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Question on storing cigars in cooler temperatures

I have a small humidor on order and some 62% Bovedas to set up the dry box. I'm feeling much better about my modest stash, now.

I’ve found that it takes a while for cigars’ humidity to drop. Depending on how far in advance you’re going to plan on smoking before you put it/them in your dry box, you may consider a RH of mid 50’s. A 3-4 day rest in the mid 50’s has been a sweet spot for me.

I’ve found that the lower the RH, the less amount of time cigars need to “rest.”

Part of the journey is kind of a “science”, in that I’m almost always testing hypothesis until I find what works best for me.

And like most consumables, personal preferences tend to vary.
 
@Johnny B I hear you! But this whole dry box thing is new to me. I'm going to go with the Boveda 62s suggested in the long dry box thread for a while, but I could see going to Boveda 58 at some point. I need to experiment, and the advice given in that thread seems like a good place to start. Plus I don't smoke that many cigars-- 2 to 3 per week, typically, so I'm not in such a hurry for them to get through the dry box stage to smoke them. I'm approaching this in a more leisurely fashion while I learn.
 
My time in sackcloth and ashes is coming to an end, and I’d like to publicly thank Tom @BlindedByScience for saving me from almost certain disaster ruining several hundred cigars. I appreciate it very much, and I’m sorry I was such a dick about the topic.

I’ve also heard about dry boxing for the first time (I never hung around cigar sites before, just smoked ‘em) and I have a special purpose small humidor on the way for that, and I’m expecting great things from the practice. I’ve learned a lot about hygrometers, tupperdore storage, and a great many other things.

It’s a shame that so many cigar retailers are circulating that stupid temp/humidity chart, I’m sure that little Internet echo has caused no small amount of cigar damage. Anyway, thanks for all the good information. I will endeavor to be more well-behaved in the future.
 
A lot of us have gone away from desktop humidors and gone with a variety of alternatives, some of which you have read about here. Desktop humi's are notorious for leaking RH, and a Lock n Lock box (for example) works better for a fraction of the cost. I have three 165 qt. marine coolers, with silica beads, to keep my cigars in and I have a few Lock n Lock boxes for various things like dry boxing, a handful of cigars for the weekend, or just the cigars I know smoke better at a certain RH. I use Boveda packs in those with a sheet of cedar to prevent the cigars from sitting in direct contact with the packs.

I'll bet I went through $1500 worth of various desktops when I first became serious about cigars, they all leaked, they are all gone.

1743507883314.png
 
Excellent suggestion, I have a couple tupperdores in the basement. I kinda wanted a nicer box and I got a 20-stick for 30% off during a spring sale and SWMBO will let me keep this in the living room, but def not a tupperdore.

That said, I have two 7 liter Sistemas inbound. I’ll likely never buy another expensive humidor again. My process is new purchases are dated and go in tupperdores for 1 year. Then I work them into the wineador as space allows. Finally, I grab sticks to bring upstairs to the humidor and now the dry box humidor.

Tupperdores are awesome!
 
Excellent suggestion, I have a couple tupperdores in the basement. I kinda wanted a nicer box and I got a 20-stick for 30% off during a spring sale and SWMBO will let me keep this in the living room, but def not a tupperdore.

That said, I have two 7 liter Sistemas inbound. I’ll likely never buy another expensive humidor again. My process is new purchases are dated and go in tupperdores for 1 year. Then I work them into the wineador as space allows. Finally, I grab sticks to bring upstairs to the humidor and now the dry box humidor.

Tupperdores are awesome!
Make sure the tupperware creates a good seal, some sort of rubber seal with a lock ....... or it will leak too.
 
My time in sackcloth and ashes is coming to an end, and I’d like to publicly thank Tom @BlindedByScience for saving me from almost certain disaster ruining several hundred cigars. I appreciate it very much, and I’m sorry I was such a dick about the topic.
Don't think for one second you were the first guy to drop in looking for answers and didn't like the reply. I am really glad that you got it sorted out without any mold or cigar loss. I hope you stick around and become an active member! Good advice from @CigarStone above. You should drop by one of the vherf nights and say hello.
 
Herf nights? I’ll have to look for that, online smokeathon, I’m guessing? I already connected with a member who lives 20 minutes away and we’re going to get together on my deck or at his cigar place. Great forum.
 
Herf nights, found it! I had not scrolled far enough down on the forums list yet. Only been a week, I’m still getting acclimated.
 
Herf nights, found it! I had not scrolled far enough down on the forums list yet. Only been a week, I’m still getting acclimated.
Link is on top of the forum *Enter vHerf Lounge*
Wednesday's starting @ 8pm EST
Saturday's starting @ 8pm EST

We talk about EVERYTHING.. and a little about cigars :)
 
A lot of us have gone away from desktop humidors and gone with a variety of alternatives, some of which you have read about here. Desktop humi's are notorious for leaking RH, and a Lock n Lock box (for example) works better for a fraction of the cost. I have three 165 qt. marine coolers, with silica beads, to keep my cigars in and I have a few Lock n Lock boxes for various things like dry boxing, a handful of cigars for the weekend, or just the cigars I know smoke better at a certain RH. I use Boveda packs in those with a sheet of cedar to prevent the cigars from sitting in direct contact with the packs.

I'll bet I went through $1500 worth of various desktops when I first became serious about cigars, they all leaked, they are all gone.

View attachment 93549
That is certainly true for most desktop humidors, I agree. I can report that after several years of experience with them, the two Elie Bleu 300ct desktop humidors that I bought used for a few hundred each really do seal well and stay extremely stable with the Boveda packs in them. They are silly expensive brand new, and apparently it is because of the build quality and tight tolerances. Great deals can be had on used Elie Bleu models like the ones I paid around 10 cents on the dollar for vs. new cost. Granted, no desktop humidor will ever be able to compete with a gasketed tab-locking Tupperware container for being airtight. With that being said, nothing looks better than a highly varnished inlayed exotic wood quality desktop humidor on display to offer your friends and guests cigars out of as opposed to pulling out plastic bins.
 
nothing looks better than a highly varnished inlayed exotic wood quality desktop humidor on display to offer your friends and guests cigars out of as opposed to pulling out plastic bins.
I don't care if a buddy pulls a cigar out of a humidified trash can. I suppose it depends on how much you care about impressing other people.
 
SWMBO is the only one I need to impress. She’ll tolerate this inexpensive new one with old world maps on the lid in the living room. Tupperdore? Definitely not. 😂

But for the future growth storage? I’m totally sold on tupperdores. They make so much sense for economics, function, ease of use. Hard to beat them for my basement storage. No, impossible to beat them, I think. But they’re a no-go in the living room.
 
I don't care if a buddy pulls a cigar out of a humidified trash can. I suppose it depends on how much you care about impressing other people.
So that apparently came out wrong. I said that for those who might care about presentation, but to each his own. I personally like these high-quality pieces for my own enjoyment, not at all for others. I couldn't care less about impressing anyone other than myself. I invest a lot of time and money into my cigars and for the small part of my collection that I keep at home, I personally enjoy using the Elie Bleu desktop humidors. They work perfectly well (Govee verified) and just happen to be gorgeous hand-crafted pieces of art. Nothing wrong with that for those of us who appreciate that sort of thing.
 
Just looked up Elie Bleu.

View attachment 93562

Exactly!!! LOL! They don't even make the 300-count models that I have in regular production anymore but I believe they retailed at $4,000-$5,000 or so from what I saw online. Somebody would have to have rocks in their head (or unlimited funds) to pay that much for a small wooden cigar box I would think, but wait, this is a company that Arturo Fuente uses when they do high end special releases. That $20k Opus X "Hemingway" humidor? Made by Elie Bleu. Those double door special Opus X humidors that are all well over $10k? Made by Elie Bleu. Obviously, this is one of if not the highest quality desktop humidors available in the world and they are priced accordingly. That is why many years ago I decided to keep an eye on the used market for a nice Elie Bleu on the cheap. Took a while to find, but ended up buying one for $300 and loved it so much that when another popped on the market I offered $400 time after time and eventually got it bought. I figure you can't go wrong buying top quality products around 10 cents on the dollar.
 
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