Expert: James Yee - 2/25/2011

Question
QUESTION: Hi firstly I'd just like to say what an excellent site you have and how very kind it was of you to answer so many questions from people using your knowledge and experience which does sound quite impressive in this field. I also see you seem to have a lot of patience with answering some of the same types of questions many times over. I have a few questions of my own and I have contacted some shops in the Uk where I live for advice but some of it has been conflicting which can happen. You just seemed a really good person to ask if it's ok. I also looked at some of the answers you've given to other enquiries and tried to gain some knowledge on my question there as well which has been very helpful for both me and many many others no doubt. However there were that many I didn't get through them all and even in regards to some of the questions I was hoping to ask. I appreciate some of the things I'm going to ask have been asked and answered by yourself many times before but anything really would be greatfully appreciated. I'm also sorry about the long intro but I felt the need to express my appreciation on all your work and effort.

Anyway I have about 25 cigars and only about 3 are better ones as I suspect your knowledge is mostly regarding higher end cigars and some Cuban ones I think from what I've read from some of your replies. I found it interesting that they were banned in the USA. I wonder why that is? I read a bit on it but got nothing solid. Due to any past relations? I know some people sometimes fill perhaps more cheaper cigars with other things and sometimes illegal into a blunt etc but I'm not into that and the only illegal thing I've heard about involving cigars or other things in the Oval Office when Bill Clinton was in office but I'm not really into any of that specific stuff either. Seen some associated footage but that's about it.

These cigars although in their unopened tubes and wrappers and kept in a wooden box have been kept like this for about 4 years. From what I've read they would have dried out a few weeks after I bought them. Then though I had less knowledge than I even have now. I should have known as I visited a booze and cigar place when on holiday in Portugal at the time and the cigars were kept in a room that felt as if it was being air conditioned. I realise that may not be technically correct but that was how it felt. Anyway I read from you that drying out basically ruins the cigar in terms of its taste when smoking it which is the main thing followed by the cigar feeling drier and possibly cracking on the outside when inspected towards the centre which I hear is how you need to inspect a suspected dried cigar. Also I read from you a lot of the oils may have dried up from the cigars which will probably effect the taste.

I'm not a big cigar smoker and I hear even if I was, a humidor (or a more homemade one which I read from you which seems quite cool) may destroy any cigars even more if the cigars are exposed to too much humidity etc when placed into a humidor with the amount of time mine may have had to dry out. I was thinking of maybe getting one of the larger 25 cigar humidified / humi? pouches that are meant to operate for 90 days I think. Do you think one of these pouches will bring my cigars back to life? A long shot I realise and I know even if the cigars end up looking better in terms of the dry look and feel and even smelling better which I hear is another indicator they may still be a bad / a lot worse smoke than if they'd been smoked when bought fresh. I know this is a tough one without inspecting the cigars and that this mail has been a bit long which I'm sorry about. Any advice and help would be greatly appreciated. If the pouch was something I could try I heard that you need to take the cigars out of their tubes, wrappers etc and put them in the pouch and rotate their positions every now and then? Not sure how often or how long they should stay in the pouch for if this is a solution and if this could get any of the taste quality back. Again I realise that I'll have to inspect them and for other possible issues like mold etc that I read about here and make some judgement from there which I realise you can't do with mine. I guess a cigar shop could maybe help but there aren't really any specialist ones here that could maybe help me. Also with the pouch if this could work do the cigars need to be taken out of their tubes, wrappers right away?

Again I'm sorry about this mail that is way too long regarding the questions but again any advice and help with this would be greatfully appreciated. Also I'm sorry about the main question limit, I hope I was maybe around the 3 question mark.

ANSWER: Hi Dave,

To answer your questions:  Yes, Cuban cigars are indeed illegal in the United States.  This is due to the Cuban Trade Embargo that was initiated by then-US President JFK in 1962.  Originally, the United States and Cuba were actually good friends and in the early-1900’s, the US was purchasing a lot of sugar from Cuba.  Cuba was also thriving with foreign business during this time.  Their partnership began in the late 1800’s and lasted until 1959.  In 1959, Fidel Castro took over the vacant leadership of Cuba (when then-Cuban President Fulgencio Batista fled the country) and began buying oil from the Soviet Union.  This concerned the United States (who were on bad terms with the USSR) so in protest, they began buying less sugar from Cuba.  Strengthening their new relationship, the USSR came to Cuba’s rescue and said that they would begin purchasing sugar from Cuba to compensate their loss with the United States.  In reaction to this, then-US President JFK signed the Cuban Trade Embargo in 1962 which fully prohibits Americans from visiting Cuba and purchasing Cuban products.  This law also prohibits Americans from possessing and bringing in Cuban products into the United States.

The US-Cuban Trade Embargo is still in effect today which makes Cuban cigars illegal to own in the United States.

In regards to your dry cigars, ALL dry cigars have the potential to be restored but as you may know, if the cigars have been dried out for a long period of time, the cigars may taste milder when restored.  This is due to the loss of the cigar’s natural oils.  This however, is not always a bad thing and extremely old/vintage cigars and even extremely dry cigars have been known to taste great when restored.  Extremely dry cigars may also be very brittle so it’s important that, until they are fully restored, you must handle them as delicately as possible.  It’s also best that you leave all the cigars in their original wrappers and cigar tubes until they have re-hydrated for at least a month.

To restore your cigars, you will need to keep them in a humidor or humi-pouch for at least 3-4 months at 65-70% humidity and 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21.1 Celcius).  When rehydrating cigars, it’s important that you do not exceed 70% humidity because the excess moisture can cause the cigars to split.  Keeping the temperature of the room/humidor near 70 degrees Fahrenheit is also important.  When the temperature exceeds lingers around 75-80 degrees Fahrenhiet, it will cause tobacco beetle eggs (potentially hidden inside the cigars) to incubate and eventually hatch.  Once hatched, the beetles will chew their way out of the cigar(s) and leave pencil-sized holes.  Cigars with holes are ruined and should be discarded.

Eventually, you will need to inspect the cigars for cigar mold or bug holes but you shouldn’t do this until the cigars have been hydrated for at least 3-4 weeks and can be safely handled by hand.  Your cigars are dry and will need some time to re-absorb humidity so that they are more pliable and less-brittle.  Once you can handle the cigars safely, remove them from the cigar tubes and wrappers and inspect them.  Cigar mold will look exactly like mold that you would find on spoiled food; it’s thick and fuzzy in appearance and grows in random patches. It’s often white, grey or green in colour.  With a magnifying glass, mold will look like tiny mushrooms… they will have long tubular bodies and mushroom cap-like heads.  (NOTE: It’s important that you do not confuse mold for bloom/plume.  To the naked eye, cigar bloom/plume is an even dust-like coating on a cigar and is an indication that the cigar(s) are aging well.  This substance is the natural oils of the cigar crystallizing from age.  People often mistake bloom for mold.)

A humi-pouch is excellent for restoring cigars.  Rotating cigars is usually only necessary in a large humidor when you have a lot of cigars stacked on top of each other so you really don’t need to rotate them in a humi-pouch.  Periodically inspecting them for mold is still required.

I hope this helps!  If you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask and I will be happy to help.

Regards,
James

P.S. – As for the 3 question limit, I usually ask people to limit their questions to 3 because some answers may be very long and allexperts.com has a limit on how much I can type per response.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi again, thanks a lot for your excellent answer with your time and effort. It's greatly appreciated.

However I have little knowledge on this and a lot of other things come to think of it. You'll have to forgive my ignorance but I was just hoping to confirm a few things if that's ok.

Ok I could perhaps go with a humi-pouch. It could be the best first option. I can get a 25 cigar humi-pouch that are good for 90 days I think. From what I've seen 90 days seems quite standard for them. I think from your response I should leave all the cigars in their original wrappers and cigar tubes until they have re-hydrated for at least a month in the humi-pouch? After that should I take them out of their tubes, wrappers etc and place them back in the humi-pouch for the rest of the 90 days? With this set up where would be a good place to keep the humi-pouch? I read some of the temperature figures from your reply as keeping the cigars in the humi-pouch at 65-70% humidity and 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21.1 Celcius)? I'm in the Uk at the moment and it's winter coming up to spring. I've just checkde our house heating panel and it's about 21 degrees Celcius from the digital readout panel I think. I'm not sure about the humidity and even if I was I'm not sure if I could do anything about that apart from setting a humidor up etc.

Again anything would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Dave,

Yes, humi-pouches generally last 90 days.  All humi-pouches will have a humidified lining built into the bag's plastic so you don't need to worry about your home having 65-70% humidity.  The humidified lining inside the bag is enough to maintain your cigars for 3 months.  You can keep the humi-pouch anywhere in your home as long as is not too hot and not too dry.  Humidors and humi-pouches can be easily affected by the heat in your home so just be sure that you don't keep the humi-pouch near hot desk lamps, radiators, direct sunlight or appliances that emit a lot of heat (such as a computer or TV).  70 degrees Fahrenheit is considered ideal but the safe temperature range for your cigars is between 67-74 degrees Fahrenheit.  As long as the temperature in your home does not exceed 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23.8 Celcius), your cigars will be fine.  

As for the cigar tubes and plastic wrappers, they're not 100% air-tight so you actually don't need to remove them.  I was saying in the original reply that if you do need to remove them (to inspect for mold or bug holes), the cigars will need to have spent at least 1 month in the humi-pouch first.  This is because the cigars are extremely dry and brittle now and require some time to re-hydrate.  If not, they can crack and split if you try to handle them.  (In most cases, mold and beetle holes are quite visible through the clear plastic wrappers so it's not necessary to remove them.)

If you decide to leave the cigars in their tubes/plastic wrappers but feel that their re-hydration process is being too slow, simply untuck the loose end of the plastic wrapper or loosen the cap on the cigar tube.  Doing this will improve aeration.

I hope this helps.  As always, if you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask and I will be happy to help.

Regards,
James