Humidor

A humidor is being prepared for use

An Elie Bleu Medaille in blue

A humidor is any kind of box or room with constant humidity – and often temperature as well – used to store cigars, cigarettes, or pipe tobacco. For private use, small wooden or acrylic glass humidor boxes for a few dozen cigars are used, while cigar shops may have walk-in humidors, sometimes consisting of a whole floor. Humidors can be used to store other goods for which a certain level of humidity is desirable; the Colorado Rockies Major League Baseball team stores game balls in a large humidor at their home stadium, Coors Field, to counteract the effects of Denver's high altitude and generally low humidity on baseballs.

Humidors of all sizes use hygrometers to keep track of the humidity levels.

Classification of humidors

Table humidor

Usually quite heavy and though portable in theory, is usually kept static in one location. Usually can hold 300 to a few thousand cigars. Usually comes in polished wood exterior or marble or leather or combination of exotic elements, and glass tops.

Room humidor

This is usually common in cigar bars or stores. One room is usually converted to a humidor where all the cigars are stored.

Travel humidor

Usually portable and ideal for carrying cigars enough for the outing or event. Usual counts supported are 10 to 40 cigars.

Personal humidor

Casual cigar smokers will sometimes keep a small humidor in their homes for special events, or for the look and feel. They are similar to travel humidors, though they can contain up to 75 (sometimes even more) cigars. However, the average casual smoker will have a humidor that contains about 30 to 100 cigars.

Maintenance

The ideal humidity in a humidor is around 65-75% of relative humidity. The more empty space, the more readily the humidity will drop.

Humidor cases are typically made of woodboard with an interior veneer of Spanish-cedar wood or mahogany.

Spanish-cedar is the most frequently used wood for the interior veneer of humidors. It possesses the following desirable characteristics for cigar storage:

1. It holds more moisture than most woods, so it helps maintain humidity.
2. It imparts its aroma to cigars if they are stored in it for long enough. For the same reason, some cigars are wrapped in Spanish-cedar sheets before they are sold.
3. Spanish-cedar wood can repel tobacco beetles. These pinhead-sized beetles can ruin entire stocks of cigars. They eat the tobacco and lay eggs, causing further infestation. They can also be discouraged by ensuring the humidor does not get hotter than 20 °C (68 °F). The beetle eggs usually only hatch at around 25 °C (77 °F), although there are also instances where they will hatch at cooler temperatures if the humidity is too high.
4. The wood properties are not prone to "warping" or "cupping" in high humidity.

Each humidor has to be seasoned after being bought or having been dry for a while. This is done by taking a moist cloth and wiping down the interior to remove any dust. Many experts do not recommend wiping the cedar of any interior with water but many do it as it can season the humidor faster. A small container of water is then placed inside the humidor and left for around 12 hours with the lid closed. If the water is gone or mostly gone, then this is repeated for another 24 hours. When the liquid in the container stops evaporating, cigars can be placed in it. The humidifying element or "sponge" keeps the wood moist, which in turn keeps the cigars moist. As well, the use of distilled water is recommended for its lack of minerals, additives, or bacteria.

Sometimes, bacteria and mold can begin to build up within the humidor. Unfortunately, mold can ruin an entire case of cigars and any cigar with mold on it should be removed immediately. Some companies offer solutions that help keep the humidity of the humidor constant, as well as prevent mold.

Notable humidor brands

• Andre Garcia
• Alfred Dunhill
• Gerber Humidor      
• Bellitica
• Elie Bleu

• Griffin's
• Manning
• Zino Davidoff
• Michel Perrenoud
• Gerl