ROTT versus Rested

[Bri Fi]

I was trying to go to sleep recently and all I could think about was smoking a cigar. My son is three weeks old and I’m looking at “Daily smokes” like I just discovered naked ladies on the internet since I don’t have the time to light one up. 
 

I got a box of Magnum 50s in the mail today and I was dying to know how it was. Typically, I like to smoke cigars ROTT within the first day of arrival or I don’t touch them for months. The gap between the first day and next 60+ Days are met with extreme disappointment. Dry, bitter, harsh, flavorless.. 

We have discussed on the forum before about resting cigars due to the extreme conditions of transit and that cigars need to get acclimated to humidors. 
 

That said, I prefer my cigars on the dryer side (62 Rh). But, I also know that venders typically ship cigars with higher RH for transit. Some of the best cigars I’ve had were within the first few hours off the truck. 
 

My question is this: if lower RH is preferred for Cuban cigars, why do so many smoke beautifully ROTT (assumed they are arriving at a higher RH)? Am I alone with thinking cigars are amazing upon arrival? 

[NSXCIGAR]

I don't think resting is a matter of attaining a particular rH. Resting just stabilizes the cigar, so to speak. Some need it, some don't. If mine are off when they arrive to sleep they go, but the vast majority of what I get are fine right off the truck.

The issue of what rH is best for CCs is a separate issue. I've found that post-2000 CCs tend to perform poorly in several ways above 65%, so I keep in the low 60s. 

[Hollywood Ninja]

Flavor wise I don’t notice a huge difference ROTT vs Rested. But certainly after 90 days down, at least in my climate, burn and draw issues are fewer.


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[Bijan]

I think the truth is cigars smoke well at a lot of different humidity levels, but they don't smoke well when the humidity isn't even throughout the cigar.

So you get a cigar that was stored at 68% and it'll still smoke ok if you don't know and don't think about it too much. But you put it into storage at 65% or 62% and it takes a couple of months before it's even at the new humidity. In the meanwhile it dries outside in, and won't burn right.

[Bri Fi]

You guys make a good point regarding consistency throughout the cigar oppose to resting. I didn’t think of it that way. That said, it seems as though shipping at a higher Rh and inside tight packaging essentially wet boxes the cigars. Some of the best cigars I’ve ever had flavor wise were ROTT. I may have to try wet boxing some cigars and seeing if they over perform dry boxed cigars. I know that certain cigars seem to perform better at a higher Rh such as Fonseca 1s.

[Bijan]

  On 6/15/2021 at 5:24 AM, Bri Fi said:

You guys make a good point regarding consistency throughout the cigar oppose to resting. I didn’t think of it that way. That said, it seems as though shipping at a higher Rh and inside tight packaging essentially wet boxes the cigars. Some of the best cigars I’ve ever had flavor wise were ROTT. I may have to try wet boxing some cigars and seeing if they over perform dry boxed cigars. I know that certain cigars seem to perform better at a higher Rh such as Fonseca 1s.

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It would only wet box them under very specific conditions. For example if they were stuck somewhere quite humid and weren't so airtight.

Pack cigars in a way that's relatively airtight and there is no where for more moisture to come from or go to.

Most likely the travel temperature is slightly higher than storage temperature so that would tend to decrease the moisture content of the cigars rather than increase it.

[Meklown]

  On 6/15/2021 at 4:37 AM, Bri Fi said:

The gap between the first day and next 60+ Days are met with extreme disappointment

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I find this frequently too - the flavours during the "settling down" period is usually very muted for me

[NSXCIGAR]

  On 6/15/2021 at 5:24 AM, Bri Fi said:

That said, it seems as though shipping at a higher Rh and inside tight packaging essentially wet boxes the cigars.

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I haven't seen a whole lot of cigars arriving wet in recent memory. I don't doubt that vendors' stock may be kept intentionally high, but keep in mind these are large warehouses with lots of cooling, ventilation and movement. It's not easy to keep rH above 70% at cool temps. 

After a week or two in transit, even vacuum sealed with a Boveda, I doubt rH could be much above 65% on arrival. 

I also think different cigars perform differently. For me, it seems I always have to dry box Partagas, LGC MdO4, most Monte and RASCC. I never seem to have to dry box San Cristobal, Trini or HU. 

[smbauerllc]

I try to let mine rest and acclimate 30-60 days, but get too eager sometimes and smoke rott.

Only twice did I notice a problem that I can say for sure was due to not resting and acclimating.

They were a little spongy, which can be an indication of being overly humidified, and they were sour, which I understand is another common indicator.

After letting the rest sit for a month or too they tasted just fine.

Many others, I have had no problems with rott

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[smbauerllc]

  On 6/15/2021 at 1:16 PM, Lrabold89 said:

its all luck of the draw lol .....best to store and forget for a year or so 

Agreed.
Different retailers store at different rh's, so its definitely luck of the draw as mentioned above.

Also will depend on the packaging method for shipping.

I very rarely get ones that feel overly humidified, but I only order from a very limited number of vendors, so cant say how common it is.

Due to my storage methods, most of my smokes end up resting at least a month simply due to how I organize my currently smoking supply for the month, and they always seem just fine by the time they make it into my currently smoking tupperdor



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[karp]

The comments about cigars burning even make sense... on arrival they might be OK but then need 60 days to reach evenness in storage otherwise the burn and flavour are wonky. I've noticed this too. But I'm confused about dry boxing - wouldn't it just make the cigar more uneven? Let's say you stored at 65% then dry boxed for a week, outside would be dryer than 65% and inside would be probably closer to original 65%. Do you dry box for 60 days? I haven't tried dry boxing yet, just pulling out from storage which is 63-4% at 65 degrees or so... just curious.

[PigFish]

For me, this debate is about being confident in knowing my own taste and what it takes to get the best from a cigar. I don't believe there is enough consistency in CCs to actually break them out by make and model. Blind tastings here confirm my theory, your results may vary. I think all tobacco tastes better, more throughly burned and dryer, potentially burning at a higher temp. The end result of my hypothesis on Cuban cigars leads me to to conclude that smoking them outside of the range I prefer, while it might not be considered a waste of a cigar, certainly lends credence to the idea that it may well not have been the best time to smoke any individual cigar.

I acclimatize.

-Piggy

[joeypots]

My experiences smoking cigars ROTT have been mostly dismal. I let the little fellers settle. They're sensitive and they have jet lag. Too wet or too dry, doesn't matter. I want them to be about 62%RH, though I'll refrain from getting hysterical about a few points either way. I know the those who don't have a big stash are antsy to have at the cigars asap but bitter experience has shown me that letting them acclimate makes all the difference. So if you need to smoke them right away, buy more than you can smoke and begin to amass a cigar cellar. as the collection grows you'll develop patience. It's an expense/investment but if you love the cigars as I do it'll be worth it.

[GVan]

I often find when trying a new CC (one that I haven't tried before) that I can't wait and will try one ROTT - usually with mixed results.  I've had a few that smoke great ROTT but, that's in the minority.  The majority, taste good for the first 1/2" to third and then go down hill from there - and every time that happens I know I should have let them acclimatize (like @PigFish says - listen to the expert).  I find a lot of the my ROTT try's still have too much moisture in the last half of the cigar.  One thing that I know when I find this is that it will take a lot longer than 30 to 60 days to properly acclimatize.  When I find this I put a note on them not to touch them for 6 months.  

If I don't try one ROTT (which is now the majority - I'm learning discipline), I wait 90 days and then follow the above practice.  Meaning if it's not tasting right or burns unacceptably in the last half - it get's a note to not touch it for 6 months. I subscribe to Piggy's experimentation that it takes a long time for moisture to transpire from a CC or even a Boveda.  I also believe that too much moisture often ruins the flavors.  As everyone here says - it's about finding what works for your tastes.  

[Bri Fi]

@joeypots some of the best cigars I’ve ever had were within hours after delivery. On top of that, some of the best cigars within the boxes I’ve had were the ones that were ROTT. I think Ray may have hit the nail in the head by saying it was shit luck due to consistency problems 

[porkchop]

Have wasted enough sticks smoking ROTT - the odds of a decent smoke are high. 90 days rest makes too much of a difference (in my opinion). 

[rjake100]

  On 6/15/2021 at 3:10 PM, karp said:

But I'm confused about dry boxing - wouldn't it just make the cigar more uneven? 

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My best guess is that short term dry boxing (less than a week) only imparts a slight change the moisture level of the wrapper. When I dry box, my cigar goes from a large cooler at 65% RH to a small container of 55% RH, without much change in temperature.

[PigFish]

I think that what you do at different levels of your cigar life can make a profound difference. I have been smoking cigars for almost 38 years now. Hell, I have known Rob for 20...

You should not therefore cheat yourself of the experience. I too used to smoke cigars as they came in for a number of reasons; impatience, curiosity, lack of experience... etc.

There are no experts in taste, or in your taste. My anecdotal experience lines up with a lot of seasoned smokers. But there are outliers. Or maybe, off of a specialized Cuban cigar board, I am the outlier. It does not much matter. Not to me anyway.

Smoke what you like and when you like, no matter what anyone else says about it. This is but one of many reasons that make cigar smoking interesting and enjoyable. It is not a habit, but a cerebral event or even mindless pleasure, or any number of things in-between. It is what you want it to be! Happy smoking!

-Piggy

[rcarlson]

  On 6/15/2021 at 11:30 PM, PigFish said:

Smoke what you like and when you like, no matter what anyone else says about it. This is but one of many reasons that make cigar smoking interesting and enjoyable. It is not a habit, but a cerebral event or even mindless pleasure, or any number of things in-between. It is what you want it to be! Happy smoking!

-Piggy

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So true.  

[rjake100]

@PigFish says fire when ready. That's good advice. What's the worst that can happen?

The anecdotal experiences do matter to me. Taking in all the data points and observations on this forum is an enjoyable part of my experience.

 

 

 

[SmokyFontaine]

I've never had a good Cuban ROTT experience, so I've quit trying. For me they are substantially better with 60-90 days rest. Now that I have a few in the collection, there hasn't been a single CC that wasn't way better with years of rest on it. I tried to fight that as the consensus because it makes no sense to me, but it has become my reality.

[teamrandr]

I only smoke ROTT