In this day and age, the cigar humidor enjoys a reputation of elegance and prestige. From dive-proof travel humidors to furniture-style orgies of skillful carpentry, humidors reflect on the personality of their owners as much as the cigars within them. However, it's vitally important not to forget that the cigar humidor does serve a purpose and can worsen or even destroy the enjoyment of your favorite cigar if abused.
When looking at the performance of your humidor, it is important to realize it is designed to recreate the climate in which the cigar tobacco was originally grown. As a rule, this means 70 degrees Fahrenheit with 70 percent relative humidity. One of the most overlooked details when dealing with humidors is that the ratio of temperature to humidity must be preserved. This means that if the temperature goes down, the humidity must go up and vice versa. For example, if the temperature of a humidor drops to 65 degrees, the relative humidity must kick-up to 75% to preserve the climate.
Recently, I was called out to a consultation on a large furniture-style humidor in which the client was complaining that the humidor wasn't functioning properly and his cigars were suffering as a result. I went to his office and realized that the heat did not work well, and the temperature of the room was fifty five degrees. This means that the humidity of the humidor would have to push 85%, which is so high that you run the risk of mold running rampant through the cigar collection. Naturally, if you are dealing with a passive device, this level of humidity is also difficult to achieve. The solution, get a space heater!
I also explained to the client that he might have some trouble over the summer with the heat in his office. When temperatures soar above seventy degrees, you run the risk of tobacco beetles. All tobacco contains microscopic eggs that will hatch with warm, humid conditions of seventy five degrees or more. These beetles hatch inside your cigars, and eat their way out. It looks someone drilled tiny holes in your cigars. Not a pretty sight! To make it worse, they will jump from cigar to cigar, box to box. In other words, I have gone to extreme measures to make sure my store does not get over 73 degrees in the summer, and I recommend everyone do the same for their personal humidors. Stay tuned if your motherly instincts do happen to lead to tobacco beetles hatching in your cigars!
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Article comments
1 - Cigar Jack
One thing you can do to prevent this is put the cigars in your freezer for three days. Make sure it is running at it's coldest setting. You want to bring them back to their natural state slowly or you could damage the cigars so put them in the fridge for three days following the freezer time, then put them on the counter for three days before returning them to the humidor.
2 - cigarsmoker
". . . One of the most overlooked details when dealing with humidors is that the ratio of temperature to humidity must be preserved. This means that if the temperature goes down, the humidity must go up and vice versa. For example, if the temperature of a humidor drops to 65 degrees, the relative humidity must kick-up to 75% to preserve the climate. . . "
I'll hold back giving my real opinion, as it might be construed as a personal attack and therefore in violation of the policy here. This passage is one of the oldest false rumors around. Anyone with even a passing understanding of cigar storage should know that.
While it is true that it is harder to get cold air to hold moisture, the actual relative humidity should not vary with regard to temperature. That's why it's called "relative."