Problem - What's that smell?

bbass2

My wife gave me a box of the My Father coronas for father's day. Since I'm low on room I just put the box in a ziploc freezer bag with a couple of humi pouches, put my hygro in there to make sure the RH was okay, then left it alone for a few days. Last night I went to take my hygro out to put back in the desktop humi and noticed a VERY pungent chemical smell in the ziploc. The smell reminds me of a strong glue or something.

To round down the problem I took everything out of the ziploc and left it alone for a while and checked back and no smell. After that I added just the humi pouches in a ziploc, came back later and no smell. I then took two ziplocs, removed the sticks from the box, placed the cigars in one ziploc by themselves, then the box by itself in the other. Now when I check both of those ziplocs have that chemical smell, tho though the bag with just the cigars seems to smell a little stronger.

Anyone know what would cause this? I hope these sticks aren't ruined.

jgibv

(I know you said it's a "strong glue" smell)...
But would you consider it to be like a paint/lacquer smell??

The reason I ask is because......
The 1 and only MF box I've ever purchased had a very, and I mean very, strongy lacquer/paint smell to it when I got it.
I took the cigars out, put them in the humi and then let the box "air out" on the counter for a week and a half.
The paint smell from the box "mostly" went away but I've had the box 6+ months and still notice a faint smell of paint if I put my nose right next to it.

And as far as the cigars from my box, I never noticed a smell on them and never noticed flavor problems while smoking...
So hopefully yours will be fine as well.

I know y'all use baking soda and newspaper to get the "plastic smell" out of coolidors...
Maybe someone could chime in on if it would be safe to put either of these items in with the sticks to help absorb the smell; that should work, (at least in theory) right?

bbass2

Yeah it could very well be paint/lacquer. I didn't think about that. I'll try isolating the sticks in bags that haven't been exposed to the box and see if that helps. That smell is terrible and I sure don't want a cigar tasting like that. Thanks jgibv

jsnake

I agree. Probably from the box. Over the years of buying you get some that seem pretty factory fresh with strong paint, glue, lacquer smells. Sometimes the seem to permeate the sticks but I have always find that subsides over a little time. I would ditch the box for now.

Rhamlin

Wow that just stinks! ( pun intended) but you would think that for what you paid for them they would at least use boxes that the lacquer and paint have cured.

beatnic

I've bought some boxes of expensive Fuentes that smelled like shLt. Turns out its the cloth lining in the box. Like they bought it 50 years ago. I always take my sticks out of the box and put it in my well aged, cedar humidor.

jliu

beatnic:

I've bought some boxes of expensive Fuentes that smelled like shLt. Turns out its the cloth lining in the box. Like they bought it 50 years ago. I always take my sticks out of the box and put it in my well aged, cedar humidor.

you bring up a good point. I think I should take it out of those cloth lined fuente boxes and put it in nicer cedar boxes. but... would it really alter the taste of the cigar?

KCW

For what it's worth; I have purchased boxes that have smelled "bad". One that comes to mind is a box of Camcho Corojo Ltd. The box smelled horrible. The cigars seemed fine. Thats why I spent all that money on my Humi. (which smells great by the way).

0patience

It's funny. I've had several boxes of one type or another where it seems like the lacquer wasn't cured. A couple were even tacky to the touch.
Never understood why they would not be cured properly. Cost, time or what?

The Sniper

Ive noticed several cigars over the years that, if left alone in a confined area that is NOT cedar lined for a period of time, will get an ammonia-ish type smell in the container when you open it up. Ive been told this is normal, as the cigars continue to "gas" while they age, and why its important to open such containers periodically to circulate some fresh air in.

I dont know if, left unattended for extended periods of time, this would have a negative effect on the sticks or not... I suppose that one will have to be addressed by Professor Kuzi or one of the many other BOTL around here smarter than me on such things. ;-)

y2pascoe

bbass2:

My wife gave me a box of the My Father coronas for father's day. Since I'm low on room I just put the box in a ziploc freezer bag with a couple of humi pouches, put my hygro in there to make sure the RH was okay, then left it alone for a few days. Last night I went to take my hygro out to put back in the desktop humi and noticed a VERY pungent chemical smell in the ziploc. The smell reminds me of a strong glue or something.

To round down the problem I took everything out of the ziploc and left it alone for a while and checked back and no smell. After that I added just the humi pouches in a ziploc, came back later and no smell. I then took two ziplocs, removed the sticks from the box, placed the cigars in one ziploc by themselves, then the box by itself in the other. Now when I check both of those ziplocs have that chemical smell, tho though the bag with just the cigars seems to smell a little stronger.

Anyone know what would cause this? I hope these sticks aren't ruined.

Maybe someone farted in the bag when you weren't looking.

The Sniper

y2pascoe:

bbass2:

My wife gave me a box of the My Father coronas for father's day. Since I'm low on room I just put the box in a ziploc freezer bag with a couple of humi pouches, put my hygro in there to make sure the RH was okay, then left it alone for a few days. Last night I went to take my hygro out to put back in the desktop humi and noticed a VERY pungent chemical smell in the ziploc. The smell reminds me of a strong glue or something.

To round down the problem I took everything out of the ziploc and left it alone for a while and checked back and no smell. After that I added just the humi pouches in a ziploc, came back later and no smell. I then took two ziplocs, removed the sticks from the box, placed the cigars in one ziploc by themselves, then the box by itself in the other. Now when I check both of those ziplocs have that chemical smell, tho though the bag with just the cigars seems to smell a little stronger.

Anyone know what would cause this? I hope these sticks aren't ruined.

Maybe someone farted in the bag when you weren't looking.

Anywhere close to jliu? This is a favorite gag of his... if its got a whey-protien-y scent to it, you can be sure he was involved somehow. :-D

Ken Light

The Sniper:

Ive noticed several cigars over the years that, if left alone in a confined area that is NOT cedar lined for a period of time, will get an ammonia-ish type smell in the container when you open it up. Ive been told this is normal, as the cigars continue to "gas" while they age, and why its important to open such containers periodically to circulate some fresh air in.

I dont know if, left unattended for extended periods of time, this would have a negative effect on the sticks or not... I suppose that one will have to be addressed by Professor Kuzi or one of the many other BOTL around here smarter than me on such things. ;-)

I was thinking along these lines at first too, but I'd think ammonia and paint/glue would smell pretty different. Not sure about that though, sometimes nasty just smells like nasty.

bbass2

I did consider ammonia especially since it's a brand new release, but this smell is too strong and coming off too quick to be any natural process. They are probably calming down now since isolated, but when I first found it I stuck them in a bag and came back in 30 min and it was still really strong.

Thanks guys, for now I'm just keeping them isolated and airing them out frequently.