How to rehydrate cigars

Joined Nov 2014
2 Posts | 0+
Europa
Sorry if this is a repost, but i found some cigars that have been misplaced and they lost their humidity. Any advice on rehydrating them but without a humidor? I dont own one at all, but would llike to use those cigs...

Maybe you can share some trick or give some advice?
Many thx!
 
First rule: patience is a virtue.

Second rule: don't count on the cigars to recover completely.

You can use any air- and moisture-tight container. Since you probably have only a few dried-out cigars, a ziplock freezer bag should be large enough. (I use them to store "overflow" when I temporarily have more cigars than my humidors will contain comfortably.

The only other thing you need is a humidification source, and in your case I recommend Boveda packs. Start with a 65-percent RH pack placed in the ziplock along with the cigars; it won't hurt the sticks if they directly contact the Boveda pack, as it might if you used some other humidity source. A good rule of thumb is to allow the relative humidity to rise about one percentage point per week, but if your cigars are really dry (likely in winter, most places) they may take up moisture much faster than that; just be sure to give them plenty of time to moisturize evenly all the way through, which will almost certainly take at least a month if they're really dry.

If you see any sign of wrapper damage such as cracking, remove the Boveda for a few days while the cigars themselves remain sealed in the container. If the RH is considerably lower than 65 percent after five days or so, return the Boveda and allow the cigars to continue rehumidifying.

When the RH is fairly stable at 62 to 65 percent, you may exchange the Boveda pack for a higher-RH version if you prefer your cigars a bit more moist.

Bear in mind that you want to rehumidify these cigars slowly. Rushing things runs a severe risk of damage to the wrapper.

Will the cigars smoke the same after rehumidifying as they did before they dried out? No, and in fact they may have lost so much of their essential oils (and flavor) that they aren't worth bothering with. Then again, they may simply be a bit milder than they were originally; if they were very strong to begin, you may actually like them better.

Best of luck to you, and please let us know how things turn out.
 
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