newb questions

[Trout Bum]

Okay, I like cigars; I know next to nothing about them. I do know that at the right place, right time, a good cigar cannot be beat. I am looking to start getting some stogies to try, but I have a VERY limited budget...

Questions:

Do I HAVE to have a humidor? Are there other methods of storage? I eventually want one, just can't afford one right now.

This guy at work has been giving me Macanudo Portofino cigars... they come in a tube. Do I need a humidor to store them? How about in a zip loc inside of an air tight container?

Suggestions on where to start... regarding inexpensive, yet decent quality cigars. I would like to try some full body stoges, as well as medium and light. (ha!)

Thanks in advance!

 

[absent]

For storage - Lock N Lock boxes - air tight water tight - put a humi stick in with the gars and get it to the right humidity and they should be set without too much bother on your part. Keep them somewhere dark.

Cigarbid is a great place to find good deals on cigars - just BE PATIENT and check out CHIMP. Really - be patient - those deals will come around again. Pay what you want to pay - to a certain degree.


After you've succumb to the devil that is Cigarbid look into a coolerdor.

 

[Dutch]

Humidors can range in price from $20 to $5000 depending on the brand or whether they are antique. In the meantime while you are deciding what type of spanish cedar lined humidor you want to invest in, simply buy yourself a tupperware style container. Ziplock bags are not a good choice for storage of more than a day or so.

Go to ebay and put in a search for humidity beads. You can buy a half pound for $8. Put these inside a small jar or similar container and place them inside your humidor. Use only distilled water to charge them and drain off any excess water not absorbed by the beads before putting the jar in the humidor. You may need more than one container of humidity beads depending on the size of your humidor. Buy beads that are advertised to hold your humidity between 65% and 70%. Keeing your sticks humidified can be very simple if done using a quality humidor or airtight container.

As for the tubos, yes they need to be stored in tupperware or a humidor. I usually crack the top on the tubos and place them inside my humidor

As for where to buy, I rarely buy from any company online other than Cigars International. They sell everything you need including humidors and humidity beads, and their prices are very competitive.

http://www.cigarsinternational.com/index.asp

Also, some great advice is to get to know your local tobacconist and the guys who hang out there in the smoking room. I purchase single sticks that are too expensive for me to buy in box quantitities from my local tobacconist, as well as new sticks I've never sampled. I also buy all my pipe tobacco there as my local tobacconist's prices on pipe tobacco are very competitive.

As for recommendations on quality sticks, my favorite brand is Camacho. Some other brands I enjoy are Kristoff, Arturo Fuente, Perdomo, Oliva, Cohiba, Don Tomas, and anything blended by Don Pepin Garcia.

My favorite discount stick right now is the La Estrella Cubana Oscuro. You can find these on the Cigars International site by the box for $2 apiece. I prefer the torpedo shape.

Your palate is going to change with the number of cigars you smoke. Pretty soon you will be ready to smoke a full bodied Camacho to the nub without a break.

 

[Hunter5117]

Storing your stogies can be pretty basic. I have a couple of classic wood humidors but find that they don't hold the humidity very well and if you don't remember to fill them weekly then they dry out. The absolute best I have found is a coleman cooler. Pretty much any size to suit the size of your collection. The ones with some sort of clamp to hold the lid closed is likely the best, but 1 of mine is just friction fit and works fine.

The secret is to put a good humidifying device inside. Rather than pay good money for a commercial one, make your own.

1. Go to Wallymart or a florist shop and buy a block of the green florist foam, the kind that will absorb water (one kind is non-absorbant and won't work).
2. Go to drugstore and buy a bottle of propolyne glycol. There are likely other sources but the drugstore will be food grade as it is used for preparing different medicines. It is not a prescription product but some druggists may give you a hard time, I have found the local mom and pop drugstores the best sources. If you get a big bottle then it will last a long time.
3. Prepare a 50:50 mixture of the PG and water, some use distilled, I generally just use tap water. The relative humidity of a 50:50 mixture is 70%, so that this mixture will maintain the humidity in the cooler at exactly the proper level for ideal stogie storage.
4. Saturate a block of the foam with the solution - a small cooler likely only needs 1/4 to 1/2 of the brick of foam, for a big cooler I usually use the whole brick (brick is probably 2"x4"x10" approx). I usually set the block in a small disposable Glad container or something like that to catch any seepage.
5. Put the humidifier device you just made inside your cooler and fill it up with cigars. The PG solution should give up water and/or absorb excess humidity to maintain 70% RH inside the cooler. If you are in and out of the cooler a lot, you will eventually need to add more water to replace what has escaped. You can buy a digital RH meter (Radioshack) or just go by feel, you can tell when the foam is feeling light due to water loss. The PG does not evaporate so it will stay in the block forever, just the water needs to be replaced. I have coolers that I only go into once or twice a year and they have been at 70% for up to 2 years before I need to put more water into the foam.

Sorry for the long reply but this makes for a great way to keep your cigars in perfect shape. I have some that I stored in coolers like this 15 years ago and they are still perfect. One warning, if you let the cooler get too warm then the RH will go higher than 70% and you can start to get mold. 70F should be the warmest you let this get.

 

[Hermit]

Couple of things:
Be sure the Floral foam does not contain flower preservative.
I would use distilled water.


I now use Heartfelt beads.
http://heartfeltindustries.com/products.asp?cat=65%25+Rh+Humidity+Beads

 

[Trout Bum]

Wow, lots of excellent info, gents. Thanks to all who posted, this gives me plenty to chew on!

 

[ZeroContent]

Depending on your definition of "inexpensive". I'll go for middle of the road 8 dollars at B&M about 5 bucks each online.

Light:
Fonseca Vintage (These guys came out of no where but at just over 4 bucks a stick for the Vintage they're good value. Don't get Series F, those aren't so good)
Cusano 18 Connecticut wrapper.
Rocky Patel Vintage Connecticut 1999 (this one is a finger burner for sure)


A few medium smokes
Oliva Serie 'G' Cameroon. (Oliva has good bang for the buck. about 4 bucks online)
CAO L'Anniversaire Cameroon (bit more expensive but damn tasty.)

Fulls:
Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 and 1992 and Decade (these three cigars I would smoke all day everyday if I had the money)


I've also had good experiences with 5 Vegas (said Cinco Vegas) cigars. The classic and gold are both good values at about 3 bucks a stick so the others might be worth wild too.

As far as humidors you can check out www.cheaphumidors.com they have some 100 counts for about 60 bucks. My wife got me a display one from there and I'm quite happy with it though you can run out of space quickly. I tend to hold onto cigars for at least a year before smoking them but some have been in there for 6 years. If you get some Macanudo Gold Labels (which I believe is now the Cafe line) and lay them down for about 3 years, they're exquisite, i find them a bit harsh when young. Same with Gurkha Master's Selects, harsh as hell young, but 3 years and they're spectacular. Optimum aging is at the 70/70 rule. 70% relative humidity at 70*F. Good luck.

 

[Trout Bum]

Zero C - Thanks for the info bro! Man, those smokes you listed sound tasty...

 

[Diesel]

A lot of good info stated above.

I will second the heartfelt beads recommendation, I have found nothing better. If you aren't looking for a piece of furniture or large long term storage, well sealed tupperware or a jar will do.

As for full, moderately priced cigars, I would look into: Oliva V, Padron, and Camacho Corojo.

Medium and moderately priced: Fuente, Perdomo, La Aroma de Cuba.

I tend to stay away from any cigar with a cuban name, that is not from cuba such as: Montecristo, Partagas, H.Uppman, Bolivar, Por Laranaga, Romeo y Julietta.....but that is just me. As they are not terrible, I have found my money being better spent elsewhere. I have had a few La Gloria Cubana and Saint Luis Rey that were not crazy on the price and nice to my palette, but walking into a large humidor, they would be one of the last I would go for.

Now if you don't mind spending a few more bucks on a cigar .. any cigar from Tatuaje, Cabiguan, Don Pepin Garcia, Opus X, Ashton VSG, Viaje, Padron Anniversary, Illusione......just to name a few.