Hi my name is Thom and I’m a cello off convert .

All “Hi Thom.”

A friend came over for beer and cigars, so we went to the smoking lounge (read computer/library/guy stuff room) got out a couple brews, picked out a couple of choice cigars and sat down. He takes the cello off of his cigar and he say “Hey man, this one’s dry.” “What?!” I say. “Listen…” as he rolled the cigar in his fingers you could hear a definite crunching sound. Not a normal light crinkle. “Let me see that.” When I took it in my hand the wrapper started to come off. “WTF!” A quick comparison found that mine was fine (cello off in the humi). I race out to my humidor and checked the hygrometer. 68%. Spot on. (Yes it’s been tested). Hmm, I reach in and feel the stogies that have cello off of them and they feel fine. I open up a couple that have the cello on, and they are bone dry. Crunchy even.

I race to the computer and bring up cigarbid.com forums and do an intensive search on the subject of humidity, dry cigars, cello on, off, and related. I found lots of good advice. The best, I think, came from SteveS, “…cello is not a vapor barrier ... it will slow down the transfer of humidity either TO or FROM the cigars and/or their box, but it will not prevent the transfer.” I thought, time is of the essence (I was kind of panicky “my precious smokes”) Having a prime example of cello off in my hand I went through all of my cigars and took off (almost) all of the plastic wrappers, except for a couple to use as placebo.

After 10 days I can honestly say that with the cello off, my cigars are at a very good state of moistness for smoking. While those still in plastic are still dry.

Your questions and comments are welcome.

Thom

Thom

i too am a beliver.

I was once a cello off guy and switched to cello on. I like the cello for the protection against getting damaged. I will note that there are some cigars in the humi without cello (ones I got through trades, gifts, PIFs, etc). I've never had a problem with any of the cigars drying out.

Another thing you may want to try is recalibrating your hygrometer. Make sure it is still accurate and not +/- a few %. It sounds weird, but I do that with mine every year or so. It cant hurt to reconfirm.

I have ran into this same thing in my smoking humi. Some were dry and falling apart. I removed all my cello from the current ones in the smoking humi and they are all good to go now. I do keep some in cello like my cuban honey's so I dont get any marrying with those sticks.

Robert Harris in Honduras writes:

Thom, your choice to remove the cello is the correct one. Cigars do dry out when left inside the plastic and the Aficiando always unwraps and stores them naked. But to prove my point have you ever bought a box of premiums like PAM 64s or Monte Cristo #2s - No Cello- Because the best never have them. Talk to the old timers on this - Estelo, Rolando, Benji -and you will also get the same opinion.

what about the non-commital "half on/half off?"

on a few of my sticks, just to experiment, i snipped the ends off of the cello but left it on around the body of the cigar -- just left the head and foot open.

if nothing else, it gives me a feeling of protecting the cigar but at the same time allowing some breathing to go on.

Once I got over 200 cigar I found that "cello-off" just doesn't work. Too easy to damage sticks when you move them around.

GT

I to prefer them in their nakedidity.

I may change my mind in the future, as I know that no cello means that the cigars will damage easier. But right now, the choices are; slightly damaged and smokable or dry and not. I like smokable. It'll be interesting to see where some of my long term smokes will be with the cello on in a few months or years. Time will tell.

I was a cell off guy, but after about 4 months of smoking/buying/collecting/trading, I've found out that I'm better off with the cello on.

1) Prevent damage from shipping cigars -- scratch on wrapper while shipping (I wrap the de-celloed cigar a sandwich bag to prevent that).

2) Prevent damage from moving the cigars -- acidity in the hands may ruin the cigars, and I know it's not that big a deal, but I just don't want my cigars to ... taste like my hand 😛.

3) I have boxes of cigars that I store in the cooler, and it's a pain in the neck to de-cello all the cigars. Besides, I keep the shrinkwrap on if I'm not going to smoke them.

4) I don't want all of my cigars to taste the same, and I know "marrying" is a debatable topic, but just want to prevent that. If I have a Connie that has the same smell as an Opus... then ... 😛

5) I keep my coolers at constant 73% humidity, so they will not dry out. I have a dry box set aside, and I have about 25 cigars in there at all times. In case the cigar is too wet, they'll have some time to dry up for a smooth draw.

6) I know cigars need to breath, but it always feel nice when I see a very yello cello, and that just tells me this cigar is ready to smoke!! 😛

Just my 2 cents.

Visually I much prefer the look of "naked" cigars, ditto for the aroma..........but, I find that I have a tendency to always be shifting things around. Unfortunately, tattering always becomes a problem. So while I have a few "naked" that I KNOW I'm not going to trade or be moving about, most of mine are "cello on."

When I store boxes I ALWAYS take the wrapper off. I think cello shrink-wrapped over the box is fine, but some of this new stretchy-type plastic I am leery of. I've read that it doesn't allow permeation of humidity like actual cello. The result being that condensation can actually form inside the box with the changes in temp as the Igloodor (in my case) is opened and closed. The eventual result is a super-moistening of the cigars that you aren't even aware of until you open the box. Then you may discover that mold has been growing for quite some time and you have a box of ruined cigars that you thought you were aging!

Just my thoughts............

I have noticed the A. Fuente company has made the error of cellophaning a few of their cigar lines and am forwarding this discussion to them in the hopes they will see the error of their ways.

I started out cello off (about two years), but I thought my cigars began tasting similarly, so now I'm going cello on (about six months), and so far I like it.

How does opening an igloodor cause a change in temp? Seems like it would be at room temperature before you open it. Just curious.

Somebody with more expertise in this area is needed to give a more rational explanation than I can, but I'll try to convey what I know about it...........

It has to do with the humidity content in the air versus in the Igloodor. The more humid environment is "warmer" (being heavier, I think) than the drier air outside. Through the process of opening and closing the lid (and the air in the container being re-humidied over and over again) the temp inside fluctuates up and down.

I've just read what I've written and it sounds like inane drivel even to me (I knew I wouldn't be able to explain this in a comprehensible way! I've always avoided chemistry/physics like the plague), but I'm not conjuring it up. I've read about this process on more than one board and maybe I can find a link to at least one of them.

More to come...........possibly..........

Is there a physicist in the house?

arwings,

I think I have the mechanism of the frequent-opening temperature fluctuations.

1) Opening a humidor/tupperdoor in a dryer room environment lowers the humidity inside it, by exchange of air.

2) The humidifier (credo, beads, whatever) then allows water to evaporate to increase the humidity inside back to the desired level.

3) The evaporation of water lowers air temperature (a thermodynamics thing).

4) A drop in temperature can cause condensation.

The question now is, how much is temperature affected? And how much moisture can condense if the humidity is temporarily low anyway? We still need that physicist... STAT!!

Still haven't found one or more of the links I was referring to (where I read the information). I do want to emphasize the distinction I was making between cello wrapped on boxes (same material enclosing single cigars) and this new, thicker stuff (which is what the boards were talking about). My considerations for taking the wrapping off prior to the box storage may be much ado about nothing and any effect may be negligible..............however, the way I look at it, why take a risk, however improbable or minuscle, if you don't have to?..........when dealing with my premium 'gars it's one less concern.......'sides, I like to open the box and look at them every now and then, while they're aging............

Just my thoughts..............

Most of my sticks are in cello, and my question is: if they're moist when I put them in my box, even in cello, will they then stay moist? Seems to me the answer would be yes.

MichaelPCo,

That's a good question, I think you come up with the right answer. But what if we turn that question around. If the cigars you have are dry when you put them in the humi, will they stay dry? To me the answer would be no. However, the cigars that were moist became dry and the ones that were dry did not improve, except for the ones out of the cellophane... go figure.

BTW I decided to double check the RH, and the hygrometer, so I swapped hygrometers with another humi (which reads at +1) and it came up with 69%.

Thanks for all your suggestions and questions. Keep 'em comimg.