A story and a question

[jakesmokes]

So I went to an auction this weekend.. apparently a cigar shop owner had passed away and they were auctioning off all his stock and accessories. So I picked up what looks like about 6k worth of cigars for about 400 bucks. 8 boxes of arturo fuente (royal salute, various long fillers, etc).. A few boxes of Henry Clay, Royal Jamaica, and some Don Diego. The boxes had been left in a garage for about 6 moths or so without humidity. So.. I figured they would be crap. But I opened the boxes of AF and they were in pretty good shape.. just a little dry. Best part was, every cigar in every box had seriously yellowed cello. So they were well aged cigars. I was stunned. I wound up with about 1000 cigars for under a dollar each. The AFs were the real find. Totally smokeable aged cigars. They are a tad dry though. Just a tad. Any tips for re-seasoning the cigars? I have them all in my humidor now resting at 68%. Should I remove them from the cello? Or should I just leave them as they are? All the boxes are in the humidor with the lids cracked. Should I do more? Also.. how long should I let them rest? A couple months?

They auction house has about 400 pretty high quality pipes and more cigars to bring to auction in about 2 weeks. They do internet bidding.. if you are interested let me know and I can send you a link.

Here is a pic :-)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8014/7674767684_866b252e05.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8014/7674767684_866b252e05.jpg

[SvilleKid]

I'd go with what you are doing. You don't want to bring them up any faster than what you currently appear to be doing. I'd leave them in the cellos, leave lids propped open, and give them several months to regain their humidity. But, keep a close eye on your humidity. That many cigars pulling in humidity will draw down the humidor's moisture.

Good luck with the cigars!!

[BlkDrew]

Congrats on the great hull. I'm sure they will be enjoyable.

[mosesbotbol]

Leave them as is and just wait it out until they are back to "normal". Looks like Dunhill's pre cigarboom USA catalog you have on your table.

[68TriShield]

I'd go with what you are doing. You don't want to bring them up any faster than what you currently appear to be doing. I'd leave them in the cellos, leave lids propped open, and give them several months to regain their humidity. But, keep a close eye on your humidity. That many cigars pulling in humidity will draw down the humidor's moisture.

Good luck with the cigars!!

I agree with Cliff.Nice catch there :)

[OLS]

Keep in mind that yello cello is not always good...
One thing a neglected cigar will do before it dries out is release the oils in the wrapper.
If they dried out in his garage, the cello could possibly be yellow owing to the neglect.
All that said, those are some of the best smoking cigars of the past 20 years. The Henry
Clay are superb cheap cigars. The Royal Jamaica aren't EVEN MADE the same way anymore
and that box is going to give you a real treat if they are good. The Montecruz, ehhh, they
are not terrible, but they are the dud of the lot, IMO. In fact they might as well head to
the war zone. Your mileage may definitely vary. I am not a fan. But while you may be
tempted to believe the Arturo Fuente are the real steal, it will take you all of about one
smoke before you realize its REALLY the Royal Jamaica that are the best boxes you got.

[md4958]

You might consider brining up the humidity a bit slower than tossing them in at 68%. Rapid re-humidification might causes the feet to swell, and or wrapper bursting. I know, unfortunately, from experience. I would try to get them back up to 68% over the couse of maybe 6 months, as thats about how long they were out of humidity for.

Also, as they were not kept cool, keep a vigilant eye out for beetles.

Nice grab, and good luck with them! :tu

[ChicagoWhiteSox]

You might consider brining up the humidity a bit slower than tossing them in at 68%. Rapid re-humidification might causes the feet to swell, and or wrapper bursting. I know, unfortunately, from experience. I would try to get them back up to 68% over the couse of maybe 6 months, as thats about how long they were out of humidity for.

Also, as they were not kept cool, keep a vigilant eye out for beetles.

Nice grab, and good luck with them! :tu

I agree with Moe, I've had some gifted cigars that were pretty old and that were extremely dried out swell pretty bad after I threw them into one of my desktops..

[mosesbotbol]

Put boxes in a ziplock bag sealed in the humidor for a month. 2nd month open the bags. 3rd month take them out.

[jakesmokes]

Put boxes in a ziplock bag sealed in the humidor for a month. 2nd month open the bags. 3rd month take them out.

Wouldn't that prevent humidity from getting to the cigars if the zip locks are closed?

[jakesmokes]

Keep in mind that yello cello is not always good...
One thing a neglected cigar will do before it dries out is release the oils in the wrapper.
If they dried out in his garage, the cello could possibly be yellow owing to the neglect.
All that said, those are some of the best smoking cigars of the past 20 years. The Henry
Clay are superb cheap cigars. The Royal Jamaica aren't EVEN MADE the same way anymore
and that box is going to give you a real treat if they are good. The Montecruz, ehhh, they
are not terrible, but they are the dud of the lot, IMO. In fact they might as well head to
the war zone. Your mileage may definitely vary. I am not a fan. But while you may be
tempted to believe the Arturo Fuente are the real steal, it will take you all of about one
smoke before you realize its REALLY the Royal Jamaica that are the best boxes you got.

I've never had Royal Jamaicas before. I tried one and wasn't used to the flavor. I will smoke a few more and see. The one I did smoke was a buccaneer I think, it was real small and thin. Maybe the corona, churchill and double coronas will be better.

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

[massphatness]

Wouldn't that prevent humidity from getting to the cigars if the zip locks are closed?

No - it will just get to the cigars much more slowly; which is kinda the point of the exercise

[jakesmokes]

Ok thanks, I will try it.

[CRIMPS]

Nice score. Hope that works out.

[pektel]

Nice score! You are braver than me. I don't know if I would've pulled the trigger on cigars that were sitting in a garage for 6 months.

Put boxes in a ziplock bag sealed in the humidor for a month. 2nd month open the bags. 3rd month take them out.

Is this part of the rule of 3's?

[shilala]

I also agree with Moe. I wouldn't throw 68% at them right off the git.
You can check the smokes very easily by putting them in the ziplock and tossing a hygrometer in there. See where they're at and bring the RH up a little a month at a time, slow but sure.
I'd keep them way down around 60% for the finished product, maybe 63% maximum. I'd actually try them all along the way and stop increasing the RH when they were smoking nice. If that was at 55%, that's where I'd keep them.
The less you have to mess with these, the better they'll perform for you. :tu

[jluck]

What was RH of purchase location?

[Mr. Ed]

Keep in mind that yello cello is not always good...
One thing a neglected cigar will do before it dries out is release the oils in the wrapper.
If they dried out in his garage, the cello could possibly be yellow owing to the neglect.
All that said, those are some of the best smoking cigars of the past 20 years. The Henry
Clay are superb cheap cigars. The Royal Jamaica aren't EVEN MADE the same way anymore
and that box is going to give you a real treat if they are good. The Montecruz, ehhh, they
are not terrible, but they are the dud of the lot, IMO. In fact they might as well head to
the war zone. Your mileage may definitely vary. I am not a fan. But while you may be
tempted to believe the Arturo Fuente are the real steal, it will take you all of about one
smoke before you realize its REALLY the Royal Jamaica that are the best boxes you got.

I had a chance to smoke a few of the old school Royal Jamaica's from a guy who got a couple of boxes at an estate/liquidation sale for a former B&M owner. From what I remember, very interesting mild to medium flavor.

[mosesbotbol]

Is this part of the rule of 3's?

Have no idea? I thought that sounded like a gentile plan to bring the cigars back.

[md4958]

Is this part of the rule of 3's?

The extended version :D

Somewhat inside joke Moses

[lenguamor]

FREEZE them! For your others cigars' sake, and for your sanity.

[pektel]

Have no idea? I thought that sounded like a gentile plan to bring the cigars back.

The extended version :D

Somewhat inside joke Moses

Yep. Just having a little fun. :tu

[BC-Axeman]

What was RH of purchase location?
Yeah, and of your location. Prbly about 30-40%? I would slowly bring them back by putting them in a sealed container with a hygrometer and no added humidity to find out what they stabilize at, then start adding humidity a little at a time.
I have had some of the best and worst cigars I've smoked come from old stash like this.

[jakesmokes]

RH of the purchase location and where I am at is usually around 40-45%.

Freezing all of these will take months.. I can only fit a couple of boxes in my freezer at a time, unfortunately.

I am going to get some 2G ziplock bags and put them in there. I could also dial down my RH a bit.. but I don't want to go too low since I have other cigars in there.

[pektel]

I'd quarantine them in a cooler. keep the restoration project separate from your other cigars. well worth the cost of the cooler if you need to purchase one.
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[whodeeni]

I would take Scott's advice if I were you.