unfortunately there's not a great place to keep cigars other than a humidor. they'll be okay for a week or two tops in the metal tubes, but they really need to be in a humidor asap. i'd reccomend going to a cigar shop and getting a fuente travel humidor bag. it doesn't have to be a fuente, and it's essentially a plastic bag with a very strong seal that has a time released self humidifying agent in the bag that sort of looks like a bag of silica. they're about $5 and they're good for six months, and you can open and close the bag and re-use it.

but i wouldn't feel too bad if that macanudo didn't last, iirc the hampton court is the new blend they came out with that bombed. the monte on the other hand is a nice stick.


all,

if you can get your hands on a bolivar gold medal, try it. smoothest cigar i've ever smoked.



-tex

Raze,

All you need is to stick them in a Tupperware container with a damp sponge. They will keep just fine as long as the sponge is damp and NOT touching the cigars. Open the container at least once a week to check the sponge and let a little air flow.

A friend lives in relatively dry Los Angeles County and is looking for something more or less self-maintaining like this (except perhaps a smaller model than the Oasis XL Plus) so I'm bumping your post with some links that hopefully will encourage comment.

Cigar Oasis XL which is apparently the smaller model despite the XL designation.

Oops, there is an even smaller model called the Cigar Oasis Ultra at the top of the linked page. It's about the size of a standard rectangle humidifier that I assume most of us have.

Does anyone have any experience with this product?

Is this overkill for a table-top 50 cigar size humidor?

~ Rick

PS Lucky bathroom break before final posting allowed me time to read the new JR catalog and find this deal with a Cigar Oasis machine thrown in free. I suspect it might be last years model (apparently they added a gauge to the new ones).

whoa whoa, make damn sure if anyone does this they used distilled water, mold/bacteria can/will form on a wet sponge and distilled water greatly (maybe eliminates iirc?) reduces the chance of this happening. mold/bacteria on your sticks is not cool.

also, you can sort of improvise a humidor with a cedar cigar box, some of that green plant sponge stuff that goes in many elements, and a bottle of distilled water. just make sure the element isn't soaked and the box has a decent seal.

anyone know about keeping sticks in a freezer? i was reccomended to do this for 24 hours with my cubans b/c they dont undergo the last process of freezing that apparently other cigars do to kill any potential threats, i.e., bugs in your sticks, but i never did it as i feel the swiss habanos dealer i go through wouldn't keep sticks that were possibly infected with bugs in their humidor that likely is worth seven figures....



-Tex

A couple of years ago I had a minor beetle infestation in my humidor and froze my sticks for 24 hours (after throwing out the obviously infested ones, which were unsmokable anyway). It seemed to cure the problem; the beetles didn't come back and it didn't do any lasting harm to the majority of the smokes (the wrapper on one cigar came loose and unraveled shortly after I thawed it, so I guess there's some danger).

Never heard that Cubans routinely needed this treatment, though.

Tex,

The distilled water is used in humidors to prevent mineral buildup & damage on the humidification element and on the cedar (if rubbing down the inside of the humidor). When you're using a sponge, tap water is fine. Long term, you're right mold may form on the sponge, but the tupperware/sponge humidor is only intended for short-term storage (<3 months).

If you freeze sticks make sure you let them defrost VERY slowly. Transfer to the fridge first, and leave them there for a few days, before putting them back to the humidor. Frozen sticks need several weeks before they can be smoked. Search threads on freezing at clubstogie.com for better info.

new daily = oliva serie v ...monumental cigar, beautiful color, perfect draw, reminiscent of the old lars tetons pre embargo cubans. a lightly perfumed cigar w/ hints of pipe smoke, nutmeg/clove coffee and dark toast. its a "ligger" so it packs quite a punch, extremely complex powerhouse of a smoke.

my daily is the oliva serie g robusto. at around $4 a smoke, i feel like i cant beat it... i'll try the serie v soon.

the alternative hemingway signatures were surprisingly good. obviously not as good as the original, but good to say the least. they burned well and you cant really beat the price. i think they'll be much better after a few weeks in the humi though.

My cigar store that I am most loyal to just got some Monte series C. They're so amazing. I like bold cigars, but this one is mild/medium with a cameroon wrapper and it is great. I guess my cigar season just got started here in Tennessee since it has turned cold. Had a Padron 4000 maduro the past two days with a caramel machiato from starbucks. This is my favorite drink-cigar mixture of all time. Gotta love fall.

Padrons are awesome. I usually smoke the 3000. I think the regular series are the best bang for your buck in cigars today, and the Aniversarios are beyond belief.

I like the padron 30 year anniversario lonsdale. Solid smoke.

I've had a chance to smoke some more habanos, and the cohiba robusto is by far my favorite stick. I've found a source for them at $10/stick so i'm pretty happy with that although I have to buy a box for that price. Smoked a monte petit corona last night and i give it good marks for the price. About to go drop off some mail and will smoke one of the Romeo and Juliet escudos (long robusto) regalas limited edition, looking forward to it. Last night I ordered a box of H. Upmann connasieur no.1 b/c I really liked the stick and got a really good deal at $200/box of 25, plus I had to fill an order for a friend. Along with that box is coming some Cohiba siglo VI's, a Cohiba Genios, and some monte cristo no. 2's i believe, the pyramides vitola, as well as a Cohiba Esplendidos (churchill). I'm really looking forward to the genios- I smoked the secretos and didnt really like it, it was too small and too tight to really enjoy the maduro, wheras the genios is 5.5 inches with a 52 guage. At this point in time though, the partagas petit corona is the best cuban for the dollar, and the cohiba robusto is imo the best robusto, w/ the h. upmann being a close second. Getting into cubans has been fun but expensive lately b/c I decided to buy some limited editions and a couple boxes that I'm putting away for (hopefully) a few years to let them age, which, I keep hearing is the thing to do.

Fwiw though, the punch rare corojo is still by far and away the best cigar for the price. I paid $185 for a box of 50 Rothschilds.

But man, I wish I could get Cohibas for the price they start out at in Cuba! I heard they're about $4 US/stick in Cuba, and that's likely a tourist price. So smooth, nutty, consistent, big draw, mild and mellow, awesome construction.

I think it's time to visit Havanna



-Tex

Use the Internet? Check out some cigar forums and you will see common banners for the more reputable vendors....

IMHO there is a significant difference between the cheaper/knock off cigars and the premium lines, enough to tip the scale for me in terms of what I smoke/buy. Thats not to say there aren't good cheap(er) smokes out there, you just need to hunt for them. For example if I want a thin ring gauge sun grown wrapper without the cost I will go with the Flor de Ybor City no. 85 Sungrown from tampasweethearts.com Tampasweethearts is affiliated with the Fuente family and what you are getting is effectively the very elusive and desired 858 SG but rolled by an apprentice rather than a master roller. The wrapper is from slightly different stock than the Arturo Fuente 858 sungrown but it is still fantastic at two bucks a stick.

For a cheap maduro you can't beat the Padron thousand series which can often be found for ~$3 a stick if you look. You can also find the typically stronger/bolder La Flor Dominica lines for fairly inexpensive.

If you like the allure of island smokes and want something shorter you can get a box of Partagas shorts or Bolivar PC's for ~$5 a stick if you want something smaller.

As a point of reference I don't smoke as often as I used to so I tend to primarily smoke slightly more expensive sticks like the Padron Anniversary line, Opus X/Anejos, and brown label Tatuajes. I try to vary it up because there is so much out there to try but I really wouldn't bother smoking seconds/alts/bundle cigars at this point with the exception of those Flor de Ybors. Oh and I agree with TxRedman on the CoRo, easily my favorite habanos robusto.

if you want a box of partagas #4 i'll get one for you if you'll contact me and go over a couple of things. i smoked a #4 the other night and was really impressed, although it was a bit too strong for me to finish. i'd prefer to have that blend in either a petit corona or a petit robusto. but wow, the taste was amazing.

be careful buying habanos off the net guys, there's more fake dealers than real ones and it's not even close. i reccomend you know your sticks before you order, i.e., if you've smoked a cohiba genios you'll know right away whether or not your dealer shipped you a cohiba genios.

i smoked a R&J escudos robusto limited edition last night, and while i though the cigar was a little bit young, it was still phenomenal. strong vanilla/cocoa taste, smooth, nice stick, strong, but burned like a cigar that needs to age for at least a couple more months before smoking, which isn't that outrageous since it probably was rolled within the last two months.

i ordered some cohiba siglo's VI, the canonanzo <sp> vitole, which is a 53 guage and 6 inch length stick. after they settle for a week or two i'll burn one and post a review, but at first glance it appears to be an awesome stick.

i've smoked several H. Upmann connasieurs now, and it's a great stick for the price. i prefer upmanns for the fact that they're generally light to medium and therefore i finish a stick w/o any nasty buzz.

i'm about to take the dog for a nice long walk and plan on smoking either a monte cristo #2, the pyramides/torpedo, or the cohiba churchill that arrived today. i know i've said it before but i'll say it again, the punch rare corojo continues to impress me and seems to get better everyday.

if anyones thinking about buying any cubans lately, i'd reccomend not spending the extra money on many of the habanos limited editions that came out recently. with the exception of the R&J escudos which you should buy now to smoke next summer, and maybe the 2003 monte cristo, the others haven't been worth the extra price imo, but then again i think these sticks are meant to age for a while before being smoked, which is what i've done with the remaining 4 from my 5 packs.

i have one cohiba robusto left and it's really hard not to burn it every time i reach into my humidor. same goes for my cohiba lanceros. while i'm on the topic of cohiba, the pyramides is not worth $30/stick!!! dont waste your money! it's a $15 stick! nothing wrong with it, but wtf!

i've been smoking a couple of the hoyo epicures lately and was a little dissapointed b/c i thought they would be like a larger version of the hoyo petit robusto, but the petit robusto is by far a superior blend imo, and a great stick for a 30 minute smoke.


does anyone else have problems keeping the humidity constant at every spot in your humidor? i.e., 65 up top and 59 in the bottom corner? i think the cedar dividers and trays make a huge difference, so i took mine out and have put two small elements in my large humidor that holds about 100 sticks in additon to the large element up top. i plan on rotating the sticks about once a month to combat this problem.

i wish i could get my hands on a davidoff element, but apparently they only come with davidoff humidors, which, are usually about $1K. apparently it's a perfect element that absorbs and releases and stays at a constant 70 percent humidity and requires less maintenance. i heard it's similar to some sort of stone, anyone ever seen one?


-Tex

Tex if you are having humidification issues I HIGHLY suggest checking out Heartfelt Industries and getting some humidifcation beads. About a pound will take care of 50 quarts of space, much much less for a desktop humidor. Once you humidify the beads they will keep the RH perfectly stable at whichever RH they are conditioned for (60,65,67.5,70 etc.). I use them in all my humis and only have to do maintenance once a month or so. If you are having problems beyond that with varying humidity in the humidor you may want to grab an oust fan, if you toss it in there it circulates the air and pretty much universally solves this problem.

I would agree with you on the current ELs but I would say the Bolivar Gold Medal (not technically an EL but previously a regional release) is a fantastic new cigar. Also, like you said, there are way more scumbag fake habanos dealers than legit dealers on the Internet. I can think of several off the top of my head. So definitely be careful, but there are also some reliable retailers out there..

funny you mentioned this. i had a humidor i hadn' opened up and seasoned last week that came with an element that has beads in it. it's been the most consistent of my three humidors by far.

i smoked a monte #2 last night, the pyramides. wow. awesome smoke. sometimes its hard to find a stick with such construction that allows an even burn and a big draw, but this was the one. vanilla, slight hints of leather, just an all around favorite-tobacco flavor stick. highly reccomend it even if you have to pay between $15-$20/stick, it's worth it. took me about an hour and 15 minutes to finish, and i was thrilled having only paid less than $15 for mine.

also, yes, to reitterate, the bolivar gold medal is a fantastic stick.

im off to dinner with a cohiba siglo VI. tomorrow i'm going to smoke my genios. envy me



-Tex

although rather hard to find and a bit pricey i would recommend maximus much better than opus X, my other favorite is La Aurora Perforido #2. My standard smoke is excalibur maduro #3.

mmmm....leather. ?????

I'm thinking of buying a box of cigars or two for Christmas. I've never ordered online before. Anyone know of a site with good deals? I like brands like CAO, padron, upmann, montecristo, etc.

Question 1:

i got a humidor as a gift a couple months ago and tried to condition it by putting standing tap water in a for a week. the included crappy hygrometer didn't get above 40% so i microwaved the water till it was almost boiling, then put it in. it spiked to about 70% but quickly fell. i did this multiple times. always went back to 40%. i've had 20 cigars in there, or should i say "sticks", for a couple months, with an open bottle of cigar fluid, and it's never got above 40%. you guys think it's really at 70% or so? Or are my cigars dry? How can you tell? Should I do the sponge?

Question 2:

Do you guys spit while smoking? I had a repeater tonight on my porch. I don't smoke much, but when I do, I'm spitting constantly. I don't smoke too often, and started in high school, when spitting was just as cool as smoking cigars. Am I doing this out of habit, or do all cigar smokers spit? I noticed this because it made it hard to sip on my whiskey. As for the quality of the cigar I had, I bought a bunch of cigars when I got my humidor, some cheap some expensive. I forgot which were which, so I guess I got the cheap one.

Question 3:

Exactly where should I buy a digital hygrometer. I checked radioshack, where guids said he bought his, and they only had an outdoor, combo thermometer thing. Probably not what i'm looking for.

Question 4:

I tried sucking some smoke in through my nose like limon does, and it burned like a mofo. How many people do this? I normally try to avoid this situation, by breathing oxygen into my lungs only when the cigar isn't near my face. Can you guys actually breathe normally with a cigar hanging out of your mouth? That smoke coming of the end of the cigar, and through your nose doesn't bother you?

Question 2: There are about 5 of us that regularly smoke together, only one is a spitter.

Go to cheaphumidors.com for digital hygrometers and tips on making sure its calibrated. I'd link to the specific tip but tinyurl is down.

If you live in a dry climate I'd add HUMI-CARE Crystal Gel or something similar (in addition to the Humidifier that comes with the humidor).

I never spit.

~ Rick

famoussmoke.com
cigarsinternational.com
seriouscigars.com
tampahumidor.com
holts.com
tinderbox.com
jrcigars.com

Searching those sites for the best prices on the cigars you want should be a good start. I haven't found one site that has the best prices on all cigars, you gotta shop around.

I spit alot when I smoke good cigars. It just makes the saliva sit in my mouth