Smokers Corner

Every year we get questions about our customer’s cigars drying out during the winter months. There are a few causes for this and fortunately the fixes are simple. Ambient humidity levels are much lower, at least in the northern Midwest, during the winter. Cigars kept in your carrying case and even your humidor are apt to experience accelerated drying with the reduction in humidity levels this time of year. Homes with forced air tend to have lower humidity levels than homes with either wood or radiated heat. So what’s the fix apart from smoking crusty cigars or running to Oak Brook Tobacco daily for your favorite stick?

Maintaining properly humidified cigars at the proper temperature during the winter months requires a little more attention than other times of the year. I try to check my personal humidor about every five days. I keep my humidor a little closer to the radiator to maintain a temperature as close to 70° as possible. If you are unable to keep the cigars at 70°, it’s not the end of the world. We keep the house at 68° most of the winter and drop it to 60° when we escape south for a hard earned reprieve. Where I am a little flexible with a lower cigar temperature, I am not when it comes to humidity levels. If you find that you are unable to maintain a 70% humidity level even by keeping the humistat full and wide open try one of these options:

Get a second humistat. This seems like a simple solution, but often overlooked. If you are like me your humidor is crammed with cigars saved for that “special occasion”. One humistat may not be enough to humidify 150-200 cigars. Before you go and buy another humistat try the following:

Wipe out the inside of your humidor with a moist washcloth or paper towel. Remember to use distilled water and not tap water (tap water is likely to contain chlorine and other nastiness that your cigars will not like). You can do this every two or three weeks for excellent results. The wood in your home dries considerably during the winter and your humidor also being made of wood does so as well. This leads us to another potential problem; warping of the humidor lid.

Most of the humidors in the America have been made overseas. China, the Philippines, Indonesia are primary suppliers of humidors to the US. Average humidity levels in manufactured products from these countries are upwards of 12%. When the humidors reach the US they experience a slight shrinking. This shrinking happens a little more in the northern and southwestern states with lower humidity levels and is seasonally reduced even more during the winter months. The lid of your humidor takes the brunt of the moisture change and tends to warp ever so slightly. If you are an ambitious craftsman this warping can be solved by remounting hinges on your humidor. Or, for those of you like me with much less ambition, find a heavy book to set on top of your humidor to solve the warping problem. To find out if your lid is a potential candidate for this encyclopedic fix, press down on one corner of your lid at a time. If there is any warping present you will feel the lid give a little and make contact with the humidor box making a little tapping sound. If you hear any “tap” your lid has a slight warp. Once you find the culprit corner find a large book and set it on top of the lid favoring the warped corner. Problem solved!

(This lid warping is a very common problem, especially during mid-winter, so don’t let it bother you. Virtually all humidors, except for the most expensive, experience this slight winter warping.)

Please let us know if this article has been helpful to you. We are happy to address any particular questions you may have in our Smoker’s Corner. Drop us a note with that burning question (pun intended!) or better yet stop in and pay us a visit.