Cigars Stored in Wine Cellar?

[ArtemusGordon]

Gents

Anyone here store their cigars at a temp around 55 degrees? bad for cigars long/short term?

Have an offsite wine cellar that I pay for and would love to throw overflow boxes and stuff i dont currently have room for at home in there to sleep!

[sengjc]

I did the same for a few years as you are intending to do. No issues.

[Louich]

I'd be more concern with RH. I am planning a build down stairs and my wine cellar gets up to 80% in the summer....

[Habana Mike]

I'd be more concern with RH. I am planning a build down stairs and my wine cellar gets up to 80% in the summer....

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Isn't that a little warm for wine? 70 or below (55 ideal) is what I've always heard....don't cook the stuff or you'll have just cooking wine!

[Louich]

80% rh;-)

Temp never get more than 18c when it gets really hot out side.

[Habana Mike]

80% rh;-)

Temp never get more than 18c when it gets really hot out side.

Ah, makes more sense now - I misread!

Maybe 100 pounds of kitty litter (or a dehumidifier unit) get you down below 70RH?

[Louich]

Probably. I am reading a lot these days. Unforthunately all dehumifiers I have seen (and the one I have at home) create a lot of heat while running.

[sengjc]

I think the OP is intending to use an offsite professional storage facility in which case the temp would be maintained between 14-16 deg C and humidity would be maintained between 55-65% RH at all times.

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[ArtemusGordon]

Correct! Offsite facility that keeps the individual wine cages at 55 degrees temp. I would use my own humidification for my boxes etc

[Habana Mike]

Apologies for going off topic.

I'll defer to the Pigfish regarding how to maintain the appropriate RG at that temperature.

Regarding how the cigars will behave at 55F degrees seems to be the key question.

Anything I could offer would only be 'forum wisdom' or conjecture. I expect beetles shouldn't be a concern though.

[sengjc]

...I would use my own humidification for my boxes etc

That is exactly what I did too. A number of sizeable air-tight food-safe containers, toss in a few Boveda Humipaks, set and forget.

Temperature should not be a problem. If anything the constant temperature, albeit a little lower, would be beneficial as it would help maintain constant relative humidity.

[Louich]

I also apologise for jacking the thread up.

I doubt there would be a problem but maybe a slower aging of the tobacco due to the lower temps?

Ambient RH should be sufficient if it is a professional facility (most likely thlo be above 60%-65% rh)

[PigFish]

Some educated guesses.

Seal properly conditioned cigars in air tight containers. Cigars, a hygroscopic material will look to pick up water under these conditions. I would not place any humidification device, bidirectional or otherwise in with them. Let them only have the water that they take with them from a known space. They should be well seasoned and aclimatized.

Even the boxes may become a problem. You have two competing hygroscopic materials here. And if the isotherms for the boxes and the paper demand that they give up water at this temperature you could develop mold. They may also attract water from your cigars… I don't have the answer. If water migrates due to isothermal differentials you could get moldy cigars, moldy paper, or moldy wood… Or, everything could be just peachy!

Whatever you do, don't leave them in the open… Unless the rH is extremely low in there, and I am guessing here, but probably below 50rH, you will likely develop a mold problem over time.

You are taking a risk.

It would be better to use a controller and an insulated container, even a porous one potentially (one that would diffuse water) and a small heater. Bring the temp up to a known level of your taste in the insulated 'humidor' space and keep them in empirically known conditions. It is just an idea, a means to reduce risk…

I would test the space for temp and rH and then design a humidor to bring my cigars up to known conditions using the 'macro' climate as a driver. This is the way one would (should) logically develop any humidor. It is tested and true. Why take risks with thousands of dollars in cigars you don't have to?

Lastly, a scenario: A bottle leaks in the wine cellar and you get that stink (sorry, I don't like wine) that permeates the place and your cigars. Wine (water) in a confined space looks to go somewhere because it, the space cannot hold it (rH) and you have just doused your cigars in wine!

Like I said, you are taking risks. Weight them and the potentials for loss in your decision to use this space.

Good luck on this one!

-Piggy

[PapaDisco]

I would try and slowly bring the boxes down to the target temperature and do it with Bovedas in the storage container (to counter the rising rH as the temp drops), and then once you're at 55F, either seal the boxes or store with the Bovedas.  The big challenge is not dropping the temp so fast that you overwhelm the Boveda's ability to control rH.  Going from 70F/70rH to 55F quickly will get you to 100rH or nearly so.  

I don't know what is good/bad/indifferent about storing cigars at wine cellar temps of 55F.  I've a friend with a large cellar and she's asking me to set her up with a modest selection of cigars for guests.  I've been thinking about the low temp issue and relatively higher rH of the wine cellar and how to deal with that.  There's plenty of examples of very old collection doing time in someone's wine cellar and they're just fine, but that's just anecdotal evidence.  It would be nice to hear from someone that routinely does this and how they care for the cigars under these conditions over the long term.