Hello Everybody,
I have two humidors and, as you may tell by the number of posts I have previously made, I'm definitely a newbie. I need some help with my humidors. My uncle was the individual who gave me the two desktop humidors around November 2014 as he was asked not to keep them in the house anymore. I was looking around at the time for buying my first humidor but nonetheless, my uncle thought I would be able to take good care of them. They were both empty at the time but to get me started, we went for a couple of drinks, sparked a Cohiba Siglo III each and he started me off with a Cohib Siglo III and Montecristo No 2.
The first humidor is a cherry oak 100 count humidor with Spanish cedar construction and a built in analog hygrometer. The basic humidifier which came with the humidor is a sponge or foam one. It also has two dividers and one tray for it. The other humidor, a 50 count mahogany and Spanish cedar constructed humidor, has a removable analog hygrometer. For the first couple of months, everything was fine and dandy. Hygrometer was reading 70%, Cohib and Cristo was sitting in there nicely, I was all giddy and ready to start collecting. And then winter happened...
My hygrometers, the built in one for the first humidor and the analog humidor in the second, both went out of wack. The built in one fluctuated between 60-80% and the other was 70% but I noticed the stogies were looking rather dry. By then, I have collected about 10 other stogies from buddies and purchased some of my own. I went to the local tobacconist and picked up a Brigham digital hygrometer, a Brigham 100 count crystal humidifier, a Brigham 50 count crystal humidifier, and 8oz bottle of Brigham PG. I also consulted the local tobacconist as to what I should do with the fluctuating temperatures. I brought in my removable analog hygrometer to the tobacconist to be calibrated and also calibrated the new digital one to match their in-store walk-in humidor room. The digital one was spot on but the analog was out of wack by 15%. They were kind enough to calibrate it for me and I brought it home.
The advice the local tobacconist provided me was that I had far less stogies to accommodate the large 100 count humidor and that I shouldn't be using that one. I should proceed to use the 50 count until I have a large enough collection to use the 100 count. They were very friendly, helpful and insightful whenever I went in that I didn't think I had a reason to doubt them, nor do I think I have a reason to doubt them now. Online peer reviews also seem to suggest that they are also very helpful and insightful with helping customers of all kinds and was given sparkling reviews.
Being the newbie that I am, I did some research online, here included, to see what I can do to season the humidors and maintain it for the winter. Through my research, it appeared that doing a light wipe of the cider linings with distilled water should be avoided as it can warp it. I found an alternative solution online and it seems to be working. Essentially, the solution would be to use a new sponge and distilled water to season them. Article including Youtube vid is found here:
http://www.famous-smoke.com/cigaradvisor/how-to-season-a-humidorI did as suggested, one humidor at a time, and was able to boost the readings to 70%. The 100 count read 70% consistently with the sponge method for a couple of weeks and figured it was time to remove the sponge and place the stogies in there for the time being as I season the 50 count to read 70% consistently. Using the digital hygrometer for the 100 count, with stogies in, humidifier filled with distilled water, the reading started to drop to the 65%ish upon removal of the sponge. Since then, I placed a new sponge in the 100 count and placed the ten stogies on the tray to hydrate them a wee bit for the time being while I season the 50 count as per the tobacconist's advice.
I need some serious help. I have no idea if this is going to work and I keep on getting erratic readings on both hygrometers in both humidors. The analog in the 50 count is reading at 70% sponge in and the 100 count is reading 65-70% with the stogies in, sponge in. Am I doing anything wrong? How long should the process for the 50 count take to stabilize? Is there anything else I can realistically do to maintain the 50 count humidor?
Please help me out fellow cigar geeks. I trust the local tobacconist but I'm starting to have my doubts. There's a ton of knowledge among the wise individuals here and I would love your insight, advice, and input. Anything is greatly appreciated! Please help...
PS. Sorry about the essay lol... I would like to provide as much detail as possible.
Thanks in advance!