I’ve explained several times how to dry box new cigars.
Readers, who missed those reviews, ask through emails and comments how to do this.
I figured I needed a central place to describe how to do this.
You get your new cigars. Are they good cigars or are they drek?
Crappy cheap cigars…it doesn’t matter. Throw them in your humidor and wait for Armageddon before smoking them.
If they are good cigars, always…ALWAYS…remove the cellos. The cello is only there for protection of the cigar during shipping. Leaving cellos in place drags out the needed humidor time for maturation.
Removing the cellos allows the cigar to breathe and mind meld with the other cigars in your humidor and by doing this; it enriches the flavor of all your cigars.
Lately, I’ve heard from readers who are disappointed they are receiving dried out cigars from online stores. So there are two options: Stick the cigars in a low humidity humidor for a couple of weeks…then raise the humidity to 67%-68%. Over a period of a month, you can successfully give the kiss of life to what might have been cigars lost to the gods. If you slap an under humidified cigar in a 70% humidor, they will expand, bloat, and the wrappers will crack.
If the cigars are moist, remove the cellos as stated earlier, place them in a nice dry place. And allow them to dry; away from windows, fans, or bright light.
You let them hibernate this way for 48 hours. Don’t touch them. Don’t mess with them. Leave them alone.
Bottom line…Two days of being exposed to the air allows for all that excess moisture to evaporate. Moving them to your favorite choice of humidity should no longer be a problem.
If you are dry boxing with very good cigars, you should be able to light up a dry boxed cigar on the beginning of the third day and enjoy the blender’s intent. But this will only happen if it is the first cigar of the day when your palate is fresh. My reviews are only done with the first cigar of the day. That third day of dry boxing will give you a hint of what the blender has in store for you and this should give you an idea of how long you must wait before the sticks are ready for consumption.
If you are a chain smoker, like me, your palate begins to get a little fried.
Take time to cleanse your palate. Yogurt, fruit, dried fruit, green tea, milk, or water.
As far as how long you need to allow your cigars to marinate in your humidor, there is no fixed answer. Every blend is different. But they all need time. A few months is optimum.
Anything having to do with Pepin Garcia may only take two weeks before they are ready to go. The New Breed Tattooed Ones tend to blend their cigars so that they are ready very quickly. 2-3 weeks if you are in a hurry to test them out.
Even the best cigars will taste best after 1-4 months. Old school blends (catalog brands) have pitfalls…almost all will poop out on you if you go past a year of humidor time. The oomph is removed from the cigar and they go from full to mild body cigar blends. The best part of the character of the blend descends into a morass of blah nothingness.
Some smokers leave the cellos on because they don’t intend to smoke them until the weather turns warm. A big deal in cold weather climates and with a wife who won’t let you smoke in the house. The cello slows down the maturation process and when the time is right, strip them naked and the cigars are ready to morph into some great sticks.
Photo courtesy of LDP Cigars.
Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
Cigar Reviews by Phil 'Katman' Kohn 
This is all YOUR fault, Katsui. Before stumbling onto your sight, I rarely ever heard of “dry boxing” or “marinating” cigars. Why couldn’t you just stay quiet so we could prematurely smoke our over-humidified cigars and enjoy the crappy flavors. Now you let the cat out of the bag and chaos has ensued in the cigar blogosphere. Shame on you, Pandorakohn!
Freakin’ hilarious! Almost spewed on the wife. My drink,I mean.
I am truly ashamed of myself.
I googled “dry boxing your cigar” and it took me to a link for intercourse with menopausal women!
Funniest thing I’ve heard all month!
Well, I kinda figure that dry boxing occurs naturally (or unnaturally) during the shipping period while those gorgeous sticks take that 5-7 day ride in a truck via those moisture sucking cardboard boxes that are additionally crammed with more moisture sucking advertising materials. I could be wrong, though. Guess I’ll just have to test this theory by putting the next batch of freshly tumbled dried sticks in a plastic bag with a hygrometer!
As long as a cigar rests inside its cello, there is no way it can dry box. In fact, the shipping process may have all sorts of unwanted effects on your cigars. Depending on where you live and how far it has to travel, the cigars can be exposed to extreme hot or cold. And even more humidity.
If the cigars are sealed in a box, it is impossible for them to wean themselves from moisture no matter how long the delivery time is.
Plus, most online stores put the cello encased cigars in a plastic bag and add a small moisture packet…increasing the amount of moisture. Remember, that a cigar cannot dry out when it is enclosed in plastic. There is no place the moisture can go.
Just take the cellos off, leave them in a warm dry place in your house for a couple of days and then put them in a low humidity humidor.