The stereotype of NC storage at 70% and Cuban at 65% was my guide initially. Over the years have found my preferences moving ever lower in RH.

Summer is a strange time to smoke here in the MW. Humidity gets very high and real or percieved I tend to not like the last 1/2 to 1/3 of larger cigars as they seem to get to "wet".

Have moved my general storage down to around 60%. More like 58% in reality.

A while back got some 55% beads for the travel humi to try and prevent the last half disappointment. Have tinkered with 50% on some cigars that I smoked this past weekend. At 50% the opposite seemed to be happening. Took about a 1/3 to get the right flavor profile on an older Partagas 898V.

Maybe 52.5? :-)

Of course the opposite is true during winter months if smoking outside.
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Well, that's just as R as RH, no?
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I think I am fairly atypical in that I keep everything, CC and NC at 70%. I find I like them better that way. The room they are stored in stays at about 65-70 during the summer, maybe a bit colder during the winter. I seldom have draw problems and it is only with high outdoor humidity that I seem to have tar/bitterness issues with the larger sticks.
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Thanks Dave, gonna give this a shot with a few different dry boxes and hygros.:-)
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Intersting. I tend to prefer a rather high RH and I smoke a lot of bigger sticks, but I don't ever seem to have this kind of problem, even nubbing them.
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I just keep my smokes at 70% and then dry box them for a day or two and they pretty much always come up as a great smoke.
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I notice that things seem to smoke really well after a couple of hours or a day in the travel humi. Usually if it is a short trip I won't use any beads or anything so it could be due to the lower RH.


But then again it could be because everything just tastes better at a herf. :-)
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I store even drier Dave.50 to 52 percent seems to work for me with my sticks not cracking or seeming too dry.

In addition,when using a traveldor which is a Pelican case I never use any additional humidification.
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Spot on with Klugs and Trishield - it is so humid down here that it is a challenge to get them dry however I enjoy them best around 55 to 60%.

I think it would be an interesting experiment to see if the RH is the factor or if the contrast with the current ambient humidity is what makes us enjoy the stick more or less.

Does that make sense? I need to finish one the Rev started and then maybe we attack this one.
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How low can you go???

How low can you go???
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I have been keeping NCs at 65 RH and CCs at 55 RH!!!

Nice to know I can go lower!!!:-)
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WOW!! And I thought I was the only one doing this. I have my vino at around
60-62% RH, 64 degrees and everything has been smoking FANTASTIC!!
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To this end, how effective are beads at regulating? In other words, if your ambient RH is higher than that of the beads, will the beads help to lower the RH to their level or are they only additive?
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I am about 65% and 65 degrees. I dry box for a day or two and so far so good.
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My Set & Forget is set at 61%, and my cigars smoke and taste to my liking.
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what dave describes is what is also happening to me. if i remember to drybox for a day, ususally helps...
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If the beads are dry, they will soak up excess moisture until they get to their programmed rh. So, if your rh is 70 and place dry 60% beads in there, it will lower the rh.
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Ah. Cool. Thanks! I thought as much, but I've never had cause to try it.
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I keep the cooler at about 56-57%, seems to work. Assuming the travel humi doesn't maintain the same humidity, I'd guess by the time we got the Johnson Is. I was smoking at about 53-55%, and they were perfect.
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Steve Herman, who passed away awhile ago but was a regular poster on alt.smokers.cigars also liked lower humidity. He claimed that the natural aging process of cigars would be significantly slower at 65-70% and kept his cigars at 50-55%. Steve was a living encyclopedia of cigars so, I'm sure he did extensive research. I'm always trying for 62%.

MCS
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To my liking as well. :-)

I seem to be pretty happy anywhere between 60 and 65. Too low (below 55) and I experience the same thing Klugs described in the OP. Too high (over 65) and the cigar is just too wet for me. Been experimenting with the dry box a little, too ... need to pay closer attention, though. :-)
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