The refrigerator steps don't really gain you much of anything. It's not really cold enough to damage the eggs and tobacco has a very low moisture content compared to other commonly frozen items, it's not like it needs the long cool down.

Home freezers cycle up and down in temp continuously. They also tend to be uneven, some areas are colder, some are warmer. Ideally, make the calculation based on the warmest spot in the freezer, with accounting for the extra time needed for the insulating factor provided by the box and the cigars in a bundle so that one is basing the time on the center cigars in a bundle or box. IMO and based on a few simple tests I ran, I would say that anything less than 5-6 days in the freezer is not sufficient.

For me I found that straight to the freezer for about 8-10 days works. A few extra days don't hurt things and just give you a larger margin of safety. Come out of the freezer to atmospheric long enough for the excess condensation to evaporate and it's done.

Passed around some cigars at a herf once, all originally from the same box, some were right out of a 10 day freeze, some were week or two out of a freeze, the others were never frozen. No one could tell the difference in flavor.

I've even accidentally left stuff in the freezer for longer, a lot longer, about a month actually. It was fine. Note though, that they were still in the vendor applied heat sealed plastic bags.

What about a deep freeze?

anyone sous vide their cigars after the freezer?

Commerical units are a whole different story.

IIRC, a larger ones that can hold -20F without fluctuating, you're looking at a day. Of course, I'd say add some extra time, but, yeah, it's fast. You're mainly waiting for it to cool down at the center of the bundle.


Cubatobacco and a number of NC manufacturers, even some distributors use blast freezers that go down to like -40F, even lower in some cases, they'll hold them there for 2-3 days, but they are freezing stacks of pallets of master cases.

Here's my aging box menu of sticks I plan not to touch till 2030
10x RyJ Media Noche
10x CasaTurrent 1942
Casa Turrent sampler
10x diesel unlimited Rob
5x diesel unlimited lancero
Ave Maria morning star sampler
2x Padron 3000
2x Padron 1926 no 2
2x Umbagog
3x Nomad SA-17
Stolen throne crook of the crown
Ashton Symmetry
Dunbarton Sin Compromiso
Dunbarton Sobremesa
Diamond crown Black diamond
All secured beautifully in Spanish cedar divider trays each layered with 2) 62rh bovedas per rack
Looking to put together another time capsule soon so recommendations, comments welcome

I did a similar thing with various Fuente maduros and OX but didn’t necessarily have a 10 year mark in mind. Should try that with my Cubans too.

As the Jamaican folks told Mrs. Beach and I when we traveled there for our 10th anniversary, "10 years!?!?! That's a long time! We don't do that here"

Listen to this man. He knows his chit from Shinola. 🌫

I'm an advocate for aging all cigars. I aged all of mine @ ~60%-65% RH and at ~60-65F. It helped that my basement was pretty cool so there wasn't a need for extra AC. 🌫

WTH have you been for almost 9 months?? I'm assuming not aging cigars.