Beetle holes? Please tell me no.

[wmcstudios]

I cracked my Dominican humidor today and found this suspect hole on a recently acquired AVO Ritmo. Thankfully I have a separate humidor for my cubans but this has got me panicking a bit. Any opinions on if this is something to be worried about?

I isolated it right away, no signs of holes on anything else in the box. Should I watch for a couple days before ::shudder:: freezing my collection?

[El Presidente]

Unfortunately yes. 

All into a ziplock and into the freezer for a week. 

[El Presidente]

Before you do that, take the band off and take a closeup photo for us. 

[wmcstudios]

Some more photos, best I could with my phone.

[mt1]

Just smoke it now.

[wmcstudios]

I would but it’s 3am in the states and I have a 9:00 meeting ?‍♂️

I’m going to drop them in the freezer as a preventative measure, lots of Fuentes and anniversary edition sticks in that box.

[shrink]

It's an inconvenience, but freezing isn't a big deal. I've done it a few times over the years. It won't affect the flavor or quality of the cigar. 

[El Presidente]

Definite beetle. 

Freeze away. Simple process and you will sleep soundly 

[wmcstudios]

Thanks everyone, stacked everything up in a gallon ziplok and stuck it in the freezer - I’ll move them to the fridge after a week. I appreciate the responses and advice.

[SCgarman]

5 hours ago, db13 said:

Make sure after you freeze you move them into the refrigerator. Taking the cigars out of the freezer and immediately into room temp. is not good for the cigars (supposedly) causes cracks etc..

most of us at some point and time have been there (beetle hole, off to fridge). Rest assured, your cigars will be fine.

Nope. does no harm. I take cigar box out of freezer and just set it on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes to come up to room temp, then into the cabinet it goes. Have not seen one crack on any cigar resulting from my process. YMMV

[CampDelta369]

Interestingly, the only beetle hole I had in 25yrs in a cigar was also an AVO. It was still sealed in cello and the hole was at the near the foot. Cut off the 1/2 inch and smoked it. It was a crap smoke anyway with a fine toothy oscuro wrapper but at least I smoked me some nasty beetle! I am much more diligent now with these unwrapped CC  boxes. I found the freezer thread on FOH quite interesting with lots of information. I did do some freezing at 0F and it had no negative affect on any sticks.

[cigcars]

      *Also, if you're not sure whether something is a beetle hole or not - I'd learned from the experts years ago - turn the affected area over and tap it. If fine powder comes out of the hole - alas *sigh* 

[wmcstudios]

On 5/23/2019 at 10:22 AM, CampDelta369 said:

Interestingly, the only beetle hole I had in 25yrs in a cigar was also an AVO. It was still sealed in cello and the hole was at the near the foot. Cut off the 1/2 inch and smoked it. It was a crap smoke anyway with a fine toothy oscuro wrapper but at least I smoked me some nasty beetle! I am much more diligent now with these unwrapped CC  boxes. I found the freezer thread on FOH quite interesting with lots of information. I did do some freezing at 0F and it had no negative affect on any sticks.

I’ve been a fan of AVO’s for years! They typically come in the cellos like you’re describing but I’ll definitely keep a better eye on them. I had read a bit about beetles before so I conditioned a separate humidor for the Cubans just to protect the investment - seems that was the right move! I’m freezing my Dominican/Nicaraguan/etc collection now, hoping it was just that one Synchro.

[wmcstudios]

6 hours ago, cigcars said:

      *Also, if you're not sure whether something is a beetle hole or not - I'd learned from the experts years ago - turn the affected area over and tap it. If fine powder comes out of the hole - alas *sigh* 

I did this and did not see any dust, but then again I typically inspect cigars I get in the mail and I didn’t notice the holes until a couple days afterwards. It could have been a fresh hole! In any case, I appreciate the response I got here... good to know other people went through it and it’s not the end of the world for my collection. I was worried at first that freezing everything would make my cigars stale somehow.

[earthson]

On 5/23/2019 at 8:51 AM, NYgarman said:

Nope. does no harm. I take cigar box out of freezer and just set it on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes to come up to room temp, then into the cabinet it goes. Have not seen one crack on any cigar resulting from my process. YMMV

Same here.  Several years of religiously putting everything in the freezer, customs, reg production, Dominicans, and then out to room temp.  The whole works - Ziploc bag, box and (assumedly) cigars take on condensation.  When I'm confident it has evaporated (couple hours to day or more for stretches with high RH), into the cooler it goes.