Humidor - things to know?

[Phillip Mitchell]

I have a wine room project in the design phase and the client is asking about incorporating some type of humidor / cigar storage into the design of the room somehow.

Currently thinking of integrating it into a low/long credenza type cabinet - maybe in drawers or maybe with a hinged / lidded portion of the wooden countertop of the credenza that can be opened to reveal some of the cigar storage (?)

What do humidors need from a design and execution perspective to be fully functional and proper?

Would I have an easier time achieving this with a sealed / lidded standalone box (es) that fit into areas of the credenza as opposed to trying to design it to be integral to a part of a credenza itself that will also be some type of wine storage?

Thanks for any advice and direction.

[Michael Rutman]

Humidors are like golf equipment, no matter how good you get there is always something better and someone to tell you that without that it's crap.

To be fully functional and proper you need something that holds moisture at a constant with the ability to have a hygrometer to measure the humidity and be visible from outside. The humidor itself should be Spanish Cedar, but don't be surprised that many are American Red Cedar lined. Again, red cedar would work, but someone will tell you that it's 100% Spanish Cedar or it's junk.

Once you get the box made, season it and get the humidity to 75%, then put it in a very dry room (or even the fridge). Make sure it holds the humidity. A leaky humidor will upset your client a lot.

Now you get to the fun parts of humidors, how many different sections do they want? Cigars will mingle flavors, which is great for some cigars and a disaster for others. So you often see different sections so people can separate their cigars. You probably want at least some trays so they can stack the cigars yet allow air flow.

The good news is most people who buy humidors have no clue what to look for, so if you get it wrong you probably won't have any complaints. The bad news is most people who buy humidors have no clue what to look for so you have to be an expert if you want to do it right.

As far as drawers, you don't want to handle the cigars too much, not sure if sliding in and out would damage them. It isn't that they are fragile, it's that repeated motion over months/years will cause them to break down. You have to consider that people lift trays out to reach the ones underneath often without damage, so you can make drawers that don't shake the cigars too much.

One other consideration, some people WANT to show off the cigars, in which case, glass doors to let people look in would be really really cool.

[Dave VanDewerker]

What temp/humidity is the wine room going to be kept at? The few I know that have cigars in their wine room just have a spanish cedar lined drawers with holes in it. The wine room temp and humidity are both in the low sixty's, nothing special really needed other than the spanish cedar lining for the cigar containers.

[Rob Sack]

I have been building custom humidors for over 25 years. The ideal temperature and humidity should be close to 70 degrees F and 70% humidity. Both can vary a little and as far as humidity is concerned, some of my clients liked their cigars a bit dried and some a little more moist. So 70% +/- 5% is a safe bet. Wine cellars are usually kept at around 55 degrees F making them a bit cool for long term cigar storage. Spanish cedar is what the interiors should be made of. Red cedar and especially aromatic cedar (yes, I've seen more than one walk in humidor with aromatic cedar) should be avoided. The door should have a good seal on it. All of our humidors have drawers that are fully ventilated and restrict cigar storage to no more than three cigars high for even humidification unless we are including a large space for box storage. Jewelry box style humidors with passive humidifiers on the lid tend to over humidify what's on top and under humidify what's on the bottom, requiring constant rotation of the cigars. Analog hygrometers measuring humidity tend to not be very accurate so we use only digital hygrometers. Depending on how serious the cigar smoker is, Spanish Cedar dividers keep the various brands separated as some of the more serious smokers feel that different brands when stored together will cause the flavors to blend.

[John TenEyck]

There was a good article on the materials, design, and construction of classic style humidors in FWW several years ago, probably quite a few now.

I was in a guys shop recently who sells cigars and his cigar room was humidity and temperature controlled so that his customers knew the cigars were being well cared for and so he could display some cigars openly or under vented boxes with glass lids. It's as simple or fancy as you want to make it.

If you have never used Spanish cedar I recommend you do. It's the classic cigar box liner material, for good reason, and it is a joy to work with.

John

[Phil Gaudio]

A humidor console I built around 4 years ago. Cigar box is Spanish cedar, rest of it is cherry with some ebony accents. Spanish cedar is the traditional species used for humidors: it's relatively inexpensive in the regions growing the cigar tobacco and it's not a favorite species of bugs. It imparts a flavor profile that some smokers enjoy. It may be more tradition than anything else.
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[Jeff Bartley]

Just get ready for the best smelling shop you’ve ever experienced! I’ve used a good bit of Spanish cedar, once for a humidor, more often for sash. It just smells the best!

One thing I’d advise is to mill parts and let them sit a little bit. Spanish cedar can ooze sap and that’s the last thing you want cigars exposed to.

[Phillip Mitchell]

Thanks to everyone for the replies so far. I’m sure I will return back to this with more questions once I’ve had the chance to process everything here.

One question to start: how is the active humidifying happening inside a humidor? I understand hygrometers in terms of measuring humidity, but what humidor - specific products are folks using to produce and manage that level of humidity?

Never had the pleasure of working with Spanish Cedar and that’s always fun to learn a new species.

[Phil Gaudio]

Thanks to everyone for the replies so far. I’m sure I will return back to this with more questions once I’ve had the chance to process everything here.

One question to start: how is the active humidifying happening inside a humidor? I understand hygrometers in terms of measuring humidity, but what humidor - specific products are folks using to produce and manage that level of humidity?

Never had the pleasure of working with Spanish Cedar and that’s always fun to learn a new species.

Boveda:

https://store.bovedainc.com/collecti...da-for-tobacco

[Rob Sack]

Thanks to everyone for the replies so far. I’m sure I will return back to this with more questions once I’ve had the chance to process everything here.

One question to start: how is the active humidifying happening inside a humidor? I understand hygrometers in terms of measuring humidity, but what humidor - specific products are folks using to produce and manage that level of humidity?

Never had the pleasure of working with Spanish Cedar and that’s always fun to learn a new species.

As mentioned above, Boveda products work great for smaller units. For larger units, there are passive humidifiers that are charged with either distilled water or a product call "cigar juice" which is propylene glycol. I prefer distilled water. These products can be found on cigar websites such as Cigars International. Obviously, these units have to be recharged as needed. For units that are designed for over a 100 cigar capacity, there are automatic humidifiers of various sizes.

[Mike Wilkins]

What Rob Stack said about Spanish Cedar is spot on. This material does not impart any unpleasant odors to your pricey cigars. I recently visited a new shop that had Red Cedar lining the walls. Not good and they will not get my business.

[Kevin Jenness]

If you have never used Spanish cedar I recommend you do. It's the classic cigar box liner material, for good reason, and it is a joy to work with.

John

Except for the taste.

[Keith Christopher]

mmmm that Spanish cedar smell. Having spent some time as a cigar smoker, it is a great smell. and yeah make sure the cedar is dried properly or it will leak some resin. (been there )

There is a sound that a humidor makes when it's made well, it's hard to hear but it's almost like a light 'woosh' when the lid closes. unmistakable.