This is great, thanks so much for sharing this. I have a question, I'm curious about your garage setup. Do you have any filters in there? Wondering how you set it up, and if you'd be willing to do a video on it. I'm setting up my own right now in our new home, and searching for ideas on ideal ways to move air... especially in these cold winters. Thanks for considering :)
We don’t have any filters in the garage. We do keep the bottom of the garage cracked slightly for air flow, and we use two Mr. Buddy heaters. We also run a fan pointing towards the opening of the garage to remove the smoke. We tried using a filter at first but I don’t think it does that great of a job. Also the filter gets saturated with smoke after a few smoke sessions.
Great information as always. I’ve been extending my drybox time to 1 - 3 weeks and I’ve really noticed the difference and with some cigars, getting a positive experience where I previously had pretty negative experiences. I love the scientists approach. Thanks as always!
Hell yeah bro! I am happy the information that I am providing is working for you brother. Paying attention to those details is what elevates an experienced smoker from the rest. Always great talking to you bro! 😃
Great video Dlov! I need to start paying more attention to that. I tend to knock the ash off of my cigar fairly quickly but I’m gonna start checking it a bit more. Great advice as always brotha 👍🏼
Haha Thank you bro! I have wanted to make an informative video again for a while now. I just never got to the point of collecting all of my thoughts and putting them on video again. Hopefully this video knocked some of the rust off. 😂
for myself i dont care about the burn and ash as much as i do the draw. Coning can also occur because the ligero in the center does not burn as easy as the other leaves around it so you get a cone. Canoeing can be a bad burn issue that ruins a cigar. Really enjoy your vids on dry boxing. your one of the few that have put that information out.
100%, sometimes it could be the cigar and the ratio of the ligero, seco, and viso. I thought the seco was the leaf that controlled the combustion the most, but I could definitely be wrong. I feel like I heard that from a la Aurora event I went to. Although it happens, Don’t think it happens enough to spend time on it. Just from observing videos from other reviewers and listening to people’s specific situations, most issues boil down to over humidification. My evidence is mostly anecdotal though.
@@DLovWife No your right. The seco keeps the cigar burning but the ligero in the center is so much thicker it can burn slower to the point where you get a cone on the foot. Improper humidification can definitely cause burn issues as well. i agree with you 100%. I just wanted to point out that a bit of a cone can occur naturally from the ligero that burns slower in the center.
@sdmascar8905 Good shit bro! I never thought about the ligero being a thicker leaf. Great information bro. I will have to look into that more for sure. 😃
I’ve noticed how one draws on the smoke will affect how good the cigar will burn as well. As short puffs will lead to more wonky burn lines compared to slower, more deliberate draws. Would you please explain how you approach taking draws in your cigars D Lov? And how often do you space them out? Thanks for the knowledge drop as always!
Hmm, I might pull on the cigar every 30 seconds. 1 priming puff and then one actual pull. 🤔 With that being said. The more moisture you have in the cigar, the more you have to baby the cigar. The more you have to set it down in order for the cigar to burn properly again, the more you have to relight, etc… You can even taste the moisture in the cigar. I just don’t want you to lose focus, or derail the conversation brother. Moisture is going to be damn near 95% of people problem. Not a stem, not the ratio of fillers, not how you smoke. It’s simply too much moisture in the cigar. The only approach that I have for you is dry boxing your cigars.
When you say “dry boxing” - are you just taking the cigars and putting them in a cigar box or are you transferring the to another humidor with lower humidity? I’ve been having so much trouble with draws from cigars bought at b and m’s, so I just put them in an empty cigar box for a day. Sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it also makes the wrapper super dry and easy to crack. Sorry for the long post. I just don’t know where I’m going wrong??
Fantastic question! I use a humidor with zero humidity added. The more wood the better. Dry boxing takes much longer than a day. It just depends on how wet the cigar is and the ring gauge. To keep you from having to buy a humidor at the moment, an empty cigar box can work. You will be much more limited in how many cigars you can dry at a time though. I dry box every cigar that I smoke. It keeps you from having shitty experiences. Get yourself a cigar tester so you can monitor the cigar as it drops in moisture. Also add a hygrometer to your drying box as well. My drying box naturally sits around 55-58% RH. The lower the humidity in your dry box, the more drying ability it has. The less time you need to dry/condition your cigar. I dry box my cigars until they are between 60-63% under the cap. I have gone lower than that even to get a cigar to open up.
Sorry for the multiple questions, but I had another important one to ask you guys. Let’s say a cigar has been cut and dry boxed and is still getting no draw..Should I put it back in my Tupperdor for a couple more weeks and then start the dry boxing process again? And do you find better results cutting a cigar and then dry boxing or no cut? Thank you guys so much!
What RH under the cap did you dry box the cigar to? Also, what is humidity and temperature you are dry boxing at? Lastly, if the cigar still has a poor draw, then put it back in the dry box until it opens up.
Hi D, Great video as usual. What does it mean when you get a cone sticking out after ashing? I get that sometimes after the first ash but it seems to not be there on the second ash. Also, is flaky ash indicative of too much moisture or too little in a stick? Thanks for all you do!
A cone is indicative of moisture. The filler is burning more slowly than then wrapper because the inside of your cigar is wet. Moisture prevents the cigar from combusting properly. Because the cigar is wet, the burn, draw, flavor, and smoke output are all affected. After you ashed the cigar, you simply stopped doing as many priming puffs, stopped pulling as hard on the cigar, and slowed down to allow the cone to catch up with the rest of the cigar. Basically, you had to start babying your cigar a lot more because it’s wet. We have all been there before, frustratingly. Flaky ash is a moisture issue as well. A cone, flaky ash, curvature in the ash, uneven burn line, poor draw, muted flavors, low smoke output, etc… are mostly moisture issues. Dry boxing is a great way to mitigate all of these issues.
Do you use a humidity meter bro..whats your preference on percentage..so if mines reading 62% out the humidor i usually dry box it for acouple hours and check it with a meter and it comes down to about 60... lmk thnx my guy enjoy👊✌
Yes, I dry box my cigar in humidor that has a humidity around 58% RH. I dry box cigars until they are between 60% to 63% under the cap. The foot of the cigar never gives you an accurate representation of the cigar itself. It would take me a few days to dry the cigar 2% under the cap. Also, I have gone even lower than 60% before. I have dry boxed cigars to 58% to get them to open up. Basically, the cigars are ready when they are ready. 62% can be perfect for some cigars, and wet for others. Humidity is based on the cigar and how the cigar feels in hand. Don’t get over reliant on a meter. Trust your hands more than a meter. A meter is just one of many tools you should be using. 😃
@@DLovWife what about when the inside sounds super dry to the ear? And the band is sliding down easily and getting a good cracking sound like a warm winter fire?
Everyone’s dry box extracts moisture at different rates. Your dry box could be way more efficient than mine. I would say check your cigars under the cap with a meter, and see what the humidity is. If you feel the cigar is ready, smoke the cigar and see what you think. Toggle drying times based on your dry box and your smoking experiences. If you feel the cigar could go longer during conditioning, then push the cigars a few days further. My dry box stays roughly around 58%. When I condition a cigar in the dry box. Let’s say the cigar is at 65% before conditioning. The cigar will reach an equilibrium point between the low humidity of the drying box which is at 58% and your cigar which is at 65%. Therefore your cigar will most likely reach a range between those two points with time, 60%-63%. The lower the humidity is in the drying box, the lower your cigar can come down in humidity. It’s just a process of monitoring what is going on during this time. It would take a substantial amount of time for the cigar to reach the same humidity as the dry box if you are checking under the cap. Fantastic question brother!
Haha you right bro! I have mostly been posting humidor additions on RU-vid lately. The informational video are a lot harder to do because I have to be very precise when I deliver information. Far more work than making a video on cigar purchases, but I am going to get back to it brother! 😁
