Lowest amount of RH before cigar oils dry up

[Rod]

I think this question will be helpful to many. I know some people like their cigars stored at 60% RH (humidity), while others prefer 72% RH. What is the lowest RH you can store cigars at before you damage them? By damage, I mean the oil of the tobacco drying up. When this happens, there's no restoring your cigars. While some prefer their cigars dry, what would you say is the danger zone (RH wise) for storage? Of course if you go much beyond 72% you take the risk of mold growing on the cigars and in the humidor.

Should be an interesting thread...

 

[lucasbuck]

I was hoping someone with more experience would post here but since nobody has I'll give my opinion.

I've read where some collectors use low rh and temp for long term aging. RH as low as 50% is not unheard of but I think much less then that would be ill advised. I have no idea at what RH you might be permanently damaging your stocks by drying the oils out of your cigars.

Anyone else care to chime in?

 

[cigarsarge]

I've always heard 70% for long term and 65% for smoking. All my cigars are stored at 65%...smoking and storage. That's just my personal prefrence.

 

[Lumberg]

I've also heard what cigarsarge says. But I imagine the moister the environment, the slower the aging.

This also presents a problem as if you want to smoke one of your aged or aging sticks, you have to transfer it to your 65% humidor and wait another week or two or three to actually smoke it.

If it were up to me I'd keep em no lower than 60%, but that is based on pure speculation.

 

[Korean&Proud]

Ditto on cigarsarge, I personally like mine at 65 before I light em up.

K&P

 

[Ironworker]

I have also read that keeping your cigars for long term storage at 70/70 was ideal.

I would think if a cigar was stored at below 50 RH for longer than a few weeks it would be cooked.


I have a bad habit of taking a few cigars to work and forgetting to put them in my desk top humidor. If I leave them in there for say 4 hours and the truck gets really warm inside say 85 degrees when I go and get them they are really soft. Soft like squishy would be a good word but they smoke great.
you would think they would be getting drier because of no humidity but exactly the opposite happens


Didn't mean to hijack the thread Rod

Rich

 

[The Master]

I keep my cigars at 58-62 percent.I have never had a problem with loss of oils or dry cigars. The top tobacconists in London age cigars for their clients at these levels. Temp should also be in the 65-67 degree range.

 

[Jeffro600]

I think it would take a LONG time to destroy a cigar stored at or slightly below 60%...ive had some that were stored for several months in the low 50's and they still smoked and tasted just fine.

For long term storage, im a fan of a little bit on the high side as long as you can keep mold under control. For smoking however, i like mine a little on the dry side.

 

[CoventryCat86]

I keep mine at 60%RH. As far as what's the lowest RH before cigars start to lose their essential oils? I don't know and I don't want to find out :laugh:

 

[Rod]

When the cigar is kept at 60% RH, how do you keep it from cracking when you cut it? Maybe it's just those cheap freebie cutters I use. :laugh:

 

[CoventryCat86]

Ah, interesting question Rod because that's right around the level I will start seeing some trouble.

I use a punch VERY CAREFULLY and have only had a few crack on me out of thousands. My guess is that using a DBG would decrease the chances of the cigar cracking when it's at or near 60%RH

 

[ricmac25]

I keep my cigars at 58-62 percent.I have never had a problem with loss of oils or dry cigars. The top tobacconists in London age cigars for their clients at these levels. Temp should also be in the 65-67 degree range.

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I keep mine at 60%RH. As far as what's the lowest RH before cigars start to lose their essential oils? I don't know and I don't want to find out :laugh:

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I don't feel so bad having mine low now. I've always liked them better that way. As for cutting them, yeah, sometimes I get cracks. Nothing major though. I use a xikar. I put just enough pressure on it to cut the wrapper then rotate it around the cigar first. Then I do a quick cut. (Fast4dr showed me this.) Works pretty well.

 

[mrjinglesusa]

And here I was worried my humis have been at ~60-62%. I usually keep them at 65% with beads and just added some water to the beads to try and bring it back up a bit. Guess I won't bother too much with it.

 

[Jeffro600]

When the cigar is kept at 60% RH, how do you keep it from cracking when you cut it? Maybe it's just those cheap freebie cutters I use. :laugh:

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Either a punch or a SHARP cutter...i usually toss the cheapo cutters after maybe a couple dozen cuts...sometimes less...much after that, they will cause splitting to no end! Pucnhes or V-cutters seem to work much better on your drier cigars though.

 

[lucasbuck]

I've been using my Palio on my 60% sticks for over a year now and have not had a single cracked wrapper. Of course I'm very careful to just nip off the cap which is all you need most of the time to get proper draw.

 

[The Master]

I never have problems with cracked cigars. I use my Swiss Army knife cutter and it works great.

 

[BlindedByScience]

I'm in the 70% to store, 65% to smoke camp. I get nervous if the temps get too much above 72F for any length of time.

And here I was worried my humis have been at ~60-62%. I usually keep them at 65% with beads and just added some water to the beads to try and bring it back up a bit. Guess I won't bother too much with it.

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I have 65% beads in the humi I smoke out of. My clue to add distilled water is when the RH in the humi stays at or below 62% for more than a few days. Adding DI usually snaps it back up to 68% or so, and I coast down to 62% over about three months.

Cheers - B.B.S.