Air tight or Air flow

[pistolpete85]

As I said in my other post I lately have been double ziplock bagging whole cedar boxes of my habanos with a humidipak 69 or 65, I realize now that some air still escapes or transfers between the outside and the inside of the bag. My question now is, what do you guys prefer to have. A 100 percent Air Tight method or Some general slow airflow over time. Of course in an air tight situation I would be opening the container to grab smokes everyonce in awhile. Thanks for any and all information you guys have. Peter

[CIGARHead]

» As I said in my other post I lately have been double ziplock bagging whole

» cedar boxes of my habanos with a humidipak 69 or 65, I realize now that

» some air still escapes or transfers between the outside and the inside of

» the bag. My question now is, what do you guys prefer to have. A 100

» percent Air Tight method or Some general slow airflow over time. Of

» course in an air tight situation I would be opening the container to grab

» smokes everyonce in awhile. Thanks for any and all information you guys

» have. Peter

I think it all depends on what type of aging you want. I personally dont go through all the trouble of double bagging or air tight food saver bags etc... not saying thats wrong, but I think if you just let the cigars take their natural course in aging you would have nothing to worry about. I just put the whole box in my humi, lid closed.

I have heard of people sealing their boxes air tight to retard the aging process. Me, I just let them bastards do what they do in their natural surroundings..you know, let 'em marinate;-)

[habanohal]

Airflow!!! is what I do. Ihave a 6 ft cabinet and it does get opened a fe times a week to grab cigars. I keep a few fans circulateing the air. From what I have read and heard it is also good to exchange the air.

Personally , It is hard for me to distiguish age between fresh. Well not so much but if you give me a 2000 and 2005 PSD4 , I probably couldnt diferentiate the 2.

Its just what I do personally. My feelings are.... not to have dead and stagnet air.

[genevapics]

I have a 300 ct desk top. I am contemplating what to do for storage. I believe I will go the route of buying a large cooler and some heartfelt beads and go that route.

From what I can tell, and I have not done this mind you, as long as you monitor the humidity levels in the cooler, you shouldn't have much problem. Your main threat is the risk of mold due to high humidity levels. So, crack the lid every once in awhile and you should be okay.

There is a pretty good website called:[link=]cigarnexus.com[/link] . Check out the section entitled Storage. I think you will find it very informative. Best of luck.

By the way, you always want your cigars to get some fresh air every few weeks at the very least.

[Colt45]

I'd go with airflow as well. I'd also be a bit concerned about having any type of

humidification device, even two way devices such as humidipak/boveda, in a

very confined, airtight environment.

[Tampa1257]

Peter,

I know that there are several schools of thought about the aging of cigars, and if you prefer the no Oxygen method, then research that method and go for it. It is my opinion that it takes an exorbitant amount of time of aging for that method to have an impact upon the flavors. By that I mean, that if you were to completely remove the oxygen from the aging process, that it would take a significantly longer time period to age the cigars. I am talking about 15-25 years of time.

As for myself and my personal preference, I am of the school that I typically enjoy aging my cigars 3-10 years and believe that an exchange of oxygen promotes a well balanced environment to provide the optimum conditions to effectively age my cigars. So, I would not bag or double bag and remove the air from around the cigars. (I might be not around in 15-25 more years to enjoy the cigars I am aging, so why would I want to try this method? For some other guy to smoke? Oh Hell No!

[korryp]

Doing both the cooler and the cabinet with a fan. For long storage I shove them in a large cooler with some beads. The cigars I plan on smoking with in the next two years are in the cabinet. Works for me and I know a couple of others that roughly do the same.

[Ginseng]

» As I said in my other post I lately have been double ziplock bagging whole

» cedar boxes of my habanos with a humidipak 69 or 65, I realize now that

» some air still escapes or transfers between the outside and the inside of

» the bag. My question now is, what do you guys prefer to have. A 100

» percent Air Tight method or Some general slow airflow over time. Of

» course in an air tight situation I would be opening the container to grab

» smokes everyonce in awhile. Thanks for any and all information you guys

» have. Peter

I think in a normally functioning and regularly accessed storage unit precludes the possibility of 100% airtight storage conditions. IMO, this seems so far out of the realm of "average joe Habanos smoker" (as I count myself) that it makes no sense. I keep cigars around for smoking, smelling and ogling. That they get aged as well, is a bonus.

My coolers get opened several times a week and my immediate access tupperdor more than that. If, as Tampa says, you actually intend for your cigars to be smoked in this generation, then all the regular options are probably perfectly suitable.

BTW, Genevapics, KMart on Rt-40 has lots of different Igloo and Coleman coolers in stock. I just picked up a smaller unit for loose sticks storage and access for $15 today.

Wilkey

[shrink]

Tampa1257 wrote:

»

» I know that there are several schools of thought about the aging of

» cigars, and if you prefer the no Oxygen method, then research that method

» and go for it. It is my opinion that it takes an exorbitant amount of time

» of aging for that method to have an impact upon the flavors.

You're right as usual, Chuck. This is why cigars in tubos age more slowly than the same cigars in dress box. Upmann Monarchs are a good example of this. I recently took some out of the tubes and put them in the singles drawer to speed 'em up.

[kingfisher59]

» I'd go with airflow as well. I'd also be a bit concerned about having any

» type of

» humidification device, even two way devices such as humidipak/boveda, in

» a

» very confined, airtight environment.

Burp your coolers once a month and all is good

[greenpimp]

In addition to the good points Tampa makes, I would be worried about mold in a fairly airtight environment with humidification.

I also, incidentally, think it is not the best idea to skimp on your storage when you have perhaps thousands of dollars in cigars.

[cigardawg]

All of my cigars are in cabinet humidors. The only time I open the humidors is to take cigars out, put cigars in, or check my humidification. I don't purposefully "breath" my cigars, but it happens by circumstance.

[CigarZen]

» I would be worried about mold

» in a fairly airtight environment with humidification.

I think that is one of the reasons that some British vendors aged at a low humidity -- to avoid mold.

I have noticed that for cigars that I bagged, in their original cabs, they seem to have oiler wrappers. Any one else note this?

[pistolpete85]

Thanks I understand what you guys mean and agree but I think you might have confused what I said. Im not double ziplocking my boxes with a boveda pack then throwing them in my coolidor, that would make no sense. I mean my seperate boxese outside my coolidor, I just use 2 ziplock bags and a boveda pack, Same idea as those fuente Bags that cost a hella lot more. I place these indvidual bagged boxes wherever my apartment has less temp change. So this method since someone told me ziplock bags aren't completely air tite, is ok correct? because air will slowly transfer between my bag "environment" and the air inside my room.

» Peter,

»

» I know that there are several schools of thought about the aging of

» cigars, and if you prefer the no Oxygen method, then research that method

» and go for it. It is my opinion that it takes an exorbitant amount of time

» of aging for that method to have an impact upon the flavors. By that I

» mean, that if you were to completely remove the oxygen from the aging

» process, that it would take a significantly longer time period to age the

» cigars. I am talking about 15-25 years of time.

»

» As for myself and my personal preference, I am of the school that I

» typically enjoy aging my cigars 3-10 years and believe that an exchange of

» oxygen promotes a well balanced environment to provide the optimum

» conditions to effectively age my cigars. So, I would not bag or double bag

» and remove the air from around the cigars. (I might be not around in 15-25

» more years to enjoy the cigars I am aging, so why would I want to try this

» method? For some other guy to smoke? Oh Hell No!

[El Presidente]

I understand.

What you are doing is still (in my opinion) a short to medium term solution only.

I like air circulating. It is natural....normal.

Try wearing rubber underwear 24 hrs a day for six months and see how you feel.

....or you could just ask ken :-D

[pistolpete85]

Hahaha nice. Thanks.

» I understand.

»

» What you are doing is still (in my opinion) a short to medium term

» solution only.

»

» I like air circulating. It is natural....normal.

»

» Try wearing rubber underwear 24 hrs a day for six months and see how you

» feel.

»

» ....or you could just ask ken :-D

[Tampa1257]

» I understand.

»

» What you are doing is still (in my opinion) a short to medium term

» solution only.

»

» I like air circulating. It is natural....normal.

»

» Try wearing rubber underwear 24 hrs a day for six months and see how you

» feel.

»

» ....or you could just ask ken :-D

Damn you Rob,

I just blew soda out my nose laughing at your above comment!

[genevapics]

» BTW, Genevapics, KMart on Rt-40 has lots of different Igloo and Coleman

» coolers in stock. I just picked up a smaller unit for loose sticks storage

» and access for $15 today.

»

» Wilkey

Thanks for the heads up!