Smoking and drinking have always been associated with a kind of careless ease and wealth. We are talking about cigars and wine of course, which have been transformed by the rich and famous into standards governing taste and excellence and don’t quite register as sins of the common man. Interest in cigars especially, demand a great deal of your time and money. Keeping this in mind, one would think the saying- Good cigars will always need a good home- is well justified. Humidors are designed for this purpose.
Built along the lines of a small wooden or acrylic glass box or even rooms covering the whole floor in cigar shops, they maintain a constant level of humidity required to store cigars. Indeed, when Zino Davidoff created the first humidors in the 20th century, they were large cellar humidors meant for storage.
Nowadays, from the negligible Tupperware containers to the exquisite “Davidoff” line, the variety is astounding even among those built for personal use. While some are quite beautiful and ornamental, there are others serving the interests of the practical and the cost conscious smoker with clean design and functionality.
While buying a humidor, consider what kind and how many cigars you want to store and their respective size/(s). Cigars are categorized on the basis of size, which includes its ring gauge and its length. Also, any fine cigar needs to be stored at 70-72% humidity.
Hence, buying a humidor which stores 7-8 inch cigars will not be the best purchase for a nine inch smoker.
Made of wood board with an interior of Spanish cedar wood or mahogany, an ideal humidor provides for 65-75% humidity and has a hygrometer to maintain the humidity level. Anything less will dry out the cigar, resulting in its burning too hot, losing essential oils, flavor, aroma and it will never return to its original quality. On the other hand, the cigar will also be destroyed if exposed to excess humidity.
One of the problems the connoisseurs face is storage and preservation of cigars while traveling. The early models of travel humidors stored cigars which were already moistened by their storage in the cellar humidors. Since the maintained humidity existed as a result of already moist cigars however, humidity would escape each time the humidor was opened and be replaced by room temperature. Today one can choose from battery powered ones to those which can be plugged into any AC outlet, serving mere functional requirements to those which can satisfy even the most discriminating cigar aficionado. Designed to withstand rigors of traveling, lightweight, portable travel humidors allow you the luxury of having a perfect cigar even while traveling.
Like everything else, you can research on different styles and brands of travel humidors on the Internet, and pick one that suits your requirements.
