Dry cigars from Holguin Airport (Cuba)

[Harleyfrank]

HI,
I've seen a couple of posts about Holguin airport so I guess a few members have been through it.

I just flew back from there last week and bought a box of Cohiba Siglo VI and R&J Belicoso cigars.

When I got home I was really quite dismayed to find that both sets of cigars are really dry and crackle like mad when pressed. They are now in the humidor and I am rally hoping they will recover, but I'm just wondering if I wasted my money and they'll just smoke rubbish even if they do re-hydrate. Of anywhere, the airport shop is the last place I would have expected them to be dry. I am talking of the proper cigar shop at the back of the bar, not the little booths in the middle BTW.....

The cigars I bought in the hotel shop (Rio Sol, Luna Y Mares) are perfect. The ladies there were great and wouldn't sell me any that weren't in top condition. In fact hte cigar shop at the hotel is one of the few things i can recommend from there.

Anyone else had the same experience from Holguin?

Also, any recommendations as to best way to ensure they re-hydrate OK would be greatly appreciated as I'm new to cigar keeping.

Thanks

Frank

[tippexx]

Surprised you've bought back dry smokes from Cuba as the ambient humidity of Havana is within tolerance all year round, if you lived there you wouldn't really need a humidor.

To re-hydrate (I would smoke one first to check if the really need it) you'll need a suitable sized tuppador and some 65PH beads or similar. Stabilise the tuppador for about a month and then gradually increase the PH by adding small amounts of 70PH beads, once you're stable on 70 leave for several weeks and you should be OK.

[Harleyfrank]

Thanks Tippexx,

I was surprised too. I am assuming that it's because the room is AC'd and probably they aren't setting the humidity properly... Nothing in Cuba surprises me anymore, specially given the experience we had coming back...This is quite amusing:

We got on the plane and were sitting there waiting for it to taxi out for about 30 minutes. The Captain then told us a warning light had come on showing one of the reverse thrusters was crook. They found out it was OK to go as they didn't need them for this flight, but had to disable it, so they called in the engineer from the airport who came along and started going things. Apparently this operation takes about 30 minutes, including opening and closing the engine covers. 4 hours later we are still in the airport. The engineer didn't have a full set of screwdrivers and there were none to be had anywhere, so was doing the job with a flathead instead of a phillips.... Amazing, but true. 4 hour delay because of lack of screwdrivers at Holguin airport.

In a way, it worked out better for us, as we were due to arrive at Gatwick at 6AM, but the delay meant we arrived about 9:30 and by the time we got the car, etc, missed rush morning, so had a clear run home.

So, my suggestion, if you go to Cuba is, never mind change of clothes, put a full toolbox in your luggage

Frank

[monkey66]

Hi frank, just go slowly in the re-hydrate process, too fast and the cigars can split. As Tipp says 4-8 weeks is the kind of time-frame.

[tippexx]

put a full toolbox in your luggage

Or a Swiss Army Penknife .... you'll have a Phillips screwdriver and scissors to clip the caps from cigars!

[Harleyfrank]

I like that idea, but remember not to put it in your hand luggage though (Having said that, they do seem quite lax at Holguin). I beeped like an American police car chasing a couple of doughnut thieves going through the machine and they just waved me through.