Saturday, November 26 2011
Traditionally speaking, a well-made wooden humidor lined in Spanish cedar is the optimal enclosure for keeping your cigars fresh. Presuming the humidor is properly seasoned and capable of maintaining a consistent relative humidity, your cigars should remain fresh almost indefinitely.
Many years ago, a friend of mine (who is also a cigar smoker) told me that he inherited his father's humidor. Having owned the humidor for decades, his father kept it in good condition, and it still had a good number of cigars inside which, to his surprise, were still in good shape. Inside the humidor was an old brass analog hygrometer (probably not made in China), and a chunk of potato. Missing, was a humidifier. He told me his dad felt the potato was a good solution for two reasons: 1) it doesn't give off any odor, and 2) there's enough moisture in the potato to keep the cigars fresh for at least a month. (Some cigar smokers have been known to use a piece of apple as a humidifier.) Personally, I'll take a crystal filled humidifier any day. But if you opt for the potato or apple solution, just make sure to experiment until you know exactly how large a piece you'll need to use.
Another popular storage option is the "Coolerdor." As the name implies, it's made by using a beer cooler for storing your cigars. It makes sense, too. They're well insulated, have a good seal, and will hold hundreds of loose cigars, or a good number of boxes. Another variation of the "Coolerdor" is the "Tupperdor." Again, as the name implies, a large Tupperware® (or similar type plastic storage box) is used in place of a beer cooler. I have several humidors and a Tupperdor (actually it's made by Rubbermaid®) that I use for storing boxes of cigars that I don't have room for in my traditional humidors. (I guess you could call it a "Rubberdor.") Many cigar smokers admit to having only a Coolerdor, and I can attest that it really works. I have about six boxes of cigars, and though the unit is not tightly sealed, with the help of a Xikar 250 ct. crystal-based humidifier and a digital hygrometer, every cigar has remained fresh. I take cigars to smoke from the boxes until I get down to, say, the bottom row. By then I usually have enough room in one of my humidors to empty the box, and if not, I simply move the cigars from one box to another in the storage container.
Most of you reading this already know the advantages of using a traditional humidor. I choose to remove the cellos from most of my cigars, and I'm just more comfortable keeping them in a traditional humidor.
The advantages of Coolerdors are: 1) They're generally large enough to store a lot of overstock cigars, whether they be singles or boxes. 2) Since the cigars are still in their factory boxes, they maintain a certain degree of insulation, and since most factory boxes are made of Spanish cedar, it's pretty similar to keeping them in a standard wooden humidor. I check the boxes at least once a week and I've found the cigars are always nice and supple. If the cigars are wrapped in cello, you have another layer of protection. As a result, the cigars are kept together, so there's no chance of them "marrying" with the other cigars. Finally, and one of the greatest reasons for a Coolerdor 4) A Coolerdor costs merely fraction of what a good humidor, even many small, 25 ct. humidors can cost.
There's no rule that says you have to keep your cigars in a traditional humidor. And cigar smokers who do choose that route, shouldn't disapprove of a BOTL who keeps his (or her) cigars in a Coolerdor. Chances are, most of them can afford a good humidor, but Coolerdor owners also tend to have very LARGE cigar collections, and the price of a tall, well-made cabinet humidor can certainly be cost-prohibitive; though a good, affordable alternative is the Foot Locker humidor (above). Besides, if a Coolerdor works, why not save your money and buy more cigars instead?
In closing, the end justifies the means. Being the traditionalist that I am, I still prefer a wooden humidor, but as a temporary storage space, my Coolerdor does a great job, and as they say, "Whatever works."
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