Can Humidity and Moisture Affect Your Cigar?

The best cigars are made with precision, using quality ingredients, and optimized to a perfect 12-15 percent moisture content. It's this balance of moisture and dryness that gives cigars their rich flavor and capacity for long, satisfying smokes.

When you shop at cigar stores online for a variety of top-quality cigars, you should protect your investment. Why else would you dedicate your tastes to such a classic indulgence as a great cigar?

To get the best cigar online, you have to ensure good moisture and humidity levels once it arrives. Store it properly, and it will last.

Here's what you need to know about how moisture and humidity can change a cigar, and what you can do to prevent unwanted defects as you store your cigars.

The Science of Cigars

When you burn a cigar, it releases a variety of flavorful, scented sugars and oils from the tobacco leaves inside. As they blend into the smoke and they swirl in and out of your body, they leave behind flavor. This process—the joy of smoking a cigar—depends on proper moisture and humidity. Too much moisture, and the cigar will burn unevenly with unbalanced flavor. Too little, and your cigar will burn too hot, and will lose its aromatic oils. Either way, the delicate aroma and flavor will be eliminated if your cigar leaves its comfortable 12-15 percent moisture range.

Once they lose moisture, they lose flavor, and this cannot be returned to the cigar. Dry cigars also can burn out too quickly, like kindling, and will burn out at too high a temperature for them to have a pleasantly smoky aroma and flavor.

Cigars can also dampen, which will make them difficult to smoke. If they're stored in conditions above 72 percent humidity, they can attract dew, especially in the morning. A few minutes in rainstorm conditions can ruin a good cigar.

Proper Storage

Because cigars are hygroscopic, meaning they attract and hold moisture from their environment, they can also lose moisture quickly too. Without direct sunlight or air conditioning, a cigar can dry out in its container in a single day. Left out in the elements, it may even dry in a few hours.

Keep your cigars in a cigar humidor or cooler, which have balanced moisture levels designed to protect cigars. They should be well-sealed and, preferably, made with Spanish cedar, a naturally protective wood that maintains moisture balance. Ensure that you don't crowd your humidor or cooler, and that you don't leave them mostly empty either. Crowded or empty humidors won't stay balanced. You can also keep cigars in a plastic box, but they'll need occasional inspection and the container will have to be kept very, clean.

Should You Replace Your Cigars?

You can check the moisture levels of a cigar by rolling it between your fingers. Dry cigars feel brittle and sound crackly as you roll them. Wet cigars feel spongy, far too soft, and dense. A good cigar should feel firm but with slight give, almost like a human finger. It should also feel slightly oily.

If a cigar has cracks or ripples, its moisture levels have fluctuated, and the cigar has been exposed to the damaging effects of both high and low moisture. White, moldy spots are signs of moisture damage too.

If you see damage, just shop at an online cigar store for new, balanced cigars that haven't lost their flavor or aroma quality. The best online cigar stores will store and ship cigars at a balanced moisture level without exposing them to damaging elements.

Online cigar shops like Corona Cigar Company offer the best-made cigars, and advice on storing them for ultimate enjoyment. As one of the best cigar stores online , Corona Cigar Company also has a wide selection of cigar accessories for you to enjoy. Visit https://www.coronacigar.com today to learn more and to shop a wide selection.