Storing cigars in the summer without AC

[SaorEire]

I am a Seminary student and I live in a room without AC and I am not able to have one installed. So my question is: Am I doing any serious damage to my cigars by keeping them in a room that can get to 80F+ in August and September (I live not far from Chicago)? Any advice or feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Ethernut]

I wouldn't say you're necessarily doing damage. Tobacco around the world endures wide thermal variances throughout its lifecycle. The biggest risk would be that Tobacco Beetles may hatch and begin burrowing through them as they begin to do so above 75-80 degrees (generally). If you've been doing this for a while, I'd say your risk is fairly low. 

[MahDooRow]

I agree with Ethernut.  Your risk of "damaging" cigars is pretty low as long as you maintain acceptable humidity levels.  

[chris12381]

Yep.  Beetles.  I know they say they freeze the cigars coming out of Cuba and that's supposed to prevent them from hatching.  I trusted them.  I stored my cigars in large armoire humidor in a room that, even while my home is cooled with central air conditioning, got up to 75-78 due to southerly facing wall and large windows.  I did this for 5 years without a problem.  

Until one evening, I opened a box of 2013 Romeo y Julieta Cedros de Luxe No. 2.  I saw little things crawling all over the cigars.  FREAKED OUT.  I ended tossing the entire box in the garbage and freezing every box I had, selling my humidor after I wiped it down with 97% alcohol and replacing it with one that had temperature control.  Now my cigars relax at 58-62 degrees, regardless of what is happening in my environment. 

I would say if you're storing cigars above 75 degrees or higher, you are going to have a beetle problem...someday.  But that's just my opinion based on a personal experience.

[jcorona]

Consider getting a wine cooler, either a pre made wineador or just a simple wine cooler to use for temp control. You can unplug it in the winter months if you need to.

[TheGipper]

Most affordable option will be to get an ice chest type cooler (coolidor).  Keep in a closet in the lowest part of your dwelling.  Hopefully a closet that doesn't get any direct sunlight shining on it at any point of the day.  It will help keep the temperature down somewhat (and keep the temperature stable).

[CaptainQuintero]

Just freeze your stock, then it becomes a non issue. All you then have to worry about is what humidity you prefer your cigars to be smoked at.

[Optic101]

Good answers above.

I do store my daily smokes at around the same temperature since years and have no negative experience.

As my ambient temp and RH is high the cigars perform better to my taste if they are stored at room temperature.

If I may expect that you do not plan to store dozens of boxes with you, it should be fine.

Leaving the Beetle risk aside, the tobacco is doing just fine, especially over a short time.

Btw. my main storage is in a fridge packed away.

Enjoy your smokes !

[Smallclub]

13 hours ago, chris12381 said:

I saw little things crawling all over the cigars.  FREAKED OUT. 

Beetle larvae digging holes, eating tobacco, DON'T crawl "over" the cigars. I think you've tossed cigars because of harmeless glue mites…

[chris12381]

Nope. There were holes all over the cigars.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[PigFish]

Having proffered my opinion on another thread, I would like to stray off topic here a moment.

Being a believer yet not a church goer it would be damn nice to have a congregational leader at a church that appreciated a good cigar! Best of luck to you on your education.

Cheers! -Piggy

[TheMonk]

Even if you've previously frozen all your stock (which I personally do), I still would definitely try to avoid such high temperatures for any prolonged period of time, like one or two months, specially if some of those smokes are being aged long term, which will mean they will have to endure said high temperatures on a somewhat regular basis. As with cigar ageing itself, there are unfortunately still very few certainties regarding this matter (apart from the beetles situation), but more then a few people believe that prolonged exposure to such high temperatures can have significant impact on the flavours of the cigar.

If you are unable to find some place with a constant lower temperature, or acquire a wineador, then I'd probably strive to keep a relatively small stock and buy boxes more regularly, thus ensuring your cigars have been stored at ideal conditions for as long as possible.

[SaorEire]

Thanks for the feedback. I've read mixed things about freezing cigars and its effectiveness at eliminating the threat of beetles, but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry so I'll give it a shot. I do have a relatively small stock, less than 300.

[BuzzArd]

I deal with this annually living in the desert SW. Can't afford to keep a 3000+ sf  house below 75° when it's 117° outside....  Often gets to 83-85° in my cabinet humidor, and I worry for four months straight every year.  High temps spike the humidity as well.... Honestly have never had an issue even w/o freezing my stock upon purchase.  Had only one issue of a sole beatle hole in one limited edition Lito Gomez stick about 4 years ago.  I'd bought two of the same; the other was clean.   I pulled it from the group (of about  300 loose sticks in the upper tray), inspected each stick and the 10-12 boxes in the below section and saw nothing...   Fortunately still havent seen another, but the worry got to me this summer and I ordered a large temp controlled humidor.  Best advise I'd offer is to check all your stock regularly if you can't find lower temps somewhere in the house or swing a cooled unit. I started pulling everything out of mine once a month in the summer just to check.  All I could do at the time....

[Moogypug]

I've had issues with mold. Please make sure your humidity is under control with the heat

[Notsocleaver]

Good advice, I think storing in coolers and checking regularly for beetles and mold is probably the best course of action. Freezing isn't a bad idea, but if you're in a dodgy apartment with no ac, your freezer might not get cold enough to freeze your cigars properly either, so I'm not sure I would trust that solution.

As an aside, I took up cigars while studying abroad for my MDiv. Wasn't an uncommon pastime with the students or faculty, and sure helped get through some of the dense reading.