Saturday, April 3, 2010

Cigars and Humidors - How to Ruin a Cigar in One Easy Step

Every cigar smoker knows you have to treat your cigars well. And I have talked before about cigar accessories that you must have. That being said, I want to tell you a story about a cigar that was abused and had to be destroyed. This is a sad story of a good cigar treated badly.

I have a neighbor who is much younger than I am. We have talked every now and then about cigars, and beer. I ran into him the other night and he was all proud when he got out of his truck, wanting to show me the cigar that a friend of his had brought him back from Jamaica. My friend kept telling me that it had to be good because it was from the Dominican Republic.

Now the Dominican Republic produces many, many fine cigars. But any cigar is going to be nasty if it has been stored in the cab of a pickup truck. Because that is where my neighbor had been storing his. In his truck. Consequently the cigar was dried out and looking bad. The wrapper had started to separate from the binder, and it was just looking sad. I asked how long he had had the cigar in his truck, to which he replied a couple of weeks. I cringed. I wouldn't treat a dog rocket as badly as he had treated that cigar. But I was gentle with my friend as he needed instruction, not abuse.

Cigars need to be kept at 70% humidity. The most efficient way to do this is to store you cigars in a good humidor. To not do this to your cigars is a sure path to having to throw them away. Because a dry cigar is just going to smoke like a pile of leaves, and break up in the process.

Let this be a lesson to everyone.

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