by Yannis Valavanis

As soon as I started writing the article, the title phrase came to my mind, probably childhood experiences that, if nothing else, have nothing to do with the article, but it is stuck somewhere in my mind. The phrase in question has to do purely with the sea and sailors and is the instructions given to the master of the vessel either by the port authority sometimes or by the shipowner and is about rules and laws governing navigation in places or in general. So I too, somewhat belatedly I would say, decided to explain some things of general interest that do concern smoking and the enjoyment of a cigar but not the enjoyment as such but rather the pre-work and especially the holes – yes you read that right – the holes.

The proper storage of cigars first of all requires moisture, and for this reason we supply the cigars with their preservation humidifier before the cigars are stored. The ideal humidity is around 70%, a little more is not particularly harmful, but too much alters its taste, and too much makes the smoke puff up, and too much humidity doesn’t draw. On the other hand less moisture affects the cigar in the sense of pulling, more easily, but the alteration of the flavor comes from the dry leaves that allow burning easier resulting in a faster burn and most importantly when the cigar is dry our he also gets a headache because we no longer smoke tobacco but weed, he has lost all the aromas and oils.

Many times, due to the very sudden increase in humidity, the cigars show a white powder which is not alarming, dust gently and smoke. On the contrary, when the cigar dries out, after a long period of time without moisture, it is completely destroyed and does not come back as it is a living organism. If we try to restore it after some time to the right conditions of humidity and temperature and catch it just before it dies, then we will understand, it will be soft and elastic again. But if it continues to be hard and brittle then unfortunately we have to throw them away.

All of the prologue was pre-work for the holes I mentioned above and are the burning issue. The excessive temperature, above 20 degrees Celsius, hatches the larvae of a microorganism which is scientifically called Lasioderma Serricorne and you develop in the tobaccos, since the leaves are living organisms, and you create from the poor maintenance of the tobaccos and also the cigars later. There are simply eggs inside the leaves and with the excessive heat they break and the beetles come out that eat the cigars and create the holes.

The solution to the problem if it appears is one and only and a bit meticulous and laborious. He removes the cigars from the humidor, places them in airtight bags and freezes them for three days. The humidifier needs a thorough cleaning of eggs and beetles with a brush and good ventilation. Then take the cigars out of the freezer and leave them for a day in the refrigerator to return to normal temperature smoothly and then put them back in the clean humidor. This way you will save what is not damaged and unfortunately you throw away the holes because they do not pull because of the holes.

And with the opportunity to say a few things that I take for granted, but to my great disappointment I do not see them being implemented. We don’t put cigars in the fridge like our mothers put steaks, they dry out and absorb all the smells of the fridge. If a cigar goes out during smoking, we remove the ash or cut the burnt end with our cutter, to avoid the bitter and burnt taste, and light it again. We don’t put out our cigar like cigarettes, we respect it, we put it in our ashtray and let it go out by itself.

We use full combustion lighters, matches without silicon or chemicals because after the cigar the gunpowder will smell like gas. The cedar of the boxes we buy is also a very good choice. In my opinion, the best choice of log cutters is the double guillotine to achieve an even cut without excessive pressure. Cigars in tubos definitely need a humidor simply because of the cedar and their packaging they keep a little longer outside. The external color of the cigar can only give us an idea of ​​the intensity of the cigar, being light or dark. Its true intensity and aroma lies only in the inner mixture of its leaves.

The longer your cigars are left in your humidifier the better they get, not worse. In my personal opinion, they should stay in the humidifier for at least two years from the date of manufacture and should not be left for more than five years. According to the people at Habanos, only Montecristo A lasts up to eight years, which I don’t think we will find again. As for the Band, ring, of the cigar you can do as you think, I personally remove it for personal reasons. But the Cubans so you know they have their own semantics, married people leave it and single people take it out, for obvious reasons as you might understand.

The “Instructions for Smokers” have come to an end. I tried to explain some things that you ask me quite often and some that came to my attention so that we can enjoy our favorite cigars as best as we can. Surely there are many others that escape me and others that will emerge. We will be back for sure.