Humidor Buying Guide

Let's get Started
Which Humidor is best for me? Surprisingly I get this particular question more than you might think, and just as surprisingly this question is more difficult to answer than you might think. Not all humidors are created equal, this should be obvious to anyone who has ever purchased anything on the internet. I will attempt to list and discuss the pros and cons of different types of humidors and why one might suit your needs better than another.

To Glass or not to Glass this is the question…

 
Glass humidors are some of the most beautiful humidors you can purchase, not to mention they can proudly display your most exotic and treasured cigars. The drawback is glass does not hold moisture and what that means is a little more work for you to maintain a humidor of this type. It will require refilling your humidifier with distilled water / Pg-sol more often than a humidor with no windows into it’s interior. The location of your humidor with windows or without is very important, avoid direct sunlight with both, with a humidor with glass you will also want to make sure it is not directly under your rooms artificial light as well.

Size Matters …. But what size is the best?

   
Well, What kind of cigar buyer are you? Do you buy only single cigars a majority of the time, or do you regularly buy entire boxes of your favorite cigars? If your only going to be storing 20 to 100 cigars then your going to want a box designed to hold the appropriate number of cigars. If you regularly buy entire boxes of cigars, especially expensive cigars, then your going to want a box that can not only store cigars but has room to store cigars still in the box. Why keep your cigars in the box they come in? The thinking is that you paid a lot of money for a particular cigar brand and would like to maintain the integrity of that cigars flavor. Cigars breath, and release small molecules into the air, this is why you can smell them. In an enclosed space like a humidor these smells mix and are absorbed by your other cigars. This effect, which I call marinating, can be desirable with low to mid-range cigars but with expensive cigars you might not want hints of less desirable cigars mixing with your treasures. By keeping them in the box that they come in you limit the exposure to your humidors other residents, and with higher end cigars, the box the cigars were originally packed in has been marinated with the right cigar flavor.

A humidor is just a box, Right?

   
Yup, and a fifty cent cigar from the convenience store is just as good as any thirty dollar Perdomo. If you are only going to store inexpensive mass produced store bought cigars then I would suggest Tupperware and a damp paper towel.

Ok, seriously, It really doesn’t matter how much you spend on your cigars, if you need to store them for more than a couple of days then you should have an appropriate box. A good cigar humidor is lined with cedar, this prevents little critters from making a home in your stogies. The wood also absorbs and stores water which helps stabilize the humidity in the humidor, this prevents cigars from drying and falling apart or becoming to damp to smoke. For the occasional smoker a small humidor that stores only 20 - 50 cigars is a great idea that will cost you less than some cigars.

Ok, so I found a humidor that I like, what else do I need?

   
Distilled water or PG-sol should be all you need. Most, if not all new humidors come with a humidifier and a hygrometer. If for some reason the humidor you are looking at does not include these items then you will need to purchase them separately as they are necessary. The humidifier supplies moisture to the air and the hygrometer tells you the level of humidity within the box. My recommendation, buy a box that comes with these nifty, and quite necessary little gadgets.