Best Way to Revive Dry Sticks?

[Ginseng]

What are your suggestions for bringing back cigars that have been dried out. Say some are somewhat dry and others are bone dry. What would one need to be aware of? I imagine splitting the wrapper would be the main concern. Also, is any flavor permanently lost due to desiccation?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Wilkey

 

[Shiba]

From my personal esperience, I would suggest taking the humidity up slowly on them so they do not split. Once you get them equalized to the humity where you keep your cigars, then let them sit for a while... the longer the better. They may not ever make it to the original condition, but should be close with plenty of time.

Experiment some with this... I had some do better than others. Hope this helps.

 

[Ginseng]

Thanks Shiba. Sounds like a good way to do it. I would think that cigars with thinner wrappers would be at greater risk for splitting on rehydrating but...let's hope I don't verify that experimentally this time.

Wilkey

 

[kevpriest]

I read a guide somewhere (can't find it now) that talked about how cigars re-humidify. Apparently, the absorb moisture through the wrapper until they hit about 55% RH, at which point the wrapper no longer passes moisture at any significant rate. From there, they will absorb moisture through the foot, causing the cigar to swell at the foot (and potentially causing the wrapper to crack). So, from this I'd recommend letting them sit in a 50 - 55% environment for a while, and then very slowly bring them up to 65%. The last 10% being the critical part.

 

[Jeffro600]

If their in a cellophane wrapper you dont have to bring them up as slowly as the wrapper will offer some protection to them and let the humidity in more slowly. Id let them rest at 65% for several months before i would even attempt to try them. Id start them off at about 50-60 for a couple weeks, then hold them at 65 for the remainder of the time.

 

[Ginseng]

Wow, now you've got me scared. I'm going to pull them from the humi. Hopefully they're still OK.

Wilkey

 

[Guitar_Gatler]

The first major cigar purchase I made was a bundle of JR Alternatives (I know I know...I had no idea before I bought them that they werent gonna taste anything like they're alter ego) Anyway They came super dry and I tried lighting one up and threw it out after a couple minutes.

The way I rehydrated them was I just let them sit on top of the coolidor for a couple weeks (humidity was around 54% in the closet) then put em in the coolidor and let em sit for a few weeks at 60%. It worked pretty well...didnt help the taste of the smokes any but I didnt have any problems with the wrapper cracking.

 

[Jeffro600]

Not to throw another wrench at ya, but dont be surprized if none of them make it at all...ive tried to revive maybe a dozen dried out sticks since i started smoking cigars a few years ago. Out of those 10-12, maybe only 4 came out with no damage. Some are just too dehydrated to save unfortunatly.

 

[OutlawD]

if some are as dry as you say you can rehumidify them but you cant put the oils back in the leafs. im all for saving anything but you may be just rehydrating "flat" tobacco. id say once you get them soft enough to clip without falling apart, say a week or so,cut one and at least draw thru it to see if there is any flaovr left, point is if you spend time and heartache nursing a cigar back to health and when you light it all the flavor is missing whats the point.

now i know this all sounds negative but its not. (notice all the smilies)
if theyre tasteless now theyll be tasteless next week and a year from now. you should find out before you rescue them is all im saying

 

[cohibasurfer]

So what cigars are these.... that we are trying to save?