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The Cigar Adviser
Published in: May 1, 1998
Published May/June 1998
The Cigar AdviserQ: I sent a photograph of my father and me with cigars, fishing in Canada last year. It never ran. How do you choose your photographs to run in the magazine? And, could I have mine back? It is a valuable photo.
Mitch Cabot
Chicago, Illinois
A: We're addressing this question here because it is being asked with increasing frequency. While we are printing more pages of photographs, we are receiving more as well. We love the pictures, and we will try to print as many as we can, but it's time for a few guidelines. Why? Because in any two-month period, we receive 400 or more photographs, of which we can only publish about 5 to 10 percent.
Now, the selection process. An editor sorts through all the photos. Selection is mostly subjective, but there is a simple criteria of quality that must be met. Red-eyed, poorly focused, dimly lit, or unflatteringly posed pictures are immediately rejected. The editor tries to achieve a mix of different scenes and locales. Well-composed or unusual photographs run a better chance of catching his eye, but they must be tasteful and not too off the wall. And of course, cigars (preferably lit) must play a role. Oh--and forget about babies/children/dogs/ cats/fish with cigars. We've seen them all, and we won't run them.
If you want the photo returned, you must send a self-addressed, stamped envelope with explicit instructions that it be returned. It's simply too cumbersome otherwise. In your case, Mitch, we'll try to find the photo and send it back.
Our only plea is this: keep 'em coming. It's one of the best examples of how connected Cigar Aficionado readers are to their magazine.
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Q: I have a nice, though inexpensive, humidor in which I cannot seem to achieve a 70 percent humidity reading on my hygrometer. My cigars seem soft enough, and I'm not apparently in danger of losing them. How can I get the humidity level up? For the sake of this question, let's assume I'm measuring the humidity accurately.
Lawrence Ginsberg, M.D.
Houston, Texas
A: I can't make that assumption, because if your cigars are supple and soft to the touch, then you've got the right humidity level. I've had a similar humidor that for the life of me, I haven't been able to get its built-in hygrometer above 60 percent. Yet the cigars are fine.
I suspect that your hygrometer is wrong, which is not uncommon with the analog models. These dial-type gauges, though attractive, are often wildly inaccurate. (The analog in one of our editor's humidors consistently measures 25 to 30 percent higher than the actual humidity level.) I suggest purchasing a digital model, which is usually accurate within a few points. And the simple touch rule should apply to all your cigar storage: if the cigars feel right and smoke right, ignore the hygrometer, because the danger is that you will end up overhumidifying your cigars and run the risk of mold.
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Q: When I buy individual cigars, some are wrapped, in cellophane or tissue paper or tubes or cedar. Should I remove all packaging before putting them in the humidor? And does the size of a cigar really affect its taste and flavor? I've noticed that even cigars of the same brand get different comments in the tasting reports. How does that work?
M. B. Baria
West Windsor, New Jersey
A: The only packing material I wouldn't remove is a cedar wrapper; the cedar can impart good flavors and aromas to the cigar over time. You may want to test a few, because I find there is a point of diminishing return; sometimes the woodiness can begin to overpower the tobacco. But that can take five to 10 years. The other packing materials are generally there for protection or appearance, and contribute nothing to the cigar's aging if it's going into a properly humidified and temperature-regulated humidor.
A cigar tube is great if you keep the seal intact and you don't have a humidor. A cigar will maintain proper humidity for years in a properly sealed metal tube. (If the seal is broken, the tube is useless for out-of-the-humidor storage.) But cellophane, while capable of preserving moisture for a while, usually deteriorates quickly enough that air passes through the wrapping, and therefore all it does is hinder the natural flow of moisture and air that help a cigar to age properly, without protecting your smokes.
There is another factor, however, that can overrule that advice: if you are mixing many different brands in the same small humidor, then keep the cellophane on (though you may consider snipping off the ends to help with aging). While the individual cigars won't age as well, neither will they acquire the flavors and aromas of the cigars around them.
In answer to your second question, while most manufacturers try to create a consistent taste throughout all sizes of a brand, it is almost impossible to do so all of the time. A cigar's taste is the sum of its tobaccos. When you start adding tobacco leaves to make a cigar thicker, you alter the proportion of the leaves used in the blend. Since most premium hand-rolled cigars use four, five or even six different leaves in their blends (including the wrapper leaf and the binder), the proportions can change quite dramatically as you make a cigar thicker, sometimes creating a different taste.
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Q: I opened my humidor recently and saw a little bug scoot into a corner of the box. I removed and checked all my cigars, and couldn't find any beetle holes. I decided not to shock them in the freezer. The humidor is always maintained at 70 degrees and 70 percent humidity, and I always thought that if the temperature never got above 75, the bug larvae wouldn't hatch. Now my tobacconist tells me that it can happen at 70 degrees. Who's right, and what should I do with my cigars?
David Harris
Mount Prospect, Illinois
A: I've double-checked with our resident and outside experts on this subject. The level for hatching tobacco beetle larvae is from 72 degrees and up, but according to the experts, it simply won't happen under 72 degrees. In your case, there are several possibilities. If you've been placing new cigars in the box, the bug may have already been hatched--perhaps even in the car ride home if it got hot enough. It certainly doesn't sound as if you have a big infestation, so the beetle probably rode in on a single cigar. About not freezing your stash immediately, I'd say in this case it's probably OK, especially if you are extremely vigilant for the next few months.
But remember: even one tobacco beetle can do a great deal of damage. And don't give your tobacconist a hard time. By telling you 70 degrees, he's giving himself some assurance that you won't even get close to permitting the larvae to hatch.
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Q: I live in south Florida near the ocean and do not use air conditioning because of the sea breezes. I have an oak humidor with a cedar lining. I cannot get the humidity level below 100 percent. The temperature in the house stays in the 80s during the summer and cooler during the winter. What can I do to reduce the humidity to the proper level?
Donald Novotny
Pompano Beach, Florida
A: That's a fairly novel problem. You can turn on the air conditioning (it takes a lot of humidity out of the air while cooling it down), or less expensively, I would consider keeping your humidor, with a strong humidification unit, in the refrigerator. Otherwise, at the temperature and humidity levels you mention, you run the risk of a bug infestation or mold or both. If you're going to let your house get that warm everyday, you probably don't have any other choice.
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