A cigar care and storage guide for careful cultivation and collection
More than 200 hands touch a cigar before finding its way into your cigar humidor. From careful cultivation to rolling perfectly-aged tobacco, meticulous cigar care and expertise go into crafting your choice of smoke.
So, proper storage at home is critical to maintaining superior quality. A humidor is an essential device for elevating your collection and enhancing every smoking experience for beginners and enthusiasts alike.
What’s the best cigar storage?
It doesn’t matter if you are an aficionado or a first-time buyer wondering how to store cigars properly, a humidor is always the best choice.
A cigar humidor mimics the tropical climate in which the cigars are grown and crafted: with a moderate temperature and high humidity.
From small, travel-friendly cases to entire rooms, humidors vary in size, but their ability to cultivate precise humidity separates them from regular storage containers.
How does a cigar humidor work?
Due to their natural, organic nature, cigars are very sensitive to the environment. Humidors provide the ideal preserving conditions for your cigars, ensuring their freshness for years to come.
It is recommended that you keep the humidor’s temperature between 68-70 °F and set the humidity to 70-75%. According to the rule of thumb, the lower the temperature, the higher the moisture should be.
How to set it up:
Choosing a high-quality home humidor is essential to keeping your collection in prime condition, and it’s important to follow the next steps to set it up:
- Start by wiping down the interior with distilled water, and then dry it thoroughly;
- Next, simply follow the manufacturer’s instructions, maintaining a replenished humidifying element for several days before storing your cigars;
- Only use distilled water to avoid buildup and mold in the humidor!
The cigar lifespan
With a cigar humidor:
Properly maintained humidors will preserve cigars’ quality for years. But, if left in an air-conditioned or heated room, they could be ruined within hours.
To determine whether your cigars are kept in top condition in your humidor, you can utilize a digital hygrometer to check humidity levels or examine them regularly. If your cigars feel oily, the humidor is doing its job well. If they’re on the drier side, add more distilled water.
And if they’re moldy from a too-humid environment, you’ll need to remove the water, clean your humidor. Allow the cigars to dry out slowly for one or two months before they are ready to be smoked again.
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Without a cigar humidor:
Whether you’re traveling with cigars or you have a few on hand unexpectedly, you can keep them fresh without a humidor if you don’t have access to one.
We recommend a portable humidor, but tubes and cigar cases can keep cigars in prime condition for up to 72 hours. Or, you may even fasten a homemade humidor with a plastic bag and damp paper towel.
Unfortunately, cigars can turn sour relatively quickly, and you could even find yourself seeking makeshift solutions to fix a dry cigar. It could even take a few months for a properly maintained humidor to restore the cigar’s superior quality. So, we would best advise you to save that smoke for a later date.
FAQ
1. How Should I Store Cigars to Maintain Freshness?
For optimal cigar freshness, a humidor is essential. Humidors replicate the ideal climate for cigars with controlled temperature and humidity. This preserves flavors and prevents drying. Maintain temperature at 68-70 °F and humidity at 70-75% for best results.
2. How Does a Humidor Work and How to Set It Up?
Humidors create a cigar-friendly environment. Setup:
- Wipe interior with distilled water, let dry.
- Follow manufacturer’s humidifier instructions.
- Maintain humidity before adding cigars.
- Use distilled water to prevent issues.
Humidors ensure prolonged cigar quality.
3. Cigar Lifespan: Humidor vs. No Humidor?
Humidors extend cigar life for years. Check humidity with a hygrometer. In emergencies, portable humidors, cases, or DIY options work for 72 hours. Without proper storage, cigars deteriorate quickly. It takes months in a humidor to restore quality. Save cigars for ideal conditions.
