Humidors - An Introduction

A Humidor is a device with the purpose of controlling humidity to create an environment that is stable for the storage and aging of cigars. If you want to keep and store cigars then you need a place to do that in a way that will keep them fresh. 

The goal is to keep the cigars in an environment that will prevent them from drying out without having them becoming too wet. If the cigars get too dry then they will be hard, start cracking, burn fast and have bitter taste to them. If they are too wet then they will not stay lit, have bad draw, bad burn and high chance of getting mold. 

So what temperature and humidity is ideal for cigars? Traditionally, people say that 70% humidity and 70F is the perfect spot. For temperature, I would say anything from 65F to 75F is just about right. As for humidity, this is something that people like to argue as to what is best. The range that most people are told is perfect is from 65% to 72%. Some people swear that 72% is best, while others feel strongly that 65% is the only correct answer. Truth is, it depends on what you like and your experience. 

When I first started with cigars I kept it at 72%, but I did start having burn issues and the wrapper expanding and cracking while smoking. Then I reduced it to 69%, which produced much better results for me and I continued with this for many years. Currently, my preference is 66% to 67%. I feel that for me it does the best for keeping things properly humidified without being too wet or dry.

There are many different types of humidors. The kind of humidor that most people think about is a desktop wooden humidor. The desktop humidor is a wooden box that is lined with Spanish cedar. Typically, that have designs on the outside. The be plus of this kind of humidor is they look very nice and have an elegant look to it. However, the big issue with them is there are a lot of cheaper ones that do not hold the humidity very well. They also tend to be made from cheap particle board with a very thin Spanish cedar veneer on the inside. Quality desktop humidors are very expensive.

Another type of humidor that has become very popular is tupperdor. This is just tupperware. Pretty much any tupperware can be used, but the best ones for this have a gasket around the lid, which gives an air tight seal. Getting this nice seal makes it really easy to keep the humidity consistent. The biggest issue is that it has no protection for temperature so the internal temperature will change very rapidly and the external environment changes. Best part of this system is that it is very inexpensive and as more space is needed all that has to be done is purchase more containers.

These humidors work well but the one that is missing is humidors that are big enough to hold full boxes of cigars. There are basically two options for this. The first is a cabinet humidor, which is a very elegant solution. This is more like a piece of furniture for the house. The cheaper option is the coolidor. A coolidor is just an ice cooler that is used to hold the cigars. The plus here is that coolers do a great job at holding in humidity and insulate well so the internal temperature will change slowly. 

There is a new kind of humidor that is becoming popular and that is the thermoelectric humidor. These humidors look like mini fridges and they control the temperature and humidity automatically. The important thing is they regulate the temperature without removing air to cool as a regular refrigerator do. They tend to be a little pricy but it is an option for people.