Reviving old cigars

[SledZeppelin]

Just curious, can a well maintained humidor revive really old cigars? Whats the point of no return for an old/dried out cigar?

And maybe for kicks, whats the oldest cigar you personally have made smokable again?

 

[jjirons69]

Supposedly so. It takes some time. You want to do it slowly. If subjected to big humidity changes to hasten the process, they may/will split.

I tried to revive an old AF a buddy had in a box in his closet. Probably a year old in house humidity (40-50%). It had already dried a little and was cracking. It tasted like ass even after 6 months of resting.

 

[icehog3]

Cigars lose a lot of their oils when they completely dry out, so even if they become "smokable", they will likely never be what they once were, or even close. This can depend on how long and in what conditions they were stored.

Many people will say "Go for it", and if you have the room and the desire, you can. Perosnally, I wouldn't waste the time or effort if they are long gone.

 

[chibnkr]

Yes...sometimes (There are a lot of old posts on the subject, FWIW.)

It just depends on how long they have been unhumidified. Sometimes they are just too far gone. If you can't revive them, just trash them and buy another box. Life is too short to mess around with / smoke underwhelming cigars. JMHO, though.

 

[Akicita]

To make a long story short, a buddy of mine gave me a humidor FULL of cigars that he let sit for about 6 months with no humidifier. Over the last four months I have been slowly trying to bring them back by puting them in a 65% humi. I smoked a couple this week and they arent bad, the wrappers are not dry anymore and none of the wrappers split. The fact that he stored them in a dank, cold basement may have been their saving grace. I wasnt going to even try but there were 75 high end NC's, and about 50 CC's, all had about 5-6 years of proper care and 6 months with no moisture. Ive heard several different ways to bring them back, but most advice was to let them sit with proper humitity as long as a couple years. I dont know if they will ever be what they once were but so far, so good. Good luck!!:ss

 

[SledZeppelin]

he let 50 CCs just dry up?! I've been lucky enough to smoke 2 and they were awesome!

 

[pyrodrummer]

i have heard that you can do it. but like what was said before, you have to do it slowly. if they were mine and they were beyond saving, i would just toss them. or make fire starter out of them.

 

[Rolando]

. I wasnt going to even try but there were 75 high end NC's, and about 50 CC's, all had about 5-6 years of proper care and 6 months with no moisture. Ive heard several different ways to bring them back, but most advice was to let them sit with proper humitity as long as a couple years. I dont know if they will ever be what they once were but so far, so good. Good luck!!:ss

I doubt much if any damage was done in the first place. It was only 6 months and they were kept in a humidor so the loss would have been very slow. The humidor was in a basement that was probably high humidity too. I think the people giving you the advice are being over-cautious. If they have rested for 4 months with no cracking light 'em up. If a problem shows up then give it more time.

 

[TOB9595]

Cigars lose a lot of their oils when they completely dry out, so even if they become "smokable", they will likely never be what they once were, or even close. This can depend on how long and in what conditions they were stored.

Many people will say "Go for it", and if you have the room and the desire, you can. Perosnally, I wouldn't waste the time or effort if they are long gone.

I agree
The time I have wasted bring sticks back is tremendous.
Lovingly bring it back and it tastes like crap.
Tom

 

[jaymz]

I have a couple of davidoffs a friend of mine gave me that had been sitting in an old humidor untended to for an unknown period of time. I've had them sitting in the back of my humidor for about 6 months now. i figure i won't try smoking one for at least another 6 months. it'll be interesting to see if they are worth it or not.

 

[spectrrr]

I'm curious as to the point of no return also...
what would 5 years in a humidor at 45% house humidity do to them?

more importantly, if they were in an almost airtight tube, would this slow the loss of oils any?

I ask because have a pile of cigars that were sitting for 5 years (in a humidor, 40-50% room humidity) before ownership passed to me. some of the nicer ones were in tubes (metal and glass). everything was dried up. 9 months of gentle rehumidification has left me with a pile of ok looking sticks... and a newbie's unrefined palate that keeps playing shadow games trying to guess how much damage was done to the cigars, and its awful hard to
take stock" of your humidor if your not sure about the quality of 30% of it....

 

[Akicita]

he let 50 CCs just dry up?! I've been lucky enough to smoke 2 and they were awesome!

Thats the long part of the story, it has to do with a divorce, a long child custody battle, and the deep depression he went into after.

One thing I forgot to mention is that when I recieved them, they were not brittle dry and they did still have an oily sheen to them. Now, looking at them, they look really good and feel like velvet. I will post some pictures as soon as I get home today.