with every cigar and I'm not saying it will work for you, but it sure as hell worked out just fine for me this time. I'm glad I tried this and I'm glad I got the chance to hear about it from Jorge Padron. I'm not going to go sticking any other cigars in the freezer, but it was a fun experiment.
Just thought I'd share.
First, a little background.
While at The Outlaw this past weekend our group had a very nice discussion with Jorge Padron about the production of their cigars. He told us about the tobacco they have on hand (some aged as much as 20 years!), the fumigation schedules they follow, and the freezing of their cigars prior to shipment.
I don't want to speak for the others that were there, but I was simply amazed when he told us that they take the cigars out of the freezer after 4 days or so and basically ship them out. No "warming up" period or any kid glove treatment at all. He even told us that he had personally smoked many cigars that were just out of the freezer and that they were just fine! This went completely against everything I've read and have been told about freezing cigars. I think he could tell by the looks on our faces we were a little surprised. He told us to try it for ourselves. I did.
I threw a Padron 2000m into the freezer on Sunday evening after I got back. I just put it in a freezer bag and tossed it in the basket at the bottom of the freezer. In the back of my mind I thought it was pretty funny. There was no way this was going to work and I just knew I was wasting a good cigar.
I took the cigar out this AM. I removed it from the bag and cello, put it out on the counter for about 15 minutes (as instructed by Jorge Padron), clipped the cap, headed outdoors and commenced the smoking. The draw was quite loose and the flavor wasn't nearly as full as usual. The burn was also a little funky. Uh, oh. This is going to be a waste of time.
After the first inch or so the burn started to straighten out and the smoke volume began to increase.
Once I got about 1/3 of the way into the cigar, things got a lot better. The draw actually tightened up a little. The smoke volume increased to normal levels, and the flavor was almost as usual for this cigar (one of my absolute favorites). The cap end was still cool to the touch, and the smoke was warming it up much more gently than I expected.
Beyond the half way point, the cigar smoked as normal. It was just as flavorful as usual, there were no problems with the wrapper or any other parts of the cigar. The burn was razor sharp and straight the whole way after the initial problems.
I must say I was surprised, almost shocked, that the cigar didn't explode in my hand. I've taken cigars from the warm house out to the sub freezing temps of MN winter a few times and have ALWAYS had problems. I really did not expect the cigar to survive this.
The cigar went from The Outlaw humidor on Saturday to my otterbox (which was opened and closed several times during the day) where it remained for the entirety of my stay in KC and my drive home. Once I got home, I examined the cigar (seemed fine in regards to construction, humidity level, etc.) and it went into a freezer bag and into the freezer. It went from the freezer to the counter for about 15 minutes (it was about 67*F and 42%RH in the house this AM) and then outside (53*F and about 53% humidity) for smoking.
This was one cigar. I'm not saying that it will work every time with every cigar and I'm not saying it will work for you, but it sure as hell worked out just fine for me this time. I'm glad I tried this and I'm glad I got the chance to hear about it from Jorge Padron. I'm not going to go sticking any other cigars in the freezer, but it was a fun experiment.
Just thought I'd share.
