Cigar Humidity Level

Storing cigars at the proper temperature and humidity level is something that we have to deal with in order to keep our smokes fresh. The optimum humidity level for cigars is 65 to 70 percent relative humidity which mimics the growing environment where the tobacco is produced. But one thing that you need to take into account is that when you remove your cigars from the humidor for consumption they will start to adapt themselves to the ambient humidity level of where you live. So if you live in the eastern United States where the humidity is greater than 70% and your cigars are already at 70% they will absorb the higher humidity level. So when you smoke them they could be too wet. On the western side of the country, where the humidity is less than 70% the cigars will loose humidity and dry out and may be too dry at smoking time. One thing that I have noticed on the discussion boards is that easterners store their cigars at 65% and westerners store their 70%. This makes perfect sense because whether the cigars absorb or loose humidity during their time out in the atmosphere, they won't loose or gain more than 5% in a 24 hour period hence they will be somewhere between 65 and 70% at consumption time.

Chas

Smok'em if you Got'em