What Is a Humidor? 8 Honest Answers Before You Buy One Leave a comment

Short answer: a humidor is a box or cabinet built to hold cigars at a steady humidity — usually 65 to 72 percent — so they neither dry out nor grow mould. Most are lined with Spanish cedar and carry a hygrometer that shows the reading. If you are asking what is a humidor for, the one-line version: it keeps a cigar in the condition it left the factory.

What is a humidor, and what does it actually do?

People who ask what is a humidor usually own three or four cigars and a nagging feeling they are going stale. They are right. A cigar is a rolled leaf that was fermented and aged at a controlled humidity. Take it out of that environment and it starts changing within a day: the wrapper dries, the oils flatten, the burn turns hot and bitter. A humidor exists to stop that clock.

So what is a humidor in practical terms? Three things working together:

• A sealed box. Lid and body meet closely enough that air exchange is slow. This matters more than the wood.
• A humidity source. A foam or crystal humidifier, or the two-way packs most people use now, which release or absorb moisture to hold a set level.
• A hygrometer. The dial or digital readout that tells you whether the first two are doing their job.

Everything else — the cedar lining, the glass top, the engraving — is either helping those three or making the box nicer to own.

How does a humidor work?

The humidifier releases water vapour into the closed space until the air reaches the target level. Because the lid seals, the vapour has nowhere to go, so the level holds. The cedar lining does a quieter job: it soaks up moisture when the air is too wet and gives it back when the air is too dry, smoothing out the swings between refills.

That buffering is why a humidor needs seasoning before first use — dry cedar will pull moisture out of your cigars until it is saturated itself. More on that below.

The number to aim for is 69 to 70 percent relative humidity at around 65 to 70°F. Some smokers prefer 65 percent for a slightly drier, tighter draw. Either works; large swings do not.

What is a humidor made of?

Almost every humidor worth buying is lined with Spanish cedar — not actually a cedar, but a tropical hardwood that holds moisture well, resists tobacco beetles, and adds a faint sweetness cigars pick up over months. The outside can be anything: lacquered wood, leather, acrylic, or a glass panel in the lid.

• Desktop humidor (20–100 cigars). The box most people mean when they ask what is a humidor. Sits on a desk or bar.
• Glass-top humidor. A desktop box with a window. Cigar forums argue about them; the honest answer is that the glass is not the weak point — the lid gasket is. A glass-top box with a tight lid holds humidity fine for a 20–25 cigar collection. Check the hygrometer for a week after seasoning and you will know.
• Travel humidor (5–15 cigars). Crush-proof plastic, for a trip.
• Cabinet or wineador (300+). A collector’s piece with active humidity control.

For a full definition and history, Wikipedia’s humidor entry is accurate. For most gift buyers and new smokers, a 20–25 cigar cedar desktop box is the right first humidor.

How to season a humidor

Knowing what is a humidor is half the job; seasoning is the other half. Seasoning means bringing the dry cedar up to working humidity before it meets your cigars. Skip it and the wood drinks from the cigars instead. It takes one to two weeks and almost no effort.

1. Calibrate the hygrometer first. Put it in a sealed bag with a bottle cap of salt dampened with a few drops of water for 8 hours. It should read 75 percent; note the difference and adjust or remember it.
2. Add moisture to the box. The easy way: a seasoning pack (Boveda makes an 84 percent one) placed inside with the lid shut. The traditional way: wipe the cedar lightly with distilled water on a clean cloth — never soak it, and never use tap water, whose minerals leave marks and can feed mould.
3. Close it and wait. Leave a shallow dish or sponge of distilled water inside if you did the wipe method. Check the hygrometer every couple of days.
4. Ready when it holds. When the reading sits at 70 percent or above for two days without help, remove the seasoning source, add your normal 69 percent packs or humidifier, and load the cigars.

Boveda’s own guidance on seasoning is on bovedainc.com if you want the manufacturer’s version. The method above is the same one in different words.

How to use a humidor day to day

• Keep the source topped up. Two-way packs last two to four months in a desktop box; when they feel stiff and thin, swap them. A foam humidifier wants distilled water every few weeks.
• Do not overfill. Air has to move. Leave a finger of space and rotate the cigars once a month, bottom to top.
• Open it less than you want to. Every opening dumps the humid air. A glass top solves the urge to peek.
• Keep it out of sun and away from radiators. Heat above 75°F is what wakes tobacco beetle eggs.
• Trust the hygrometer, check it twice a year. The salt test above takes an evening.

How long do cigars last in a humidor?

Years. In a humidor that holds 65–72 percent, a cigar does not go off; it slowly ages, and many smokers think it improves for the first two or three years. The question people are usually asking is the reverse one:

How long do cigars last without a humidor? Two or three days before the wrapper starts to feel papery, a week before the smoke turns harsh, a couple of weeks before it is genuinely dried out. In a hot car, less. A dried cigar can sometimes be brought back by weeks in a humidor, but the oils that made it good do not fully return.

How to store cigars without a humidor

If you have a few cigars and no box yet, a tupperdor works: an airtight food container with a 69 percent two-way pack inside. A zip bag with a pack does the same for a week or two. Neither gives you the cedar or the display, but both keep the cigars smokable until the humidor is seasoned.

What does not work: the fridge (too dry, wrong smells), the original cellophane on its own, or a wooden box that was never built to seal.

What is a humidor worth buying? Size and type

Once you know what is a humidor and how it works, the buying decision is mostly size. Buy for roughly twice the cigars you own now. Collections grow, and a half-empty box holds humidity more steadily than a crammed one. In numbers:

• Occasional smoker or a gift: a 20–25 cigar desktop humidor. This is the size we make, and it is the one most people should start with.
• Weekly smoker: 50–75.
• Collector: 100 and up, or a cabinet.

If it is a gift, engraving turns a good box into the one he keeps. A name or a date on the lid costs nothing in humidity and everything in how it is received — our guide to cigar gifts for men covers what else pairs with it.

Humidor FAQ

Engraved cedar humidors, made to order

New humidor? The full two-week method is in our step-by-step guide to how to season a humidor.

A humidor for a retirement? It is idea number one in our retirement gifts for men guide.

Ready to buy one? Our guide to how to choose a humidor covers size, cedar, the seal and the hygrometer, and the three things that do not matter.

Already have cigars at home? Our guide to how to store cigars covers the humidity, the temperature, and what to do without a humidor.

Want one with his name on it? Our custom cigar humidor is cedar with a glass top and a front hygrometer, engraved to order.