subject: A Cigar Humidor Can Resurrect Your Dried Out Stogies [print this page] The reason that so many cigar aficionados see fit to invest in a humidors is because without a controlled environment, cigars can dry out and become stale, losing their wonderful flavors and killing the quality of the tobacco. However, despite our best intentions, sometimes cigars get dried out and need to be rehabilitated. Not every dried out cigar can be saved, and some are too far gone, but if you have a little patience and a lot of time, you can make it happen.
Your first step should be to put the dried out cigar or cigars into a sealed box or a non-humified humidor. Leave the cigars there for several days to allow them to adjust to the new environment and breath a bit. Once they have adjusted, you should put a partially filled humidifier in the box, or a damp clean sponge. It is very very important to not allow the sponge to touch the dry cigars.
Leave the cigars like that for a week, and then repeat the process. It may take several weeks before your cigars start to look and feel the way they used to. It is very important that you take a slow approach to this process. You should not just jump right in and put your cigars in a high humidity environment, like, say, the 70 percent humidity that is normally recommended for storage. If you expose your dried out cigars to that much humidity too quickly, the tobacco will expand and burst out of its wrapper. You don't want that!
Once you have completed this process, it is safe to put the cigars back in with your other cigars. If your humidor is particularly large, keep the rehabilitated cigars far from the humidifier. Leave these cigars be for another one to two months, now sitting in the ideal 70-70 atmosphere, at 70 percent humidity and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
This method may not work for every cigar. Unfortunately, there are some cases where your cigars will simply be too dried out to save. That is why it is so important that you look at purchasing one of the quality humidors available. You will be able to always keep your cigars at an optimum 70 degrees Fahrenheit, 70 percent humidity. Accidents do happen, though, and that is why it is a good idea to keep this process tucked away in the back of your mind for emergencies.
