Because it is a handmade product and the bands are put on as such there are always bands that will be some that are loose and some that are tight. Also variances from the time they are banded and smoked can result in shrinking or swelling cigars. :-)
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Unless your drybox is a running convection oven, an hour in a dry box is highly unlikely to do anything noticeable, especially in a humid climate. Cigars simply don't drop in moisture content that quickly under anything other than extreme circumstances.
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Last night after class i decided to smoke a cruzado while doing some readings, and these are some of the 5 total beetle holes i found in the cigar! :-)

Image

The cruzado was in a 25 count humidor of single NC sticks within my coolerador and after inspecting the rest of my stash i found no other issues. I did find a beetle crawling about the 25 count humi that contained the contaminated cigar, and he has met his maker

I have begun the freezing process with the remaining 20 or so sticks that were in the same humi as the cruzado and will keep an eye on the coolerador as a whole. However, I also have a couple of questions:

Do cellophane wrappers help protect cigars from beetles and/or impede beetle hatching?

After freezing, is it ok to smoke the cigar that had beetle holes in it or will it taste like beetle sh*t?

Thanks guys :-)
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Cellophane wrappers will not impede beetles.
...and smoke 'em.
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Thanks Tim!
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Okay....here's a REAL newbie question. How long will a cigar stay fresh in just the cellophane wrapper?(not in a humidor) From what I've read so far it will be several weeks from the time I receive my humidor until I can put the cigars in it. Also, do I take the cigars out of the cellophane when I put them in the humidor? Thanks in advance from an "Old dog that wants to learn new tricks".
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Cellophane is a preference it makes no difference on or off. If it came with cello I usually leave it on to protect the wrapper...if not I really don't care about it.

Yeah you're good to leave your sticks out until you get your humidor just let them rest for a few weeks in the humidor. I just zipbloc bagged all mine and used a straw to suck out the air in the bag. Vacuum seal them. Then put them anywhere COOL (60-65 degrees).
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yea, at the very minimum, put them in a zip lock baggie. A tupperware container with a good seal is ideal until your humidor comes in. Do you have any humidification beads at all? I wouldnt store them more than a couple weeks without water pillows or shilala's beads or some other type of cigar humidification.

J.R. - Head on over to the New Inmate Processing Area and introduce yourself to everyone! Welcome to the Asylum!
http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=7
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What causes a wrapper to split? I was smoking a face and the wrapper split all the way to the point where I could not smoke it any more, big bummer!
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Over humidification or extremely low humidification can cause this.

Also, rapid increase in RH rather than a gradual increase. This happens a lot during the humid summer months when you pull a smoke out of the humidor and take it outside into a higher ambient humidity.

I hope this helps.

~Mark
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:-)
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Been hearing this alot from The Face.
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Ill be letting my fiver rest a while then. Thanks!
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I did just get a new humidor but I really thought I had it seasoned right. It has been between 62-65% for 2 weeks now. When I put my cigars in it was at 70% but quickly went down to 65% after a few hours. I noticed last week some of my smokes were a little moist and were going out, so I dry boxed the face for about 2 days with a digital hygro that read 65% in the box. I'm smoking an NHC tat and it is smoking great right out of the humi so I am going to chalk it up to having to many changes in RH and try another one Saturday night. I was pretty pissed but this NHC is making it all better!
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I tried toasting and with a even burn but another important thing is having a great torch to keep the foot far away enough not to ruin the lighter like I did.

I have a Xikar but it never threw out a good flame. I'm going to see if they will give me a new one.
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Which Xikar do yo have. I often have to adjust the governor from the factory as many are set way too low. A very easy fix.
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Heck,

I don't know. It's a double flame where the flipper flips up when you push down on the front side. I don't have a model number.

But I'm glad you asked and got the box out with the instructions. Maybe it will tell me how to clean it. I have the flame adjusted all the way up.
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Sounds like the Element. The little silver cover you turn the gas with acts as the governor. Simply pop it off it's post and reposition it to get whatever level of flame you want.

:-)
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I went out to smoke a cigar today, a Cuabo lancero, and half way through I got an odd, tangy sour taste. Then I noticed that a light brown fluid was seeping through the end of the cigar that literally stained my fingers.

Any idea what this was and how it happened??
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Tar...the bubbling crude. It can be very nasty and very thick. It happens, although I am not sure why. For some reason I associate it with reduced air flow within a part of the cigar. :-)

I had a Diamond Crown maduro torpedo years ago that tar just poured out of. :-)
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