Newcomer (Newbie) Q&A

[El Presidente]

For Newcomers only. 

No question will go unanswered. No smartarse comments, no reference to using the search engine. We will answer each and every one...as many times as necessary 

We were all in your position once. I hope you will be answering these questions in the years to come. Welcome 

[nvrp813]

Great thread Pres!

 

Which Robusto (or almost Robusto) of CCs with 2017 box code do you feel is smoking the best now and/or is the best value?

 

[prodigy]

Great thread Pres!
 
Which Robusto (or almost Robusto) of CCs with 2017 box code do you feel is smoking the best now and/or is the best value?
 

Juan Lopez #2

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[Puros Y Vino]

This is good policy.    If "newb" questions bother you, better to move along rather than offer up snarky comments.

[benfica_77]

I've heard el jefe mentioning dry boxing before many times. Was that mean exactly? Thanks!

[99call]

very nice thread.

One of the things I love most about this forum, is that its intentions are always well meaning and good hearted

[Puros Y Vino]

18 minutes ago, benfica_77 said:

I've heard el jefe mentioning dry boxing before many times. Was that mean exactly? Thanks!

"Dry boxing" is when you take a few cigars you want to smoke over the next few days out of your humidor and store them in a plain cigar box.  The idea is that the cigars will "settle", lose a bit of RH and be more smokeable.  YMMV on this of course. Many people do this because they find it benefits them. It doesn't mean you have to do it for each and every cigar you own.  In some cases where people are having trouble with a particular box of cigars, they do a dry box run to see if it improves the experience. If it does, they repeat the process. Not all cigars in a humidor are equal. Some are more dry or wet depending on many factors.  Dry boxing is one way to "fix" things.

[Fuzz]

8 minutes ago, bundwallah said:

"Dry boxing" is when you take a few cigars you want to smoke over the next few days out of your humidor and store them in a plain cigar box.  The idea is that the cigars will "settle", lose a bit of RH and be more smokeable.  YMMV on this of course. Many people do this because they find it benefits them. It doesn't mean you have to do it for each and every cigar you own.  In some cases where people are having trouble with a particular box of cigars, they do a dry box run to see if it improves the experience. If it does, they repeat the process. Not all cigars in a humidor are equal. Some are more dry or wet depending on many factors.  Dry boxing is one way to "fix" things.

Make sure the RH in the box (and the room it is in) is lower than that of your humidor! Especially if it has been raining for a few days. People sometimes forget or don't realise their home could have a higher RH than their humidor.

[Ethernut]

Hey Noobs! I wrote this just for you if you're looking for a deeper dive into much of the questions. Love the idea for a "safe thread", happy to help. You'll find this crew is probably the most helpful forum on the internet.

 

 

[Danimalia]

6 hours ago, nvrp813 said:

Great thread Pres!

 

Which Robusto (or almost Robusto) of CCs with 2017 box code do you feel is smoking the best now and/or is the best value?

 

 

6 hours ago, prodigy said:

Juan Lopez #2

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
 

Yeah, man, I agree it’s the Lopez No. 2. It would have been my choice had you not mentioned price, but since it’s on the lower end of the price scale, the value is outstanding. 

[nvrp813]

Another noob question... Since all CC marques are owned by Habanos SA, do the more “luxury “ brands (Cohiba, Trinidad) get that years best tobacco, filtering down to the lesser brands? Or is it farm driven (ie. Cohiba gets the tobacco from a specific farm, Partagas another farm, etc.)?

[Ethernut]

10 minutes ago, nvrp813 said:

Another noob question... Since all CC marques are owned by Habanos SA, do the more “luxury “ brands (Cohiba, Trinidad) get that years best tobacco, filtering down to the lesser brands? Or is it farm driven (ie. Cohiba gets the tobacco from a specific farm, Partagas another farm, etc.)?

Truth is no one knows (kinda.. hotly debated). I touch on this very topic in my Noob Thread. The lore says the blenders take the tobacco that best fits the profile the Marca is going for and figures out the ratio required to create that experience. Truth is, I've had amazing Cohiba and utterly terrible Cohiba. The closest you'll get to guarantee of positive experience is leveraging the service Rob provides by profiling high-probability cigars for you. 

[Kitchen]

This is more of a gripe then a question, but why those damn nails in dress boxes! 

I just don't get it.  The seal can easily hold the box shut, and they could just re-position the Habanos sticker at the bottom right to help as well. 

Not to mention every now and then I feel like someone gets a little too over zealous with the hammer, damaging the cigars.  Got a box of Punch Punch recently and the middle three cigars had damaged feet.  Had to be from the hammer. 

[JLFIRST]

This is BY FAR the best group of Habano smoking brothers in the world. The knowledge, friendship, and brotherhood are unsurpassed!!!!!! I feel so lucky to be a part of the FOH family!

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[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, JoeKitchen said:

This is more of a gripe then a question, but why those damn nails in dress boxes! 

I just don't get it.  The seal can easily hold the box shut, and they could just re-position the Habanos sticker at the bottom right to help as well. 

Not to mention every now and then I feel like someone gets a little too over zealous with the hammer, damaging the cigars.  Got a box of Punch Punch recently and the middle three cigars had damaged feet.  Had to be from the hammer. 

Tradition. 

A far better box today would be quality cardboard with a magnetic seal.  Normal warranty seals etc would then be attached. 

[El Presidente]

4 hours ago, nvrp813 said:

Another noob question... Since all CC marques are owned by Habanos SA, do the more “luxury “ brands (Cohiba, Trinidad) get that years best tobacco, filtering down to the lesser brands? Or is it farm driven (ie. Cohiba gets the tobacco from a specific farm, Partagas another farm, etc.)?

The best /tastiest tobacco comes from the Vuelta abajo region. For use of a better term it all goes into a central collection agency, graded and fermented.  fast forward, the graded/fermented tobacco is baled with date/district/leaf type and grade. 

Leaf is delivered to the factory depending on what is being rolled. Each factory will have a quota.  Partagas Factory manager will see he has to do 30,000 D4 next week.  He orders in the leaf accordingly. 

[Squarehead]

This is what sets this forum above the others.I went through it myself.

[cmbarton]

When you store your CCs in their boxes, do you remove the nail, prop open the lid, cycle the cigars inside the box, or do anything else to make sure the RH outside the dress box/SLB gets to the CC’s inside?  I store mine in a large tupperdor and wonder all the time if the humidity is getting inside the boxes.

[stogieluver]

44 minutes ago, cmbarton said:

When you store your CCs in their boxes, do you remove the nail, prop open the lid, cycle the cigars inside the box, or do anything else to make sure the RH outside the dress box/SLB gets to the CC’s inside?  I store mine in a large tupperdor and wonder all the time if the humidity is getting inside the boxes.

The rH definitely makes its way into the boxes, even if closed.  I think it even makes its way through freezer bags, albeit not as quickly.  Mr. Piggy could probably enlighten us more on this topic.  I store my boxes with lids completely closed, and that damned nail will get under your fingernail and hurt like a mother if you try too hard to push it back into the box.   

[jay8354]

If the storage conditions are setup correctly, you don't need to do much to the cigars. Just make sure the temp and RH is set and maintained.

Just make sure to let them rest for 6mths after being delivered. Check on them once in awhile to, maybe smoke one to see how they are going. Once it is where you like, smoke them.

[Ethernut]

10 hours ago, cmbarton said:

When you store your CCs in their boxes, do you remove the nail, prop open the lid, cycle the cigars inside the box, or do anything else to make sure the RH outside the dress box/SLB gets to the CC’s inside?  I store mine in a large tupperdor and wonder all the time if the humidity is getting inside the boxes.

 I don’t do anything to the lid ever. I will of course open the box to inspect the cigars when putting them in the humidor so in a sense I am breaking the seal. The nail happens to just get in the way after a while so I take it out. It’s very very important to keep your humidity at maximum in the mid 60s. My humidor right now is between 60 and 62 RH I think last I looked. Keeping humidity up around 70 just doesn’t provide as good of a smoking experience as the lower humidity. Cigars with high humidity can seem like they’re made from asbestos. Doesn’t have to be precise just get it down at or below 65.  Keep in mind, the cigars are way tougher than folks would have you think. You don’t need to be meticulous just in the range.

Rest period after you get them home from shipping is at minimum 30 days to let them reacclimate. No need to wait too much longer before you try one.

[Luca]

12 hours ago, cmbarton said:

When you store your CCs in their boxes, do you remove the nail, prop open the lid, cycle the cigars inside the box, or do anything else to make sure the RH outside the dress box/SLB gets to the CC’s inside?  I store mine in a large tupperdor and wonder all the time if the humidity is getting inside the boxes.

Like the other guys have said. With the lid closed it is fine. I guess it may take a bit more time for the humidity to reach your cigars. Plastic is also porous and humidity will eventually escape/come through. Which is why it is always good to inspect cigars and also calibrate your hygrometers every 6 - 12 months. Cycling cigars inside a box/desktop humidor is also good in my opinion. 

1 hour ago, Ethernut said:

 Cigars with high humidity can seem like they’re made from asbestos.

 Or...if it's a Henri Winterman! Haha

[Maybee86]

Ive read a lot different views on storing tubos in your humidor. In sealed tube, out of tube, leave lid off... 

 what’s your guys take on it?

[Smoker]

20 minutes ago, Maybee86 said:

Ive read a lot different views on storing tubos in your humidor. In sealed tube, out of tube, leave lid off... 

 what’s your guys take on it?

I store mine without the tubes. When the cigars arrive, I always examine each one to find out what I've got. It doesn't seem worth the effort to put them all back into the tubes and have to take them out again later to smoke. Now, when I want one, I can just grab it out of the humidor. Some marques sell the same cigar with and without a tube, and I suppose there should be some difference in the taste of the 'tubos' version, because it has been stored differently (usually wrapped in cedar). So by taking the cigars out and storing them without the tubes, I suppose you could be altering the taste, and losing the uniqueness of the vitola. On the other hand, I like the idea of each cigar having a little space to breathe.

[BarryNY]

35 minutes ago, Maybee86 said:

Ive read a lot different views on storing tubos in your humidor. In sealed tube, out of tube, leave lid off... 

 what’s your guys take on it?

I store them in the tube but with the top removed.  This way when I grab one and pop the top back on I know the RH% of the piece of cedar inside the tube should hold my cigar fairly consistent for (at the very least) that day/night I'm planning on smoking it...