Holes in Cigars

[Basil]

Howdy,

So I just had a little beetle break out in my humidor and had to throw away about 5 cigars.

I just finished the freezer and fridge rotation and have everything still individually wrapped so I can keep a close eye on them.

Has anyone had such a problem before? How did you deal with it. And was the freezer fridge method enough that you didn't have a repeat?

 

[bandit82ta]

I had but luckily it was a small humidor. As a few of mine came from the freezer I moved them to the fridge and monitored. Some ended up not optimal for smoking but most were ok. Just keep them out of your main box and secluded in a new humidor or tupordor for a good while and wait an see. Best of luck.

 

[buyandhold2018]

Your home freezer doesn't get cold enough to kill the larvae, from what I've read. Sorry to be a Debbie downer

 

[Ruger Packer]

FREEZER?!?!? Are you serious?!?!?!

That is the worst thing you can do for your cigars! Freezing them takes the moisture out of them and lack of moisture makes them brittle. For health reasons, I no longer smoke a cigar or two a day. But I still have humidor full of various brands of cigars in various sizes. I have never had a beetle problem.

 

[Leche]

FREEZER?!?!? Are you serious?!?!?!

The theory with the freezer method is it creates and environment unsuitable to the beetles. I have never done this but many have had success after gentle thawing and proper humidity for a year or so. Personally I'd toss the buggers.

 

[Psicko]

I had to do it once. It seemed to work for me. the cigars werent as good as they once were, but still good.

 

[Basil]

So far it's been about a week and no sign of the little devils.

I smoked a cigar today after some gentle re humidifying and while still a bit dry it still had it's great taste.

Now to bump up the humidity from 60 to 70 and I'll be back to business.

 

[plexibass]

FREEZER?!?!? Are you serious?!?!?!

That is the worst thing you can do for your cigars! Freezing them takes the moisture out of them and lack of moisture makes them brittle. For health reasons, I no longer smoke a cigar or two a day. But I still have humidor full of various brands of cigars in various sizes. I have never had a beetle problem.

I do this everytime I introduce new cigars into my humidor. I had a beetle breakout before I started doing this and now it never happens.

 

[PanchoVilla]

I once received a very nice cigar that I immediately put into my 'top shelf' humidor. It didn't take long for the little buggers to go to work. Had to throw a half dozen away and froze the rest in plastic baggies for a week or so. Put them back in my humidor after a good inspection, and all is well. It does work. A couple have small holes, but I can deal with it. This was a couple of years ago.

 

[jmcrawf1]

Ypu can freeze and fridge to kill them but you'll still be smoking dead beetles/larvae

If they aren't rare/hard to find smokes, i'd throw them away and chalk it up to a lesson learned.

 

[Psicko]

Ypu can freeze and fridge to kill them but you'll still be smoking dead beetles/larvae
QUOTE]

More food than you realize has insect guts. You are probably eating something close to that everydy or so without knowing. I'm not pointing out certain foods, cause I don't want to be responsible for people not eating a certain food again.

If you get an off flavor from smoking the cigar, that might be the beetle/larvae.

 

[mouscacha]

I'd toss em. You guys got me thinking now! Need to put some cigars away in a "Quarantine" humidor.

 

[CapnPanther]

Your home freezer doesn't get cold enough to kill the larvae, from what I've read. Sorry to be a Debbie downer

RazoRock is correct. Unless you have a commercial freezer, your unit won't get cold enough to effectively kill off all larvae. However, the little buggers generally don't become active at temperature below 70 F, so if your humidor isn't kept in a place that gets too warm, you should be able to avoid any future infestations.