Q. I know it depends on the ambient conditions, but how long can a cigar be left out of the humidor before it loses an “acceptable” amount of humidity?
– C.J. in Yardley, PA
A. It really depends on where you live, and as you pointed out, the ambient conditions. If you take a cigar out of your humidor and leave it in a room that is especially warm (and dry), or air-conditioned, it could dry out in as little as an hour. But normally it will stay fresh for the better part of the day or even up to 24 hours, depending also on whether you removed the cello wrapper from the cigar.
If you’re outside and the conditions are very windy, or sunny and hot, a cigar can dry out within a couple of hours. Many golfers have written to me about this happening to their cigars on the course.
Executive Editor
Gary Korb has been writing and editing content for CigarAdvisor.com since its debut in 2008. An avid cigar smoker for over 30 years, he has worked on the marketing side of the premium cigar business as a Sr. Copywriter, blogger, and Executive Editor of Cigar Advisor. A graduate of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, prior to his career in the cigar business, Gary worked in the music and video industry as a marketer and a publicist.
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I have a whytner humidor and I left the door slightly open for about 3 hours to bring down humidity. Does that harm the cigars in any way?
Hi Robert – at 3 hours, you should be fine…that’s long enough to lose some of the excess humidity, but short enough that the cigars shouldn’t be affected in any appreciable way.