In another thread I read about cigars purchased from CI, saying that on arrival they are wet. The cigar in question was a Cuba Libre One bought from them. As is my custom, following the rule of 3s, I put the cigars down for 3 days. When I smoked one, a curious burn problem occurred. This cigar more or less stopped its movement toward the head, emitting little smoke, and an inch or so above this arrest, the wrapper grew crinkly. But I still got a reasonable amount of smoke.

Is this an indication of a wet cigar as has been said of cigars bought from CI? How do you tell if a cigar is too wet?
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Well the way that I tell if a cigar is wet is to gently, and I emphasize gently, squeeze it. When you squeeze the cigar will of course sink down a little bit, for the lack of better words, and then rise up again. If it rises up again for the most part then it is fine to smoke. If it cracks well then you are too dry. If it stays pressed down then it is too moist. Some do not recommend this approach but it is your cigars so if you want to try it out you can. It is just sometimes hard to tell if it is a little too moist or spot on as the reaction is almost the same. But you will be able to tell if it is too moist.

You can also tell by the burn if after you light it the area where it is burning will puff up a little bit if that make sense.

You will get it down eventually but you might want to try dry boxing your cigars (putting them in a container or an empty cigar box with no humidification device) for a few hours to a day. Any more than that and it will probably become too dry.

What are you using as your humidification device in your humidor if I may ask?
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Well first off the rule of 3s clearly states it's 3 weeks before you smoke one.

I'd try that and see if the problem doesn't solve itself.
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Crud I forgot to mention that. I agree though I always put my cigars down for a 3 week nap instead of smoking them ROTT. Gives them time to adjust to your preferences and storage conditions. They ship them more wet so that they don't dry out in transit I believe.
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I have the bead cylinders from Heartfelt. I have double the recommended amount, two 65 rH per humidor, one in the tray and one in the bottom. I can't tell the difference between opaque or dry and clear or properly hydrated, and as I've read that it didn't matter if you used too much but did if you used too little, I thought I go for too much. I spritz them with distilled water and just did a recharging two weeks ago, 4 spritzes per cylinder.

As my readings were still too low, between 60 and 65% rH, I augmented that with a newly charged standard humidifier. I know, that means that if the beads can hold the humidity, they will suck the water out of the standard humidifiers, but this works to bring the rH up to between 65 and 70% rH.
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Have you salt tested your hygrometers?
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I got a bundle of the Gran Habano Vintage 2002s. Those come pretty wet. I just left them out in the open for a few weeks and then stuck them in an empty cigar box for another few weeks. I finally put them in my humidor after a couple months.

I smoked one a day or two after the bundle arrived. I just took one of them, took it out of the cellophane and left it out in the open for a day or two. Smoked great. I have had a couple others that burned horrible or didn't stay lit at all, but only because I didn't let it sit out long enough like I did with the first cigar. I'm assuming the rest are fine now now that they have a little bit of age on them. Plus for 2 bucks a stick, I'm not gonna cry if it turns to crap, I'll just grab something else to smoke.
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I don't know why, but reading this I am reminded of the following ancient Indian weather rock...

Image
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:-)

Rock On, Vin! :-)
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:-):-):-)
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:-) :-)
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Make sure that you salt test your hygrometers to make sure they are reading accurate. You might have done that already though. You might Aldo want to try the 63-65 range if 65-70 is too wet for you. For me my cigars get a little too wet around 68-69 and at 70 they won't burn the way I like. Some guys prefer it in the higher RH and some prefer the lower so just see what works for you. Be careful though And try not to jump all over the place with the RH for too long (should be fine just adjusting like this) or it could lead to some problems. :-)

Also, if you bought the tubes then the ends do come off. Carefully yet forcefully slide one of the colored ends up. You just have to inch it. Be careful because they are jammed pack full of beads and you might cause an explosion of beads lol. I just got some tubes but when I have to recharge them I open them and put the beads in a baggie and then spritz with distiller water so I can see the color change. This of course is unnecessary really as they get charged just fine in the tube but for me I couldn't really see to when they change to clear so I do it this way.
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Do you drop the oil pan on your car whenever you change engine oil?
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Haha I said it wasn't necessary but that is how I do it. It's really not that much more trouble for me.
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When I saw that there were 13 responses to this topic, I thought I'd gotten lucky to receive that much feedback.

But then I find that the thread had been threadjacked by a rather racist Indian weather sign that portrays American Indians as dim-witted.

Can we please return to the topic at hand?

I have tested my hygrometers using both the salt method and with the Boveda test kit, the latter on the advice of the owner of Heartfelt Beads; he said there are too many uncontrolled variables with the salt test.

I shudder to think about the slim margin for error in taking the caps off the ends of the cylinders, as as you say, they are stuffed with beads.

But I'd like to verify that the beads are properly hydrated.

I really don't understand you, Wallbright. How do you get the caps off without disturbing the beads inside them; and as you say that you then remove the rest of the beads, how is this accomplished when the beads in the cylinders appear to me to be held in place in their "bead pockets."
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Perhaps you overlooked my post which is on topic. Upon receiving cigars, especially from CI, you need to let them rest in your humidor for 3 weeks. Possibly longer if you receive them very wet.

I believe there was another topic addressing the fact that CI ships their cigars VERY wet.

So I will echo my previous statement, Let them rest longer and see if that doesn't sort everything out.
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Sorry I am not the best at explaining things. I hope this video helps clear it up. These are Heartfelt beads in the small and XL tubes.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aep1eldOJZs
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Bill86, of course your post was on-topic; what I'm referring to as threadjacking are all the posts with the Indian weather sign.
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The "weather rock" post was not an attempt to threadjack but rather to metaphorically comment on an earlier post in this thread. I do not see the racism in it, and my motivations in posting were in no way racially motivated. However, I apologize openly to you and anyone who may have found it offensive.
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To be fair, there are TONS of versions of that sign.

Anyway, I think the people who posted have answered your question quite well.
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