Winter can bring humidity challenges for cigar storage in northern climes and at high elevations. Outside, cold air holds less moisture. Indoors, your heating system is pumping out dry air. When humidity plummets, make sure your cigars won’t be affected. Cigars stored in a glass-top humidor or drafty wood humidor are especially vulnerable to drying out this time of year. Keep reading to learn how to correct low humidity in your cigar storage or if it’s time to retire your old humidor.
What RH is good for cigars?
The ideal humidity range for cigar storage is between 65% and 72%. In this range, tobacco retains its essential oils, which contribute to full flavor and rich aroma. The wrapper remains intact and flexible. The cigar burns smoothly, so your smoke is relaxing and enjoyable. The key to successfully storing cigars is to reduce humidity fluctuations in and out of the ideal range. Many cigars smokers monitor the relative humidity (RH) in their humidors with a hygrometer or humidity sensor.
Have you calibrated your hygrometer?
Just because a hygrometer is registering readings doesn’t mean they’re right. Measuring humidity in your humidor is dependent on the accuracy of your hygrometer. Over time, both analog and digital hygrometers fall out of calibration. A properly calibrated hygrometer gives you an accurate account of the RH in a humidor. Boveda makes the One-Step Hygrometer Calibration Kit that takes just 24 hours for professional-level results.
Hygrometer tips:
- Calibrate a new hygrometer before you put it in your humidor—even if that new digital hygrometer says it’s been pre-calibrated (If you have a new hygrometer for your humidor, learn about calibrating it here.)
- Calibrate every hygrometer every six months
4 Ways to Combat Low Humidity in your Humidor
1. Acclimate New Cigars Before You Put Them in a Wood Humidor
Stop putting cigars you just bought or ordered online directly into your wood humidor. Stabilize new sticks first with Boveda in a non-porous environment, like an acrylic humidor, lidded plastic container, or Boveda Humidor Bag. Get those new cigars up to your preferred RH level and then move them into your wood humidor.
2. Increase to a Higher RH Boveda
Get to know your humidor. The construction and/or the condition of your humidor—the wood and the seal—might be causing you to lose moisture. If you have a glass-top wood humidor or an inexpensive model, you’ll have trouble maintaining the ideal humidity for cigars. In fact, you might be off by 2-5% points or more.
Remember your cigars are also taking in moisture—but that’s not a bad thing. You have to adjust for the natural moisture exchange that is taking place inside your humidor. You can overcompensate for this moisture loss by using a higher RH Boveda, like the B72 in your wood humidor. Boveda B72 is engineered for drafty humidors or dry environments.
Your locale can also affect the RH in your humidor. Boveda makes B75 packs for extremely dry conditions, like high altitudes, desert environments, etc. Don’t use B75 in airtight containers, like humidor bags, plastic storage containers, or tupperdors.
3. Double Up On Boveda
Boveda humidifies the space inside your humidor. How many Boveda you need to use in your humidor depends on your humidor’s total capacity. If your humidor his designed to hold 50 cigars, humidify the interior for 50 cigars, whether you have 5 or 35 cigars inside.
If you’re struggling with low RH, double the number of Boveda in your humidor to compensate for a leaky humidor seal. For example, if you have a drafty 50-count humidor, use FOUR BOVEDA Size 60 packs instead of the recommended two. Boveda will never over humidify your cigars. Using more Boveda allows its 2-way humidity control to work more efficiently to overcompensate for your drafty humidor.
Good humidors aren’t cheap. Cheap humidors aren’t good. But there’s never been that middle ground that I have found that there’s a high-quality humidor at a good price point. [Until Now.] — Kevin Shahan, Cigar Prop
4. Upgrade to a Better Cigar Humidor
If you’re fed up with troubleshooting humidity problems in your humidor, it might be time to upgrade. Expect to pay at least $300 for a quality entry-level humidor. If that’s beyond your budget right now, you can make your own humidor AKA tupperdor with a tight-lidded new plastic food container and a Boveda B69 packet. A Boveda Humidor Bag also makes for inexpensive cigar storage that comes preloaded with Boveda.
Ready to shop for a new humidor? Read what to look for in a good humidor.
This well-built, expertly constructed humidor simplifies cigar storage for smokers. It’s the first wooden humidor designed to maximize Boveda’s patented 2-way humidity control. The Boveda Humidor eliminates the maintenance of traditional wooden construction. Its zero-lapse system rewards you with hands-off humidity control for cigars and a lifetime of perfect cigar storage.
It comes with everything you’ll need to get started storing and aging cigars. And you can opt in to the Auto-Replenish program to automatically receive a refill Boveda every six months. That way, you’ll never worry about humidity for your cigars again.
Cigars are expensive and your time is valuable. Instead of jeopardizing both, invest in storage that eliminates the uncertainty and hassle of protecting cigars. Learn more about the Boveda Humidor here.
