Buy Tobacco Leaf Online | Whole Leaf Tobacco

Storing shop bought cigars

Ellis003

Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2024
Messages
17
Points
13
Location
Germany
Hi gang

What's your views on storing shop bought cigars in humidors? Obviously there are a wide variety, some come in cellophane and some Au Naturale. I've been told by some to have them without packaging in the humidor and others saying the cellophane keeps them from aging. What's your advice? To be fair they don't normally last long in my humidor but I'd like to know if it affects the life or age as I have a mixture.

As always boys and girls I'm for ever grateful.

"Gentleman (and ladies), you may smoke"

Rob
 

Ellis003

Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2024
Messages
17
Points
13
Location
Germany
An age old debate with pros and cons for both sides.
What's the pros and cons if U have time? I'm guessing it's what I've always been told? But then again when in Cuba the other year I bought 20 cigars in a banana leaf so anything is possible lol
 

deluxestogie

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 25, 2011
Messages
24,696
Points
113
Location
near Blacksburg, VA
Bob's personal opinion:

During the early 1970s, most of the Cuban, Honduran and Nicaraguan cigars did not have cellophane. Inexpensive cigars that were sold as 4 or 5 in a small cardboard box (as you can still find them today) were individually cellophane wrapped. As the prices of premium cigars rose to levels that discouraged cigar smokers from buying an entire box (of 25 or 50), the cellophane tubes began to appear on them. So, I would say that cellophane is the result of market forces, rather than the mystical attributes assigned to them today.

German-style dry cigars, such as Villiger, are intended to remain in ambient conditions, rather than be humidified or stored in a humidor. If you humidify them, they may no longer draw appropriately.

As for Caribbean-style cigars, the primary function of a humidor is to prevent the wrapper from splitting due to drying. When a cigar dries relatively rapidly, the wrapper dries and shrinks faster than the filler, which begins to dry at the open end first. As a consequence, the relatively unchanged filler volume can cause the wrapper to split from increased tensile forces. Too high a humidity in a humidor, and you get a poor burn. I've kept my cabinet-size humidor in the low 60s RH for a half-century.

The "aging" discussion seems (to me) to be overblown. Cigars age over a scale of years, rather than months. The exception is for so-called "premium" cigars that are made with inadequately aged leaf, and then not allowed to age in the manufacturer's warehouse prior to distribution to retail.

Bob
 

GreenDragon

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2018
Messages
2,037
Points
113
Location
Charlotte, NC
Cellophane is made from cellulose and is basically transparent polymerized wood. Unless it is specially treated it is breathable and therefor will not affect the aging process of a cigar in a humidor. They started wrapping cigars in cellulose as mentioned above when people started buying cigars singly as a hygienic gesture.

I generally don’t bother removing the wrapper when putting store bought stix in my humidor as it makes me feel better about putting a cigar in my mouth after watching my sons & neighbors root around in my humidor on cigar & whiskey nights.
 

adamziegler

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2024
Messages
88
Points
53
Location
Rock Island, IL USA
Hi gang

What's your views on storing shop bought cigars in humidors? Obviously there are a wide variety, some come in cellophane and some Au Naturale. I've been told by some to have them without packaging in the humidor and others saying the cellophane keeps them from aging. What's your advice? To be fair they don't normally last long in my humidor but I'd like to know if it affects the life or age as I have a mixture.

As always boys and girls I'm for ever grateful.

"Gentleman (and ladies), you may smoke"

Rob
my RH swings from the upper 30%s to the 90%s throughout the year. During the spring and summer I probably don't need a humidor. During the winter, everything starts getting crumbly. A container to store cigars helps moderate this to an extent. Normally I keep a 65% Boveda pack in the humidor to keep everything around that level. This time of year with frequent visits to my drafty humidor, I need to add some old school help to keep moisture up a bit. (I printed a box that holds some sodium polyacrylate beads https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6783663 ) This is just what I like doing, and may not be what other need to do.
 

FrostD

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2020
Messages
725
Points
93
Location
Wisconsin
Home rolls-Store w/o cello. Typically store them in a ziplock bag with a humidity pack. I just make sure to not jostle around the bag they are stored in to prevent wrappers or sticks from cracking.

Store bought-store both ways with & without cello. If they come with cello on, just leave it until it’s ready to be smoked. Ones that come without cello, I tend to keep them in a cigar box to prevent them moving around. In either case, I store in 65-70F/ 62-70% RH. Overall preference is to have the cello, just for protection. Aging them out, with or without the cello, I personally don’t see a big difference really on how they age. If anything, any same blends from the same year, non cello sticks may marry or mellow out a little faster. In addition, non cello sticks may pick up nuances of cigars that are stored right next to them that don’t have cello.

Overall, I believe it’s personal preference, but I’m more of a fan of keeping it on until smoke time, than removing and storing them without.
 

deluxestogie

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 25, 2011
Messages
24,696
Points
113
Location
near Blacksburg, VA
This morning, I selected a relatively cheap, generic Honduran commercial cigar from my humidor. Removing the unnecessary cellophane was more tedious than usual. Then I attempted to peel off the generic ("JR Alternative") cigar band. It essentially identifies nothing, other than having come from the massive JR warehouse. It is there simply for the cigar band expectation of many customers.

Unfortunately, I had just trimmed my fingernails two hours earlier. After 40 seconds of fiddling, scraping, picking (and maybe swearing), I finally succeeded in removing that final speed bump.

[In a similar vein, I have to keep several tools on my kitchen counter (scissors, pliers, wood wedge, etc.), just for opening nearly every can, box, tub or bag of commercially packaged food.]

Bob
 

Skafidr

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2024
Messages
113
Points
63
Location
South-Shore of Montreal, QC, Canada
Regarding cigar bands, I assume they may be used to identify the cigar when you have multiple varieties in a container, but I also read something along the lines "they're there to tell you when to stop smoking it, don't smoke it to the band, stop before".

I usually disregard this "rule", I paid good money for this thing, why should I use only half of it when the rest appears to be completely usable?
 

deluxestogie

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 25, 2011
Messages
24,696
Points
113
Location
near Blacksburg, VA
Gustav Bock invented the cigar band in the 1830s to foil counterfeit cigars, which were a common scam when all cigars had no bands. The more complex the band, the more challenging it was to counterfeit. The only reason to smoke a cigar with its band still on is pretense.

I can't tell you how many cigar wrappers I have damaged over the past half-century by removing their carelessly glued bands.

Bob
 

johnny108

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2023
Messages
679
Points
93
Location
Germany
Now, bands are a prestige thing.
“Everyone look at what I’m smoking!”
(AKA: “look how much money I’m burning!” at football games, business retreats, fancy “smoke-ins”, and the like)
Then someone (ahem..) lights up a Prilep puro, and everyone ignores the fancy cigar bands….
 
Top