Expert: James Yee - 6/23/2008

Question
I keep my Cubans in a lagre Tupperware with a baby food jar filled w/ distilled water w/holes punched in lid and the jag spilled and soaked my cigars. Any way to salvage them? HELP

Answer
Hi Jack,

What you need to do is remove the wet cigars from the Tupperware container immediately and very delicately wipe the water off them with either paper towels or a chamois cloth.  You will have to be extremely gentle during this process.  After you've wiped the excess water off your cigars, they will still be wet so you will need to let them sit in a dry, uncovered tupperware container lined with a paper towel.  Let the cigars slowly and naturally dry on their own and replace the paper towel if it becomes wet.  You should let your cigars dry for at least 7 days.  Because your cigars are water-damaged, their appearance may be different when they're dry and the wrapper may be shrivelled, split or unravelling.  If the wrapper leaf is damaged, repair it with vegetable glue, pectin or "Cigar Dr".

After a week, your cigars will need to be rehumidified before you smoke them so let them sit in your humidor/tupperware container for at least 3-4 weeks before you smoke them.  Instead of a baby jar with distilled water, you should consider either upgrading to a credo humidification device or store your cigars in a humi-pouch.  Humi-pouches are Ziploc-style bags with humidified linings built into the plastic.  They're intended for short-term cigar storage and travel and will keep your cigars properly humidified for 3 months.  After three months, you will need to replace the bag.   

Both credo units and humi-pouches are fairly inexpensive and can be purchased at your local cigar store for usually less than $10.

Hope this answers your question. If you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask and I will be happy to help.

Regards,
James