Expert: Bill Finck Jr. - 3/1/2008

Question
hey bill, I've had a box of acid cigars since Christmas of 2007 (today is march 1st 08), still in there cellophane wrappers, in the box they came in.  i recently received a glass dome humidor with a digital hygrometer.  the temperature after calibrating seems to be accurate, but looking at it the temp is at 65 and the Rh at 70.  i was just wondering if these numbers are accurate, also the cigars seem to be dry because they tend to burn uneven, and they look sort of cracked.  i was wondering how long they need to sit in the humidor before they regain there "freshness".thanks allot jarred, by the way your advice seems to be very helpful

Answer
Jared,
65 degrees Fahrenheit seems a little cold for a regular home temperature, but if that is accurate you would want around 75% relative humidity to keep your cigars fresh. You can check the calibration of your hygrometer by wrapping it in a wet towel for about an hour - it should read close to 99% RH. Once you are confident that the humidity level in your box is good, you should see your cigars slowly gaining humidity. It really depends on how dry they are as to how long it will take them to soften up again, but since it sound like yours are just a little on the dry side they should get better with 2-4 weeks.
Hope this helps.
Bill