Selecting the Right Humidor, Setup, and Basic Maintenance
The box of cigars you have been patiently waiting to arrive was just dropped on your doorstep by the local delivery man. You break the box seal and take a few moments to admire the beauty of a full, fresh box of premiums. I personally don’t think there are too many things in the world of cigars that are more satisfying than this picture just painted, but I also don’t think there is anything more disappointing than finding this same box, dry and brittle after a few weeks of sitting unproperly stored on your desk.
There is one solution to this nightmare of a problem, and that solution is properly setting up your humidor. In this article, we will discuss the process of choosing the right humidor for you, humidor setup, and basic humidor maintenance.
If there is one thing you take away from reading this, it should be this: the single most important thing to look for when deciding on a new humidor is the quality of the seal. Without a strong seal and the ability to hold humidity, you might as well throw your cigars in your sock drawer. Simple enough right? Just make sure the humidor has a tight seal and you will be smooth sailing. But, if you spend just a few minutes looking at humidors online, you’ll quickly come to realize that there is an almost overwhelming number of options to choose from - there are different kinds of materials, tons of different designs, and a plethora of different sizes. So how do you choose the right humidor?
After stressing the importance of a strong seal, let’s jump right into the most popular types of materials used. First, we have the traditional wooden humidor which can be made with a variety of different woods, but most commonly Spanish Cedar. Some of the advantages of wooden humidors include their ability to hold humidity after seasoning, and the visual appeal of having a handcrafted work of art sitting on your desk. Next, we have the more modern, plastic take on the traditional humidor which is becoming increasingly popular in today’s market. You’ll see more and more people using Tupperware or coolers as humidor alternatives to their typically more expensive wooden counterparts.
I am not going to even attempt to talk about all the different kinds of humidor designs out there. But as I mentioned earlier, if you spend just five minutes researching, you’ll find countless humidor designs that range anywhere from glass-tops to domed and display to footlocker.
Like the sentiment around humidor designs, there are a ton of different sizes of humidors ranging from 10 count desktop humidors to 1000+ count cabinet humidors. The size of the humidor you want should be dictated not only by the size of your current collection but by your expectation of how your collection will grow in the future as well. I say this because I ran into the issue of not having enough space for my growing collection after I purchased my first humidor - I’d suggest choosing a humidor that’s at least a step larger than you expect yourself to need. It’s always better to have too much space than too little space in this case.
Here is what you should take away from this:
Now that you’ve made it through the fun (and headache) of choosing and buying the perfect humidor to house your cigars, you’re going to need to make sure that you get the environment inside your new humidor to the right levels. You may be tempted to immediately start organizing your cigars in your humidor once it arrives, but before you jump into this you want to make sure that you season your humidor properly.
When it comes to wooden humidors, the wood naturally absorbs a good deal of moisture which is why they need to be seasoned initially. Seasoning a wooden humidor allows the wood to absorb the moisture it needs upfront, so that when your cigars are finally put into your humidor, the wood isn’t absorbing this moisture from the cigars themselves. There are a few ways to season your humidor:
After this seasoning process, you are almost ready to organize your cigars in your freshly seasoned humidor.
It should be noted that if you decided on an acrylic or plastic option for your humidor, you would not have to go through this seasoning process. Although I always recommend cleaning this type of humidor with a solution of baking soda and water to rid it of any plastic smell. I think we can all agree that the smell or taste of plastic on a cigar is not a good one.
Maintaining the environment in your humidor is the most important thing when it comes to caring for your cigars. There are two components to this – temperature and relative humidity. The general rule that you hear getting passed around the industry is 70/70, meaning 70 degrees and 70% relative humidity. It is a good rule of thumb and certainly most people’s standard, but at the end of the day, it all depends on the condition you like to keep your cigars in.
Although I wouldn’t recommend going to any extremes with the temperature in your humidor, a variation of 10-15 degrees really won’t make too much of a difference (at least from my experience). To add to this, some people prefer their cigars a little moister, but it is important to note that if the humidity levels are too high in your humidor, you may experience mold growth which is obviously bad news for the investment that is your cigar collection – I wouldn’t recommend going any higher than 75% at the most. I personally prefer my cigars on the drier side (I keep my humidor at around 65%). The takeaway here is that you should keep your cigars in the condition that you most enjoy smoking them in, but just be sure to monitor the environment of your humidor.
For long term use, I recommend re-seasoning your humidor every 6 months or so to keep consistent humidity levels. Just follow the same steps you took during the initial seasoning - we recommend Boveda products for humidor seasoning and everyday use for humidity control within your humidor.
So, there you have it, a brief introduction to humidors, humidor setup, and humidor maintenance. Let us know if you think there is anything we missed and be sure to let us know what kind of humidor you prefer and what kind of humidor environment you think produces the best smoking experience.
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