Panic Mode: Holes in the cigar box!
 

Happy New Year everyone!

As I am in a quasi-panic mode, I will do the formalities later. Basically today I noticed 2-3 pin-sized holes on the edges of a box of 12 Trinidad Reyes. Oops! I live in Edmonton, AB - in Canada! - and have the luxury of getting Habanos here.

On the front of the box:

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1388737268



Opening the box, the holes are burrowed in the panels just underneath:

Top hole:

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1388737268

Bottom hole:

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1388737473



Anyways, The pictures are quite explanatory. I received this box and few others 3 days ago and they were brought directly from Cuba last Friday and sitting in Ziploc bags without any humidification till I got them New Year'd Eve! I really didn't pay close attention to this or the other boxes when I received them. I usually store all the sealed boxes in my 500 cc display humidor -bought and seasoned over one week ago - and use Cigar Oasis XL plus for humidification at 70Rh.

The boxes I open, I prop it open with a matchstick and leave the cigars in the boxes. So I smoked one and put the box propped open back in the humidor. Then I had this urge of looking at the production date and that's when I saw those hellish! holes. I have never encountered cigar/tobacco beetles but I've been warned a plenty and looked at enough -heartbreaking and painstaking - pictures of beetle-infested cigars.

I inspected all the cigars and they are all intact and no holes or burrows in them. I inspected another box - from the same delivery - and I saw one of those holes on the edge of another box. Then I was near panicking! Basically I was thinking of emptying my humidor, wipe it clean, taking the cigars out - even thinking of the deep-freeze beetle-kill method -.

As I was breathing shallower and my head in a frenzy; I remembered I have a smaller 100 CC Milano Humidor with couple of boxes of Habanos in it. For that one, I use the smaller Oasis Ultra and 70Rh. So I am taking the boxes out and notice same pin-sized hole, relatively in the same location on of the other boxes! As alarming as this was, there was a bit of relief as the latter box has been sitting sealed in my humidor for over few month and so far no beetle infections.

Yet I worry, did I unleash this hellish armies of cigar beetles into my new humidor? Will it burrow holes in the cedar of my humidor? Has anyone encountered these before?

Any help or comment is most appreciated.

Re: Panic Mode: Holes in the cigar box!
 

Cigar Beetles eat cigars not the wood, actually Spanish cedar is a repellent for them so if your cigars look fine you really have nothing to worry about with what looks like pin holes on the boxes, though as cigars sold inside cuba are not frozen like those for export I would freeze any cigars I receive before putting them with the rest of my stash.

On another small point your barcode/seal is over your health warning sticker and since there is such a fake problem in canada I would really be more worried about the authenticity than beetles.

Re: Panic Mode: Holes in the cigar box!
 

Seems someone put a nail in it thinking it was a dress box, but on the wrong side of the box as that is the hinge side, then realized which side to put it on, then realized it is not a dress box.
Hard to make out from close up but also appears that the warranty label is not placed properly, as appears on angle and not folding over on the shield as should. A better photo would help.

Re: Panic Mode: Holes in the cigar box!
 

Carlos is wise, and old.