FAN MAIL: YOUR BURNING CIGAR QUESTIONS ANSWERED (PART 44)

Summer 2021 is winding to a close as the dog days set upon us. However, the sweltering heat won’t keep us from our appointed rounds at Cigar Advisor—and that includes answering your burning cigar questions.

From the stack this month, we’ve found three great picks from your submissions. We have Jared explaining how to retrohale a cigar and why you want to do it, Gary dives into humidity and its effect on a cigar’s flavors, and Paul breaks down how and why you should rotate the sticks in your humidor. Check out the answers in our short videos below.

Have a question you’d like the Cigar Advisors to answer? Ask us in the comments section at the end of the article or drop us a line in any of our social media channels!

Cigar Question #1: Should I rotate the cigars in my humidor? If so, how?

By Paul Lukens

Rick from Des Moines was wondering if it was necessary to rotate his cigars in his humidor, and if so, how? This is a great question, and the simple answer is, yes.

Humidors—from economical to high-end luxury—all suffer from uneven humidity levels. The fact is, even in the most well-crafted humidors, some areas don’t receive the same humidity as others. By rotating your cigars, you can ensure equal humidity distribution among your collection. There are a lot of methods out there regarding rotating your cigars, and this is mine. It’s simple and gets the job done. Keep in mind though, your mileage may vary.

To start rotating, I take the cigars in my tray—at the top of my humidor—and place them in the top row of the bottom section with each row moving down. And I repeat this every 3 months. Watch how Paul rotates his cigars in his friend’s humidor:

Cigar Question #2: How does humidity affect a cigar’s flavor?

By Gary Korb

It’s one of those things you may not think about very often, but Keith in New Hope, Pennsylvania was concerned about how rising and falling humidity levels in his humidor may affect the flavor of his cigars. To answer this question, Gary called on two industry experts for their input and included his own experience on the subject. Watch now, as the answer may surprise you.

Cigar Question #3: How do I retrohale a cigar?

By Jared Gulick

Last week, I got a message from Marie in Conshohocken, Pa. She asked, “How do I retrohale a cigar? Is it like a French inhale, or am I somehow getting the smoke to come out of my nose some other way? All the vids and stuff online are too confusing. Please help!”

Marie, I’m so glad you asked because I have a retrohale hack I’ve been using for years that’ll make it easy. I call it the ‘chewing’ method, and it’s as quick and simple as it sounds. Click on the video and I’ll go over how it works and help take the mystery out of blowing cigar smoke out through your nose!