So I just smoked the first out of a 5 pack Cohiba & 5 Graycliff deal from CI....as I peeled the label off, I saw this super suspect hole...in terrified as I have them stashed in my humidor with approximately 80-90 more cigars....
Please someone tell me it’s just an imperfection either hid by or caused by the label? Also apologize for the big pic but am hoping it will help you guys see detail...if it IS beetles, I’ve only had the cohibas and gray cliffs in humidor for about 5-6 days, should I just freeze them or everything??
Many many thanks in advance for any advice/help provided!!
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Probably a beetle hole. Look for the sticky on freezing cigars and the science behind it.
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Yup, freeze 'em. Even if there aren't live beetles in there it'll give you peace of mind.
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Yeah I was just reading that last week but there are a few things I’m still unsure about...
1.) does this mean all my cigars are contaminated or just ones one this shipment and 2.) I don’t have vacuum seal bags, but do have freezer bags, will they work, and I’m guessing the idea is to keep it dry inside of the bag when it goes in fridge/freezer? I’m assuming it would be bad to send it in with a bovida in the bag?
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A zip lock is fine. Remove most of the air. No boveda or similar unless you really want to see your cigars explode.

If the cigars are in the original box and they haven't been there for a long time, I'd just do the new ones.

In all likelihood, there isn't a live beetle in the box. Better safe than sorry, tho.
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Excellent, thank you so much Markem for answering my questions, it’s a huge help and a real piece of mind to know they aren’t all, in all likelihood, compromised....I will be doing spot checks from this point forward to be certain though...
Man, I was kind of just reading that sticky because I’m a new member here, wasn’t expecting it to actually happen to me so soon, I was kind of under the impression that beetles aren’t necessarily a common thing :/
But again thanks to everyone in this thread for your help, it is very much appreciated!.
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I always put a Boveda in the bag. Done so 100s of times. No problem. When I take the bag out, I keep it sealed for a few days as everything equalizes.

One additional thing. If the suspect cigars made it into your humidor, it should be cleaned as thoroughly as you can.
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I freeze EVERY cigar that I receive, whether its from a shop or from a BOTL (unless I am going to smoke it in a day or so, and then I keep it segregated in a ziplock anyway). I saw some real beetle destruction of about 120 cigars in a friends humidor years ago. Scary stuff, better safe than sorry!
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The beetle is long gone, Graycliff hid the beetle hole in the tobacco under the label. I’ve seen this many times. Graycliff has had beetle problems in the past and is the source of one of my three beetle episodes, R.I.P. Graycliff Espresso.

I wouldn’t worry but clean out the box by wiping it down with a damp cloth and use distilled water only. Check out

https://video.cigaraficionado.com/pl...obacco_Beetles
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Truth be told Weelock, the cigar with the hole was actually a Cohiba...but yes it seemed a little convienent that the hole was perfectly covered by the label. (Hmmm...)
I made sure to wipe down the box last night...I saw one tiny speck of black that wiped away easily but otherwise no real indication of beetles (from what I’ve read and what I saw in the video you posted...)
Currently the red dots and the graycliffs are isolated in a separate freezer bag with a Bovida and I’ll probably start them in the refrigerator before bed then in the freezer tomorrow after work...
I’m defibitely concerned about them drying out however, so I’m going to take Wharf’s recommendation and send them in with a pack.
The 5&5 deal was only $50 to which I thought, hey, what a steal right? But I’m starting to wonder if there wasn’t a reason they were listed for such a low price (they also were a tad dry when they arrived in all honesty.)
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This!
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I had beetles once but it lasted longer than it needed to because I didn't clean the Heartfelt Beads. The beetles went to the place they could get moisture (the beads) and although I wiped down he humidor and froze the offending cigars they persisted. I finally got it under control and had no problems since because just like Brlesq, I freeze everything I get now, no matter what! So my recommendation is that you ALSO check whatever humidification device you are using because they hid there.
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:-) *Cue Psycho shower scene music*
Puffing on a Camacho Corojo atm but will go up and inspect my humidor’s humidification device as soon as I’m done, thanks for the tip JJKJR!
The Cohibas & Graycliffs are going in the freezer tonight after spending all day in the fridge...will do another thorough inspection of the humidor while I’m at it...
I will report back if and when I have any more updates...and much appreciation for all the input, you guys have been extremely helpful!
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*UPDATE*
Hey all!! A good Saturday to each and every fellow inmate..
Wanted to provide an update/conclusion to this thread in case any of you were wondering....the cigars survived the refrigeration/freezing/refrigeration perfectly!! In case anyone has the same problem in the future and reads this for reference, I went ahead and added a bovida pack to the freezer bag with the stogies, because I had a real fear of them drying out! I am happy to report there were no complications that resulted due to the bag...
Cigars are now back in the humidor getting all nice a cozy & snuggling up to their brethren...also happy to report that there have been no signs whatsoever of beetles in my humidor :-)
One final enormous THANK YOU to everyone that posted in this thread and helped me through this incident, I am so glad that I found and decided to join this community! :-)
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Thanks for the closing information and so happy it’s a success story! Your now in the elite freeze club where the membership price is a beetle hole at the minimum and all the way up to cigars as beetle buffet items.

The bit on them hiding in the humidification element was disheartening as the dang beetle are more clever then I imagined.

Thanks for posting.
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Glad you had success, Michael! :-)
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Freeze errrthang.

24 hrs in the fridge, 48 hrs in the freezer, 24 hrs in the fridge, and into the humi. Never had a beetle problem yet.
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