Reader Craig writes about a cigar problem. He bought them last summer and never put them into a humidor, so they have probably dried out. Craig will be purchasing a new humidor, but first he wants to know what steps he can take to restore the cigars to their proper state.

Craig,

I am happy to offer what advice I can. First of all, lets talk about humidors. When you prime your humidor and put solution into the humidification device, the humidor should stablize around 70%. That's because the solution contains an inert chemical (Propylene Glycol) that maintains a 70% relative humidity. The water will evaporate much faster than the chemical, but as long as you keep the humidification device charged with distilled water it should maintain 70% or close to it. By the way, you can buy a gallon of PG solution for about $10-$20 at any chemistry store to make your own solution. Just mix it (not all at once) with DISTILLED water, which costs about 50-cents a gallon at any grocery store. (It makes you wonder why Aquafina costs so much doesn't it?) You must use distilled water, because it is pure H20. Spring water or tap water has other chemicals and impurities in it that will clog the pores of your humidor and ruin it.

That said, the process of rehumidifying your cigars will depend on a few things. First of all, you need to plan on doing it over a period of a few weeks to a few months depending on how badly dried out the cigars are. It is a slow time consuming process. If you try to rush it or speed it up, you are likely to ruin the cigars.

You are correct that you don't want to just drop them into a hyper-humidified environment if they are completely dried out. The reason is because the different types of tobacco absorb moisture at a different rate. The filler tobacco (the stuff in the middle) will tend to absorb more than the wrapper. That can cause the wrapper to crack or split as the cigar slightly expands. You also don't want to overhumidify the cigar and risk mold.

Your best bet will probably be to ease the cigars back into a humidified environment over time. Try to find out what humidity the cigars are at now. I'm guessing they are probably probably 30-40% depending on conditions like where you live, and your home heating system. (I used to have a house with a gas furnace that would drop the humidity like a stone whenever it kicked in. The warm dry air used to keep the house at a paltry 10%. It was so low, I had to wrap a trash bag around my humidor during the winter to keep it from sucking humidity right through the wood. Unsightly, but effective.)

Now, if you don't have a digital hygrometer, buy one, because you need to keep an eye on the humidity. What you need to do is not prime the humidor right away. Place the cigars into the humidor at one end, and your humidification device at the other. Since the humidor is not primed, the wood pores should absorb a lot of the humidity from your humidifier. That means that instead of maintaining proper humdity, your humidor will be on the low side. If you started about 30-40%, you want to aim for about 50%. You can manage this by adding distilled water as needed. Remember to keep your cigars at one end and the humidifier at the other. If you can't get it high enough, try lightly sponging the side of the wood to help the humidor out. Not too much. You aren't trying to create your own wetlands in there.

Once the cigars get acclimated to the 50% environment, gradually take them up to 60% or so. Once again, let them get acclimated for a few weeks before taking them up to 70%. This is not an exact science so you need to do some guesswork. Keep an eye on the hygrometer and try to make an educated guess as to when it's okay to raise the humidity to the next level. Once again, patience is key here.

Once you are ready to maintain 70%, prime your humidor and add fresh solution to your humidifier. Also, keep an eye on your digital hygrometer to keep it from dipping too low in the winter. And never let the humidity get too high or you risk having a mold problem, which will outright ruin the cigars.

Best of luck restoring those cigars.