by Steve Saka

Let me begin by saying that you should never place any flavored cigars in your humidor, but I know you have already come to this conclusion without my help. Typically the odor will dissipate over time, however there are two things you can do to help speed the process along. The first is to empty your humidor and then place it somewhere with the lid open to air out for a couple of weeks or so. Ideally a place with good air circulation and on nice days set it outside if possible, as the fresh air will do it wonders. However, I caution you to not leave it outside in the rain or overnight, as the moisture will result in even more troubles. The second thing you can do is place a bowl of baking soda in it, close the lid, and allow it to rest undisturbed for a week. Granted you will have to "break in" your humidor from scratch to get it back to the ideal relative humidity, but these suggestions should help to resolve your chocolate odor problem.

Habanos S.A. introduced all new super secret box codes in the beginning of 1999. In April of this year we here at CigarNexus.com cracked those new codes much to the surprise of the Cubans and cigar experts around the globe. Well by summer Habanos retaliated with all new codes and is rumored to be considering changing them as often as monthly to prevent us or anyone else from ever breaking them again. So far we have only partially been able to decipher the newest codes and in the case of your box all I can tell you is that we suspect it was packed in 07/99. I suggest you read our Ultimate Counterfeit Cuban Primer to help you authenticate your cigars and for now, disregard the box codes. Regretfully, consumers may never be able to utilize the box codes again to help them avoid counterfeits.

Although it isn't as attractive as a travel humidor, ziplock baggies are ideal. In fact, a ziplock baggie works far better than most travel humidors. You can typically store cigars in them for a few weeks without having to add any moisture. It is important that you use high quality bags though because some of the economy bags fail to make a good seal. To prevent your cigars from being crushed you can place the ziplock bags inside an empty cigar dress box and throw it in your suitcase worry free.

Envuelto a Mano" means that the cigars were hand sorted, cellophaned, and boxed by hand. This typically means that the quality of the machine made cigars within the box will be of a better quality than those that did not receive this type of "hands on" attention. For future reference here is a list of what some basic box markings mean:

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