Storage Options - What Say You?

[Pmoney]

Good day OLH!

I've been smoking for about five years now. I have two desktops for my smokes. Since I have started, I have always had issues storing my cigars. Some I can age for years and they taste beautiful. Sometimes I'll let a stick sit for a couple months, and I smoke it and it tastes like grassy, over-humidified crap... I've done the humi-care crystals, Boveda packs, and I get the same hit and miss results.

I live in a VERY hot area of So Cal. 110-120 in the summer is normal, so my house is generally kept at 78, except in the winter I'm at 70. Anyhow, I was debating on how to rectify my issue. I suspect the temperature is a factor for my inconsistency. Be that as it may, I was thinking of either getting a locker at my B&M, or doing a wineador situation. I would also love an Avallo or Staebell, but I am going through a divorce at the moment, and just can't part with a couple grand right now, but I could potentially do a unit that just handles RH.

What would you suggest? The B&M charges $500 a year, but they also give you $250 in cigars, which I feel is a pretty sweet deal. However I would like to have the sticks readily available, say if I want to burn one late night style..... Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated!

Cheers  :cheers:

[kenshiro]

It also depends on the cigar. Some cigars just have more 'legs' than others and age well, whereas others are best ROTT and won't benefit at all from aging.

If you want to do the B&M locker thing, just make a weekly run to stock up a small desktop so you always have some on hand, while the balance of your stash is properly stored.

[Pmoney]

Thanks brotha, not a bad suggestion!  :cool:

[tegulator]

I'd suggest doing a coolerdor with kitty litter for the RH control. It's the most cost-effective solution all around, in my opinion. The only serious issue you'd need to consider is temperature regulation. If there is a place in your house that stays cooler than the others, I'd store it there.


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[JohnE1000]

IMHO, lockers at cigar shops are waste of money. They are too small and rarely keep proper humidity and temperature.

Cigars age differently depends on the tobacco origin. If you are mostly NC cigar smoker, don't bother of aging them. From my experience, most of NC cigars don't age very well. If you are mostly CC smoker and wants to age your cigars, invest in a climate controlled humidor.

[smokyjoe]

Where in SoCal? I live in Palmdale and have the  same temps had a lot of trouble with the desk tops so went cooladoor & 70% heartfelt got a small one then filled it up within a year now I have a 70qt and it's almost full but wow it holds 64% 72f in the Sumer 68f winter it's the best investment Iv made spend that $500 on sticks! After I fill my 70qt I'm going to look for a aristocrat cabnit

[JL67]

Winador won't help with temps that extreme, they are really only going to give you roughly a 10 degree difference and dealing with temps that high it's not going to cut it, you'll end up with condensation even though it's not compressor based and while it looks good it won't really make up a 50 degree difference.

[Pmoney]

Thanks for the extra insight guys!

As for the Coolerdor, the temps are an issue. I'm in the Palm Springs area, so in the summer time, it may be 100-125 outside, but it's maybe 78 inside the house. So with a wineador, that could (in theory?) get it down to 68-70 degrees, if it can get it 10 degrees lower than ambient temperature, unless I am missing something about wineador function?

Fuente's are the only NC's I tend to age. But I've brought sticks home from the B&M, put them in the desktop for a day or two before smoking, and they taste like absolute shit. So even short term storage is an issue...

[jimbobber]

[quote author=Pmoney link=topic=30936.msg131630#msg131630 date=1417982225]
Fuente's are the only NC's I tend to age. But I've brought sticks home from the B&M, put them in the desktop for a day or two before smoking, and they taste like absolute shit. So even short term storage is an issue...
[/quote]

You are supposed to use FRESH kitty litter.  ;D

[Pmoney]

[quote author=jimbobber link=topic=30936.msg131705#msg131705 date=1418008550]
You are supposed to use FRESH kitty litter.   ;D
[/quote]

I KNEW I was going wrong somewhere! Thanks JB  ;)