Before you put your fine collection of cigars inside your new humidor you must "prime" or activate your new humidor. First when you get your new humidor you need to get it ready to store your collection of cigars. Follow these steps below to activate your humidor.
1. First open your humidor, get a soft cloth and dampen it with distilled water, use the damp cloth to wipe the inside of your humidor. Make sure you do not soak the inside, just wipe it down.
2. Close the lid and leave it for a few hours. Take the humidifier and place it in a bowl of distilled water or Tropical Humidity humidor solution and allow the inside sponge to absorb the water, remove it from the bowl & give it a shake to remove excess water, place it inside the humidor.
Check out our video that will show you step by step instructions on how to season your new Cigar Star Humidor.
3. Repeat the soft cloth process and leave the humidor closed over night. The next day check your hygrometer for a reading of around 70% humidity. We recommend that you use a propylene glycol humidor solution, Cigar Star makes an optimal solution mix called Tropical Humidity. This solution actively prevents the formation of mould and bacteria, absorbs humidity at humidity levels over 70% and emits humidity at humidity levels below 70%. This way, the humidifier is self-adjusting and will automatically stabilize the humidity level of your humidor at an optimum level of approximately 70%. Just follow the above steps using a Propylene glycol solution. The reason you need to do this is to make sure that the Spanish cedar inside will not absorb all the humidity from the humidifier, but keep the humidity from the humidifier for your cigars. You are seasoning the wood inside to keep the right humidity for the cigars.
Humidors should keep 65-72% humidity to ensure proper ageing for your cigars.
If your hygrometer is still showing less than 62% humidity repeat step 1 process for a few more days. Many times, the wood in a humidor needs to be prepared more than just once. Also check the seal to make sure it is tight. If your humidity is above 80% just open your lid while keeping an eye on your hygrometer, this will allow some humidity to escape from your humidor.
4. Keep your humidor away from direct sunlight or anywhere it may be subject to unnecessary heat. All of Cigar Star humidors come with instructions on how to activate your humidor.
How to give your cigar that perfect cut everytime!
Advice on giving your cigar that perfect cut everytime.
Cutting your cigars correctly mean that you will have a better drawing and tasting cigar. Just cut about 2 mm off the head of the cigar to avoid unravelling. Cutters with Double Guillotine blades that are self-sharpening, are better than a single blade cigar cutter as it will maximize comfort and give you that perfect cut every time. The object of cutting your cigar is to create an ample, clean cut and smooth opening for drawing on your cigar, which in turn creates an even burn.
Another option is that you can use a cigar punch, this tool is a great way to give you a perfect draw hole everytime as well.
Take your cigar and make the tip "head" of the cigar damp, then just take the punch and slowly screw it side to side until you see 2mm of the punch inside the head. Pull the punch out and you should have a perfect draw hole.
How to Calibrate your hygrometer
To check if your hygrometer is reading correctly, use the salt method to test it's accuracy. You just need to...
Place some salt in a bottle cap or small cup and dampen it with a few drops of water with out dissolving it.
Carefully place the damp salt into a see-through container and close it tightly. You can use a zip lock bag provided it seals you leave some air inside the bag.
Let it sit for at least 6 hours and note the reading on the hygrometer without opening the container. It should read exactly seventy five percent. The difference is how much your hygrometer is off.
If needed adjust to seventy five percent, using the screw on the back of the hygrometer.
A digital hygrometer is the best solution for your humidor as it will provide you with the most accurate humidity level.
Do cigars get better with age
Cigars DO get better with age just like fine wine! While some people will just toss their stogies in their humidor for a few days, others like to keep them in the humidor for years. This brings out all the complex flavors contained within the cigar.
Almost any cigar that is hand made or hand rolled, uses long filler tobacco leaves, these are premium tobacco leaves and will more than likely benefit & improve with age.
When a cigar is made by hand, that cigar may use several different types of tobacco leaves inside that one cigar. One may think that their cigar is just the same tobacco leaves for the whole cigar. This is not the case.
Premium cigars use several different tobacco leaves to create one premium cigar, this is what sets apart the premium cigar from the average cigar.
When using several different tobacco leaves for one cigar, you will taste a unique blend of tobacco. When you store these types of cigars for a long period of time inside a quality humidor, all those different tobacco leaves will "Marry" together combining the flavor of the tobacco into one fine tasting cigar.
I myself had a Cohiba robusto in my humidor for 3 years, I was saving it for that special occassion. We all know that Cohiba is a premium cigar. This summer I decided that it was time to enjoy it. This cigar had a slight white dust all over it, which was actually crystal that had formed all around the cigar because the tobacco inside had all married together. Let me tell you that this cigar had such a wonderful taste to it that I enjoyed it right down to the very end, it burned evenly and tasted exquisite!
So the bottom line...... when a cigar is left for a long period of time in the proper enviroment, it will indeed get better with time!
