Some people don’t realize what kind of an investment you might have in your humidor.  You are protecting a very large investment.  If you have on average – lets say 100 cigars in your humidor, and the average stick price is say $6, then after some simple math, you are protecting $600 worth of your hard earned stogies.  If you live up here in Canada, and you have a good selection of Cuban cigars, that value could increase very easily over $1000 - $1500.  Now how much confidence to you have in a $100 to protect this investment? 

Well, let me explain a few things to look out for - and you can draw your own conclusions.

Spanish Cedar

Any good humidor will have a good, solid Spanish Cedar interior.  Spanish cedar does some very special things for cigar humidors (I actually explained this in last week’s segment), but to be brief, they include the following:

1. Spanish cedar does a fantastic job of naturally regulating moisture, helping create a buffer for the humidor so humidity doesn’t get lost so quickly when the lid is opened.
2. Spanish cedar compliments the cigars by its inviting scent.
3. Spanish cedar’s scent is not conducive to the forbidden cigar beetle.  They hate the smell.

Many ‘deal’ humidors do not have Spanish Cedar on the inside – or if they do, it is sometimes a lesser grade or thin veneer of Spanish Cedar.  Some say just plain ‘cedar’ and could be anything from aromatic cedar to western red cedar.  If you ever smoke a cigar that has been stored in aromatic cedar, you will probably find that it will smell just like grandma’s old cedar chest… Yuck!  The funny thing is – Spanish Cedar is not even from the cedar family – it is from the mahogany family, and impregnates a glorious subtle spicy scent into the cigars. Many of the ‘deal’ humidors will be lined with an inexpensive wood like birch that lowers the overall cost of the humidor.  Some of these woods can also produce a nasty odor into the cigars, negatively altering the flavour and potentially corrupting the whole lot of your cigars.  Not good.

Plywood Vs Solid Exotic Woods

Many other humidors quite often have plywood, MDF board or veneers, rather than thick and solid exotic woods.  This in itself is not a bad thing, but does lack the character and natural warmth of solid exotic woods, and drastically reduces the cost.  Bragging rites are completely lost here.  Many cheap humidors have black painted trim, rather than using exotic woods for trim.  To the untrained eye, at first glance this can be easily overlooked. But this is a simple way to lower the cost.

Hardware – Solid brass Vs Plated or Stamped.

Finally, hardware plays a large role in the overall expense of your humidor.  Some of the solid brass heavy-duty hardware I use in my designs actually costs more than a complete ‘cheap’ humidor found on eBay.  Usually hardware on inexpensive humidors is brass plated, or stamped, and can fall apart over time, or take responsibility for a bad sealing lid.

Humidification Systems

Most humidors do not contain a worthy humidification system out of the box.   Sometimes they come with a type of foam used in flower shops, and sport inexpensive and very inaccurate hygrometers or humidity gauges.  If these devices are included with your humidor, take them, casually step out side, watch to see that no one is looking, and throw them as far as you can.  These inexpensive items can lead your cigars down an inaccurate path of destruction. An incorrect humidity reading can be tragic for your collection of cigars, so be sure that your humidor includes high quality humidification control.

 Construction Methods

The most important difference between cheap humidors and more costly humidors are the way they are actually constructed and assembled.  Humidors are not just boxes, but need to be carefully thought through for construction and joinery.  High moisture contents in the interior Spanish cedar will produce different expansion and contraction rates than the exterior woods chosen.  Many cheap humidors are tacked and stapled together, rather than utilizing high tech glues, and complex joinery, like dovetail joints, hidden spines or box joints.  Quite often I design humidors that use stainless steel or brass rod for stability and durability. 

Mass production Vs Unique Creations one at a time. 

You cannot match the quality and touch of class that comes with a well crafted humidor.  Not only do you have to worry less about the wellbeing of your cigars,  A custom humidor is truly a piece of furniture that you can be proud of With a custom humidor, you can communicate with the designer and select your own style, select your own favourite woods, or even make a humidor to fit your own sizes of cigars.  A well crafted custom humidor is a rewarding possession, an expression of your personality and is an heirloom that you can pass down through generations.

So there is a difference that you should be aware of.  I am not saying that anything under $1000 is a piece of garbage, but just be aware of the different qualities and features of the humidor options out there.  Lets face it, not all of us are at a position to afford a custom or handcrafted humidor – that’s OK.  But whatever you do, be sure to avoid these ‘too good to be true humidor prices’.  Most likely you will be buying an inferior humidor, one that could potentially damage your fine selection of cigars.  Talk to your retailer, and take a look yourself at the So that great deal on a humidor might end up destroying many hundreds of dollars worth of well aged cigars.

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