There are a few useful and simple things one can do with their over-humidified cigars to assist in restoring them to their crisp and pristine original quality. However, before we get into all of that, let us first discuss how to properly tell when your cigars are over humidified. Now, obviously, if your cigars are nothing but mush and dripping huge globs of water, they’re clearly over humidified. However, over humidification is generally a bit more subtle than that. Over humidified cigars will tend to be much softer than they were originally, not only that but they will also begin to twist, warp and in some cases crack and tear very easily. Also, cigars which have obtained too much humidity will begin to taste different, generally acquiring a rather bland, bitter and repugnant taste. If your cigars are only slightly over humidified you may not notice the taste changes at first, but keep taking draws and you’ll easily be able to tell.
But now that we understand how to tell when one’s cigars are getting messed up the obvious question is, “What can I do about it.” The simplest answer is to remove the humidification element from your humidor, whilst still leaving your cigars in the humidor. Leave your door open and leave the humidor where it’s to re-acclimate to the temperature of the room (unless, of course the room itself is very humid). Leave the humidor to sit for about a day or a day and a half, then check back on the cigars. If your humidity is still reading over 70 RH after this period of time the problem is very likely to due with your humidification element (the green foam one’s are especially atrocious for this purpose).
If allowing your humidor to re-acclimate back to room temperature does little to help your cigars get back to normal, there’s another tactic one might consider – humidification beads. Humidification beads are more commonly known for being used to preserve old, important documents and pieces of art work in places such as museums but will work equally well to maintain a optimal level of humidity in your humidor. The best thing about them is that they work both ways – if the humidity is too high, they absorb it, if it’s too low, they dispense moisture, so that your cigars are always kept looking (and tasting) like the day you bought them.