Humidors

Large Humidors

View all of our recommendations for the best large humidors, which are typically in the 150-500 cigar capacity range. Large humidors are best for aficionados and collectors. If you pick up many cigars by the box or bundle that you want to take care of, it is worth it to invest in a large humidor.

Top Pick for Large Humidors

#1 best large humidor

Medium Humidors

View all of our recommendations for the best medium humidors, which are in the 50-100 cigar capacity range. Many people who start off with a small humidor end up upgrading to a medium-sized humidor after a year. You’ll find discounts, bundles, samplers that you want to take advantage of and will need a place to keep them.

Top Pick for Medium Humidors

#1 best medium humidor

Small Humidors

Small humidors are ideal for the casual smoker who buys 1-10 cigars at a time and doesn’t need to store a large quantity or a box of cigars. 

View all of our recommendations for the best small humidors, which are typically in the 20-50 cigar capacity range. It really isn’t worth getting a humidor that holds less than 20 cigars. If you get a humidor that small, you’ll find that you would have wished you invested in a larger one.

Top Pick for Small Humidors

best small humidor

Cigar Coolers (Fridgadors)

Cigar coolers are perfect for people with a large cigar collection and don’t want their cigars to dry out because of high temperatures. Cigar coolers are pretty cost effective considering the large number of cigars that they can store and that they provide cooling.

Get more information about cigar coolers here and see what we recommend when purchasing one.

Top Pick for Travel Humidors

Travel Humidors

If you’re going on a trip or headed to a golf course, a travel humidor is a must have. Nothing is worse than lighting up a cigar when you’re trying to relax only to find out it is dry or cracked.

View all of our recommendations for the best travel humidors, which are important for keeping your cigars fresh and safe when you are out.

Top Pick for Travel Humidors

Tupperdor

A tupperdor is a homemade humidor. It typically is just a tupperware container with a tight seal and a Boveda pack.

You can also buy Spanish cedar trays to find inside a rectangular tupperdor.

Glyn has a tupperdor that holds about 60 cigars. It has two spanish cedar trays with dividers and two Boveda packs in it.

Glyn's Tupperdor

Tupperdor with cedar

Cigar Humidors

If you’re a cigar smoker, it won’t be long before you consider solutions to store your cigars. When you store a cigar for the long term, you will need to maintain a specific temperature and humidity level: typically 70% relative humidity and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Without a humification device, it would be hard to keep the cigar at the right humidity level. For those who like to have a cigar collection, this device is called the humidor. It’s necessary for those who want to store cigars for more than two weeks. Find all of our cigars here: https://scotchcigars.com/index.php/cigars/

A cigar humidor is a storage container designed to maintain a particular humidity level. This is essential for cigars due to the tobacco leaves inside them. These tobacco leaves expand and contract, based on the relative humidity of the air surrounding them. Cigars tend to shrivel up when the leaves become too dry. They also tend to lose their aroma and flavor. Dry cigars may also burn too much which makes them hard to smoke. Likewise, high humidity is also bad. With too much moisture, the cigar may grow mold or rot or even cause an infestation of tobacco beetles.

Cigar humidors come in different sizes. It can be a small box that can be used for traveling. It can be a large walk-in humidor which is typical in a cigar shop. The doors and parts of the walls are made of tempered glass and the shelves are made of kiln dried Spanish cedar. Sometimes the cigars are left in the cigar boxes and other times, they are removed and displayed in a trays.

As a rule-of-thumb, your humidor should be larger than your cigar collection. You should only use 60-75% of your humidor‘s capacity, so a cigar humidor that can hold 100 cigars should only be filled with 60-75 cigars.

Many people who are new to smoking cigars overlook the need of cigar storage. However, if you accumulate a collection of premium cigars, you wouldn’t want them to go to waste.

A humidor can also be a statement piece in your home or office. My desktop humidor has an engraved glass top. It is a beautiful red mahogany that goes well with my office décor and does a good job of displaying my favorite cigar. That’s part of the reason people spend on a premium cigar, to show it off.

Humidor Components

Main Component of a Humidor

The most important part of a humidor is its humidification system. The system can be simple or complex depending on the size of the humidifier. The humidifier is tasked to add moisture to the humidor which will ensure that the cigar will remain plump and burn slowly. This will also preserve the essential oils in the cigar which give it the flavor and aroma you often get from a cigar. A humidor has to have 70% relative humidity to ensure optimal storage conditions.

The humidor also requires a source of water. There are a couple of ways to add moisture to the interior which includes sponges, floral foam, and crystal gel. A sponge soaked in distilled water will add moisture inside the humidifier. The floral foam releases the water gradually and absorbs cigar odors. The floral foam has to be replaced every year. Crystal gel small beads are also equipped to hold up water up to 500 times their weight. Electronic humidifiers can also be used in larger humidors. We recommend using a Boveda pack. It does an incredible job of maintaining the right humidity. It adds moisture to the air and also absorbs moisture when the humidity is too high.

Other Components

A thermostat is needed for a humidor since cigars have to be stored at a steady temperature for them to stay in the best condition. In most situations, the temperature has to be 70 degrees Fahrenheit. For those humidors that don’t have a thermostat, a simple thermometer will still be able to give important feedback regarding the conditions inside the humidor.

A hygrometer is another important component of the humidor. It measures the humidity levels inside the humidor for you to know if it requires adding or removing water or drying up. A hygrometer can be analog or digital. One of my humidors has a built-in analog hygrometer, but I keep a digital hygrometer inside also. You can find a digital hygrometer with a built-in thermostat. The hygrometer has to be checked regularly once every week or two weeks to make sure that everything is in tip-top shape with your humidor.

The traditional choice for an interior of the humidor is the Spanish cedar. Some have cedar lining on the walls while there are those that use the Spanish cedar wood for drawers and shelves. Spanish cedar humidors repel insects and they help avoid the decay of the contents inside. Spanish cedar also has absorbent qualities that allow the material to absorb and dispense water to balance the moisture level inside the humidor.

Some of the bigger humidors also have a drawer, typically at the bottom, or a small storage at the top to keep your cigar accessories, like a torch lighter and cigar cutter.

How to Buy Your First Humidor

If you are a cigar lover you may start with a stick but then after a while, you just can’t stop adding more as you get to know more flavors and aroma. Without knowing it, you now have a whole pile of cigars. This is when you must start scouring for good humidor options. The following are some of the factors to consider when you are searching for one:

Size does matter.

Humidors can be of different sizes. You can find one that fits only three cigar sticks. This is intended for traveling. You may also find a full-size humidor that can accommodate thousands of sticks. When it comes to size, you must first ask yourself the number of cigars you like to keep on hand, the type of cigars you like, and how frequently you smoke. This means taking into account the general condition of your cigars and the space you allow yourself to store cigars. We consider large humidors to be humidors in the 100-500 cigar range. Medium humidors are in the 50-100 cigar range, and small humidors hold approximately 20-50 cigars. Most cigar capacities are just estimates, since the number that can fit will depend on the cigar‘s ring gauge.

Think about the capacity of the humidor.

The rule of thumb is to purchase a humidor that is slightly bigger than the number of cigars you want to keep on hand. Say if you want to keep 10 cigars on hand, it’s safe to go for a humidor that can hold up to 25 cigars. Always allow yourself some space for you to grow your stash. Bear in mind that it’s more difficult to maintain the humidity and freshness of your cigars when the humidor is either too big or too small for what you need.

Think about the size of the cigars you prefer to smoke.

The capacity of a humidor is often based on how many traditional Churchills will fit into the box. This does not consider the size of the humidification device. This is why a 100 count humidor may only accommodate 80 cigars while a 25 count humidor can only take in 15. The number of cigars may even be less when you opt to smoke the fat cigars like Toros. You need to consider leaving a small space within the humidor too and not to fill it to the brim. When the humidor is too cramped it may affect its capacity to humidify and this affects the cigars’ flavor.

Think about how often you smoke.

The rule of thumb among cigar connoisseurs is to keep your humidor filled up to 75 percent of its capacity.

Another consideration is if you smoke flavor infused cigars apart from the traditional ones. If this is your preference, make sure that you separate these two types of cigars when storing. The infusions need to have a home of their own.

Spanish cedar is not the only option.

When it comes to humidor construction, the standard is to use Spanish cedar (Cedrela odorata) due to its capacity to absorb as well as retain humidity. It is also resistant to decay apart from the fragrant wood that adds character to the cigar. The Spanish cedar also offers protection from tobacco beetles.

The Spanish cedar is actually a tropical hardwood that’s close to mahogany; it’s not really a cedar. It’s the kind of wood that is used for boatbuilding and creating musical instruments due to the wood’s ability to resist cracks as the wood expands and contracts as time passes.

The Spanish cedar is also expensive. Shopping for one may give you a shock at first. Another good alternative is acrylic humidor or jar with a lid. The beauty of it is that it is airtight. It is also well suited for the bumping and banging which a wooden humidor may not be able to handle.

One final deal when it comes to humidors is that you have to seal the deal. It’s not going to be airtight all the way as the wood expands and contracts. That’s why the humidifier is there to keep the cedar lining moist and to maintain the right RH for the cigars.