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In or out of box?

D

dtandrews

New Member
Joined
May 19, 2008
Messages
32
I keep my cigars in Vinotemp wine coolers. I have several boxes of cigars, as well as, a growing amount of singles. I have ordered some drawers from "Mtmouse" for my singles. I plan on storing some of the cigars for years to age them. I have unwrapped the boxes, so they are not sealed. Is it better to keep the cigars in the boxes they came in, or would they age better in the drawers?
 
dtandrews said:
I keep my cigars in Vinotemp wine coolers. I have several boxes of cigars, as well as, a growing amount of singles. I have ordered some drawers from "Mtmouse" for my singles. I plan on storing some of the cigars for years to age them. I have unwrapped the boxes, so they are not sealed. Is it better to keep the cigars in the boxes they came in, or would they age better in the drawers?
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Store them the same way you got them. The only thing I do is take off the plastic or cellophane they use to wrap around the box for packing and shipping. If it's a Fuente product, although I don't think you are referring to NC's, I open up the box and take out the little humidifier pack.

Brian
 
Thanks. That's what I thought, but I wanted to make sure. Nothing would be worse than opening a box and discovering a batch of dried out cigars a couple years from now.
 
I keep in the box, to me its extra protection and an easy way to find you cigars!! I would also suggest you take the hummie packet out of Fuente products!! Enjoy, oh and by the way I usually save boxes after they are empty. They make excellent storage for future singles.

Mark
 
I always take the plastic off and store them in my rubberdors till there about 1/2 gone then transfer them to a desktop for easy access and to free up space for more full boxes.
 
I don't want to beat this into the ground, but I want to clarify it a little more. The other day I visited a friend who has a walk-in humidor in his house. He has everything from JFRs and Camachos to Padrons and Cubans. Every box he gets in, he takes the cigars out of the box and places them in trays. He says this allows them to age better than leaving them in boxes.

I'm confused, do the cigars not age as good if left in the boxes?
 
dtandrews said:
I don't want to beat this into the ground, but I want to clarify it a little more. The other day I visited a friend who has a walk-in humidor in his house. He has everything from JFRs and Camachos to Padrons and Cubans. Every box he gets in, he takes the cigars out of the box and places them in trays. He says this allows them to age better than leaving them in boxes.

I'm confused, do the cigars not age as good if left in the boxes?
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Did you ask HIM why it would be better?

I bet he doesn't have an answer...it's just what he was told or believes.
 
He stated that it allows for better air circulation than leaving them in closed boxes.
 
dtandrews said:
He stated that it allows for better air circulation than leaving them in closed boxes.
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Yes, it does provide better circulation...but why put your cigars at risk of being damaged.

Also...are you talking long term or short term aging?- oh...I'd say leave them as you bought them. (I missed the aging part.)
 
There are many schools of thought on this. Do a search on long term storage of cigars and you'll see these different theories. As in all things in life one mans pate is another's chopped liver!
 
dtandrews said:
I don't want to beat this into the ground, but I want to clarify it a little more. The other day I visited a friend who has a walk-in humidor in his house. He has everything from JFRs and Camachos to Padrons and Cubans. Every box he gets in, he takes the cigars out of the box and places them in trays. He says this allows them to age better than leaving them in boxes.

I'm confused, do the cigars not age as good if left in the boxes?
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Really... You can not go wrong either way. Leave them in box or put them in trays. However, I am a big fan of leaving them in boxes, Why? Because, I feel that the company puts them in boxes that they feel is going to be the best way for their cigars to age. Its kind of like, getting whiskey, would you pour it out and put it in a different container to let it age? No that would be silly because the bottle it comes in is what makes the Whiskey unique from other whiskeys. I know that may of not been a good example. A better one maybe, same way with the cellophane on some of the cigars, I choose to keep mine in the cellophane because thats what makes that cigar "different" as well as the way the people that are producing the cigar feels is the best way to keep a particular cigar at its best.

I am not saying your friend is wrong about taking the cigars out of the box and placing them on trays, but If it were me, I keep them in the box. Its just a matter of how I think. If the cigar company did not want you to use their boxes, then they would of put them in zip lock bags. There is a reason for everything at every step of the way in the cigar making business. my .02


David
 
Another reason to leave them in the box, this is why I do it, is you can see when they were packaged by the box code. Some NC's do this as well as all ISOMs. If you do, do the tray you get just get a little post it and write the date/year and attach it to the tray. Like many said there is no right or wrong answer here, it's like cellophane on or off. It's your choice.
 
For maturing cigars over just a few years, the package they came in is fine. For many years, like a decade or more, I would put them into wooden cabs or boxes. Breathing is bad for long term preservation of cigars. Think about it...every time you open a humidor or cooler and take in a lungful of that sweet aroma, you are "stealing" aroma and flavor compounds from the cigars. If it's in the air, it ain't in the cigars.

Note, if by aging better (per dtandrews' friend's approach) you mean cigars that mature more quickly and lose their youthful zest and crispness more rapidly reaching the mellower state of a cigar with a few years on them, then yes, taking all the cigars out and letting them "air out" will do the trick.

Wilkey
 
Ginseng, that was a very informative post. I really never thought about "stealing" aroma from the cigars by opening the humidor. Makes me think twice about opening the door to see how things are doing.
 
Gonnagal said:
Ginseng, that was a very informative post. I really never thought about "stealing" aroma from the cigars by opening the humidor. Makes me think twice about opening the door to see how things are doing.
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Hi Gonnagal,

I'm glad the example made some sense. Theoretically, I think this idea is defensible and I've heard it espoused by various cigarists more experienced than I.

In the real world, though, "taking the aroma" is an integral part of the cigar experience. It is one way in which we extract pleasure from these little tubes of leaves. By all means, when you open a humi or coolerdor, sniff away. I know I can't help it. And when I slide the lid off a cabinet of RASS, peel back the glassine paper, and breath in deeply the heady aroma, I enjoy it for all it's worth and all it means. The fruit of the farmers hot days in the fields. The product of the experts who tend to the leaves and bales as they undergo their wondrous transformation into the raw materials for the torcedors. And the careful craftsmanship of the rollers who build these cigars for us.

Each cigar is truly the son of hundred hands, each lovingly brought to bear in the creation of these little treasures that bring us together and that bring us such pleasure.

In other words, enjoy!

Wilkey
 
In the box for me. Some go as far as vaccum packaging them with a food saver. To each his own.

Oh and whiskey doesn't age in a bottle. :D
 
I keep my better smokes in a cedar lined humidor and a couple of Opus X cedar boxes (all with the tops propped open by hygrometers) and the yard gars in a cedar lined, open Tupperdor in my Vinotemp.
Works for me.
Edited for spelling.
 
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