I'm following this up from another post that I responded to regarding the litto Gomez diez. I stated that I was planning on smoking a Joya nic antano perfecto on Friday after dinner and I would post my thoughts. Well this is Saturday and Friday didn't turn out so well. I clipped the cap on the antano perfecto and at cold draw felt that it was tight so I clipped a little more. At that point the draw seemed to open up so I toasted the end and began smoking what I hoped was going to be a good Nicaraguan smoke. A little past history for me: My humidor stays around 70% even though I am trying to get it lower. I usually dry box my cigars for at least 24 hours b/c of this fact. I buy most of my NC cigars from seriouscigars.com and when they come, they are usually ( at least so far) somewhat too moist. Here's the skinny. The draw remained tight and in fact the draw was too much work. The cigar was too moist as well. It was work from beginning to end and though I'm sure the cigar would have tasted great, I never found out. I gave it up about 1/4 an inch in. The cigar continued to become half lit, meaning that every two seconds I had to take a few puffs to get it going again,( which I hate doing.) So Friday was a bust. I never got to smoke the Joya enough to even find out if I would enjoy it. I still have one left and I am bound to let it sit for at least two days dry box before smoking. It's unfortunate b/c it was my first Joya. Is it just me or does all perfecto shape cigars seem prone to this problem? For me, though I love the perfecto shape, I always experience trouble with the burn when trying to smoke them.
SAT: I am writing this just after smoking a Punch corojo with four months rest/age to it. Let's say rest b/c four months doesn't make me think of an aged cigar. In reality, it isn't. This is only the second Punch corojo that I've had and I have to say it's not a bad smoke but not one that I would call great. It's average, nothing particularly great about it. It won't WOW anyone. The cigar's construction is very impressive and the burn, just as good. The aroma is somewhat sweet yet as heavy as the smoke you'll draw. I tried two pairings with this one. One, a margarita and the other Villa Antinori Toscana. Of course the margarita doesn't go with the cigar but it's the first one I've made so I took the time to enjoy it. The red toscana was more of a match and really allowed me to enjoy the boldness of the cigar. Getting to more of the cigars taste I wouldn't tell anyone that it was complex or that it had dimensional flavor. It's pretty much one sided. I can say that the cigar is a consistent bold, strong tobacco cigar from beginning to end. Nothing spectacular but one that you can enjoy. It was easily smoked to about 1/2 inch. It does have something of a strong tobacco/bitter finish to it but not one that turns you away. Overall the cigar is enjoyable. One thing that I would have liked in the cigar would be a little spice. I think that would have made it a little more complex. All in all a good smoke. One that I would give to a friend or be happy with if I got from a friend.

Tomorrow... the coronado.

great review.....one question....when bringin home a fresh box of stoggies, how long should i let most of them rest/age b4 smoking?

does it make all cigars better?

(sorry, that was 2 questions.....)

I think I know what you're talking about. I only get my boxes online. This is due to the fact that the one and only local tobacco store doesn't have much of a variety. When I get cigars, boxes or singles, whatever, I've heard that most places ship cigars that were humidified in higher RH ranges. This is a shipping practice so cigars do not become overly dry or stale. What I like to do is let the cigar sit for about a week in a humidified area be it a coolador or your humi. After about a weeks time, take what ever you are going to smoke and dry box them for one to two days. The consensus from more experienced aficionados is that this will ensure your smoke is 'ready' to smoke at it's best. I have only become aware of the dry boxing technique recently and I can vouch that this does work. It is especially important for your cigar enjoyment if you have a humi like mine that seem subborn at staying around 70%. Even though I've moved mine to a cooler place in the house, it's still pushing around the 70 area. So in answer to your question, I would say that resting a new box of cigars for about a week before smoking is a good idea and it will help them. Dry boxing any cigar a day or two before actually smoking it will improve the cigars all around burn and taste.

I doubt a week's time is enough to equilibrate the new cigar to the RH in your humidor. And if you're talking about sticking a whole box of sticks in then you're definitely talking about a good amount of time. Some would say that a couple months (approx. 4-6 months) is the time it takes for a box of cigars to rest and acclimate to the humidor or coolerdor.

In any case if you like your cigars a bit dryer than 70% then the dry box is a good idea and as spt says, about a couple days before you smoke should be fine. I keep my humi around 65-68% so I smoke them right out of the humidor.

I also have found that cigars shipped are "wetter". I ordered a couple of the San Cristobal sticks to try right after they came out from Jack Schwartz. I let them rest in my humi for the weekend and lit one a couple days later. The cigar was still a little to wet, so i agree with you saying that it takes a decent amount of time for the cigars to become acclimated. They have proved to be good sticks though.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by chemE09:
I doubt a week's time is enough to equilibrate the new cigar to the RH in your humidor. And if you're talking about sticking a whole box of sticks in then you're definitely talking about a good amount of time. Some would say that a couple months (approx. 4-6 months) is the time it takes for a box of cigars to rest and acclimate to the humidor or coolerdor.

I agree with you, a whole box would take more than one week but 4-6months?? I don't know. I have also had my humi around 68 for sometime, although as of late, it's been 70-72, but even when it was lower I found it better to dry box for at least a day.