Frequently Asked Cigar Questions

The location of the humidifier doesn’t make a very big difference in smaller, desk top humidors, but when it comes to larger humidors, humidifier placement is an important part of maintaining humidity. Contrary to popular belief, humid air doesn’t fall to the bottom of the humidor, it rises. Water vapor molecules weigh less than air molecules so the more humid air will rise to the top of the humidor so you should keep the humidifier on the bottom of your humidor to insure a more uniform distribution of humidity.

When you install your humidifier, make sure you press firm and hard on the metallic plate for two minutes to assure a tight bond. If this is not done, the humidifier might fall off. If your humidifier still falls loose then you can try re-applying using a hot glue gun or any other non-odor emitting glue. Once this is done you can replace the unit and enjoy your smokes.

An analog hygrometer uses a bimetal technology that is easily affected by movement. When you first receive a new hygrometer it is imperative that you calibrate it prior to installing it. You can do this using a salt-test calibration or using a calibrating kit.
Please see calibrating your hygrometer

It has happened to all of us at one time or another. You simply forgot about that nice box of stogies you had in the back seat of your car for 3 months. Ok, well hopefully you aren’t that absent minded, but you get the idea. I always get asked what you can do to restore dried cigars.

The most important thing to remember is that restoring a dried cigar takes time. Lots of time and patience don’t be in a hurry to get the job done.

Take your cigars and put them in a non-humidified humidor. If this doesn’t exist, then you can use a zip-top bag with some holes poked in it. You want to bring the cigars to a steady humidity level that is much less than 70%. Let them sit in this environment for about 2-3 days.

Take a fresh clean sponge and get it damp with distilled water. Place inside the zip-top bag and allow it to sit there, not touching any cigars, for at least one more week. This will slowly add humidity to the cigars at a rate that will prevent the wrapper from bursting.

After two weeks your cigars should start to look a lot healthier. Put them in your charged, maintained humidor at this point. Don’t smoke them yet. Let them rest for while. I would suggest a month or two, just to make sure things are back to normal. Then you can feel free to smoke to your heart’s content.

Most people will tell you no. The reasoning is that you have no idea when your cigar dealer received those cigars, and how they were stored before they got them. They might have them on display in a large walk-in humidor, but they might have been sitting on a loading dock for 3 months before that. The best idea is to allow them to dehumidify properly before smoking them. You can simply place them in your humidor for a day or so and then you should be all set.

Just like wine, aging a cigar adds to the taste, aroma and experience. Most people will buy a box or two of cigars and place them in their humidor. They smoke a few at a time, and age the rest. In fact, many people have separate humidors for aging. It is by no means necessary to age your cigars, however, it does add to the experience.

Occasionally you will get a box of cigars that have an unpleasant ammonia smell to them. This means the tobacco wasn’t finished fermenting prior to being rolled into a cigar. In these rare cases, you will need to age the cigars. Let them sit in a humidor undisturbed for a month or two and then smoke one. If you enjoy the aroma and flavor then smoke away. If they still reek of ammonia or have a bitter flavor then let them sit for another month or two.

Daily I get asked, should I remove the wrapper from my new cigars before I store them in my humidor? The simple answer, it doesn’t matter.
I know, you are confused. You think that the plastic prevents the cigar from getting humidity. Believe me, I understand your confusion, but don’t worry, I’ll explain. Cigars are stored in what is called cellophane. The cellophane is used to prevent the cigars from being damaged, and deters against flavors mixing. But what many people don’t know is that cellophane is actually a porous material. In other words, it allows humidity to pass through it.

Want an example? Take a cigar in the wrapper and leave it outside your humidor for a week. You might as well throw it away, it will be ruined. The wrapper didn’t hold in the humidity, it did nothing at all really. So it isn’t hard to see how the wrapper doesn’t really affect the humidity of the cigar.

It comes down to personal preference. Some people like them on, some people like them off. The advantages of keeping them on is that your cigar flavors won’t mingle as much, though you would be hard pressed to notice unless you are an expert. It also is great to cut your cigars with the wrappers on as it keeps the blade clean and sharp much longer.

There are very few questions in the cigar community that can start a war, but this is one of them. There are really two schools on this issue, each vigorously defending their side. The real answer is a matter of personal preference. If you do decide to take the band off, you should be very careful. The band is applied with vegetable glue and can easily rip the wrapper leaf when being removed. The best way to do it is to smoke the cigar for a few minutes, allowing the glue to heat up then slowly slide the band off the cigar.

This is by far the most common question I receive. For the most part, your choice comes down to personal preference. However, there are a few things you should ask yourself prior to choosing a humidor:

These two questions will help you narrow down your choices. After that it comes down to aesthetic preference. You are going to be looking at this box every day so choose the one you like the look of. As long as it has a good seal you can’t go wrong.

It really depends on how long you are keeping your cigars in the humidor. For 2-3 months, the answer is no, the flavors will not have a chance to blend together. For 2-3 years, you might want to separate the cigars slightly so the flavor of each cigar is not jeopardized. If you do want to separate cigars in a humidor, then you will need Spanish cedar dividers
If you are storing flavored or infused cigars it becomes more important to keep them separated. You never want to store regular cigars along with infused cigars. Most people keep a separate “infused only” humidor so that the flavored cigars do not meld with the non-flavored ones.