How important is spanish cedar? I have smoked a few cigars out of my little coleman, and all of them have tasted bitter to me. I cleaned out the cooler with soap and water and let it air for about a week before putting my cigars in. I have a some sheets that came off some cigars in there, along with some inserts from another box that i placed in there as well. I also added a small cigar box inside that i hope has some spanish cedar as well.

the cigars were:
CAO gold
Ashton Heriatage
Avo domain, signature and xo

and all had the same flavor profile, just out right bitter through and through. the AVO's and the CAO all came as a sampler package if that helps anything. i have moved the left over cigars into my humidor hoping to salvage them if there may be something wrong with the storage.

it has been cold here lately, the coleman is about 60 degrees while the RH is set at 65% using heartfelt beads. the beads are placed on the lid of the cooler and the size of the cooler is 9qt while using 2oz of beads.
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Your cooler setup sounds fine. It may just be the smokes dont suit your current tastes. Keep trying different sticks. Pay particular attention to the type of wrappers you choose. Maduros will have a bit more sweetness. Padron x000 maduros are a good decently priced stick. Try to avoid smoking sticks fresh off the truck, give them a few weeks to acclimate.

If you can make it up to Napa on the 24th we are having a herf and I am sure we can hook you up with a few smokes to try. :-)
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thanks for the advice. I have been trying many different cigars, and have noticed i am enjoying the darker (fuller bodied?) wrappers more. thank you for the invite, i saw your thread in the herf section. I will try to make it, just working out the details right now.

on another note, how close can cigars be kept to a humidification device, mainly beads?
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set up sounds god
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Wrapper color does not correlate to strength. Maduro is a very dark wrapper as is the sungrown Connecticut but with most blends they are not particularly strong. Most Camacho's are full bodied and full flavored.

If you have your beads in a tube, try not to put it next to a stick without cello. I have my tube at the top of my desktop near the tops of several sticks without problems.
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I think your setup is also okay. The only thing is I don't think most cigar boxes, at least the cheaper ones covered in paper panels with illustrations, are made of cedar at all. I don't know what wood they're made of, but I would still keep it in there. Cedar has a slightly sweet, kind of fruity aroma. It might be hard to smell when they're dried out (like in that stack of cigar boxes in the corner of your B&M), but is very noticable, almost "stinky" when wet or moist. If you want to add that "cedaryness" either get a bunch of the sheets that come in each box, or sometimes varnished boxes for high end cigars are lined with it, but not always.
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This sounds like it could be part (but not all) of the problem. How long did they sit for after you got them in?
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Some heavy duty smokers will tell you that too much spanish cedar, in a coolerdor or a tupperdor for instance can actually impact the flavour of your cigars. You can use a more traditional cedar will also do nicely (and cheaper) as far as improving the flavour of your cigars. Bitterness can sometimes be attributed to a poorly aged cigar, or a wet one too, so I would consider taking your Rh down to below 70-65 or so...(I set at 67) and that will also make your cigars more smokable too.
I dont know if this really helps...but have at it
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Sorry, but I will have to respectfully disagree about using NORMAL traditional cedar... that will impart MORE cedar taste to the cigars...

Might as well add mothballs while you are at it... :-):-)
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:-)

I wouldnt recommend that either. Traditional Cedar will ruin your sticks.

Spanish Cedar is actually a mis-nomer... its neither Spanish, nor Cedar.

Its actually from the mohogany family.
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I do not have any spanish cedar in my coolidor. Does a coolidor require cedar to maintain quality cigars?
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short answer would be no... not for short term.

Spanish cedar helps in maintaining a stable enviorment in that it soaks up and holds moisture. This way when you open the lid your coolerdor comes back to the appropriate RH% faster. That is why it is recommended that if you dont have your humi 70% or more filled, put some cedar blocks (or boxes in the larger cabinets and vinos) in there to help regulate RH%

For long term I would say it would only benefit your sticks to be surrounded by SPANISH cedar
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Nope. The only cedar I have in mine are the boxes the cigars came in and all of them are not cabinets.
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Normal cedar is great for storing you sweaters in or lining your sauna with, but I would highly recommend that you do not put normal cedar in your humidor unless you enjoy smoking trees. Normal cedar is far more aromatic than spanish cedar (which as mentioned before is actually mahogany) and will impart flavors in your cigars. Kind of like leaving a jar of crushed garlic open in the fridge beside the butter dish and then wondering why your morning toast has a sudden "italian" flair. There is a reason that spanish cedar is the mainstay of humidors and cigar boxes and has been for well forever.
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whats wrong with having an Italian Flair???
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Just an FYI, and your results may vary, but in my coolers I try not to use any boxes that have a lacquer or painted finish on it as I have noticed that smell can sort of build up in there.
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so no 8-9-8 Varnished?? :-)
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I meant like thick painted ones (rocky patel, sancho panza)...but if you want to send the box of 898s over here I will be glad to toss them in the cooler and find out! :-) :-)
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actually I was hoping to get the ones you couldnt store in your cooler!

foiled again!:-)
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Moe if I could afford a cab of 8-9-8 varnished I wouldn't have to put them in a cooler. :-):-)
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