Dry Boxing?

B

Bruzee

ChestBeater
I have come across some burn issues as of late, and the more research I do around here, the more I hear the term "dry boxing". I can imagine this means letting a cigar sit in a box, at room temp/humidity, but I am not sure. Here are some questions I have:

1.) What is the process used to correctly "dry box"?
2.) How long do you let them sit?
3.) What kind of box do you use?
4.) And how many sticks per box?

I am probably over analyzing this, but as you folks know, burn issues are not fun and are discouraging. Furthermore, I am also curious as to what the various opinions/strategies around here are. Thanks...
 
with my personal experience i find that when i dry box my smokes for a week or so before i light them up it improves the burn and the draw rather then picking up a smoke from the vinotemp (which i keep my smokes at 65/65)
 
mikey burr said:
with my personal experience i find that when i dry box my smokes for a week or so before i light them up it improves the burn and the draw rather then picking up a smoke from the vinotemp (which i keep my smokes at 65/65)
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Do you leave the dry box outside your Vinotemp, or inside?
 
This is a good thread. So, do you put any type of humidification in the box. Like 60% if they are normally stored at 65%? Or do you just leave them at the humidity/temp that your house is?
 
Depends on where you live... I dry box in 75/55. for a cpl days max..... they smoke great. I'm guessing they are ab 72/60 by the time I smoke them... never had any issues doing it....
 
Blaylock said:
I have used dry boxing for awhile now. I put several cigars in a small travel humidor, with 60% beads, for at least 3-4 days.
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That is the technically correct answer.

Personally I keep a box with no humidification in my car for a week of commuting smokes and another in my office for a week of regular smokes--and have never had a problem. I have one of those digital weather devices in my home office and it shows the humidity in my office ranges from about 50 to 60% most of the time.
 
I prefer my smokes to be a little on the dry side when I smoke them so I always dry box them before I smoke them. Usually a week or two but it depends on the weather. I live in Michigan where it is relatively humidity is high all summer long. I watch the RH and try not to open the box unless the RH in less that 65%. For example the RH right now is 64% but the forecast for tomorrow is RH of 78% so I won't open the box tomorrow. Sometimes it's a real pain to smoke dry cigars in a humid environment.
 
I dry box at 55rh for at least a week. A lot of it depends on where you live. If you live in a high humidity area you would probably benefit from dryboxing. Have you ever noticed on a very humid day the stick you are smoking gets soggy? It picks up the humidity like a sponge. If you live in a very, very low humidity area you may have the oposite effect and might not like to drybox.
 
Interesting responses to this thread. Personally, I just throw a couple of smokes in a empty cigar box either the night before, or in the morning. I don't monitor the humidity. Works fine for me.
 
Cadillac said:
Interesting responses to this thread. Personally, I just throw a couple of smokes in a empty cigar box either the night before, or in the morning. I don't monitor the humidity. Works fine for me.
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:tpd:

Only takes the overnight to take a little moisture out.
 
doc8466 said:
If this make for a better smoke, why not just change your whole humidor to the lower humidity?
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Some folks do that, but if you have a large collection and are looking at long term storage you don't want to risk drying out the sticks. Unless you have a vinotemp with a fan etc. there will be uneven humidity throughout the coolerdor and the dryest of the sticks might get too dry. The downside of my 70% storage is that if I just grab something on impulse from a coolerdor and smoke it there may be burn issues. My experience is that during the summertime I can probably smoke anything (that has already rested a few months) on impulse in my collection and be fine. In the winter the smokes are more likely to crack or have burn problems if they don't have a transition period (since I smoke outside or in the car).

My suggestion: be fanatical about your high end sticks but don't worry so much when dealing with your everyday smokes.
 
Another option is just let them sit out a day or two, If my cigars are smoking a little wet I've been known to just sit them out on the counter overnight or maybe a day ot two..... it works for me and is about as simple as it gets.

I dont think cigars are nearly as fragil and sensitive as sometimes there made out to be. Experiment a little, if your worried try it with some of your less expensive smokes. I accidently left a Padron 2000 in my three finger cigar case unhumidified for about two weeks one time, smoked it and it was fantastic, it sort of caused me to re-think think the humidity I like to smoke my cigars at. I smoke alot of the Padron X000 series so I had a good baseline to compare this one to that sat unhumidified. Try it sometime, nothing ventured nothing gained....plus its part of the fun of what we do.
 
about two months ago, i inherited a box of don diego coronas from my grandpa that had been sitting in a room temp/humidity closet for about fifteen years. they were fantastic, a tiny bit dry but really great. so dry boxing can do some good stuff.
 
This is an interesting thread. Interestingly, I usually smoke while travelling, not while at home, so it is rare for me to pull a stick right out of my humidor and light it -- it happens, but not often.

But, when I travel, I usually dampen the humidifier in my travel case. Perhaps I should not do this? I have a week on the road coming up, and I think I will take my 15-stick box (vacation, not work). This could be my chance to experiment.

I guess my only concern on that front would be if I had sticks that did not get smoked, would they be in any condition to return to the humidor?
 
Anything I buy from the B&M tends to be a little too wet for me to smoke even after it has settled in my humi for a day or two. I do what a few other guys have said, I take the cigar and sit it on top of the humidor simple as that. Usually within 15-24 hours its in perfect condition for me to smoke and has a clean burn and nice draw.
 
Careful with this.
I keep my sticks at 65-68% RF in the coolerdor, and tried dryboxing a Sancho Panza 2x Maduro and some CCs overnight, and the Sancho was unsmokeable - it was a brick. Room (drybox) RF was about 50%.

The CC's were a tad better but nothing noticeable.
Just my :2
 
I try to keep my humidor at 65%, so I rarely dry box anything. That said, if I have constantly bad flavor or draw from a particular brand, I may try to see if lower humidity helps.
 
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