Mail call. You crack open the cardboard box and inside is a beautiful, sealed bundle of cigars. The temptation to open them right up and smoke them is real. No one would fault you for doing so, hell, we all dive right in from time to time. But depending on where you live and how far those cigars journeyed to get to you, you probably should let them rest before lighting one up. Letting your cigars rest essentially allows them to even out regarding moisture and humidity thereby improving the experience when you do eventually have one.
Of course, not every rule or guideline is an absolute requirement. You can do whatever you like, you purchased those cigars. But to make things clear, let’s discuss why new cigars should rest before smoking them.
Keeping the humidity balanced
Source: Briley Kenney / The BS Lounge
Cigars need to remain at the optimal humidity and temperature, which not only helps preserve the tobacco inside but also ensures they will burn and smoke evenly. More importantly, the moisture and natural oils in the tobacco are what give you a lot of your flavor. When a cigar dries out, those oils go away and that severely dampens the smoking experience.
Now, during shipping, the cigars can lose some of their humidity, especially if they are exposed to variable temperatures. For example, if you live somewhere cold, it can impact the condition of the cigars since they come from warm and humid climates. That is precisely why we keep our cigars in a humidor with controlled humidity (RH) and temperature conditions. I use a Cigar Oasis Magna to keep the RH in my humidor in check, which is pictured above.
Resting your cigars — versus aging — involves leaving them in your humidor for a few days or weeks to acclimate to your preferred conditions. So, what you’re doing when you allow new cigars to rest is ensuring the humidity and moisture balance out. In reality, cigars tend to lose moisture slowly, so it’s not like they’ll need an extreme or prolonged resting period. It’s just a matter of being patient for a few days.
How long should you let your cigars rest before smoking?
According to cigar veteran and connoisseur @CigarChairman (Stephen LaPre, Senior), the optimal resting period is two weeks. He came to that conclusion after several experiments and lots of experience, and it tracks. If you don’t want to wait that long, although you probably should, then at the very least a week gives them more time to acclimate than no rest at all.
Put them somewhere in your humidor where they won’t be disturbed, like near the bottom if you have a cabinet humidor. Ultimately, you want them to have as much time in the humidity setting as you prefer, whether that’s 62 RH or up to 70 RH. The more time the better.
Nothing. You don’t have to do it. You could smoke them right off the shipping truck if you really wanted. But it also depends on where you live. You see, I live in Florida where it is humid and warm so by the time most cigars make it to me, they’re still pretty well balanced. I still let most of my new cigars rest just to be safe.
Comparatively, if you live somewhere dry, like out West, you may notice low humidity in your newly delivered cigars. Smoking them immediately could result in an uneven burn or less than pleasurable experience especially if those cigars burn hot.
As with most things, it’s entirely up to you. You make the final decision whether or not your cigars are ready to smoke. I highly recommend letting them rest, more so if you spent a lot of money on the cigars, but no one is going to stop you from smoking one or two early.
Briley has over 16 years in the publishing and content marketing business. He's been writing about cigars for nearly half that in various forms. What makes him a tour de force is he also smokes them.
Source: Briley Kenney / The BS Lounge
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