It happens to everyone, so don’t be shy. At some point in your cigar smoking career, you will eventually let a cigar go dry, or even your entire humidor. Don’t panic and throw the cigar(s) out. If the cigar is not too dried out, then there may be some hope yet. Even if you are not sure, you might as well try to save them if you can. Here is how to go about restoring dry cigars:
How to Restore a Dry Cigar
Rather than stick a dry cigar or two into your perfectly maintained humidor, you will want to use a spare humidor or an other seal-able container with a humidifier (ziplock bag will work fine.) You do not want to use a humidifier that has been completely recharged. Place the cigar or cigars in the container and let them absorb the small amount of humidity first. Let the cigars sit in the container for a few days. Then, partially fill the humidifier, and again, let the cigars sit in the container for around a week. Once a week has gone by, you can add the previously dried cigars to your fully charged humidor. Remember to let them sit for at least another week before enjoying them.
How to Restore a Humidor Worth of Dry Cigars
Basically, you are following the same process as listed above for a single or handful of cigars. However, due to the larger scale, this process could take well over a month to restore all of your dry cigars. The most important thing you can do when attacking this process is to make sure that your humidifier is not completely charged. Attempting to restore your cigars with a full humidifier will shock your cigars and ruin them completely.
Before lighting your cigar, check its firmness and visual characteristics. If it looks restored, it might very well be worth lighting up. Fire one of your cigars up, and check to see if they are right. Dry cigars burn hot, the wrapper falls apart, and it will taste bitter. If the cigar resembles any of these out of the ordinary characteristics, give your humidor another week. If all efforts are exhausted, bring your humidor in (if at all possible) and we can give your cigar stock a look for ourselves to see if all is lost. Contact Mr. G’s Cigar and Tobacco Shoppe
in Woodstock, GA if you have any other questions.
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