How to Buy a Humidor - Buying a Case for your Cigars

So you went out and bought yourself a nice box of cigars and are wondering if you should do something about storing them properly. The man in the tobacconists said something about needing a cigar humidor, but you really do not know what one is let alone how to buy a humidor. When it comes to buying a humidor there are few things you should know about before you set out to buy your first one to avoid making any mistakes that might end up ruining your new cigars.

The first step in learning how to buy a humidor is to have a good basic understanding of just what a humidor is and what it does. While there are dozens of different styles and brands of humidors on the market they all are designed to do one thing. A humidor is designed to store your cigars in the optimum conditions and maintain the perfect level oh humidity so that they will stay fresh and ready to smoke for long periods of time without drying out or conversely becoming too damp and rotting or growing mold.

While buying a humidor you will see many different sizes, some of them are big enough to hold hundreds of cigars and will take up a large amount of floor space in your home; others are small enough to sit on your desk. Each of them will do the same job, but for the beginning cigar smoker one of the smaller units will probably suffice, being big enough to hold a few dozen cigars at a time.

The exterior of humidors can vary in materials and appearance but the best ones are made from hardwoods such as cherry or mahogany. The interior is far more important as this is where the humidity must be maintained and more importantly this is where you will be storing your cigar collection.

Lined Interior and Soft Wood

The interior should be lined with a porous soft wood, Spanish cedar is the most popular wood as not only does it hold moisture well, but it gives off a pleasant cedar odor that tend to enhance the flavour of you cigars.

Your new humidor should also include a hygrometer and a humidifier on the inside of the box. The humidifier is usually a plastic sponge set inside a small box with a lattice front or a small contained filled with acryl polymer beads. Both of these work perfectly and the choice is up to you, you will need to keep either of them filled with distilled water or a humidifying solution. The hygrometer will measure the humidity level in your humidor; you need to maintain the humidity level at 70-72% for the best results.

Learning how to buy a humidor is all about understanding how they work to store your cigar collection in the best of possible conditions so that they will always give you the best possible flavour no matter how long you have them stored.