Old artisocrat humidor full of cigars not maintained

[NorthGeorgiaSmoker]

Hey everyone,

Got a question for you. I have a big aristocrat humidor full of bunch of boxes of cuban cigars. Around 2003-2008 I was buying and smoking bunch of cigars got a humidor, got super in the whole thing.

Then I become a professional freediver and quit smoking them. I kept the humidor but never maintained it, meaning I never put water in it.

Most of the boxes are in ziplock bags, I seem to remember reading on this forum or another back in they day that was helpful for aging.
 
I've moved recently and the house the humidor is in staying at 80F since I'm not there. It's been like that for 9 months.

If I were to reach out to the guy from aristocrat and get this thing running again, would the cigars get back to good shape? I Have no idea what being stored like this would have done to them.

Any input would be appreciated!

Thanks,

[Kevin48438]

Some photos of the humidor, boxes, and cigars might be helpful.

If you live in northern Georgia as your handle suggests, that may be a good thing.  Have the cigars always lived in Georgia?

[NorthGeorgiaSmoker]

No cigars have spent whole time in South Florida.  For most of time I Lived in the house so temps and humidity were normal. Last nine months I've moved to north Georgia... the Florida house (where cigars live) was kept AC at 80F..  They are in good shape relatively speaking... just lived in a humidor that didn't have the humidity running.

Just have no idea if I get the humidor up here, get it running agin will I have some amazing aged cubans, or did I ruin them.

 

[Corylax18]

17 minutes ago, NorthGeorgiaSmoker said:

Just have no idea if I get the humidor up here, get it running agin will I have some amazing aged cubans, or did I ruin them.

 

Its a crap shoot. No Guarantees, but I think the Juice would be well worth the squeeze in this case. Some of the cigars may never fully recover, others might turn out to be amazing.

Being stored in south Florida is not a bad thing at all. Have you checked for mold? I would segregate any moldy cigars, but I think the rest could be saved by a VERY slow acclimation back to stable Humidty and RH. 

I think Bob is now retired, so he might not be super heplful. You came to a good spot though, there is lots of knowledge here.

[Kevin48438]

As long as there isn’t any mold or damage and they weren’t left in any extreme conditions (Miami area is not), they usually rebound pretty well when in good storage conditions.

Seems worthwhile to get the humidor back in action.  Sounds like you have a number of cigars.  So, I’d test weekly or so and see how they are doing.   Maybe buy a recent  box of a favorite and see how they compare.   Should be fun!

Pictures would be cool.  If anything, because we like pictures of cigars around here.  Sometimes things are seen that haven’t been thought of until seen for oneself.

[teamrandr]

Probably fine as long as they are not moldy.  

[Bri Fi]

I am an expert. Send the cigars to me along with your aristocrat.
 

Seriously though, only way to find out is to open the boxes and snoop around. If the bands are super loose or wrappers are brittle then you may have a problem. Same if moldy. 
 

there are stories of cigars being kept in boxes in barns for decades that still smoke well as long as the ambient temp and rh are within storage norms. Good luck and welcome back to the hobby. 

[SCgarman]

1 hour ago, NorthGeorgiaSmoker said:

Hey everyone,

Got a question for you. I have a big aristocrat humidor full of bunch of boxes of cuban cigars. Around 2003-2008 I was buying and smoking bunch of cigars got a humidor, got super in the whole thing.

Then I become a professional freediver and quit smoking them. I kept the humidor but never maintained it, meaning I never put water in it.

Most of the boxes are in ziplock bags, I seem to remember reading on this forum or another back in they day that was helpful for aging.
 
I've moved recently and the house the humidor is in staying at 80F since I'm not there. It's been like that for 9 months.

If I were to reach out to the guy from aristocrat and get this thing running again, would the cigars get back to good shape? I Have no idea what being stored like this would have done to them.

Any input would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Before you do anything else, open all the ziploc bags and inspect the boxes of cigars themselves. Examine whether the cigars are dried out, wet and moldy, or healthy and supple. Aristocrat humidors is no longer. He may still be active in business with the humidification systems. Not sure. Post up some pics either way and good luck!!