Spoiled/Sour humidor?

[ParkitoATL]

Can a wooden humidor get spoiled or sour?

Lately I've had a lot of bitter smokes, across many different brands, and I suddenly realized the one common thread was that they had all been in my wooden humidor. All of the good smokes I've had have come straight out of my plastic Tupps!

My hygrometers have been tested and all of my Tupps use 65% Bovedas. I have been in the habit of moving sticks into the 60-62% wooden humidor for a few weeks as a dry box before I smoke and those all seem to turn nasty on me, even Cubans and higher end NCs. When I smoke them right out of the Tupp, they are always terrific.

I had three quality smokes (one Fonseca and two Drew Estate) from the wooden box yesterday. Each one had acrid, bitter notes that made them very unpleasant. Twelve hours later I still have ashtray mouth. Previous samples from the Tupps have all been fine.

Possible explanations:

1) the cedar has somehow gotten contaminated or spoiled. It's 20+ years old, maybe it's gotten skanked out. Maybe it's off gassing some internal plywood that is underneath the cedar.

2) maybe whatever the cedar imparts into the cigar I just naturally perceive as bitter, where others might not.

Thanks for your input.

 

 

[Timothy556]

I have never heard of or experience the wood in a humidor becoming rotten or sour. Before you go too crazy trying to figure it out, begin with the simplified answer of the cigars them selves. Some cigars can taste off any times and some brands use blends that have a long finish that you can taste for a long time. Others can chin in on their experience but for me most NC cigars taste like bitter ash and char half way through (Drew estate included). Hope this helps 

[ParkitoATL]

17 minutes ago, Timothy556 said:

I have never heard of or experience the wood in a humidor becoming rotten or sour. Before you go too crazy trying to figure it out, begin with the simplified answer of the cigars them selves. Some cigars can taste off any times and some brands use blends that have a long finish that you can taste for a long time. Others can chin in on their experience but for me most NC cigars taste like bitter ash and char half way through (Drew estate included). Hope this helps 

I agree that there are a lot of nasty NCs but these are cigars that I've bought and smoked many boxes and found to be quite palatable. The ones I haven't put in the wooden humidor have all been fine. The Fonseca was a fairly recent addition so may be a little young but fortunately I have two more for comparison.

[Timothy556]

Can you just move all of your cigars into the tupperdor for now?  Might be the best option. 

[ParkitoATL]

7 minutes ago, Timothy556 said:

Can you just move all of your cigars into the tupperdor for now?  Might be the best option. 

Yes I have. Most were in there anyway I was just using the wood box as a dry box before smoking. Atlanta humidity is off the chain right now!

[Fosgate]

If you think it's the humidor you can empty it, wipe it down with a 50/50 mix of vinegar and distilled water. The Vinegar will breach the cell wall of any fungus spores and kill them and any active fungus. Let it dry a few days and then recondition, get the humidity where you want it and reload. 

[ParkitoATL]

40 minutes ago, therealrsr said:

Does the humi have any odor beyond (probably) spanish cedar?

I can't detect any smells other than the cedar. There isn't any visible signs of mold or damage either.

Reviewing my notes I now realize how many truly bad cigars I've pulled out of this box. It's definitely NOT just a cigar that tastes reasonable but needs a few more months to smooth out the edges. I'm talking nearly un-smokeable, where the acrid taste overpowers everything else in the cigar, full on skank mouth. Doesn't matter the brand or the country.

I may call it quits on this one, use it to store my cigar cutters, torches, etc., add another Tupperdor and move on.

[rcarlson]

Yeah.  We've been mighty humid and warm in the ATL.  It's made for some hard time with the burn and draw.   

What kind of humi, and are you using Boveda in the humi or one that you fill/refresh with solution?  I've gotten that sour smell with the solution when it's warm.  I use nothing but Boveda's now, and all is right in the world.   

[ParkitoATL]

5 minutes ago, rcarlson said:

What kind of humi, and are you using Boveda in the humi or one that you fill/refresh with solution?

Just a single Boveda 62%. I had previously used the foam with some PG solution. When I started noticing the bad taste I switched to Boveda but it didn't help.

Maybe this is my humidor's "sick period!" It's sick alright...

Where you at in Atlanta?

[Digi]

Looks like your humidor is 62% and the tups are at 65%?  Maybe your humidity preference has changed a bit and 65 is the right taste for you.  Might consider brining the humidor up to 65, giving it a month or two and digging back in.

[rcarlson]

30 minutes ago, ParkitoATL said:

Where you at in Atlanta?

Grant Park. 

[ParkitoATL]

13 minutes ago, Digi said:

Looks like your humidor is 62% and the tups are at 65%?  Maybe your humidity preference has changed a bit and 65 is the right taste for you.  Might consider brining the humidor up to 65, giving it a month or two and digging back in.

I've experimented a while over the last few months using some Tupperware and Boveda 58%, 62% and 65%. It was actually difficult to get them below 60% with our Atlanta humidity.

I feel like for most cigars I like the 62% just a hair better than 65%. None of these experiments tasted skanky to me.

[patrickamory]

Interesting - I am having exactly the same experience. Anything I put in my nice wooden humidor seems to taste at best blah, at worst bitter as you describe, whereas the sticks straight from the Tupperdors have mostly been great.

As you'll see from the thread above this ("need advice"), I also got some mold spores in my humidor this summer. This was probably due to my being away for several weeks and the temp being high in my apartment.

I keep the wooden humidor at 62% - via the sponge humidifier it came with until I had the mold problem, and since then with 62% Boveda packs.

I wonder whether you might have a similar issue?