Confusion about RH

[Uwiik]

I am in Dubai right now, all the cigar from LCDH are kept at 70RH but they all smoked wonderfully and I only need to relight once or twice, even on new cigar. On the other hand, I have to keep my cigar at home (Indonesia) at 61-62RH if I do not want to deal with acrid unsmokeable cigar that needs to be relighted a dozen times, and no it’s not ambient RH problem because back home I smoke indoor inside climate controlled room at 55-58 RH. 

Why? Any theory or explanation for this? 70% is super humid but how come their fresh cigar smoked wonderfully n Dubai?

All LCDH cigars kept at 70RH smells wonderful and very shiny, on the other hand all my cigar back home kept at 61-62 have no smell at all (but still taste like heaven when smoked) and not as shiny as the ones from LCDH kept at 70%. I would love to have that wonderful smell every time I open my cigar box, but it’s not possible at 61-62RH. What should I do? 
 

Many thanks in advance!!!

 

[NSXCIGAR]

First guess would be the high airflow in a busy retail WIH could result in the cigars themselves having a moisture content below 70%. Also if the temperature is very low in the WIH 70% rH wouldn't be out of the question, i.e.  60°F/70% rH could be acceptable. 

[Uwiik]

Make sense on the busy traffic because Dubai is super dry and I can tell that the room humidifier is working super hard. However, I doubt it is related to temperature because my guesstimate on the temp is about 20-22C, it was not cold at all inside the WIH. 

[potpest]

If the temperature is 22c and the RH is 70 you'd probably be looking at a similar % moisture content for the cigar of around 16-18c and 62-65% RH.

The temperature difference is where the aroma comes in, heat makes aroma compounds more volatile.

Remember RH means nothing without an accompanying temperature.

[Bijan]

Also Dubai is super dry. And I'm assuming Indonesia is pretty humid.

It is my belief based on experience that ambient humidity where the cigars are smoked has a significant effect during the smoking of the cigars.

Where humidity is high a lit cigar sucks up moisture.

It's the same effect as just leaving the cigar lying around outside (somewhere humid/dry), except I think accelerated by the fact that the cigar is much much hotter and therefore changes in humidity are accelerated.

[BoliDan]

Temperature comes in to play just as important as rh. I'd say 70rh at a stable temperature out of mold territory would be just as ideal as 62rh at a higher stable temperature. I smoke at 30% ambient in my normal climate and don't notice too much change from start to finsh

[Bijan]

1 hour ago, BoliDan said:

I smoke at 30% ambient in my normal climate and don't notice too much change from start to finsh

I think the effect of high ambient humidity is more than that of low ambient humidity. I sometimes end up smoking outside at 100% humidity in the summer (when it's raining or about to rain), and it's practically impossible to finish a cigar (Perlas/Monte 5 is about the limit before cigar becomes soggy).

On the other hand not as bad in the winter if it's 100% humidity and/or snowing. (from the point of view of the cigar sucking up moisture)

[Uwiik]

All comments makes a lot of sense, I will adjust my storage to 18c 63-64 rh and keen to see any difference. Thanks ya’ll!!

[Bijan]

9 hours ago, Uwiik said:

no it’s not ambient RH problem because back home I smoke indoor inside climate controlled room at 55-58 RH. 

Sorry I missed this!

Yeah storage temp vs humidity then.

[Uwiik]

Reviving this conversation, I just cannot fathom it. I went to LCDH Dubai multiple times during this holiday and outdoor RH at winter night is actually very humid around 70-75 with temp anywhere between 15-25C (it’s very dry during the day though). Took a peek at the Brune humidifier inside the WIH and it always shows anywhere around 68-72RH and temp around 18-22C. I bought a stick of 2023 Reyes at 7pm today and smoked it immediately at the LCDH outdoor lounge and it was amazing, flavor is spot on, perfect burn, no harshness, not peppery at all and I only relighted once. I am at lost, all the latest theories about storage and aging seems to not apply here. Can anybody explain what’s actually happening? 

[Edicion]

While there in Dubai they asked me if I was going to smoke now or later, as they have dry boxed cigars for immediate lighting up and the others were very humid to meet local dry conditions (as mentioned above) and pretty much impossible to smoke without acclimating. I never had any issues with any of their cigars, which seemed to be top quality boxes. I may also suggest that you dry box before lighting up back home, that could make a difference.

[Uwiik]

I am thinking about setting my climate controlled smoking room to 40% at 25C to mimic Dubai climate. This Dubai trip is an eye opener for me, relatively humid cigar is actually sublime due to the aroma, the quest for perfection will continue for me. It seems to me that ambient climate is the biggest factor in cigar maximum enjoyment as opposed to the humidity of the cigar itself. 

 

62rh at 21C is not really dry boxing right?