Resting time

[Chadderkdawg]

Haven't seen this thread yet here... How long do you all rest your sticks before enjoying them? How long SHOULD someone rest their sticks. I myself am a ROTT guy when I'm at the B&M. I have been resting a few at home since about the first of the year, but they are getting burned up one by one.

[Tobias Lutz]

I don't know if you can get a definitive answer for SHOULD, unless you want to say "until they have reached the smoker's preferred Rh". I like my sticks between 58 and 60, so I will typically let something purchased online sit for a few months. This isn't to say I won't smoke one ROTT, or right out the B&M walk-in, but typically I carry my own when I go to a lounge. Everyone's tastes will vary.

[Bernardini]

I don't know if you can get a definitive answer for SHOULD, unless you want to say "until they have reached the smoker's preferred Rh". I like my sticks between 58 and 60, so I will typically let something purchased online sit for a few months. This isn't to say I won't smoke one ROTT, or right out the B&M walk-in, but typically I carry my own when I go to a lounge. Everyone's tastes will vary.

I think Tobias nailed it. It all comes down to personal preference.

I slowly have been moving down the RH scale myself, and with the ambient humidity being so low this winter, my humidor has settled around 59% vs the usual 63%. The last couple I have had at this lower level have been eye opening, and I am going to try to target this RH moving forward. Therefore, for me, my resting time is going to be months. Play with it and find what you like.

[theHammer56]

I think Tobias nailed it. It all comes down to personal preference.

I slowly have been moving down the RH scale myself, and with the ambient humidity being so low this winter, my humidor has settled around 59% vs the usual 63%. The last couple I have had at this lower level have been eye opening, and I am going to try to target this RH moving forward. Therefore, for me, my resting time is going to be months. Play with it and find what you like.

Maybe I'm slow on the uptake here - but why would it take months to get to a lower rh? To me, letting a cigar rest to mature the taste (months) is much different than resting to lower the rh (days). Just curious as to your philosophy.

[wabashcr]

Anything that comes in the mail gets at least a month's down time to acclimate. B&M purchases that I don't smoke at the B&M also go down for at least a month. That's usually enough time to get the RH down to where I like it. Additional rest really depends on what it is. A lot of NCs are blended, fermented and aged to be smoked now, without additional rest. Some of the cheaper cbid stuff is better after 6-12 months to round off some of the harsh edges. And of course many CCs are best after several years down.

[Tobias Lutz]

Maybe I'm slow on the uptake here - but why would it take months to get to a lower rh? To me, letting a cigar rest to mature the taste (months) is much different than resting to lower the rh (days). Just curious as to your philosophy.

3 months of rest at the same Rh will do nothing for the flavor, unless you happened to pick it up during the second fermentation cycle, in which case the ammonia might fade away in that time. It takes more than a few days to acclimate a 52 or 54 rg cigar that comes from a vendor at ~72 Rh down 14 points. This is why the idea of dryboxing is something I find suspect and do no practice. Sure, the wrapper will dry in a day or two, but the filler is still overly moist and waiting to expanded and crack said wrapper when you smoke the cigar. If your humidor is holding steady at 60, you may only see a 2-3 point change in the center of that cigar in a weeks time.

[piperdown]

Maybe I'm slow on the uptake here - but why would it take months to get to a lower rh? To me, letting a cigar rest to mature the taste (months) is much different than resting to lower the rh (days). Just curious as to your philosophy.

Rule of thumb (and it's close because I've verified in the past) is 1 week for each % rH you want to drop at least for a true robusto.
I've gotten cigars in that were up around 72% and it took approximately 3 months to get down around 62%.
A lot depends on the size too as a rg/length greater than 50/5.5 can take longer.
A petite corona seems to take about 3-4 days per %, at least that's what I've tracked.

[theHammer56]

Great information, guys. Very eye-opening.

[anthony d]

Rule of thumb (and it's close because I've verified in the past) is 1 week for each % rH you want to drop at least for a true robusto.
I've gotten cigars in that were up around 72% and it took approximately 3 months to get down around 62%.
A lot depends on the size too as a rg/length greater than 50/5.5 can take longer.
A petite corona seems to take about 3-4 days per %, at least that's what I've tracked.

Eric nailed it here. It takes about 1 week to drop 1%rh. Most online vendors ship upwards of 72%-75%rh to compensate for transit time. A good way to tell is when you get a new delivery of sticks, put them in a ziploc bag with your calibrated hygro for about 4 hours. That will tell you what rh the sticks are at. Then, figure a week per 1%, and go from there

I like my sticks around 62%rh, so I let mine rest for about 3 months to be on the safe side before smoking.

[Bernardini]

Maybe I'm slow on the uptake here - but why would it take months to get to a lower rh? To me, letting a cigar rest to mature the taste (months) is much different than resting to lower the rh (days). Just curious as to your philosophy.

I was writing a response, but I see Eric beat me to it. So, exactly what he said