I have a 9 year old Montecristo no. 1 Cigars that are unopened and still in the plastic and I am wondering if they can be smoked. They have been kept in normal apartment conditions, no humidor at any point. Therefore they have been exposed to heat and cold, but nothing too extreme. Also, how can I tell if they are still good to smoke? Thanks!
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Well you could, but it probably wouldn't be all that pleasing. Unless you live in a rain forest, they're most likely entirely dried out. Cigars need an environment kept steadily in a range from 60-70% relative humidity to survive for any period of time. If you look at the cigars you have they are probably very dry and brittle with the wrapper flaking off in large pieces. You could certainly smoke them, but I assume that if they had any flavor to them it would not be very pleasant. Unfortunately after being left out for such a long period there is little to no hope of restoring them.
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Not the best of condition but I have heard of worse treatment. As long as the wrapper isnt cracked anywhere,,,put em in your humidor and let them rest for at least a few months. There is a good chance they have lost their essential oils after this amount of time without proper care but letting them rest in a humidor "might" bring something back to them. The only thing you will lose is,,,nothing and you have everything to gain.
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That long outside of a humidor means they're likely all dried out. I wouldn't even consider trying to smoke them until they are re-humidified, and even then don't know how the taste might be affected by the ordeal. If you want to try re-humidifying them I would give them at least a month at 65 to 70 % humidity before attempting to light one up. I'm no expert on this - only hypothesizing.
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you could try and rehydrate them but i doubt you will be repairing the long term damage. try one, if its decent... maybe then try and rehyrdate them. Still though, they will probably never smoke as well as montecristo intended.
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Lots of people here who can tell you more specifically what to do, but you should start acclimating your cigars to a better humidity level.

The sticks will likely have lost some of their oils that would make them a better tasting smoke (like if they were kept for nine years at proper humidity). But if you let them get back to the proper humidity level, they should still be smokable. I guess the only way you can really tell is to smoke a couple.

I don't know how long it will take to bring them back to 65-70% relative humidity, but it should be done slowly and maybe in steps.

Good luck.:-)

Edit:Whoa...I guess I type slow. No one else had replied when I started. :-)
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yeah, as others have mentioned, it's not the age, but the storage conditions. Right now JR is selling 10 yr old "vintage" Montecristos at a significant markup.

That being said, what is the humidity like where you live? I'm in Houston where the Humidity stays between 70-100% year round, so I could probably leave a cigar out of the humi for 10 years without it drying out completely. In fact, I have to keep my cigars in the tuppperdor, not to keep them from drying out, but to keep them from getting too moist.

You will want to re-humidify them before they get smoked, but who knows? They could be great.

enjoy! :-)
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Thanks for everyone's help. I lived in LA for about 1 year and have spent the last 8 years in the New York area. Not sure if that is humid enough. Usually I had cigars in a bag underneath my bed. Not the best conditions!
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Certainly do not give up on them. Slowly bring them up to 70% humidity. If you have the means, do it at 10% humidity increments. Assuming there is no damage to the wrapper, these may turn out OK. The good news is that the only thing that matters is if you like them. If you do, win!
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Make sure to wipe off the dust bunnies before smoking them. :-)
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Great to see you postin' around...
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What is the goal at hand, if I may ask? You can get great fresh cigars at many different price points if you want a good smoke. I don't think they would be enjoyable in the slightest to smoke. That many years of improper storage couldn't have done those cigars any favors. If they are NC that is to say if they are the non-cuban Montecristo , I'm not even entirely sure under proper conditions with that kind of age that they would be an optimal smoking experience.
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From personal experience they will probably not be a great smoke. I left the cigar hobby and let a humidor go dormate for many years. After getting back into the hobby I tried bringing back a few A. Fuente's and they were just about unsmokable. The cigars ended up burning okay, however tasted like ash and smelled like a campfire.
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A neighbor of mine came over today for a New Year's drink. In the course of the evening, she asked if I wanted a CC. She said that they had belonged to her brother at one time, but he had abandoned them (long story) along with many other things, and she had rescued them before they would have been tossed out. I asked to see them, and she came back with a pretty nice humi, filled with about 25 Cohibas and roughly 15 Punch, but it hadn't been maintained many, many in months. We lit a couple of the Cohibas up. They seemed a bit dry, but otherwise smoked well and tasted pretty good. Can these be revived? I sent her to my Masonic Brother at the local B&M for a Humi-Disc, Digital Hygrometer and some help. Any thoughts?
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Yes, they possibly, or in this case, probably, can.

It's not like they were left outside in Arizona or Nevada for 15 years. Chances are, they probably weren't exposed to that horrible a set of conditions. probably just some occasional bouts of low 50's RH, whcih really isn't any big deal.

Cigars are much tougher than most people give them credit for.

Ultimately, you already smoked one, and it seemed fine, so there's your answer.
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Were CC's wrapped in plastic around that time? I'd toss them if they're 9-yo dried out NC Monte's. :-)
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Just curious to why anyone would leave Monte's un humidified for 9 years.:-)
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I can only give advice on what I've seen or done. Having said that...

I got back into cigars about 18 mos. ago after a 5 year hiatus. I had some Cifuentes Partagas 2005 Juli's and some 5Vegas red label toros and churchills that sat completely unhumidified for those 5 years. I stuck them in a rubberdor for a few months at 70%RH. Smoked some, bombed some and no one. I mean no one. complained. I had a couple of the Juli's and thought they were nice and mild. I gotta tell ya, the 5 year old 5Vegas' were FK'N AWESOME.

My advice: let em sit for a few months in proper humidity and try one. Like said earlier, you have nothing to lose!
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That's the plan. We're going to bring the humi and the sticks up to 70 RH together so that it happens slowly enough that we won't split too many wrappers. We tried a couple last night, and they were pretty tasty.
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Completely Agree!
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