First Post - Real newbie questions on humidor and storing...

Joined Aug 2005
3 Posts | 0+
Portland OR
Hi everyone,
As the subject line says this is my first post and I have some basic questions. Is there a cigar FAQ on this site? The only one I could find was a general one for the site.

I recieved a Humidores San Francisco as a birthday gift yesterday, and this is my first humidor. Yesterday I found a web site that I can't locate now. Anyway, the guy was saying something about seasoning new humidors by placing a small tub of water in it - I was having constant interruptions and wasn't able to read it closely. Do you really need to season a humidor? My meter was reading 73%, but I am now doing the salt test on it to verify.

I received two different boxes of cigars with the humidor. One is a box of 25 Brevas. The box is wrapped with plastic, and it looks like the cigars are wrapped as well. Should I place the cigars in the humidor wrapped or unwrapped? Are these good cigars? Yes I know I could just light one and see for myself but I thought it would be nice to hear what ya'all think.

The other cigars are Marevas and they came unwrapped so they will be stored without wrappers. Are they considered any good?

Finally the really dumb question: the humidor has a wooden rack that sits inside of it. I'm assuming that the rack sits in the bottom of the box to allow air flow? Or maybe it is to hold cutting tools and such?

As you can see I am pretty clueless to the cigar world. I've only smoked a few cigars, probably no more than 20 different types, so I have much to learn. I can say that the best cigar that I've had was a cuban given to me by someone that visited relatives in Cuba. I seem to recall that it was a smaller sized H. Uppman - I think I still have the tube it came in.

All advice appreciated!
 
Welcome to the board!

By seasoning your humidor you will make sure that the proper humidity is maintained before you put your cigars into the humidor.

We've had lots of debate of whether you should keep the cellophane on the cigars or off. It's more personal preference if anything.

Brevas and Marevas are size of cigars, is there any sort of brand name to go by? If not we really can't tell what exactly they are.

Short but hopefully somewhat helpful.
 
Hi Tombstone,
The Brevas say Cigarros Extrafinos.

The Marevas came in a blue box, of 5 cigars, with a large C on the box. The ring, not sure of the proper term, on each cigar is simply a gold C with a blue circle around it.

Other than that I'm not seeing anything identifying them. Both boxes say hand made in Columbia, I think - "Cigarros Extrafinos Bien hechos en Columbia". Am now thinking that they might be some generic Columbian brand....

The gift came from my sister in-law who may frequently be making trips to South America due to her new job. I'm going to have to keep reading to find out what to ask her to get. :)

Thanks for the response.
 
Not very many cigars come out of columbia. Typically most cigars rolled and tobacco grown in south america comes from the bahia region of Brazil. You can expect those cigars to have a pretty strong edge to them.
 
Macallan said:
Not very many cigars come out of columbia. Typically most cigars rolled and tobacco grown in south america comes from the bahia region of Brazil. You can expect those cigars to have a pretty strong edge to them.

Keeping in mind I know nothing, would aging cause these cigars to mellow?

Anybody have a link to the proper way of seasoning my humidor? I tried for a half an hour to find that site that said how to do it, but have had zero success. There are probably thousands of sites, but i'm still looking.

My B-day is tomorrow and I bought a 5th of Don Julio tequila, the wife and daughter are leaving town for 10 days tomorrow morning, any guesses as to what I'm doing tomorrow afternoon. :twisted: Even if the cigars are harsh I'm going to mellow them with some sipping tequila. If the wife is going to leave me at home on my birthday what else can I be expected to do? 8)
 
I think I know what cigars you are speaking of when you say Brevas. Do they come in 5 little boxes, 5 to a box and then all wrapped together in plastic? If so, they are not good cigars nor are they awful. I think they sell at like $15 for 25. I have tried one and at first they are pretty nasty tasting but as you move through them they get a bit better although they are never something I would WANT to smoke.

The suggestion I give to all people new to the board and/or cigars is to try anything from Cusano, especially the Cusano 18 Robusto, the Cusano C10 (which now comes in robusto as well as corona size), and the Cusano Corojo. The 18 and the corojo are very good cigars especially since they are cheap. The C10s are also very good but a bit more expensive.

Another brand to try would be Flor de Oliva. They are bundles from Oliva and they are cheap but good quality sticks.
 
Couple comments!

First the Hygrometer - is it digital?
I see you are salt testing - but if it is analog they never work right!

Second the cello wrapped cigars - I would vote leave them in - it will protect the wrapper. If you want to take them out somewhere it can save the wrapper from cracking until you find a need for a travel box.

I humidor should be seasoned!
But if your cigars are already very moist it should be OK,
a lot depends on where you live?
If it is a really dry climate the need is greater!

& Welcome!
 
Here are some tips I got from a mailing list I got on somehow...

When most people get their new humidor home, they are anxious to fill it up with their collection of smokes. If you do this without
first re-humidifying the wood, you may ruin your cigars. Why? The wood has not had a chance to reach its equilibrium. So when you put your cigars in, the wood will absorb their moisture and you will be left with dry useless cigars. Not exactly the reason you bought a humidor, huh? To solve this problem, all humidors should be re-humidified before their first use.

Re-humidifying your humidor is easy, just follow these simple
steps:

1) Place a shallow container filled with distilled water in the
humidor
2) Place calibrated hygrometer inside humidor
Instructions can be found at
http://www.cheaphumidors.com/Merchant2/ ... _calibrate
3) Charge your humidification device
Instructions can be found at
http://www.cheaphumidors.com/Merchant2/ ... wto_charge
4) Place humidification device inside humidor

You have to check the relative humidity every day. Depending on a
number of factors this can take a few days to a few weeks. When you get in the 70 range it is safe to store you smokes inside. As long as you constantly recharge your humidification device you will
never have to wait to store your cigars again