Dry cigars

[eggtimer]

Hi All,

First off, best forum there is - full of gentlemen (and ladies) and proper knowledge (mould vs plume etc). I LOVE it!

I was wondering the following. I do like ageing cigars although I am not an expert of aficionado enough to appreciate it. But then again, I simply like it, the hobby, the creation of something special and I like the cigars.

I have lived in many high humidity countries and always travelled with my whole collection of cigars - this lead to some wide swings in temp and humidity and was far, very far from ideal for sometimes many months. E,g, shipping a whole household, including cigars, can take half a year.

To come to the point: is there a point of no return for a cigar that has become too dry/too wet? I do understand the process of reviving a cigar but not if there is a point of no return? I am talking more subtle than the obviously cracked open cigar, wrapper gone etc. More like, is there a normal looking but very dry cigar, e.g., that can't be revivied, e.g., because all the oil has dried out etc?

Many thanks for any insights!

[NSXCIGAR]

No cigar is physically beyond resuscitation however the effects of sub-optimal storage conditions may have taken a toll on its flavor. 

[GaryK 54]

14 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

No cigar is physically beyond resuscitation however the effects of sub-optimal storage conditions may have taken a toll on its flavor. 

Completely agree. Under sub-optimal conditions that lead to drying out the cigar, some of the volatile oils and resins that impart much of the flavour nuance will  evapourate. There is no way to recover the impact from this loss; some of the original flavour is forever gone.

However, even a very dry cigar can be properly rehumidified and smoked. There are numerous archived postings and discussions on this Forum to help you with your question about rehumidifying cigars. 

The ‘flip side’ of your question about a too wet cigar is also discussed in these archived postings. In general, as long as the ‘too wet’ condition didn’t lead to mould or a hatching of tobacco beetle larvae, a too wet cigar is somewhat less of a problem to correct. 

[cigcars]

   *I made the mistake of over-humidifying my cigars in one of my humidors that did an exceptional job of sealage and so on. It came from J.C. Newman. That also damaged the regular flavor of my favorite Ramone Allones CC cigars