Nom... I've had one of those about a year ago. you get a whole box?

a weekend or two ago.. Padron

No.

I got two whole boxes.

Joining the thread.

I have been smoking a bunch padrons lately.. IMO the best value in cigars, although I like a wide variety.

Anyways, going to get a gift for a friends 40th b'day - I want to pick out a couple of premium cigars to smoke together. Any suggestions? Is this as simple as Opus X?

Opus X is always a good fall back option. Is your friend a cigar smoker? Does he like potent cigars? Opus X has some kick if he's not a smoker. For a ligther smoke, you could also consider AF Sun Grown.

Ashton ESG would also be a good choice.

He smokes a few a year and has similar taste to me... I liked the one opus X I had in my lifetime, so I figure he will definitely enjoy it (if I go that route) - but definitely going to research other suggestions, like the one you each gave. Thanks!

best way to restore a dried out cigar

received a nice box of 16 cigars (i think), my humidor only holds 6ish, how do i make the others good again?

Bigger humidor, lots of time, patience, and lots of prayers.

Good luck.

what if i put them in the humidor i already have?

ive used up a few of them and there is space for others but i didnt want to mix up the good from bad ones

@ Daler and Guller - thanks for the suggestions - I actually ended up with each cigar you guys suggested and one other. All very good. My favorite was this:

I thought your humidor only held 6.

I wouldn't mix them with my good ones since they need different humidity rates for a while at least.

I would make a cheap coolerdor or use a ziploc bag and run it at 50% for 3 or 4 months then 65% to 70% for 6 months more before I even touched them.

If you increase the humidity too fast the wrapper will crack and break apart.

It is not easy or quick to restore them and it still may not work depending on how far gone they are. Slow is key.

I haven't tried much of AVO's line, I'll have to pick up one of those LE's if I can find them.

thanks for the tips. ill report back in a few months

just buy high end Padrons, Anniversary ones, they are expensive but the quality difference is well worth it IMO.

/thread.

Even then standard padrons are an excellent smoke - so agreed. Pardon is the best value too.

Has anyone tried the Oliva V series, if so what are your thoughts on them?

I really like the whole Oliva line. Great value for a good smoke.

I love these cigars!

I'm just getting into cigars and got my first humidor for Christmas. I was told that the owner of the a cigar shop, which seems like a pretty high end cigar shop, started the seasoning process in my humidor. I currently have 2 boveda packs in the humidor now, one 84 and one 75 (http://www.bovedapacks.com/catalog.aspx?catid=1).

I was told that the packs usually last 3 months, but I opened the humidor and the packs are starting to feel pretty stiff (like a pack of sand & small rocks). My digital hydrometer is reading 54%, but I never tested the accuracy of the hydrometer. Anyone else use similar packs or have any suggestions for me? pros/cons of packs? Not sure if it matters, but I have one cigar in there now and its in a plastic baggy.

So hard waiting for this process to get done. I want to fill this puppy up.

I have a torch lighter that I haven't used in ~4 years that doesn't work. I have tried emptying the lighter by pushing down on where the butane goes in w/ a screwdriver. When I did it I didn't hear anything (a video I saw said that if there is anything in it you will hear air escaping).

Then I turned the lighter and butane can upside down, pushed the butane can's straw into the lighter's butane entrance and heard the butane coming out and a liquid escaping from between them. This liquid ends up leaking down the lighter & onto the ground. Then when I pull the butane straw from the lighter I can see gas escaping from the lighters butane entrance. When I turn the lighter side-ways or right side up a liquid shoots from the lighter.

Is there a step I am missing that you can infer from reading this post?

Up to 59%. It may have been because I opened the humidor like 5-6 times right before I put the hydrometer in or because the hydrometer hadn't been in the humidor for long enough.

It will probably take a few days for the humidor to come up to the humidity you want. When you fill it with cigars, it will also likely drop before coming up after a couple days. Just be patient and don't keep opening it.

Also, I use 65% RH beads from cigarmony.com (http://www.cigarmony.com/humiditybeadsystem.aspx). I've used them for years and love them. They basically last forever and they keep a very stable RH. 75% RH seems way high to me. I would guess you're going to have draw problems with cigars that moist. If you're not comfortable with 65% RH (my preference), then at the very least I would go down to 70% RH (or 69% RH boveda pack).

As for the lighter, I have no clue. I never manage to have a torch lighter last for more than a few years. And I used the highest grade butane that money could buy. I just use the cheap 99 cent bic lighters now. Can't tell the difference, tbh. I will say that it's not as fun as the torch lighter. But I'm tired of pissing away $50 on a lighter that only works for 2-3 years.

Anyone carried a torch lighter on a plane recently? I want to carry mine with me to vegas tomorrow, but don't want another one taken at security checkpoint ( like they did four years ago) I know TSA has relaxed on some items is this one of them?

thanks

Leave it home, use a cedar strip.