Is there any hope for these?

Without going into detail as to how, in 2009 I came into possession of a sealed box of Partagas Serie D No. 4 from an island south of Florida. Being the careless person that I am, I opened the box, inspected them, then put them on a shelf in a seldom used closet and forgot them. They remained there, untouched until today, when I came across them while cleaning out the closet. To my surprise, they weren't bone dry or full of beetle holes, but they are definitely under humidified. Have I ruined these? I seldom smoke cigars, being mainly a pipe smoker, but even after being in that closet all these years they smell good enough to eat. What can I expect if I try to re-humidify these?

I'm no help but interested to see what others say. I'd give it a try if it was me.

You can re-humidify them but do it slowly (a few % points at a time and over several months) so that they don't swell and make the wrappers burst. They might still taste fairly decent but sadly enough most, if not all, of the essential oils will be dried up and evaporated.

I would think you would be able to get them at the proper humidity again.

Whether or not the flavors will still be there after 6 years, I dunno.

The real question is whats the RH of that closet?

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Originally Posted by HIM

The real question is whats the RH of that closet?

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Where I live it doesn't rain from April to October and the humidity is close to zero, so I'd guess the RH is pretty low.

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Originally Posted by Pugsley

Where I live it doesn't rain from April to October and the humidity is close to zero, so I'd guess the RH is pretty low.

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While it might seem close to zero, even Death Valley in the heat of summer has RH levels around 10-15%. Most of Calif has average daily RH of 50-75%.

Give re-humidification a shot and see what happens. If nothing else you could always make some cavendish.
(http://www.cigarbum.com/forum/showth...into-Cavendish)

I'm going to give it a shot and try to bring them along slowly. If it takes a year it's no big deal. I don't think I've smoked 3 cigars in the last 5 years, so I'll just puff on my pipe and check them every few weeks.

There is only one way to find out for sure; Smoke 'em! :stogie:

Put a fork in them......they are done.....move on....

Al's probably right, but it's worth a shot. It costs nothing, but time. Put them in a zipper bag, along with an accurate hygrometer and purge as much air as you can. Leave them in there for 24 hrs to get a solid reading as to where they are. Try not to increase RH too quickly for reasons Donnie pointed out. Your goal is 1-2% a week.

Even after bringing the RH up to acceptable levels they may deliver all the flavor and enjoyment of smoking a rolled up page from the New York Times, but I have to try it. If they're ruined it's my own fault.

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Originally Posted by Pugsley

I don't think I've smoked 3 cigars in the last 5 years, so I'll just puff on my pipe and check them every few weeks.

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Since you forgot about these for years and hardly ever smoke cigars, why not give them to someone who
1. Does smoke cigars
2. Is willing to give them the TLC they need
3. Has the patience to bring them back to life and
4. Is willing to risk all that work with the possibility they're not any good?

And this is not me asking for them, numbers 3 and 4 do not apply to me.

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Originally Posted by Rocket Scientologist

Since you forgot about these for years and hardly ever smoke cigars, why not give them to someone who
1. Does smoke cigars
2. Is willing to give them the TLC they need
3. Has the patience to bring them back to life and
4. Is willing to risk all that work with the possibility they're not any good?

And this is not me asking for them, numbers 3 and 4 do not apply to me.

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How would I find a person with the saintly attributes you list?

Well either that or you could give them to someone who enjoys smoking dog rockets.
There was someone on here a while back offering to buy any and all Gurkhas for $1 each. He'd prolly take 'em. :)

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Originally Posted by Emperor Zurg

Well either that or you could give them to someone who enjoys smoking dog rockets.
There was someone on here a while back offering to buy any and all Gurkhas for $1 each. He'd prolly take 'em. :)

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I'd prefer to pass them on to someone who will at least try to revive them, even if there's little hope for them.

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Originally Posted by Pugsley

I'd prefer to pass them on to someone who will at least try to revive them, even if there's little hope for them.

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Rather sentimental. I see cremation in their future regardless the route they take.
:D :D

Since I would probably forget about these again and just end up throwing them away, I'm passing them on to Rocket Scientologist, (Brad), to try reviving them. Good luck with them.

If he admittedly doesn't have the patience for it, I'LL take them!! :)

Other than chucking the box in my cabinet humidor at 65%, how does one go about raising RH 1-2% per week, anyway?

I will do my best.

Let us know how you "revive" them and how they turn out

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Originally Posted by Indyhp

If he admittedly doesn't have the patience for it, I'LL take them!! :)

Other than chucking the box in my cabinet humidor at 65%, how does one go about raising RH 1-2% per week, anyway?

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Place them in a tupperware with the lowest value Boveda, or other two-way media you can get. Check it every 48 hrs. After a week, place the cigars back in the zipper bag with the hygrometer to check your progress. Repeat weekly.

Or you could sell them to some hapless fool and use the proceeds to buy so fresh ones...

But that wouldn't be too sporting...

I can try to restore one or two for science. There is a time consuming but effective process. Won't know if they have lost their pop until after they are restored.

Finally made it to the post office and these are now on the way. Tracking # 9505 5105 1511 5085 0184 07

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Originally Posted by bobajob

Or you could sell them to some hapless fool and use the proceeds to buy so fresh ones...

But that wouldn't be too sporting...

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http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/...psc9iepnef.jpg

I'll keep everyone updated on the progress.

@Pugsley I got the cigars today and they actually look pretty good considering. They're in a tupperdor at the moment getting a humidity baseline.Attachment 1550Attachment 1551

So when the RH was reading ~50% I decided that was low enough and put 2 of the small 8g 62%RH Boveda packs in there. Not brand new, they were already open - that's why I put both in there. It's currently reading ~56%RH. I fully expect those Boveda packs to be used up relatively quick.

I have successfully revived cigars that I neglected when I took a long break from the hobby (sat in a closet for about 6-8 years). I figured the worst case scenario was I would rehydrate cigars that turned out to have no flavor, but I was happily rewarded with some good smokes. It was a mixed bag of about 15 cigars, three or four of which were CC. I brought the humidity up slowly, and once I got it around 58% stuck them in the back of my end table humidor (kept between 62-65%) and successfully forgot about them for a year or more.

At a herf with @havanajohn and others, I had a RyJ Churchill that I purchased on my honeymoon ('98). Man, that cigar was actually really good...surprisingly so considering the years of neglect it went through. I remember others being okay to good, but my time and effort (which it didn't take a lot of either) was worth it, even if it was just for that one cigar (which it wasn't).

Good luck, and patience is a virtue! And in this case, so is a bad memory...forgetting them was the hardest part. :lol:

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Originally Posted by HabanoMan

You can re-humidify them but do it slowly (a few % points at a time and over several months) so that they don't swell and make the wrappers burst. They might still taste fairly decent but sadly enough most, if not all, of the essential oils will be dried up and evaporated.

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@HabanoMan gives great advice. I'm a little more optimistic than he is. Don't over humidify them to compensate and be patient, 6 months give or take. You'll know if they need more time by how they burn, feel when you smoke them. Most Cuban leaf can handle lower humidification than Nicaraguan or Honduran leaf so give ita go and good luck.