StogieBoys starter kit humidor (25 count)

I received my humidor and starter kit today and have began seasoning it already. If you are new to cigars and are unsure in how to season a humidor, have no fear because it comes with some great instructions. This humidor, though simple and petite, is made quite well. It has brass piano quadrant hinges and, as far as I can tell so far, has a good seal. Regardless of size or cost, if the box doesn't seal well then it is useless as a humidor.

The instructions say to use a clean, lint free cloth dampened with distilled water to wipe the inside of the humidor. Some people also use a clean sponge to wipe the inside down. I prefer bounty paper towels to be honest. I feel they give me more control over the amount of water I'm using. It is important not to over saturate the interior of the box, you're. Just wanting to dampen the wood, not soak it down. Doing so could cause the wood to warp, ruining the seal of your humidor. Wiping the box out serves two purposes. It adds moisture to the wood and cleans any very fine particles of wood left when sanding the Spanish cedar inside. The Spanish cedar of a humidor absorbs and releases moisture and serves a crucial role in the task of keeping your humidity in check. It is also very important to use distilled water instead of tsp water. Distilled water is pure and free from contaminants and minerals. You can pick up a gallon of distilled water at most grocery or drug stores. Just be sure it is steam distilled water. If in doubt just drop a google search on the brand name and you should be able to find more information on it.

The instructions then read to soak the humidifier in distilled water, removing any remaining water from the unit once the medium inside has expanded to it's fullest. After doing this, and wiping any water from the outside, place the unit inside the humidor. Then you should close the lid and let it sit for, per the instructions, at least 12 hours. They also state that it is important to keep an eye on the humidity level for the first couple of weeks. Some humidors take longer to season and condition thing others so be conscious that you may have to season it again if the wood is really dry. I placed a known digital hygrometer inside when I closed the lid to better indicate when stabilize humidity is achieved. I plan to wait a couple of days before putting this one to use so it will be stable when I'm ready. I also placed some cigar beads inside to assist the unit that came with the box during seasoning. It isn't a necessity to supplement the humidifier with another but should speed the process and guarantee I won't need to repeat the conditioning. 

The small hygrometer is the perfect size for this box. It is analog, which most seasoned smokers shun. I will be honest, I have digital and analog hygrometers in use in my own humidors. I recommend buying a digital to check your analogs for accuracy. I haven't seen an analog yet that didn't need to be recalibrated right out of the box. It is important to note that just because an analog passes the salt test, and is calibrated to 75%, it may not be accurate at other RH levels. I check mine against my digitalis in the bag while calibrating, outside the humidor, and inside. This insures that it will read true regardless of RH changes. 

The salt test is a simple and cheap way to calibrate your hygrometers. All you need to do is fill a bottle cap with table salt, add a bit of distilled water (moisten but don't saturate the salt. Then place the cap inside a sealed ziplock bag with the hygrometers to be calibrated. After several hours the humidity inside the bag will have stabilized and your hygrometers should read 75% RH. If they read higher or lower you should be able to adjust most units with a small screw found inside the back. I have had a couple where I had to remove the back and actually rotate the internal spring and needle on the face plate to calibrate them. Either way, I recommend always checking against a digital in different RH ranges before depending on an analog unit.

With all the ground work done, my box should be ready to use by morning. Now to play the waiting game. What better time to grab my smoking jacket and head outside for a cigar. Stay tuned for a update on the humidor as well as an update on my transition to cigar beads in most of my humidors. Until next time, keep em toasty!

StogieBoys Big Sexy Smokers Club

Well I am now an official Big Sexy Cigar Smoker. I have always been skeptical of the cigar clubs, especially those with $35 per month memberships. I figured take that and buy a sampler, atleast you know what you're getting. Well I believe this club is a game changer and am going to be giving it a shot. I received the starter kit today, which comes with your membership. It was shipped out to me super fast, I didn't expect it until next week but I'm not complaining. It contained a 25 capacity humidor complete with hygrometer and humidifier, a stogieboys v cut cutter, and a pretty wicked looking lighter. The humidifier is a gel bead type and much better than a floral foam you might see with a ton of humidors. The hygrometer is small and constructed of plastic so it will be lighter and more easily attached to the inside of the humidor. They also shipped my first monthly item with the kit, it was the Thurman Thomas hall of fame cigar in Connecticut and maduro. I have already tried these cigars and have even reviewed them here already. I am happy to be adding a couple more of these to the humidor so for my first shipment I am pleased. I know some might think "I have humidors and don't need the kit". Well I assure you, I have 6 humidors in use right now and my belief is that there's always room for another. If you absolutely don't want to use it as a humidor; you could gift it to a beginning cigar smoker for their first humidor, use it as a dry box for slightly "wet" cigars, use it for infused cigars (never store your infused cigars with your UN-infused), or keep as an emergency overflow humidor. Regardless of what you choose it is included with the membership so it's basically a free humidor. It is a basic 25 count but nicely crafted with brass piano quadrant hinges and a good seal. I have seasoned it and am waiting for it to stabilize inside so I can fill it with goodies. It's a small box so it shouldn't take long to season. It does come with setup instructions and instructions for care of the lighter as well.

The lighter is an Emerald dual flame lighter. I don't mean it has 2 torch jets, it has a single torch jet and a soft flame. This means you get the best of both worlds. It feels solid in the hand and appears to be pretty sturdy. I checked their website and this is 15 dollar torch that is currently listed for 8 and some change. http://stogieboys.com/cigar-lighters/emerald-cigar-lighter-silver.html The one I received was silver, not sure if colors varied or if all members get the silver. Either way it is an attractive lighter and I'm sure it will provide fire for many fine smoking occasions.

I did find a link to the entire set that they give you with membership http://stogieboys.com/starter-accessories-kit.html. It is pretty much the exact same minus the guillotine cutter. At a sticker price of 25 bucks, come on its free just for signing up so it's a win-win.

As if the starter kit wasn't enough to sweeten the deal, you also receive 5% off future orders site-wide AND free shipping. What really set this apart from other clubs, for me was they claim it will not just be cigars sent to you. You will receive "New cigars sent to you every month, plus cigar accessories and swag". At only $65 for a 6 month membership and $120 for a full year, this really is an ultimate value for a cigar club. I will review the items I received in more detail once I have out them to use, I'm looking forward to using this lighter and using this humidor for some overflow cigars.

If you would like to get your membership started, the fine folks at StogieBoys are attentive and friendly. You can join at http://www.stogieboys.com/cigar-club or give them a call at 1-888-374-7905. 

Part 2 of the humidity bead journey

I received my second batch of beads yesterday and immediately took to task getting some inside of a humidor. These beads are noticeably different than the first set I received. These are actually small spheres, which is what I was looking for to begin with. I have a thought that what I was sent first are actually gel crystals. If this turns out to be the case, I am not going to be a happy camper. There is a lesson to learn here though, always check the name of the vendor that will be shipping your items on amazon. Or even better, order cigar related items from a reputable site or purchase from your local shop. My local shop doesn't carry beads so I went out on a limb, plus I had some amazon points to spend. If I have done my research right, the crystal gel should be a two-way capable humidity control item as all. These appear to be "water crystals" that you would use for plants. It is very similar in almost every way to the spherical bead but far messier and more gelatinous. My first shipment was sent by a vendor with lawn care in their name, thus my suspicions of them being water crystals. The second order was shipped by a power tool company. There was a thank you card inside the second package though. It was from cvtobacco.com and made note of it being a family operated business. I believe the amazon name was Cv power tools so it is probably just their amazon merchant name. I followed the link to their site and have found a new cigar line that I hope to review in the future. They are called battlegeound cigars and some of them are blended by Manuel Quesada. I have never heard of, nor seen these before so I am intrigued. Ok, back to the beads. The first batch has brought my humidors back to a solid 70% RH after just a couple of days. Like the instructions say, you can't have too many beads inside the humidor. If you add more than needed for the amount of internal space, it will just help speed recovery after opening the lid and letting the moist air out and dryer air in. I have added the spheres to two humidors and will be posting results when I check them in a few days. Hopefully everything will be stabilized and I can report back then. Until then, keep 'em toasty!

This was the first shipment. Notice the size of the "beads" which more closely resemble sea salt

This is the second pound of beads I ordered. Notice that they are actually bead or pearl shaped. They do change color when spritzed with distilled water. They become a bit hazed and are softer to the touch, but not near as jelly-like as the first batch.

My move to humidity beads

After losing a humidifiying element to either manufacturer defect or age (I'm not really sure which) it was time for a new unit in one of my larger humidors. The unit that failed was a Cigar Classics for 300 cigars. I really like the unit because it was a freestanding unit and didn't hang from the lid or affix to a wall of my humidor. It was perfect, at the time, for the humidor it was being used in. It is a humidor with a flip-down front door and a lid. The top has a glass lid with a divided section underneath but only has slits in the bottom to allow airflow to the bottom chamber. The bottom chamber has three removable shelves and is perfect for box storage. I recently removed the shelves and stacked the boxes inside to allow a better configuration to fit the boxes inside.

The previous humidifier was a gel crystal type and after checking out my options I decided to go with humidity beads. For the sake of reviews and research I ordered a couple of different brands. The first batch came in yesterday and have been placed into their new container homes and placed inside the humidor. I have alctually decided to swap all of my crystal gel humidifiers for beads and see how they work in different size boxes.

I knew, thanks to the tracking info, that the beads would arrive yesterday afternoon so I began preparing for their arrival that morning. I rounded up all of my hygrometers and tested their calibration using the salt method. I'm glad I did this because I had a weak battery in one of my digital units and it was causing my readings to be off. If I had just swapped things over I would not have caught this and would probably have chalked it up to another issue. The instructions on the website say that a shallow container is the best option to house the beads. This lead me to a new dilemma, I didn't really have any containers that wouldn't take up way too much precious humidor real estate. I began searching the house for suitable containment.

I did find some fairly small, shallow rubbermade food containers but it was time to get creative. I started with some old foam-type humidifers and the cigar classics unit. After cleaning all of the withered gel crystals from the cigar classics container it was perfect. It already has a vented cover to gon on the top so I am safe in case of an accidental overturn. I had a couple of large rectangular units that came with carious humidors over the years. After removing the foam and screen, I was left with a shallow container with a nice vented lid. I did the same thing with some of the foam-type I had for 20-30 count humidors, the little bar size. Lastly I had an Ipod box (2 actually) that I had kept after purchasing my iPod touch. I know what you're thinking, the ipod box has no vent holes or ports. Well, you're right it didn't when I got started. Using a cordless drill and a very small bit, I riddled the lid with small un-uniform holes. This process was actually pretty lengthy since I wanted a ton of holes for the moisture to move through. If you should decide to try this just be mindful that each hole you drill weakens the plastic. You have to be cautious of this and let the drill do all of the work. If you apply too much pressure once there are a number of holes, you run a good risk of cracking the lid and rendering it useless.

By the time I had finished getting my containers ready my beads had arrived and my hygrometers were calibrated and ready to go. I did some rearranging in my humidors so the rh got pretty low from having the lids open for so long. I filled my containers with beads, leaving plenty of room as not to overcrowd them. I used distilled water per the directions instead of my beloved xikar pg solution. According to the site, since these are 2 way humidification beads the pg solution would clog the beads over time and they would fail to work properly. I used a new spray bottle to "spritz" the beads with the distilled water until about 75% were saturated. When I was done rotating stock and getting everyting back in place, I placed the containers with beads inside and went to bed. I will wait for the humidity to stabilize again and post some updates. Like I said, I have placed these in several different sized humidors so I should be able to report back sooner on the smaller ones. I am expecting the other beads to be in any day and have a couple of humidors still operating on crystal gel waiting to be swapped over. Until next time, Keep 'em toasty!

StogieBoys Big Sexy Smokers Club

I have never joined a cigar of the month club but the new launch from StogieBoys is really making me reconsider my stance on them. I have heard different viewpoints from those who have signed up for random clubs and they are either very pleased or very disappointed. StogieBoys is not known to be one to disappoint with their outstanding customer service and selection. They offer the Big Sexy Smokers a Club in a 6 month for 65.00 or 12 month for 120.00 option. I would have to go for the gusto and grab the full year, and I just might very very soon. I like the idea of a sampler club, getting to try sticks you might not have ordered otherwise. I do not, however, like that most clubs want to charge 35-50 bucks per month with no guarantees. StogieBoys has their price low enough that I wouldn't even consider it a gamble, especially since members get a 5% discount on their already great prices AND free shipping!! Now to throw those subtle hints to the wife, she would love to think getting me this was her idea when Christmas morning runs across my face each month!

Here is the description from their site

The Big Sexy Smokers Club - 6 Months

The Big Sexy Smokers Club is StogieBoys' premier monthly cigar club. Members will receive a starter kit followed by premium and exclusive cigars, accessories and swag every month. Additionally, every member will receive 5% off the entire store while they are a member. We often get small batches of unique products and we will let you, our Big Sexy Smokers Club, try them. Also, we have many top-of-the-line accessories that we will allow our members to have like ash trays, lighters, humidors, and cutters. Finally, we will send great popular cigars, lesser-known great cigars and everything in between. There is no telling what great gift you might get this month.

Member Benefits:

• Starter Kit: Humidor, V-Cutter, Lighter, Hygrometer (over $50 Value).
• Monthly Gift: Between $10 and $20 value
• FREE Shipping on all purchases as a member
• Discount: 5% off all purchases as a member

This is a great gift idea!

The Big Sexy Smokers Club - 12 Months

The Big Sexy Smokers Club is StogieBoys' premier monthly cigar club. Members will receive a starter kit followed by premium and exclusive cigars, accessories and swag every month. Additionally, every member will receive 5% off the entire store while they are a member. We often get small batches of unique products and we will let you, our Big Sexy Smokers Club, try them. Also, we have many top-of-the-line accessories that we will allow our members to have like ash trays, lighters, humidors, and cutters. Finally, we will send great popular cigars, lesser-known great cigars and everything in between. There is no telling what great gift you might get this month.

Member Benefits:

• Starter Kit: Humidor, V-Cutter, Lighter, Hygrometer (over $50 Value).
• Monthly Gift: Between $10 and $20 value
• FREE Shipping on all purchases as a member
• Discount: 5% off all purchases as a member

This is a great gift idea!

Happy New Year!!

I know it's a bit late, but Happy New Year anyways. The past year has been a difficult one for me and my family. The first part of 2013 I couldn't seem to get rid of the sinus crud long enough to smoke a cigar. By the time I got well (many doctors visits and shots in the rear later) several loses hit our family. With my wife losing a grandparent on both sides of her family and me losing my grandmother, I decided to take a break from social media and the blog for awhile. I didn't intend on my break lasting until 2014 but sometimes you just have to make time for family. On a brighter note, last August we welcomed our second child into the world. If you didn't see the review on the Alec Bradley "It's a Girl" cigars, it was indeed a healthy baby girl. 

With the new year already upon us I have made some resolutions to get this blog trucking again and to try to redeem myself to my readers. I was all but ready to give it up when my wife, with her loving wisdom, told me if I enjoyed it then I should keep doing it. I know my number of reviews from 2012 dwarf my review count for 2013 and I hope to go above and beyond in 2014. I am brainstorming on some ideas for a giveaway to be annouced in th next few months ad have started my list of cigars I absolutely  want to get reviewed in the new year.

I didn't smoke enough different cigars to feel qualified to put a best of list together for 2013. When I did find time to smoke, I didn't take tasting notes and really just sat in thought.  Hopefully my hiatus hasn't hurt me too bad and you should see me starting to make more and more appearances on twitter and cigarfederation.com. If you haven't checked out cigarfederation in awhile, I highly recommend dropping by. There is a large group of great cigar smokers there and they are super friendly.

I had minor surgery just a few days ago, I won't go into what kind, but hope to get back in the cigar reviewing sadle very soon. Now to find that perfect balance where neither my hobby nor my family suffers from lack of my attention. Until next post, keep your feet toasty!