June 24, 2026 • 17 mins
The cigar world loves rules of thumb, but some “truths” quietly ruin great cigars. We kick off our Cigar Mythbusters series by taking aim at the famous 70% humidity at 70°F guideline and explaining why it can be the wrong target for many modern blends, especially thick Nicaraguan tobacco. When tobacco acts like a sponge, too much moisture can choke the burn, dull the flavor, and turn a premium smoking experience into a string of relights.
From the factory floor to your home humidor, we walk through what actually works and why. Nick breaks down the real sweet spot we’ve tested for decades, why 65% relative humidity often delivers the best draw and combustion for our cigars, and how storage should change based on the texture of the tobacco inside the cigar. We also talk about shipping realities, retailer humidors, and why extremely dry climates may need a little extra humidity to prevent shock and rapid moisture loss.
We wrap with simple, high-impact humidor habits: stop “checking” your cigars all day, use a reliable humidification device, stick to distilled water, and understand how real cellophane protects cigars while still letting them age. If you care about cigar storage, humidor humidity, and getting the flavor the blender intended, this one is for you. Subscribe, share this with a fellow cigar enthusiast, and leave a review with your go-to humidity setting.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the world of Perdomo Cigars.
We deliver the most authenticin-depth cigar education to you,
the Cigar Enthusiast.
Brought to you by third andfourth generation master cigar
makers, your hosts, Nick andNicholas Perdomo.
Recorded at the Perdomo Studioin Miami, Florida.
(00:23):
This is the Perdomo Podcast.
SPEAKER_01 (00:27):
Hi, I'm Nicholas Perdomo with Perdomo Cigars, and
I'm alongside my dad, NickPerdomo.
And you are watching the PerdomoPodcast Show.
Dad, welcome.
But today is very, it's going tobe very different, but very
cool.
We're going to be doing somedifferent segments, and they're
going to be called cigar mythbusters.
Love it.
Yeah.
So again, this whole show isabout telling everybody how it
(00:52):
is, right?
Coming from the makers, comingfrom yourself, and coming from
from me.
And really, it's all aboutthere's nothing, there's no
information that's hidden.
We have no secrets.
We at this point, at this stagein your career and within our
company, we really want to shareinformation and we want to
educate as much as possible.
So cigar mythbusters number oneis going to be on how to store
(01:16):
cigars.
And always the the myth, as youand I well know, has always been
cigars should be stored at 70%humidity and at 70 degrees
Fahrenheit.
And do you agree with that?
No.
Okay.
It's very simple, right?
So 70-70 rule, as it's known as,it sounds nice, but you you
know, we know it's outdated,especially for today's cigars,
(01:39):
and especially for the cigarsthat we make.
So without further ado, pleasetake it away.
SPEAKER_02 (01:44):
First of all, how can you have 70 degree
Fahrenheit inside a box in ahumidor?
I've always wondered that.
Me too.
So also here's the thing thepoint is tobacco from Nicaragua,
as we know, is very thick andlush.
And because of that, tobacco islike a sponge.
Right.
The thicker the tobacco, themore moisture it is it absorbs.
(02:06):
So in reality, and we've we havetested this for decades on what
the optimum relative humidity atour factory should be when we
send cigars out to our consumersaround the world.
And the magic spot is reallyabout 65% humidity.
That is optimal.
The problem is, is if you if yougo up to 70% humidity, the
(02:29):
cigars are going to absorb toomuch moisture.
What's going to happen?
It'll impede the burn.
We all know that moisture andfire don't mix.
No.
It's going to hurt the burncapacity, the draw capacity of
the cigar because it's so moist.
And more importantly, it's goingto hurt the flavor of the cigar
(02:50):
because cigars are going to bemore musty because it's wetter.
Right.
In some instances, a drier cigaris much better than a wetter
cigar.
But we've been told this 70thing for years and years.
Even thinner tobaccos that havemore loamier grounds and sandier
grounds like Cuba and theDominican Republic, I would
venture to say 68% humiditywould be optimum for those
(03:13):
cigars.
As technology gets around andbetter seed varieties go around,
even tobaccos from the Dominicanand in Cuba, they're they have
more texture today than they didmaybe in the 40s and 50s.
Sure.
They're more loamy.
So what happens is you reallywould I to be cautious and being
on the on the right side,definitely Nicaraguan cigars at
(03:34):
65% humidity.
Look at that.
SPEAKER_01 (03:35):
That's your sweet spot.
SPEAKER_02 (03:36):
That is the sweet spot for our cigars.
I tell everybody that.
(03:57):
Matter of fact, we charge thecigars to about 67% humidity
because we know going throughthe ships, going through the UPS
trucks, that they're going todrop about a percentage point or
two before they get to the localretailer, but we have them right
there at 65%.
And because most of the importstoday in the United States come
from Nicaragua, I think theretailer feels good about it
(04:18):
too.
He's going to save a lot ofelectricity in his in his
walk-in humidor by not havinghis humidification devices
running nonstop at 70% humidity.
The only thing I would say is ifyou're on the West Coast, like
states like Arizona or Coloradowhere you're at zero, I would
amp up that humidity because asquick as tobacco absorbs water
(04:38):
is as quick as it dissipateswhen it goes in the shock.
I was just in the Scottsdalearea, and my God, you you go
from humidified state inside acigar store directly into a
bone-dry state, it puts a lot ofpressure on the cigar.
So you could amp that up alittle bit on those on those
really dry, arid areas.
SPEAKER_01 (04:58):
For compensation.
Yeah.
I mean, to your point, water andfire do not mix.
You know, you're supposed totaste the cigars the way they
were meant they were meant tobe, right?
And the way we blended them.
And yeah, I agree.
65% humidity is optimum.
And you know, to to this point,you know, and basically with
(05:19):
what you just said, we can agreethat it's an it's unfortunate
because it's been said for somany decades, right?
But cigar storing cigars is notuniversal.
It's certainly not universal.
SPEAKER_02 (05:30):
Definitely not.
You go to my humidor, you'llnotice it says 65% humidity.
I'm paramount on that.
SPEAKER_01 (05:37):
Well, you started talking about it a little bit,
but cigars are not all the same.
And excuse me, actually, tobaccois not all the same because when
you look at Cuba versus theDominican Republic versus
Nicaragua versus Honduras,they're not all the same.
SPEAKER_02 (05:51):
No, definitely not.
SPEAKER_01 (05:52):
Yeah, and you're talking texture.
So everything, the bottom lineis texture is everything, right?
And we've talked about it onprevious episodes from primings
to you know just ring gauges andcigars.
And like you said, cigars andtobacco is like a sponge, it
absorbs everything.
So you have to reallyunderstand.
And the consumers need tounderstand, our audience needs
(06:15):
to understand, you spend so muchmoney, you know, you buy boxes
of cigars, it's your personalinvestment for enjoyment.
And so it's so important that,you know, and I think this is a
very important subject to talkabout because we really want our
our our audience and our smokersto enjoy properly and not get
bum information.
SPEAKER_02 (06:36):
Why do we go through all the the different steps to
make one of our cigars frompicking the right seed to
growing the tobacco optimally tocuring the tobacco to ferment
and aging it, making anincredible cigar with incredible
instruct uh construction, thenaging the cigars in cedar rooms
for six months, putting them inthe right percent of humidity,
and then all of a sudden thecigars get stored incorrectly.
(06:59):
It's not a one-size-fits-allmodem.
It doesn't work that way.
You have to work with what thetobacco gives you.
And you brought up a good pointin the previous thing.
You have to look at what'sinside that cigar.
Yeah.
And these thick, lush, opulenttobaccos that we produce and put
in our cigars need lesshumidity, not more humidity for
(07:20):
those very reasons that Imentioned earlier.
And I think, and I know for thisfor a fact, if you store your
cigars properly, you're going toget a much better smoking
experience.
SPEAKER_01 (07:31):
Yeah.
And here's a question I have foryou.
When you grab a cigar out ofyour humidor, and of course,
this is because of habit,because of the millions of
cigars that you've personallychecked in your life, when you
what should the audience look atwhen they touch a cigar and they
press and they feel a cigar,what there's always like a give,
(07:52):
right?
You don't want it to be soft,but really what is what in your
opinion, what should they lookfor and how should they properly
use their fingers to test?
SPEAKER_02 (08:01):
Well, in in our in our case, we make a very heavy
cigar.
Sarah was really into highweight standards because the
entubing method will be funnelwe'll talk about in the future
in our construction.
So our cigars are really oftenabout five to six pounds per per
wheel of 50 cigars heavier thanthe industry average because of
the way we make our cigars andalso because our tobacco is so
(08:22):
heavy.
Right.
And with that being said, what Ilike to do is I don't care if
the cigar feels hard.
Okay.
It should have just a slightamount of tension and give.
Right.
But because we draw test everycigar, it's irrelevant, and
because we make it a real heavycigar, it's irrelevant.
But what the smoker gets is abig bang for their buck.
(08:43):
They smoke a Robusto that mighttake 30 minutes from from a
different cigar, and they smokeone of ours and go, My God, I
smoked a Robusto and it took 48minutes, 50 minutes.
It's because of the way we makethe cigar.
SPEAKER_01 (08:54):
Yeah, it's true.
And and I think that's somethingimportant because I know from
experience, from your personalexperience, our personal
experience.
Unfortunately, smokers arelooking when they press a cigar
that they want that cigar toalmost be like a sponge where it
it bounces right back and allthat.
And I try to explain to yourpoint, you want a little bit of
give and you want the cigar.
I'd rather have a cigar, and youalways taught me it's better to
(09:17):
have a cigar that's slightly dryversus a cigar that's slightly
wet, because that cigar is justgonna smolder, you're gonna have
to relight.
And talking about previousepisodes, wet cigars and
slightly wet cigars can make yousick because you constant
puffing, relighting, and youalmost turn into like the
cartoons where you st where youturn green and you just get
(09:38):
sick.
And so having a cigar that'sslightly dry is 10 million times
better because there's stillsome humidity to it, but at the
end of the day, that's somethingthat's really that's what I
that's what I prefer.
That's what I prefer.
SPEAKER_02 (09:53):
We've even done tests with 70, 72% humidity in
our cigars.
We would put cigars in those inthose relative humidities, and
we would leave the cigars therefor six to eight months.
We would open up and the middleof the bunches would still be
wet because those Lietos were sothick that they kept water
absorption.
And we tested this.
Yeah, we've done this fordecades, and we knew many years
(10:14):
ago that 65 was the optimum forour cigars, and that's why we do
what we do.
SPEAKER_01 (10:18):
You know, Dad, I've been with you many times and
with at retail stores and on myown personal experience, but I
remember going into a store withyou and many stores where you
you walk in the humidor and youcome you come right back out
immediately, and you've said,Hey, your humidity is way too
high.
And I remember one time doing anevent with you, and guys were
having an issue with cigars notburning, and we're like, hey,
(10:40):
75% humidity, 73% humidity.
That's that's way too much.
And cigars are like sponges,they absorb the lihedos in the
middle of the cigars, they justthey retain way too much water,
they're not gonna burn.
And you know, it's one of thosethings, and I've personally done
it on my own with sales tripswith our salesman before.
Like, hey, you gotta you gottalower it down.
I think optimally for retailersnow, I think 65 to 68 percent
(11:04):
within your humidity outside ofColorado and Arizona and Nevada,
where you have bone dry weatherand so forth.
That's really optimum, and Ithink it's important to share
that.
SPEAKER_02 (11:14):
That's why we use cellophane.
We use cellophane for a couplereasons.
First thing, it's clean, itprotects the cigars.
People are always taking thecigars and putting them up their
noses and squeezing them anddoing all this stuff.
I wouldn't want a cigar thatdoesn't have cellophane.
As beautiful as our wrappersare, it's a cleanly issue, it's
a protection issue, and it'salso a barrier in case a cigar
(11:37):
store has high humidity.
That's why when I when we wentto that one store and people
were smoking cigars and theywere smoldering, it wasn't any
of our cigars, but that's thatwas the proof to tell that
retailer, look at what'shappening with these cigars.
Yeah, it's not happening withours because ours had cellophane
on them to build some type ofbarrier in case there was too
(11:57):
much humidity outside of thecleanliness issue and to protect
the cigars.
We don't want broken wrappers,and we see people always pushing
and squeezing these cigars forwhatever reason, and that's why
we use that barrier and use realcellophane.
The cigars still age becauseit's a wood product and they
could still do it.
It's not plastic orpolypropylene, but it is
(12:18):
something that protects thecigars, and it also protects in
case look, I've been to storeswhere people have had 75 and 80
percent humidity, have paintbrushes with this plume, which
is basically fungus that'sgrowing on the tobacco.
We're gonna get into that.
Yeah, we'll talk about that alater episode, but I've seen
that and they think, you know,oh, they're shiny, it's better,
but no, it's it impedes theburning and really the taste of
(12:41):
the cigar.
SPEAKER_01 (12:41):
Well, you kind of just gave away one of our future
Smith Busters, right?
It is a plume or mold, I guess.
So we'll be talking about thatin the future.
That's all right.
SPEAKER_02 (12:48):
People will forget and they'll be interested in
talking about it and the realreasons why.
SPEAKER_01 (12:52):
Yeah, and I guess, Dad, going to my last question,
what are the biggest mistakespeople make with their personal
humidors and you storinghundreds of millions of cigars
over your life, right, inNicaragua and our in our aging
rooms and so forth?
What is an expert tip that youhave that can make people's
lives simple and easy so thatthey can get the maximum
(13:13):
enjoyment out of their cigarexperiences?
SPEAKER_02 (13:16):
It's like a Christmas box, your humidor,
right?
Everybody is opening and closingtheir humidor, looking at their
cigars.
Right.
It's the worst thing you can dobecause you're fluctuating
humidity and temperatureconsistently by opening and
closing.
I know you want to look at yourcigars.
I get it.
Right.
The best thing to do is keepthat cigar box closed, your
humidor closed.
(13:37):
The second thing is I onlychange my have a great
humidification device.
That's probably the second mostimportant thing.
And make sure you have a decenthumidor and follow the
instructions of of what thehumidification device says,
okay, regardless of whathumidification device you have.
Also use distilled water.
It's really important.
You don't want sulfur and thesesmall and hard water to hurt the
(14:02):
cigars when you're putting themin your in your humidor at home.
And finally, you want to makesure I actually don't change my,
I change, I put water in itevery three weeks because I've
learned about my humidors andhow to keep them stocked.
But I I don't open them unlessI'm going to grab a cigar out of
them.
Another question that's asked ofme is should you keep the
(14:24):
cellophane on the cigar?
How do you keep your box withwhat do you do?
Do you keep cellophane ornon-cellophane on your cigar?
SPEAKER_01 (14:31):
Honestly, mixed.
Me too.
I prefer to keep cellophane on acigar because a lot of times I'm
going somewhere, I'm going out,and cellophane protects the
cigar.
So I like to, I personally liketo keep them.
And also the rate of cigars thatyou and I smoke, you know, it's
one of those things where it iswhat it is.
But I mean, overall, I have amix.
(14:52):
I don't I don't purposely takemy cigars out of out of the
cellophane.
Because they I know that they dobreathe.
SPEAKER_02 (14:58):
I do because we use real cellophane and we don't use
polypropylene and plastic.
It's more expensive, but thecigars continue to age and
breathe in the cellophane, butit's also a great protective
barrier, which is why about halfof my cigars stay in in
cellophane, because if I want toput them in my pocket, I want
them protected.
And that is a great way.
(15:18):
A lot of times I'll take one ofour Humi bags and put them in,
but I always keep the cellophaneon there.
Now, the ones that don't havecellophane are usually when I'm
going out to the balcony tosmoke a cigar with you or mom or
or anybody in the family orfriends, so I'll keep them
without cellophane tubes.
But just in case somebody wasthinking about that question,
and I wanted to know how you doit, and I do it the same way you
do it.
SPEAKER_01 (15:38):
Yeah, I do.
And I think at the end of theday, Dad, closing this episode,
I think people need to reallynot overthink it too.
And I think at the end of theday, if you store to our
audience, if you solely smokeNicaraguan cigars, keep it at
65%.
If you have a mix betweenNicaraguan or Dominican cigars
or Honduran cigars, you know,keep it around 65 to 68%.
(15:59):
You know, just a little bit offluctuation.
But overall, just just keep itsimple and really just enjoy and
don't overthink it.
But Dad, this was a great thefirst of cigar myth busters.
And we have many more.
I have we have a lot that wehave There are so many myths.
There are so many myths, and itreally pisses me off.
But I, you know, I think it'simportant that we unveil these
myths.
(16:19):
And I think we'll have a lotmore trust and a lot more faith
from our audience.
And I think overall we're doingsomething really important for
the cigar community.
SPEAKER_02 (16:27):
Yeah, we're getting them to enjoy their cigars the
way we intended them to be asblenders.
And look, I want people to enjoytheir cigars.
So this information andknowledge, I think, is very
important to them.
SPEAKER_01 (16:40):
They spent a lot of money on this parameters.
I agree.
It is.
So I want to thank everybody,Dad.
Thank you for being on the show.
I'd like to thank everybody inour audience for watching.
If you enjoyed this, pleaselike, share, and subscribe to
our Podomo Cigars YouTube page.
Also, check out our newPodomoPodcast.com and also
follow us and ask us anyquestions on any of our Podomo
(17:01):
Cigars Facebook and Instagrampages.
We really appreciate thesupport.
Thank you so much, and we'll seeyou very soon.
Thank you so much.
Welcome to the world of Perdomo Cigars.
We deliver the most authenticin-depth cigar education to you,
the Cigar Enthusiast.
Brought to you by third andfourth generation master cigar
makers, your hosts, Nick andNicholas Perdomo.
Recorded at the Perdomo Studioin Miami, Florida.
(00:23):
This is the Perdomo Podcast.
SPEAKER_01 (00:27):
Hi, I'm Nicholas Perdomo with Perdomo Cigars, and
I'm alongside my dad, NickPerdomo.
And you are watching the PerdomoPodcast Show.
Dad, welcome.
But today is very, it's going tobe very different, but very
cool.
We're going to be doing somedifferent segments, and they're
going to be called cigar mythbusters.
Love it.
Yeah.
So again, this whole show isabout telling everybody how it
(00:52):
is, right?
Coming from the makers, comingfrom yourself, and coming from
from me.
And really, it's all aboutthere's nothing, there's no
information that's hidden.
We have no secrets.
We at this point, at this stagein your career and within our
company, we really want to shareinformation and we want to
educate as much as possible.
So cigar mythbusters number oneis going to be on how to store
(01:16):
cigars.
And always the the myth, as youand I well know, has always been
cigars should be stored at 70%humidity and at 70 degrees
Fahrenheit.
And do you agree with that?
No.
Okay.
It's very simple, right?
So 70-70 rule, as it's known as,it sounds nice, but you you
know, we know it's outdated,especially for today's cigars,
(01:39):
and especially for the cigarsthat we make.
So without further ado, pleasetake it away.
SPEAKER_02 (01:44):
First of all, how can you have 70 degree
Fahrenheit inside a box in ahumidor?
I've always wondered that.
Me too.
So also here's the thing thepoint is tobacco from Nicaragua,
as we know, is very thick andlush.
And because of that, tobacco islike a sponge.
Right.
The thicker the tobacco, themore moisture it is it absorbs.
(02:06):
So in reality, and we've we havetested this for decades on what
the optimum relative humidity atour factory should be when we
send cigars out to our consumersaround the world.
And the magic spot is reallyabout 65% humidity.
That is optimal.
The problem is, is if you if yougo up to 70% humidity, the
(02:29):
cigars are going to absorb toomuch moisture.
What's going to happen?
It'll impede the burn.
We all know that moisture andfire don't mix.
No.
It's going to hurt the burncapacity, the draw capacity of
the cigar because it's so moist.
And more importantly, it's goingto hurt the flavor of the cigar
(02:50):
because cigars are going to bemore musty because it's wetter.
Right.
In some instances, a drier cigaris much better than a wetter
cigar.
But we've been told this 70thing for years and years.
Even thinner tobaccos that havemore loamier grounds and sandier
grounds like Cuba and theDominican Republic, I would
venture to say 68% humiditywould be optimum for those
(03:13):
cigars.
As technology gets around andbetter seed varieties go around,
even tobaccos from the Dominicanand in Cuba, they're they have
more texture today than they didmaybe in the 40s and 50s.
Sure.
They're more loamy.
So what happens is you reallywould I to be cautious and being
on the on the right side,definitely Nicaraguan cigars at
(03:34):
65% humidity.
Look at that.
SPEAKER_01 (03:35):
That's your sweet spot.
SPEAKER_02 (03:36):
That is the sweet spot for our cigars.
I tell everybody that.
(03:57):
Matter of fact, we charge thecigars to about 67% humidity
because we know going throughthe ships, going through the UPS
trucks, that they're going todrop about a percentage point or
two before they get to the localretailer, but we have them right
there at 65%.
And because most of the importstoday in the United States come
from Nicaragua, I think theretailer feels good about it
(04:18):
too.
He's going to save a lot ofelectricity in his in his
walk-in humidor by not havinghis humidification devices
running nonstop at 70% humidity.
The only thing I would say is ifyou're on the West Coast, like
states like Arizona or Coloradowhere you're at zero, I would
amp up that humidity because asquick as tobacco absorbs water
(04:38):
is as quick as it dissipateswhen it goes in the shock.
I was just in the Scottsdalearea, and my God, you you go
from humidified state inside acigar store directly into a
bone-dry state, it puts a lot ofpressure on the cigar.
So you could amp that up alittle bit on those on those
really dry, arid areas.
SPEAKER_01 (04:58):
For compensation.
Yeah.
I mean, to your point, water andfire do not mix.
You know, you're supposed totaste the cigars the way they
were meant they were meant tobe, right?
And the way we blended them.
And yeah, I agree.
65% humidity is optimum.
And you know, to to this point,you know, and basically with
(05:19):
what you just said, we can agreethat it's an it's unfortunate
because it's been said for somany decades, right?
But cigar storing cigars is notuniversal.
It's certainly not universal.
SPEAKER_02 (05:30):
Definitely not.
You go to my humidor, you'llnotice it says 65% humidity.
I'm paramount on that.
SPEAKER_01 (05:37):
Well, you started talking about it a little bit,
but cigars are not all the same.
And excuse me, actually, tobaccois not all the same because when
you look at Cuba versus theDominican Republic versus
Nicaragua versus Honduras,they're not all the same.
SPEAKER_02 (05:51):
No, definitely not.
SPEAKER_01 (05:52):
Yeah, and you're talking texture.
So everything, the bottom lineis texture is everything, right?
And we've talked about it onprevious episodes from primings
to you know just ring gauges andcigars.
And like you said, cigars andtobacco is like a sponge, it
absorbs everything.
So you have to reallyunderstand.
And the consumers need tounderstand, our audience needs
(06:15):
to understand, you spend so muchmoney, you know, you buy boxes
of cigars, it's your personalinvestment for enjoyment.
And so it's so important that,you know, and I think this is a
very important subject to talkabout because we really want our
our our audience and our smokersto enjoy properly and not get
bum information.
SPEAKER_02 (06:36):
Why do we go through all the the different steps to
make one of our cigars frompicking the right seed to
growing the tobacco optimally tocuring the tobacco to ferment
and aging it, making anincredible cigar with incredible
instruct uh construction, thenaging the cigars in cedar rooms
for six months, putting them inthe right percent of humidity,
and then all of a sudden thecigars get stored incorrectly.
(06:59):
It's not a one-size-fits-allmodem.
It doesn't work that way.
You have to work with what thetobacco gives you.
And you brought up a good pointin the previous thing.
You have to look at what'sinside that cigar.
Yeah.
And these thick, lush, opulenttobaccos that we produce and put
in our cigars need lesshumidity, not more humidity for
(07:20):
those very reasons that Imentioned earlier.
And I think, and I know for thisfor a fact, if you store your
cigars properly, you're going toget a much better smoking
experience.
SPEAKER_01 (07:31):
Yeah.
And here's a question I have foryou.
When you grab a cigar out ofyour humidor, and of course,
this is because of habit,because of the millions of
cigars that you've personallychecked in your life, when you
what should the audience look atwhen they touch a cigar and they
press and they feel a cigar,what there's always like a give,
(07:52):
right?
You don't want it to be soft,but really what is what in your
opinion, what should they lookfor and how should they properly
use their fingers to test?
SPEAKER_02 (08:01):
Well, in in our in our case, we make a very heavy
cigar.
Sarah was really into highweight standards because the
entubing method will be funnelwe'll talk about in the future
in our construction.
So our cigars are really oftenabout five to six pounds per per
wheel of 50 cigars heavier thanthe industry average because of
the way we make our cigars andalso because our tobacco is so
(08:22):
heavy.
Right.
And with that being said, what Ilike to do is I don't care if
the cigar feels hard.
Okay.
It should have just a slightamount of tension and give.
Right.
But because we draw test everycigar, it's irrelevant, and
because we make it a real heavycigar, it's irrelevant.
But what the smoker gets is abig bang for their buck.
(08:43):
They smoke a Robusto that mighttake 30 minutes from from a
different cigar, and they smokeone of ours and go, My God, I
smoked a Robusto and it took 48minutes, 50 minutes.
It's because of the way we makethe cigar.
SPEAKER_01 (08:54):
Yeah, it's true.
And and I think that's somethingimportant because I know from
experience, from your personalexperience, our personal
experience.
Unfortunately, smokers arelooking when they press a cigar
that they want that cigar toalmost be like a sponge where it
it bounces right back and allthat.
And I try to explain to yourpoint, you want a little bit of
give and you want the cigar.
I'd rather have a cigar, and youalways taught me it's better to
(09:17):
have a cigar that's slightly dryversus a cigar that's slightly
wet, because that cigar is justgonna smolder, you're gonna have
to relight.
And talking about previousepisodes, wet cigars and
slightly wet cigars can make yousick because you constant
puffing, relighting, and youalmost turn into like the
cartoons where you st where youturn green and you just get
(09:38):
sick.
And so having a cigar that'sslightly dry is 10 million times
better because there's stillsome humidity to it, but at the
end of the day, that's somethingthat's really that's what I
that's what I prefer.
That's what I prefer.
SPEAKER_02 (09:53):
We've even done tests with 70, 72% humidity in
our cigars.
We would put cigars in those inthose relative humidities, and
we would leave the cigars therefor six to eight months.
We would open up and the middleof the bunches would still be
wet because those Lietos were sothick that they kept water
absorption.
And we tested this.
Yeah, we've done this fordecades, and we knew many years
(10:14):
ago that 65 was the optimum forour cigars, and that's why we do
what we do.
SPEAKER_01 (10:18):
You know, Dad, I've been with you many times and
with at retail stores and on myown personal experience, but I
remember going into a store withyou and many stores where you
you walk in the humidor and youcome you come right back out
immediately, and you've said,Hey, your humidity is way too
high.
And I remember one time doing anevent with you, and guys were
having an issue with cigars notburning, and we're like, hey,
(10:40):
75% humidity, 73% humidity.
That's that's way too much.
And cigars are like sponges,they absorb the lihedos in the
middle of the cigars, they justthey retain way too much water,
they're not gonna burn.
And you know, it's one of thosethings, and I've personally done
it on my own with sales tripswith our salesman before.
Like, hey, you gotta you gottalower it down.
I think optimally for retailersnow, I think 65 to 68 percent
(11:04):
within your humidity outside ofColorado and Arizona and Nevada,
where you have bone dry weatherand so forth.
That's really optimum, and Ithink it's important to share
that.
SPEAKER_02 (11:14):
That's why we use cellophane.
We use cellophane for a couplereasons.
First thing, it's clean, itprotects the cigars.
People are always taking thecigars and putting them up their
noses and squeezing them anddoing all this stuff.
I wouldn't want a cigar thatdoesn't have cellophane.
As beautiful as our wrappersare, it's a cleanly issue, it's
a protection issue, and it'salso a barrier in case a cigar
(11:37):
store has high humidity.
That's why when I when we wentto that one store and people
were smoking cigars and theywere smoldering, it wasn't any
of our cigars, but that's thatwas the proof to tell that
retailer, look at what'shappening with these cigars.
Yeah, it's not happening withours because ours had cellophane
on them to build some type ofbarrier in case there was too
(11:57):
much humidity outside of thecleanliness issue and to protect
the cigars.
We don't want broken wrappers,and we see people always pushing
and squeezing these cigars forwhatever reason, and that's why
we use that barrier and use realcellophane.
The cigars still age becauseit's a wood product and they
could still do it.
It's not plastic orpolypropylene, but it is
(12:18):
something that protects thecigars, and it also protects in
case look, I've been to storeswhere people have had 75 and 80
percent humidity, have paintbrushes with this plume, which
is basically fungus that'sgrowing on the tobacco.
We're gonna get into that.
Yeah, we'll talk about that alater episode, but I've seen
that and they think, you know,oh, they're shiny, it's better,
but no, it's it impedes theburning and really the taste of
(12:41):
the cigar.
SPEAKER_01 (12:41):
Well, you kind of just gave away one of our future
Smith Busters, right?
It is a plume or mold, I guess.
So we'll be talking about thatin the future.
That's all right.
SPEAKER_02 (12:48):
People will forget and they'll be interested in
talking about it and the realreasons why.
SPEAKER_01 (12:52):
Yeah, and I guess, Dad, going to my last question,
what are the biggest mistakespeople make with their personal
humidors and you storinghundreds of millions of cigars
over your life, right, inNicaragua and our in our aging
rooms and so forth?
What is an expert tip that youhave that can make people's
lives simple and easy so thatthey can get the maximum
(13:13):
enjoyment out of their cigarexperiences?
SPEAKER_02 (13:16):
It's like a Christmas box, your humidor,
right?
Everybody is opening and closingtheir humidor, looking at their
cigars.
Right.
It's the worst thing you can dobecause you're fluctuating
humidity and temperatureconsistently by opening and
closing.
I know you want to look at yourcigars.
I get it.
Right.
The best thing to do is keepthat cigar box closed, your
humidor closed.
(13:37):
The second thing is I onlychange my have a great
humidification device.
That's probably the second mostimportant thing.
And make sure you have a decenthumidor and follow the
instructions of of what thehumidification device says,
okay, regardless of whathumidification device you have.
Also use distilled water.
It's really important.
You don't want sulfur and thesesmall and hard water to hurt the
(14:02):
cigars when you're putting themin your in your humidor at home.
And finally, you want to makesure I actually don't change my,
I change, I put water in itevery three weeks because I've
learned about my humidors andhow to keep them stocked.
But I I don't open them unlessI'm going to grab a cigar out of
them.
Another question that's asked ofme is should you keep the
(14:24):
cellophane on the cigar?
How do you keep your box withwhat do you do?
Do you keep cellophane ornon-cellophane on your cigar?
SPEAKER_01 (14:31):
Honestly, mixed.
Me too.
I prefer to keep cellophane on acigar because a lot of times I'm
going somewhere, I'm going out,and cellophane protects the
cigar.
So I like to, I personally liketo keep them.
And also the rate of cigars thatyou and I smoke, you know, it's
one of those things where it iswhat it is.
But I mean, overall, I have amix.
(14:52):
I don't I don't purposely takemy cigars out of out of the
cellophane.
Because they I know that they dobreathe.
SPEAKER_02 (14:58):
I do because we use real cellophane and we don't use
polypropylene and plastic.
It's more expensive, but thecigars continue to age and
breathe in the cellophane, butit's also a great protective
barrier, which is why about halfof my cigars stay in in
cellophane, because if I want toput them in my pocket, I want
them protected.
And that is a great way.
(15:18):
A lot of times I'll take one ofour Humi bags and put them in,
but I always keep the cellophaneon there.
Now, the ones that don't havecellophane are usually when I'm
going out to the balcony tosmoke a cigar with you or mom or
or anybody in the family orfriends, so I'll keep them
without cellophane tubes.
But just in case somebody wasthinking about that question,
and I wanted to know how you doit, and I do it the same way you
do it.
SPEAKER_01 (15:38):
Yeah, I do.
And I think at the end of theday, Dad, closing this episode,
I think people need to reallynot overthink it too.
And I think at the end of theday, if you store to our
audience, if you solely smokeNicaraguan cigars, keep it at
65%.
If you have a mix betweenNicaraguan or Dominican cigars
or Honduran cigars, you know,keep it around 65 to 68%.
(15:59):
You know, just a little bit offluctuation.
But overall, just just keep itsimple and really just enjoy and
don't overthink it.
But Dad, this was a great thefirst of cigar myth busters.
And we have many more.
I have we have a lot that wehave There are so many myths.
There are so many myths, and itreally pisses me off.
But I, you know, I think it'simportant that we unveil these
myths.
(16:19):
And I think we'll have a lotmore trust and a lot more faith
from our audience.
And I think overall we're doingsomething really important for
the cigar community.
SPEAKER_02 (16:27):
Yeah, we're getting them to enjoy their cigars the
way we intended them to be asblenders.
And look, I want people to enjoytheir cigars.
So this information andknowledge, I think, is very
important to them.
SPEAKER_01 (16:40):
They spent a lot of money on this parameters.
I agree.
It is.
So I want to thank everybody,Dad.
Thank you for being on the show.
I'd like to thank everybody inour audience for watching.
If you enjoyed this, pleaselike, share, and subscribe to
our Podomo Cigars YouTube page.
Also, check out our newPodomoPodcast.com and also
follow us and ask us anyquestions on any of our Podomo
(17:01):
Cigars Facebook and Instagrampages.
We really appreciate thesupport.
Thank you so much, and we'll seeyou very soon.
Thank you so much.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!