If you are serious about building a cigar collection, investing in a cigar humidor is a must. It does not matter whether you spend a lot or little on a humidor, just so long as it is capable of doing its job in keeping the flavours and aromas of your cigar intact.
It is always going to be one that has everything it needs to keep your cigars fresh and capable of providing the flavours and aromas that you enjoy. It is considered to be the most important piece because it is what adds humidity to a cigar’s humidor, keeping the cigars full, burning slow, and keeping essential oils that provide the flavour and aroma of the cigar. If it is not sealed properly, moisture escapes and your cigars will dry out.
By keeping your humidity levels consistent, the cigars remaining tobacco can expand and contract with the moisture within. This is how humidity inside a cigar box is controlled.
What that means is that you do not want to stack the cigars too high as that will block the airflow inside of the humidor, affecting their effectiveness. This is the most important thing to take into consideration as the humidor needs the right amount of airflow in order to keep your valuable cigars in a perfect climate. The acceptable range of humidity may be up to 75%, but you should not leave your cigars sitting at much higher humidity levels for a very long period of time.
Note, temperature and humidity are strongly linked, so having greater control arguably allows your cigars to be protected even more. Introduce a lower humidity level into your cigars, either in your humidor or a ziplock bag. The sole purpose of a humidor is to keep your cigars in an uncontaminated environment, maintaining a constant humidity of about 70%.
Unless a humidor is made with great care, you cannot ensure a consistent humidity level, and risk damaging your cigars. An overly-populated humidor will significantly affect the temperature and humidity within, potentially destroying your prized collection. Do not be afraid to reduce moisture slightly and store the humidor in a cooler room of your home.
Some humidors have a continuous humidification system that keeps the air moist, which, in turn, keeps your cigars moist. A good cigar humidor uses various methods to keep humidity levels appropriate, whether using distilled water or using some other mechanism for controlling moisture levels within the box.
If you can afford the extra money, opt for a high-quality humidor that features both an effective humidifier and a hygrometer, both working in tandem to regulate humidity levels within your cigar humidor.
Inside a cigar humidor, you may also find a removable, rectangular, analog humidifier, which works to maintain a consistent level of moisture within the vessel. The Mantello cigar humidor has a generous capacity and features high-quality humidifiers and hygrometers to keep conditions perfect inside the jar, so you can store large amounts of cigars in perfect condition for long periods. A humidification pouch is a sealed, airtight container that the cigar owner can use to monitor cigars’ humidity.
Whether you choose to get a smaller or larger humidor, they all function similarly, which is to keep the correct temperature and humidity your cigars require. A cooler, or a cigar cooler, does more than just monitor the relative humidity, coolers let you be in full control of what temperature your cigars are stored at.
If you have ever smoked a quality hand-rolled cigar that was drying out, you will understand the crucial role humidity plays in the preservation of the cigar. Without a humidor, cigars quickly lose moisture in 2-3 days, levelling off with the overall humidity surrounding them. If you can keep your humidity level up at 70%, then your cigars will stay great for a very long time.
Most cigar humidors feature interiors made from untreated Spanish cedar, which is the preferred wood to humidify and age premium cigars. The type of wood in the humidor plays a part in adding flavour to the aged cigar, with Spanish cedar being the most recommended.
Davidoff’s proprietary humidification system is great, but since interior wood does not soak up the moisture quite as fast as Spanish cedar, you are best served with a minimum of 20 cigars per humidor. If you have 40-50 cigars in your collection when you buy your humidor, consider one with at least 75 cigars.
Bigger often means more expensive, but a larger humidor would be a smart investment for housing an expanding collection of cigars. The standard rule of thumb is to always purchase a humidor larger than the volume of cigars you intend to store inside of it.
If you are an occasional cigar smoker, and you need to hold just a few cigars at a time, you might be wiser to get a smaller humidor. Cigar collections have a habit of expanding rapidly in order to fill up your storage space, at which point you will realize that you will want a larger humidor. When you add tech to a humidor, you are taking up space that would have been used for storing cigars.
The cigar box needs to be made from all wood to allow the humidor to perform its function, and it needs to be sealed airtight in order to effectively regulate moisture levels. The cover should also feature tempered glass viewing windows to give a clear view of your cigars, and you can control humidity levels via an analogue hygrometer displayed on the outside of the humidor. Since receiving this particular humidor, I have had no issues with humidity levels or temperatures, though I did switch the humidifier and hygrometer, both of which are included as standard, to a Cigar Oasis Smart Humidor, which I highly recommend.