HOW TO RESTORE DRY CIGARS

It has happened to all of us at one time or another. You simply forgot about that nice box of stogies you had in the trunk of your car for 3 months ... well, hopefully not that long. I always get asked what you can do to restore dried cigars.

The most important thing to remember is that restoring a dried cigar takes time--lots of time and patience. Don't be in a hurry to get the job done.

Step 1:
Put your cigars in a non-humidified humidor. If this doesn't exist, then you can use a Ziploc bag with some holes poked in it. You want to bring the cigars to a steady humidity level that is much less than 70 percent. Let them sit in this environment for about 2-3 days.

Step 2:
Dampen a fresh, clean sponge with distilled water. Place it inside the Ziploc bag, and allow it to sit there, not touching any cigars, for at least one more week. This will slowly add humidity to the cigars at a rate that will prevent the wrappers from bursting.

Step 3:
After two weeks, your cigars should start to look a lot healthier. Put them in your charged, maintained humidor at this point. Don't smoke them yet. Let them rest for while. I would suggest a month or two, just to make sure things are back to normal. Then you can feel free to smoke to your heart's content.