Syrinxx’s Cigar Shack

Today I attended a small Rocky Patel event held at my local shop.  I typically buy about 75% of my smokes online simply becuase of the much better prices, but I still try to patronize “brick & mortar” shops for single sticks and to talk cigars with people who know a lot more than I do.

The event was run by Rocky’s brother Nish Patel, and the deals were quite good.  20% off boxes, free RP cigars with singles or box purchases, and a raffle for some cool stuff like an HDTV and a nice RP humidor.  Until today I’d completely forgotten about the SCHIP tax increase poised to hit in just a few days.  I’m really not opposed to some taxes, but taxing something that people are supposed to be quitting seems like a stupid idea because if the plan works and fewer tobacco products are consumed, the needed tax revenue will evaporate and then will have to come from somewhere else.  But I digress.  I decided that despite my nearly overflowing coolerdor and humidor, I’d see if I could find some goodies to add to the collection before the tax increase.

After a long internal debate between a box of the Vintage 1992 and the Olde Worde Reserve Maduro, I opted for a box of the Vintage 1992 Robustos, it being one of my overall favorite blends and a great value at only $95 for the box plus 5 free extra Rocky cigars.  I also picked up a variety of smaller cigars, which I have begun to appreciate more as I don’t always want to commit 2 hours to a stogie.

The final SCHIP-evading  haul:

20 RP Vintage 1992 Robusto
3 RP ITC Toro
2 RP Autumn Collection Toro
1 RP Vintage 1990 Petit Corona
2 Don Tomas Maduro Robusto
1 AF Hemingway Short Story
2 RyJ Vintage Love Story
1 Oliva Serie V Double Robusto
1 Padron 2000 Natural

After making my picks I sat in the lounge and smoked one of the RyJs.  I think I was the only one of the 30-40 people around who wasn’t smoking a RP, but I wanted to age those for a bit.

It required some creative shuffling but I managed to fit everything into the coolidor, which is now absolutely packed.  I should have quite a bit of review fodder for the year!

If you have a local shop I’d encourage you to look into whether they are planning any of events, whether it be a basic herf or a manufacturer sponsored sale.  It’s a good way to meet some of your local enthusiasts and possibly get some good deals.

Blog Aging, Cigar, Cigars, Coolidor, Event, Herf, Humidor, Rocky Patel

My coolidor has stabilized and is holding quite a few cigars now so I thought I’d put a couple of pictures up and run down the very inexpensive parts list.

1. 28 qt. Igloo cooler ($18 at Target)
2. 8 oz. 70% RH beads ($5 on eBay)
3. Oust battery powered fan ($10 on eBay)
4. Squirt bottle ($3 from Target)
5. Digital hygrometer ($6.50 from walmart.com)
6. Empty cigar boxes ($20 from Cigars International – could be free from a friend or local shop)
7. Spanish cedar tray ($9 from Cheap Humidors)

Total expense: $71.50.  I could and should have skipped the boxes from CI since I immediately went crazy on Cigar Bid and bought 5 boxes of smokes, which along with the cedar tray would have filled the volume of the cooler just fine.  So if you already have boxes or plan on buying boxed cigars you can do this for around $50 plus some shipping.

I began by filling the brand new cooler up with lukewarm water and 1/2 cup of bleach.  I soaked it this way for about 3 hours, hoping to get the plastic scent out.  I emptied it out and let it air dry overnight, then put a large shallow dish of baking soda inside and closed it up for another day or two.  This process removed almost all the plastic smell.

Next, I wiped some of the empty cigar boxes with a sponge that was damp with distilled water and placed them into the cooler.  This was a bit like a puzzle and I wound up with a few boxes that didn’t fit, but those will make nice gift boxes or I’ll give them to a friend to help with their own coolidor.  I added a tupperware container that I had drilled a bunch of holes in the top (I might switch this to the pantyhose-covered version which would allow for maximum flow) and put the humidity beads in it.  I dampened the beads with distilled water from the squirt bottle.  These beads turn from opaque white to clear when they are saturated with water so it’s easy to tell when they need dampening.  Then the Oust fan, which to my knowledge is no longer produced and will run about $10 minimum on eBay or Amazon Marketplace, went in, along with the hygrometer.  It should go without saying that you don’t want to put the scented oil insert into the fan; also note that these run for 5 minutes on and 15 minutes off so you will frequently open the cooler and it will not be spinning.  Everything sat for about 2 days to let the humidity stabilize.

Finally it was time to add cigars, which at this point was really needed because in anticipation of my coolidor I went a little crazy ordering almost 200 sticks!

Possible changes/additions: a larger cooler would allow for all the box sizes I had on hand and wouldn’t be such a challenge to arrange.  I also plan to line the sides and top with thin pieces of spanish cedar, affixed with a hot glue gun, to help buffer humidity.

And finally, some pictures.

Note the highly prized and sought-after box of Chinchaleros 

I hope this post helped motivate anyone who’s thinking about making their own coolidor.  It’s a simple and fun project, whether you’re doing it for aging or just so you can buy cigars by the box and save a bunch of money, which is why I did it.  For example, the Gran Habano Corojo #5, one of my current favorites, is $5.69 at the local shop, $4 each in a 5-pack, or just $3.25 each by the box – a no-brainer to buy by the box.  Happy coolidor building!

Howto, Humidor Aging, Cigar, Cigars, Coolerdor, Coolidor, Humidor, Hygrometer, Igloodor, Tupperdor