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Mad Tunneling!

cryptoking13

cryptoking13

Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2021
Messages
55
I have found out the reason why cigars tunnel. After purchasing from different online retailers and trying out fresh out of the box, I hardly had any tunneling. After resting for a couple of weeks at 65rh, all of them present tunneling or burn issues. So, based on my experience, I am sure lowering the rh on your cigars for a determined amount of time will make them tunnel. (cigars dry from inside out)

My question is, does any one have experienced this and knows how long does it take for them to be free of burn issues? Cigars arriving fresh are at about 69rh (I put them in a plastic bag with a hygrometer for 1 day).

I lower the rh due to better flavor as I feel above 65rh, they dont taste as good.
 
Store inventory in your humidor at 69%-72%, and then dry box a few at a time for a few days at your preferred 65%.
 
Your tunneling issues, and burn issues in general, are most likely caused by simple physics. Take a look at the simple drawings below of a cross section of cigars, understand that where the cigars touch each other, they will obviously tend to stay at the surrounding RH of the other cigars (69%) for a longer time than where they are not touching, and therefore exposed to 65% air. You have basically dried out a portion of your cigars which is why you have burn issues.

1708348049325.png


1708346555092.png

Even if they are not touching each other, they will be touching a ziploc bag, a tupperware container, a box, etc. and will NOT be surrounded on all sides by 65%. And BTW, the cigars will always acclimate to the surrounding RH from the outside to the inside, it's simple physics.

For example, the concept of dry-boxing (moving cigars from 70% to 62%) to improve the smoking experience, is based on the fact that the wrapper will dry out, and therefore burn ever so slightly faster than the middle of the cigar, because the lower RH has not penetrated the entire cigar yet.

Given the mass of the 69% cigars vs the mass of the 65% air, changing an entire box, or bag, of cigars from 69% to 65% could take many months.
 
A friend stopped by and tried to smoke this "wet" one, but gave up. It was left on the table on the back deck for four days until he returned and tried again. This time, it behaved itself. 39-ish humidity outside.


1000008251.jpg
 
CigarStone said:
Your tunneling issues, and burn issues in general, are most likely caused by simple physics. Take a look at the simple drawings below of a cross section of cigars, understand that where the cigars touch each other, they will obviously tend to stay at the surrounding RH of the other cigars (69%) for a longer time than where they are not touching, and therefore exposed to 65% air. You have basically dried out a portion of your cigars which is why you have burn issues.

View attachment 78995


View attachment 78993

Even if they are not touching each other, they will be touching a ziploc bag, a tupperware container, a box, etc. and will NOT be surrounded on all sides by 65%. And BTW, the cigars will always acclimate to the surrounding RH from the outside to the inside, it's simple physics.

For example, the concept of dry-boxing (moving cigars from 70% to 62%) to improve the smoking experience, is based on the fact that the wrapper will dry out, and therefore burn ever so slightly faster than the middle of the cigar, because the lower RH has not penetrated the entire cigar yet.

Given the mass of the 69% cigars vs the mass of the 65% air, changing an entire box, or bag, of cigars from 69% to 65% could take many months.
Click to expand...
true. Ive tried boxes of tabernacles and liga privadas stored at 65rh for 3+ months and they will keep tunneling.
 
Grabbing at straws here - but I'd get a good digital hygrometer to check against the one that you have. Rule that out first.

A friend gifted me a nice humidor full of cigars and they all were problematic. There was a digital hygrometer in there, and it showed 67%. I added one of those little blue Humicare digital hygrometers, and it read 56%. After calibrating those hygrometers, the results were the same. One read ten points+ higher than the other one.




i dunno.jpg
 
cryptoking13 said:
true. Ive tried boxes of tabernacles and liga privadas stored at 65rh for 3+ months and they will keep tunneling.
Click to expand...
If you are confident that your cigars are in fact at 65%, and they are all tunneling for you, then I would I would say you may not be puffing on the cigar frequently enough. @PuffTheMagicDragon raises an excellent point too. 65% does not cause tunneling for every cigar. Good luck man!
 
CigarStone said:
Your tunneling issues, and burn issues in general, are most likely caused by simple physics. Take a look at the simple drawings below of a cross section of cigars, understand that where the cigars touch each other, they will obviously tend to stay at the surrounding RH of the other cigars (69%) for a longer time than where they are not touching, and therefore exposed to 65% air. You have basically dried out a portion of your cigars which is why you have burn issues.

View attachment 78995


View attachment 78993

Even if they are not touching each other, they will be touching a ziploc bag, a tupperware container, a box, etc. and will NOT be surrounded on all sides by 65%. And BTW, the cigars will always acclimate to the surrounding RH from the outside to the inside, it's simple physics.

For example, the concept of dry-boxing (moving cigars from 70% to 62%) to improve the smoking experience, is based on the fact that the wrapper will dry out, and therefore burn ever so slightly faster than the middle of the cigar, because the lower RH has not penetrated the entire cigar yet.

Given the mass of the 69% cigars vs the mass of the 65% air, changing an entire box, or bag, of cigars from 69% to 65% could take many months.
Click to expand...
:p
 
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