You rate many "vintage" cigars, 10, 20, 30 or more years old. How do you store these cigars? What temp and RH? Sealed or unsealed boxes (wrapped in something like wax paper or sealed in Ziplock bags)? There are interesting conversations happening in cyberspace about storage and aging, and was curious how CA goes about it?

Thanks,
ss

Anybody home?

Sorry 'bout that. We were in the middle of shipping, then I took a trip, and before you knew it your post was forgotten. My apologies.

The cigars we smoke for Connoisseur’s Corner come from a variety of sources. Some are gifts. Others come from the personal collection of the editors, and those cigars are stored in standard humidors at between 65 and 70 percent humidity. Many of the cigars are stored in their boxes, in large humidors. Occasionally a cigar might be stored in a desktop humidor, or in the drawer of a larger humidor, so it might not be in a cedar box. Ziplog bags and wax paper? I’ve never seen cigars stored long term in that fashion. I’ve used (and have seen) Ziplock or Humidipak bags used for short-term storage, but if I’m going to keep a cigar for a long time I like to have it in its box, if at all possible.

The best cigar I’ve smoked for Connoisseur's Corner was a 1959 Montecristo No. 1, given to me by Alphons Mayer after an interview. He had kept it in its original box inside a cabinet humidor. (I’m not sure of the humidity, but it was in perfect condition.) We smoked the first two cigars from that box, and I was absolutely floored by the flavor. Incredible cigar. I was quite honored to smoke it, and to smoke it with him.

A generous gift indeed! Thanks for the reply David.