Quarantine New Cigars

[Brian24]

For what it’s worth, I put anything from FOH in gen pop immediately. Bump to [mention]PigFish [/mention] , I store everything at a ready to smoke low Rh, 60-62, although I suspect we have vastly different inventory levels.

I don’t dry box, but find if I pull a cigar out of the winador a couple hours before smoking, I get a better experience. Unfortunately, it’s usually not that well planned.

Hence storage at lower Rh.

[El Presidente]

Cuba Freezes stock and has been doing so since 2005. 

I saw my last live beetle from HSA stock in 2006 thereabouts. 

I do come across holes in cigars from time to time. Never a live beetle. That is because the beetle hatched between the factory and the freezing warehouse before the box  being exported. 

Prior to 2004/5, beetle damage/infestation of HSA stock was a serious issue. 

Freeze away should you wish.  However, I can only relate that in millions of cigars inspected since 06......I haven't seen a live beetle in a mastercase of HSA cigars. 

[sho671]

13 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

Cuba Freezes stock and has been doing so since 2005. 

I saw my last live beetle from HSA stock in 2006 thereabouts. 

I do come across holes in cigars from time to time. Never a live beetle. That is because the beetle hatched between the factory and the freezing warehouse before the box  being exported. 

Prior to 2004/5, beetle damage/infestation of HSA stock was a serious issue. 

Freeze away should you wish.  However, I can only relate that in millions of cigars inspected since 06......I haven't seen a live beetle in a mastercase of HSA cigars. 

I read on the Habanos website that they've been freezing all their cigars since 2005. I took this to mean all their cigars, not just the ones for export. I know a bunch of people, even around here, advocate to freeze cigars bought in Cuba because they are under the impression that only cigars exported are frozen. Do you have any insight as to whether they only freeze cigars that are destined for distribution outside of Cuba?

[El Presidente]

1 minute ago, sho671 said:

I read on the Habanos website that they've been freezing all their cigars since 2005. I took this to mean all their cigars, not just the ones for export. I know a bunch of people, even around here, advocate to freeze cigars bought in Cuba because they are under the impression that only cigars exported are frozen. Do you have any insight as to whether they only freeze cigars that are destined to leave Cuba?

I believe they do now. That wasn't always the case however. 

It doesn't matter. Everything out of Cuba must be frozen. 

Tobacco beetles in cuban stores are everywhere if you look. All those custom cigars have never been frozen. The tobacco used for those customs has never been frozen. Beetles fly and they mix readily with newly arrived HSA stock and find themselves all the nice spots in lockers.  Now if the stores kept their aircon sub 21/70 24 hours a day.....they may have a fighting chance with beetle traps etc. It's Cuba. They don't / can't.  

[sho671]

9 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

I believe they do now. That wasn't always the case however. 

It doesn't matter. Everything out of Cuba must be frozen. 

Tobacco beetles in cuban stores are everywhere if you look. All those custom cigars have never been frozen. The tobacco used for those customs has never been frozen. Beetles fly and they mix readily with newly arrived HSA stock and find themselves all the nice spots in lockers.  Now if the stores kept their aircon sub 21/70 24 hours a day.....they may have a fighting chance with beetle traps etc. It's Cuba. They don't / can't.  

Thanks for the insight. After I read up on the life cycles and the common existence of tobacco beetles in household kitchens and pantries due to their proclivity to consume and exist around dried food and plant products including grains, beans, books etc, I've been freezing every cigar procured whatever the source.

[El Presidente]

Just now, sho671 said:

Thanks for the insight. After I read up on the life cycles and the common existence of tobacco beetles in household kitchens and pantries due to their proclivity to consume and exist around dried food and plant products including grains, beans, books etc, I've been freezing every cigar procured whatever the source.

In that case,  we all have to keep the cigars in  zip lock bags to protect them  once the tobacco beetles finished with the cornflakes 

Freeze away. No harm done. 

 

[Fuzz]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

In that case,  we all have to keep the cigars in  zip lock bags to protect them  once the tobacco beetles finished with the cornflakes 

Freeze away. No harm done. 

 

I would think they prefer Nutri-Grain.

[MasterYotti]

On 5/12/2020 at 8:53 AM, CaptainQuintero said:

  If you're running a wine fridge turned on, be aware that you're introducing moisture into the unit as a consequence of the cooling effect so need a system to deal with that excess moisture 

I am using the NewAir unit, which I don't believe acts like a regular fridge, once at it's set temperature it remains off. Plus with the amount of Boveda I have in there I think that should eliminate that possibility. I have been looking for signs of any physical droplets since I purchased it and I am fairly certain that it is no longer a worry with my current setup.

20 hours ago, El Presidente said:

Cuba Freezes stock and has been doing so since 2005. 

I saw my last live beetle from HSA stock in 2006 thereabouts. 

I do come across holes in cigars from time to time. Never a live beetle. That is because the beetle hatched between the factory and the freezing warehouse before the box  being exported. 

Prior to 2004/5, beetle damage/infestation of HSA stock was a serious issue. 

Freeze away should you wish.  However, I can only relate that in millions of cigars inspected since 06......I haven't seen a live beetle in a mastercase of HSA cigars. 

Thank you for shedding some light on this. With your experience and expertise, it is great to hear your insight on many of these topics! 

[CaptainQuintero]

25 minutes ago, MasterYotti said:

I am using the NewAir unit, which I don't believe acts like a regular fridge, once at it's set temperature it remains off. Plus with the amount of Boveda I have in there I think that should eliminate that possibility. I have been looking for signs of any physical droplets since I purchased it and I am fairly certain that it is no longer a worry with my current setup.

 It will come down to the temperate of the room the units located, if it's higher than inside the humidor and the unit cools the humidor then you'll get the effect. Beads etc will work until they are full up but then they'll stop. That excess moisture will go somewhere and we've create sealed units for our cigars. 

  There's plenty of threads on it here but you need an active system to deal with it if you're keeping the cooling unit turned on. There's quite a few options depending on your budget/energy

[Chibearsv]

1 hour ago, MasterYotti said:

I am using the NewAir unit, which I don't believe acts like a regular fridge, once at it's set temperature it remains off. Plus with the amount of Boveda I have in there I think that should eliminate that possibility. I have been looking for signs of any physical droplets since I purchased it and I am fairly certain that it is no longer a worry with my current setup.

I keep Boveda 62s in my NewAir and Whynter.  I also keep a couple half dry 62s nearby.  If and when the humidity rises over 62 in either, if the Boveda in the fridges are completely full, I replace them with the half dry Boveda and it works like a champ to bring the humidity down.

[Monterey]

On 5/10/2020 at 2:56 AM, Fuzz said:

I'm not aware of PCC HK freezing their cigars? Also pretty sure their Aus warehouse have no freezing facilities either. Temp controlled, but not freezing.

Well, El Presidente didn't chime in.  So I guess that means you were right.  Thanks for letting me know!  It changes my opinion on freezing.  I acted always as if they were frozen off island.  Guess I might start doing that myself.   Luckily everything I have is vacuum sealed.  Ready for quick trips to the freezer.

[Fuzz]

1 hour ago, Monterey said:

Well, El Presidente didn't chime in.  So I guess that means you were right.  Thanks for letting me know!  It changes my opinion on freezing.  I acted always as if they were frozen off island.  Guess I might start doing that myself.   Luckily everything I have is vacuum sealed.  Ready for quick trips to the freezer.

I doubt that the eggs would be viable for long if they were kept in a temperature controlled environment.

I don't personally freeze stuff from FOH, but that's because I'm here in Aus. There is little risk for me. However, anything I buy from overseas does get frozen.

[Stogieninja]

No expert and certainly unqualified to weigh in, but hey this is the internet. 
 

I’m sure I’ve read elsewhere that beetle larvae can survive a year. I don’t have the space or desire to quarantine each individual purchase that long. That would be a nightmare. 

I also don’t trust anyone else’s system or process because I don’t have any idea what happens in transport or who the middle men are or whatnot.

Also, freezing has no ill effect on my cigars, and I let them rest for a long time anyway. 

So I triple bag everything that comes through my doors, freeze, then let them reacclimatize to room temperature, then put them in my humidor.

Never had an issue, never had any ill effect. I’m not entirely sure it’s necessary, but I sleep more soundly at night having done so. 

[MasterYotti]

4 minutes ago, Stogieninja said:

No expert and certainly unqualified to weigh in, but hey this is the internet. 
 

I’m sure I’ve read elsewhere that beetle larvae can survive a year. I don’t have the space or desire to quarantine each individual purchase that long. That would be a nightmare. 

I also don’t trust anyone else’s system or process because I don’t have any idea what happens in transport or who the middle men are or whatnot.

Also, freezing has no ill effect on my cigars, and I let them rest for a long time anyway. 

So I triple bag everything that comes through my doors, freeze, then let them reacclimatize to room temperature, then put them in my humidor.

Never had an issue, never had any ill effect. I’m not entirely sure it’s necessary, but I sleep more soundly at night having done so. 

Out of curiosity, what is your humidor setup like?

[Stogieninja]

Out of curiosity, what is your humidor setup like?

Two 28bt Vinotemps with drawers and shelves. I don’t run them because I didn’t like how the humidity went haywire when they ran. They’re basically pretty coolers.

[Cigar Salute]

In regards to freezing cigars, there are 2 other pests that infest boxes aside from tobacco beetles:  Book lice & wood mites.  Both are small enough to slip into a sealed dress box; although neither damage cigars.  They eat glue, paper, binding, and mold.  The freezing process kills these pests as well.  And I received a box of RASCC from a popular online retailer last year, only to discover a perfectly round hole chewed right through the veneered plywood and paper on the bottom of the box.  I did the tap test, and sure enough a beetle hits the bottom of the box running through an avalanche of tobacco/beetle poop dust rain.  Also, check the photos of the book lice & wood mites:

photo 1 is tobacco Beetle damage from box i received from a popular retailer last summer.  I personally saw & killed the beetle that caused this damage.  Note the hole through the bottom of the box.  The retailer made it right.  

photo 2 is a wood mite found crawling on a Hoyo de Monterrey Petit Robusto during inspection after receiving the box from a different online retailer

photos 3 & 4 are of book lice.  I have found these pests in 4-5 boxes of cigars from different retailers.  The last photo is a penny next to a book louse to show scale of just how small these little bastards are.  The freezing process kills all of these pests.  Freezing a box upon receipt hasn't forced me to lengthen my acclimation process of boxes received in any significant way, but it has given me peace of mind that no cigar-eating marauders are using newly acquired stock as a Trojan horse to rape, pillage, and plunder my collection ?