Quotemchammer - 12/16/2014 9:18 AM
This subject came up over the weekend. My friends and I were smoking and trading cigars and one of them said the cigar I gave him had a funny taste, so I smoked the other one I brought with me and it did. It wasn't a cedar taste but not a fresh cigar taste either. The cigars have been in the wineador for 2 months now and I'm kind of worried they are ruined. I've since taken out the cedar shelves and wondering if the cigars with go back to normal.
They are going to need a lot of airing out. They had two month exposure to the cedar fumes, it may take over two months for them to give up that flavor.
How many cigars are you talking about?
You may be able to accelerate the de-cedaring by using a fan in a large container, such as a Coleman chest with some zeolite (downwind of the cigars). Make sure that the humidity is maintained as the zeolite is hygroscopic. Boveda packs and a dish of water will help, but open periodically to check.
After the worst of the odor is removed, then you can add Spanish Cedar to the Coleman to start re-seasoning the cigars.
Also, you will need to de-cello all of the compromised cigars, as the cello will inhibit their airing out.
I cannot guarantee that this will work, but it has the best chance.