i was enjoying a cigar at my friends house over the weekend. the small group of 4 i was with got on the topic of dry cigars. one of the fellas spoke of a technique i found interesting and too good to be true. he said that he goes into little hole-in-the-wall tobacco stores and purposely finds the dry cigars of the humidor. he comes out to the cashier and complains about the health of the cigars he held in is hand and negotiates with the cashier. he somehow ends up getting them at a reduced price. now the next part of his claim is what im interested in. he said that he then takes them home, seals them in a ziplock bag with no air in it, leaves them in a freezer for a month, takes them out and stores them in his humidor at 70% humidify...... he called it restoring a cigar. he claimed it refreshed the cigar, bringing the moisture and fresh tastes back to it... is it fact? or Bluff? :-)
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and to add on... i will not be having a smoke with him again, playing cigar/tobacco shops is wrong in my eyes. society is pretty disappointing
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In theory, this isn't too far off of what a lot of people do with any new cigar into their humidor. A lot of people freeze everything that comes in, and anything that is under-humidified would need to be rehydrated. A completely dry cigar would not work under the method described as 70% would likely cause more issues with how the cigar rehumidified. :-)
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Cigars are pretty resilient, they can be brought back from "the dead" pretty easily. As far his method, I've never heard of it. Scamming B&M places like that is pretty low in my book, I wouldn't hang out with people like that.
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As a whole, cigars are pretty resilient. Ultimately, it depends on how dried out and for how long the cigar actually was "dry" when you start. "Dried out" cigars that are coming out of a somewhat maintained humidor probably aren't really all that dry. While on the other hand, a cigar that has been baking in the glove box of a car for a year is probably shot.

Sticking any of these B&M dried out cigars in your humidor for a month or two will let them come back up to a more desired moisture level (if they don't split). Because they likely still had a decent moisture level from being in the B&M humidor, they probably didn't noticeably lose much flavor.

As for the freezing, that won't help in restoring the humidity, but it will help to prevent any beetle infestations.
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I would put it in 3 ziplock bags, for 3 months, at 3 degrees and then smoke.

It's known as the "Rule of 3's".
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:-) :-) :-)
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On top of scamming being a shady practice, how much fun can it really be to base what you smoke off of whatever looks to be in shiddy condition at the shop? That's no way to live.

People never cease to amaze me. :-)
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I'm fairly sensitive when retailers are wronged. In this case, I don't feel the same outrage as some of you. The product is, indeed, inferior. And the patron has to go to more, additional effort than he normally would have.

Now, if he's manipulating the conditions in the humi or talking the proprieter into discarding them- and then diving in their dumpster....well, that'd be another thing altogether.

As to the cigars....I'm w/TG. Takes a while at pretty poor conditions for the natrual oils to dissipate enough to destroy the cigars.
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That's so last year.
I use the Rule of 4's but I'm not telling what it is - otherwise you might all start snatching up the not quite perfect cigars from the cigar stores and I won't be able to weasel them any more
:-)
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Only way to know is a side by side smoke with an identical cigar that has never dried out. My hunch is that they won't taste the same. The restored cigar will be more bland, harsh and unappealing as oils also evaporate off the cigar.

I'd rather just pay the extra or "normal" amount for a pristine no issue cigar, but that's me..
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I'll not comment on the "morality" issue, but on the "recovery" one I did once hear a shock treatment trick I've tried a time or three. Namely, take the crispy cigars with you into the bathroom when you take a hot shower, which allows the high humidity to treat the dried-out sticks.

It also works for taking the wrinkles out of your thousand-dollar Ermenengildo Zegna suits. :-)
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I would tell your acquaintance that he should just buy online or lower his price point rather than go through extremes to enjoy a cigar.
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I have taken cigars and put them in a sealed Rubbermaid/Tupperware container with a sponge soaked in distilled water. Can you get the humidity back up to make it smokable? Yes!

Now, if it has seriously dried out to the point of crunchy/crispy, I have found that the will not be quite the same in regard to flavor.

On the same principle, you can eat food that has obviously been in the freezer too long - there is frost on the outside of it (not yet freezer burned), but it isn't the same as if it were fresh or not in the freezer for too long.
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I just can't see that he's "saving" all that much money, on top of that how many times can this work, once if that? Not like he's going to keep going back to the same place looking for random crispy cigars, but who knows maybe there are 12 B&Ms within a mile or something... most likely not though.

My recommendation is buy what you actually want to smoke and smoke them, not some random old poorly cared for sticks to save 2 bucks.
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Some people just have to feel like they're getting a bargain or making a good deal. They're the same type of people that go to garage sales, pick up a beer mug that's for sale for 25 cents and say "Will you take a dime for it?"
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Does your offer still stand, James? :-)
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Yes, but postage is $50. :-)
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Newman.... :-)
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Yes, indeed, I also buy dry cigars, put them in the freezer, they are no different from fresh ones. After I put them in special containers for storage, where the optimum level of humidity is maintained for long periods of time. I recommend that you read the detailed information on storing cigars at smokeprofy.
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