What difference does 70% + Humidity make?

[El Presidente]

My humidor at my mothers house at the beach on the Gold Coast received some love and attention from my mother who decided to soak the humidifiers for me :-(

Arrived yesterday to find the humidor at 75% Relative humidity when I lifted the lid to select a LGC MO1.

The cigar drew well but had no flavour at all. All H20 and the cigar kept going out.

It should be mandated a crime to store Habanos at higher than 68% RH. My preference is 65%.

[Cal-Duck]

» It should be mandated a crime to store Habanos at higher than 68% RH.[/b]

» My preference is 65%.

I'm currently running my box here in Cali at 62% and I have run across FAR less tight or "plugged" cigars. I know that 65% seems to be the norm for Cuban cigars but for me right now I'm staying at 62% untill I can see any reason to up it another 3%. Things just seem to be smoking better.

My only concern is long term aging? Any thoughts as to the long term aging ramifications of keeping a lower RH?

CD

[josie67]

» » It should be mandated a crime to store Habanos at higher than 68%

» RH.[/b]

» » My preference is 65%.

»

»

» I'm currently running my box here in Cali at 62% and I have run across FAR

» less tight or "plugged" cigars. I know that 65% seems to be the norm for

» Cuban cigars but for me right now I'm staying at 62% untill I can see any

» reason to up it another 3%. Things just seem to be smoking better.

»

» My only concern is long term aging? Any thoughts as to the long term

» aging ramifications of keeping a lower RH?

»

» CD

I TOTALLY agree here. I keep my humis at 62-64% myself and have FAR fewer problems with plugged cigars. no difference in taste over when they were kept at 70%.

[ALB]

Now, now Rob, just remember to be nice to your mum

[habanohal]

But whqat about the cases which I have say 60 boxes in my cabinet. I keep at %69 because most are in boxes, but also it is 66 degrees. Now if you follow the theory of 70/70 .....at 66 degrees I should keep at around %78-%80 . WHich at a low temp would be 65-66/79 if I wanted 70/70. If you all understand what I am saying.

[cf2112]

My cabinet is set at 65/65 and all's well. I have a friend who keeps his 62/65 and another that doesn't have temp control but stores at 60%. I've noticed no difference in taste, but at 70% the damn thing don't draw.

[habanohal]

TRue. I do keep mine right about 66/67 give ot take 1

[CIGARHead]

» My humidor at my mothers house at the beach on the Gold Coast received some

» love and attention from my mother who decided to soak the humidifiers for

» me :-(

» Arrived yesterday to find the humidor at 75% Relative humidity when I

» lifted the lid to select a LGC MO1.

»

» The cigar drew well but had no flavour at all. All H20 and the cigar kept

» going out.

»

» It should be mandated a crime to store Habanos at higher than 68% RH.

» My preference is 65%.

I keep mine at 63-64% RH. I find any much higher than that and my cigars dont smoke as well. Its important to note that I have a cabinet humi that is just about to burst at the hinges. I do think the more cigars you have in the humidor, the less humidity you might need as they retain the moisture and there is less space to fill with moist air....Moist, such a dirty word.

[guilow]

» My only concern is long term aging? Any thoughts as to the long term

» aging ramifications of keeping a lower RH?

»

» CD

I have the same concern about aging. I've been keeping my cigars at 62-63% lately since I like how they smoke at this RH.

[kab55]

I keep all mine at 65% and like the way they smoke. Any highr and the draw really tighens up.

[harwellplant]

65/65 for me. of the two desktops that i have to supplement my end table, i have one small, desktop humidor that is a bastich to keep anywhere near regulated. the higher the humidity goes, the more like you are smoking spongy wood.

[Mel]

65-62%rh for me. If I want to suck water I'll stick a straw in a cup. I hate a tight draw and brought all my sticks down a tad. I will go so far as to let a few cigars dry at room humidity(about 50%) for the day before smoking. Those LGC Med. de Oro #1 go out easily even with the right humi.

[mgillett]

Struggling to keep my desktop humi at 60%-63%RH. Have not had any problems but they just seem really dry when compared to cigars that I buy as singles from the local shop. They are fairly spongey when compared to mine. This raised my fears that my precious collection are drying out but seems like most guys are running the same RH.

[Cal-Duck]

» Struggling to keep my desktop humi at 60%-63%RH. Have not had any problems

» but they just seem really dry when compared to cigars that I buy as singles

» from the local shop. They are fairly spongey when compared to mine. This

» raised my fears that my precious collection are drying out but seems like

» most guys are running the same RH.

How acurate is your humistat? If it's not dead on acurate it doesn't really matter what it says. Know what I mean? I have seen some of those dial ones be off as much as 5%.

CD

[mgillett]

Yeah, the hygrometer that came with the humi is definitely a POS. I bought a digital one and have thrown that in to give what I would hope a more accurate RH measure. I probably should test it. I read somewhere that if you put the hygrometer into a zip lock bag along with a bottle top full of wet salt the reading in 12 hours or so should be always 65%RH (or something like that).

[Loki]

I keep my cabinet (also busting at seams) at 65%rh 66f . I have moved my digital hygrometer from middle shelf to lower and then to the upper and have noticed a 1% humidity difference between shelves. The temp. fluctuates a bit the warmest to date was 70f. I use an Oregon Scientific digital hygometer/thermometer. My cab's humidistat control was off 7%.

[Loki]

Sorry Rob, I didn't answer the question just babbled about settings.

I think the lower humidity coupled with lower temperature is the way to go for long term aging and all around good smoking experiences.

[mgillett]

Thanks Loki, might settle for the 65% mark at around 70f. See how that goes.

[jwrussell]

» Thanks Loki, might settle for the 65% mark at around 70f. See how that

» goes.

I stick with 65% and 65 degrees...as close as I can get.

[Phailure]

My preference for humidity is between 62-65%. As for temperature, I try to keep mine around or alittle under 70F but its difficult without a temp controlled humi. Someday... someday....

[Van55]

» » It should be mandated a crime to store Habanos at higher than 68%

» RH.[/b]

» » My preference is 65%.

»

»

» I'm currently running my box here in Cali at 62% and I have run across FAR

» less tight or "plugged" cigars. I know that 65% seems to be the norm for

» Cuban cigars but for me right now I'm staying at 62% untill I can see any

» reason to up it another 3%. Things just seem to be smoking better.

»

» My only concern is long term aging? Any thoughts as to the long term

» aging ramifications of keeping a lower RH?

»

» CD

I know a Hong Kong collector who ages cigars for decades. He keeps them quite cold and quite dry. I don't how one would measure the impact of his methods on aging other than to say that he seems to believe they age very, very well under his conditions.

[habanohal]

» » » It should be mandated a crime to store Habanos at higher than 68%

» » RH.[/b]

» » » My preference is 65%.

» »

» »

» » I'm currently running my box here in Cali at 62% and I have run across

» FAR

» » less tight or "plugged" cigars. I know that 65% seems to be the norm

» for

» » Cuban cigars but for me right now I'm staying at 62% untill I can see

» any

» » reason to up it another 3%. Things just seem to be smoking better.

» »

» » My only concern is long term aging? Any thoughts as to the long

But from what I have read in many places is that temps below 65 degrees are harmful. FOr air that cold can not hold humidity

» » aging ramifications of keeping a lower RH?

» »

» » CD

»

» I know a Hong Kong collector who ages cigars for decades. He keeps them

» quite cold and quite dry. I don't how one would measure the impact of his

» methods on aging other than to say that he seems to believe they age very,

» very well under his conditions.

[dpuck]

» My preference for humidity is between 62-65%. As for temperature, I try to

» keep mine around or alittle under 70F but its difficult without a temp

» controlled humi. Someday... someday....

Living in Florida, it gets quite warm and humid during the summer months. RH isn't a big deal seeing that the house AC will suck the moisture out of the house. But, it would get costly keeping the AC turned down all the time. So temperature was always a big concern for me.

I say was, because I bought a wine cooler last year and now us it for storage. Temperature concerns are nada. 65 degrees F all the time. A little humidity control to keep between 62% & 65% and a fan to circulate and there you have it.

And I can tell the diiference in the way they smoke. Of course you pull one out to smoke on the patio and they seem to soak up humidity like a sponge.

[raney]

» But whqat about the cases which I have say 60 boxes in my cabinet. I keep

» at %69 because most are in boxes, but also it is 66 degrees. Now if you

» follow the theory of 70/70 .....at 66 degrees I should keep at around

» %78-%80 . WHich at a low temp would be 65-66/79 if I wanted 70/70. If

» you all understand what I am saying.

Not sure I follow this:

RH should stay the same regardless of temp. i.e 65% at 70F, 65% at 66F.

I keep my 'larger' storage at 65, and my desktop at 62... better draw. 70% tastes dead to me, terrible waste IMO...

[Guest gorob23]

I try and keep mine around 65% (give or take some) and while I don't have tons of stuff, I did have a RASS that had aged and imporved wonderfully in the year I had it, just my .02 worth boys:-|