This is probably one of the most important lessons that every cigar smoker should learn..especially if you are beginning to collect more than a few cigars. There is one main enemy to all cigar lovers. It is commonly known as the Cigar or Tobacco Beetle.
Pic from http://thebluestudios.com/DESIGN/Beatles.htm
I started out like most people with a small humidor. I would go thru my limited number of smokes relatively fast. This made me oblivious to one of the most common threats to cigars. Then I upgraded to a large capacity humidor (500+). I started to buy more boxes and built up a nice collection of smokes. Everything was fine for a while…but then “they” struck.
Pic from http://www.tobacconistuniversity.org/
I was on my way out of the house for a long vacation and went to grab a few smokes. I very quickly noticed a couple tiny holes in the cigars on the top shelf. After further investigation there were several additional signs that I had a beetle problem…there was brownish dust throughout the humidor and tiny holes in several more cigars. I had been warned by some good friends that this could happen, so I very quickly jumped into action. I gave one a call to confirm the steps to SAVE as many smokes as possible.
1) Go thru and examine each cigar to see if they are worth salvaging. This can be very depressing. Anything with several holes made its way to the garbage.
2) Break up the remaining cigars in small groups and place them in ziplock bags. Then put them in your freezer for at least a few days and up to a week.
3) CLEAN every inch of the empty humidor. I used a small handheld vaccum to pick up all the loose tabacco and tabacco dust. Then I wiped down the entire humidor with a damp cloth (Use distilled water). Then I reset my humidification unit and allowed the humidor to get to a consistent level again.
4) Transfer the cigars from the freezer to the frig. This will allow them to slowly thaw out. If any of these steps are rushed the wrappers can crack…be patient.
5) After several days you can finally put the cigars back in the new clean “BEETLE-FREE” humidor. Do not add any other cigars to your inventory for a good amount of time. You want to check the cigars daily for any new signs of a problem.
6) Start smoking and building your inventory back up! Wait unitl you feel comfortable that the problem is eliminated.
Check out this link to see a great video by cigar Aficionado detailing this process… http://bcove.me/o5r1kgic (Cut and paste in your browser)
In conclusion… Make sure you are keeping your humidor consistent as possible and check your stock as often as possible. (Check out my post on the Cigar Oasis here). Also, DO NOT bring random cigars into you humidor. I quarantine them in a bag before introducing them to the rest of my cigars. Thankfully I have only had one major encounter with beetles and I was lucky that the condo I rented had a frig/freezer available. This allowed me to bring my entire humidor with me. If you see any of the signs of beetles it is worth taking major precautionary steps to minimize the damage.
