Just like Goldilocks and her porridge, cigars have a sweet spot – not too dry, not too wet. Both extremes can significantly impact your smoking experience, and cigar enthusiasts are right to investigate their cigars upon arrival. So, how can you tell if your cigars are under-humidified or over-humidified?

The Pinch Test

The first line of defense is the pinch test. Gently squeeze the middle of your cigar between your thumb and index finger. Imagine you're giving it a friendly handshake, not a death grip. A properly humidified cigar will have a slight give, but it shouldn't feel mushy or spongy. It should spring back to its original shape once you release your hold.

Some factories and blenders densely pack their cigars without causing performance issues. If your cigar doesn’t have a slight give to it, there’s no need to worry yet. It’s only when your cigar feels mushy that you should take action to help them acclimate to a more traditional humidity.

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You can also test for under-humidified cigars in a pinch if you feel the cigar crackling under your fingers. Keep in mind that some wrapper leaves are more fragile than others and you’ll want to avoid cracking them accidentally. But to reiterate once again, this test isn’t definitive for under-humidified cigars like it is for over-humidified cigars.

Burn to Learn

While the pinch test is a great starting point, it isn’t the end-all-be-all test. You can absolutely tell if a cigar is too humid by feel, but some cigars may look or feel dry and be perfectly fine. Enter: Pennsylvania Broadleaf and San Andres tobaccos for a rustic look that often appears dry even though it’s ready to wine and dine.

If you suspect a cigar is dry, one surefire way to find out is to set it on fire. If you’ve smoked this cigar before, you’ll quickly notice if the flavors are off. Another telltale sign is if the cigar burns too quickly. The burn line may be perfect or it may be off, but a dry cigar will burn much faster than a properly humidified cigar.

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Both under-humidified and over-humidified cigars will have poor flavor and performance, but an over-humidified cigar is much less likely to burn correctly. A cigar that has too much moisture will be hard to keep lit, will have a wonky burn line, may try to canoe, and taste funky.

Fixing Under or Over-Humidified Cigars

To keep your cigars firing on all cylinders, aim for a sweet spot between 62-69% humidity in your humidors. Play around with what works best for your environment and cigars and then try to keep it as stable as possible. And give your cigars time to acclimate in a stable environment for one to two weeks after shipping to ensure they’ve recovered from the cigar sick period.

Even if a cigar just arrived at your local cigar lounge, it has been shipped and needs rest to put its best foot forward. And imagine a limited-edition cigar from the Dominican Republic – it’s spent time on a boat or air before landing in the states at a distribution facility and then immediately sent back out with a mail carrier to us, and then turned around to arrive at your house via USPS.

The best thing you can do to keep your cigars fresh is to allow them to rest in a stable humidor. If your cigars take on too much moisture, you can dry-box them to enjoy them quickly. If your cigars lose too much moisture, you can slowly increase humidity to bring them back up to par.

Keep in mind, though, that a cigar losing its oils is going to forever change its flavor. You can have a cigar that is slightly dry and reinvigorate it since it wasn’t too dry for too long. And you can find a box of cigars in an attic of a home you just bought and never bring them back because the oils (flavor, strength, aroma) have evaporated.