Dr. Humidor- Seasoning your cigar humidor is the first step in protecting your cigars. No one should ever smoke a dry cigar, unless they’re stuck in the woods or the apocalypse comes! Proper humidification of cigars is important to keep cigars from becoming too dry and losing oils that are essential to aging.
Spanish cedar is the most common type of wood used in humidors as a liner, though it’s not actually cedar; but a hardwood. Using actual cedar in a humidor is poisionous. Spanish cedar is the best lining for humidors and can also be used to light cigars. The cigars maintain a faint wood scent and live well inside of these treasure boxes.
Since the wood absorbes the moisture, it’s important to prepare the humidor for use before putting in your sticks. If properly seasoned, the wood won’t take valuable moisture or oils away from your cigars.
If you’re a regular cigar smoker, or are planning on becoming one, a humidor is a great investment! You can build your collection and keep your cigars fresh. Note that while Spanish cedar humidors are the tradition, we also love the clear plastic humidors by Boveda! For seasoning the humidors that need it, we prefer using the Boveda packs, which work best for for small-to-standard sized humidors. If you have a specialty box or have questions on how to season your humidor contact us at (336) 288-4484! Otherwise, here is a brief tutorial on how to prep your humidor, provided by Boveda:
Before you add cigars to it, every wooden humidor needs to be seasoned to:
Prevent the wood from robbing your cigar’s essential moisture. (Seasoning raises the wood’s moisture level so it’ll be in equilibrium with your cigars.)
Create a better seal for the lid, which keeps moisture from escaping.
How many Boveda to use:
Use (1) Boveda Size 60 for every 25 TOTAL cigars your humidor can hold. Example: For a 100-cigar capacity humidor, use four (4) Size 60 Boveda at once.
How to season a wooden cigar humidor with Boveda:
Remove your cigars from your humidor and move them into a closed Tupperware® container, cooler or a Humidor Bag with 69% Boveda.
Place the 84% Boveda seasoning pack(s) inside your empty wooden humidor.
Close the lid and don’t open the humidor for 14 days—no matter what your hygrometer readings are. (The wait is worth it. Trust us.)
After 14 days, open your humidor, remove the Boveda seasoning pack(s) and discard them—they aren’t reusable.
Move your cigars into your well-seasoned humidor and add new Boveda packs in your desired RH—65%, 69%, 72% or 75%. This handy chart will help you choose the right RH for you.
