So I have all these WONDERFUL sticks of cigars.
In all sorts of containers...
NICE containers..VERY cool to use and look at.
And others that do the job of maintaining humidity but look TACKY...
These are good for letting your cigars rest after the trip to your house. Imagine the stresses that the sticks have gone through. Pressure changes and temperature changes. Jarring and jolting. It is my belief that a cigar stick benefits from resting in a controlled humidity with no temperature swings. My basement is a wonderful smooth temperature environment. YES! Even living in Jersey with the cold and hot temps outside; the basement doesn't have great or violent swings in temperature. It is moderate year round under the ground.
The pretty containers are subject to more temperature and humidity swings on my first floor family areas. So the nice boxes need more attention than the big, ugly boxes. Not only ambient environmental changes but opening and closing the boxes let out my precious moisture.
Even with all the care I give to maintaining humidity of 65% and 70% I sometimes get a PLUGGED cigar. Sure, I can poke holes in it with a skewer of some sort, I can cut more of the cap off in hopes of getting more draw...
USUALLY none of these succeed and I have to DRY BOX
This is nothing more than letting the plugged stick sit in a non-controlled yet buffered environment.
No humidification...just sittin there and slowly drying out.
This drying out WILL enable you to draw through the cigar. Differences in the physical makeup of binder and filler sometimes need to DRY BOX for a day or a COUPLE of WEEKS.....
This is just part of the CIGAR EXPERIENCE. Rather than saying the cigar sucked and you toss out what you have heard is a great tasting cigar....let it sit in a DRY BOX. You may end up with a tasty experience or the stick may suck and you toss it
Tom