Views from a Smoke-Filled Room

LOS ANGELES – Once you become a cigar enthusiast, the biggest problem you will inevitably face is storage. What are you doing to do with all those cigars?

"Get a humidor" is the easy answer, but that answer only raises more questions. What kind? How big? With what kind of humidifier?

In the end, humidors are a personal choice because it has to work with one’s own sense of decor and functionality. But here are a few ideas to get started:

(1) Buy a humidor that’s bigger than your current storage needs.

Everyone who starts out with a small, 25-cigar box ends up getting a bigger one in a very short time. If you smoke just an occasional cigar, a box for 25 might be enough. But if you enjoy at least a cigar a week, don’t start out with a box for less than 100.

(2) A box is a box, but a humidifier is the key to storage success.

A humidor is nothing more than a box and a humidifier. The box can be any size and in order to work well, there are only a few qualifications. It should closely tightly to keep humidified air in and outside air away and the interior should be made with Spanish Cedar, the same wood used for many cigar boxes. Be sure it’s not American Cedar, which is highly aromatic and will impugn your cigars with the scent. Otherwise, you can choose any style you wish.

However, the humidifier you choose is critical. Given a choice, it is suggested that a better humidifier is more important than a fancy box because keeping your cigars properly humidifed is the key to storing your cigars successfully. There are many styles: Credo makes a series of humidification devices which work well and need to be filled only about once per month with a solution of propylene glycol, which most cigar shops will have for sale. Other humidifiers use just distilled water and all try to keep the relative humidity in the box at about 70%, the suggested level of humidity for cigars. There are also humidification pouches made by a company called Humidipak that can be placed in a humidor and will both add humidity if needed, or absorb humidity if the box is too wet.

A very popular device called the Cigar Oasis even allows you to have an electrically powered humidifier that has an alarm if it needs to be refilled!

(3) Where you place your humidor makes a difference.

Once you get your humidor, don’t simply fill the humidifier, dump in your cigars and forget about it. That could be a recipe for disaster.

Your humidor needs to be placed in a location in your home or office where the temperature remains fairly constant. Most importantly, this means your box should be kept out of direct sunlight! If temperatures inside your cigars reach around 80 degrees (F), the eggs of the dreaded tobacco beetle can hatch and these critters can begin destroying your cigars without your even knowing about it. Keep your cigars in a spot where the temperature will usually be between 65-70 degrees and you’ll be fairly safe.

(4) If you can, set it and forget it.

While you can select any style of box to fit your decor and taste, it’s probably best to get a humidor that will be stable over time and not require daily inspection. That can drive you crazy and make smoking more of a chore than a pleasure.

Instead, get a box that has a hygrometer that visible from the outside so you can monitor the interior humidity of the box without opening it.

(5) Going all out?

For those whose cigar collection numbers 1,000 or more, a simple box – even if large enough – will not do the trick. For these connoisseurs, only a custom-built cabinet will do and companies like The Humidor Store in Tampa, Florida, cater to these customers. You can decide on the size, style, finish, interior lighting, shelving options and so on and get one that fits in your den perfectly.

Another concept catching on in recent years is using a wine cabinet which has humidification capabilities. Many French-made, electrically-powered cellars made today have smoked-glass fronts that allow you to see in while shielding the contents from sunlight and have a condensation-return system which was designed to humidify corks and keep them from breaking up when opening a wine bottle. With some shelving modifications, these can be excellent cigar humidors and maintain proper humidity while offering a vacuum seal that keeps your cigars at rest.

Sound confusing? It’s really not that bad, but too many people spend too much time checking on their cigars instead of enjoying them. By investing in the right humidor and especially the right humidification system, you can – almost – set it and forget it and spend your time enjoying your cigars instead of worrying about them.

(Rich Perelman is editor-in-chief of CigarCyclopedia.com, offering comprehensive daily coverage of cigars, accessories, issues, people and prices at www.CigarCyclopedia.com.)

Rich Perelman

3/17/08

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