Something that constantly pops up across Reddit and social media is people asking what to do when their cigar humidor is off point. More specifically, when the relative humidity (RH) in their humidor is wrong. You’d be surprised how common this is and it happens with all types of humidors, from big to small.
I also ran into a situation the other day where I hadn’t been monitoring the amount of distilled water in my Cigar Oasis. That meant it was running dry and the cigars in my humidor were effectively losing moisture. The good news is this happens slowly. Unless you open your humidor constantly throughout the day, it shouldn’t lose too much moisture.
If and when you notice the RH is off, don’t panic, take a moment to compose yourself and then take action. Here are some elements to consider:
I use a Cigar Oasis, which is an electric device that helps maintain humidity levels inside my humidor, but it needs to be filled regularly with distilled water. You choose a set point, a particular RH level, and the machine helps keep the inner humidity around that level. I say “around” because it’s not an exact science. If you have a large cabinet humidor, like I do, you might see more humidity at the bottom, less at the top, or even vice versa. It really depends on how the humidor is laid out, how your humidity source works, and it can even come down to the temperature in your house or local area. When it’s colder, for example, humidity will decrease.
But not everyone uses a Cigar Oasis. A lot of people put humidity packs in their humidor, like a Boveda pack, especially if it’s a small desktop or box-style humidor. If you have one of those types of cigar humidors, Boveda packs make sense, because there’s no need for anything extensive. And while Boveda packs are reliable, humidors can be hit or miss. It all comes down to how the humidor was constructed, what kind of wood was used, and above all, what kind of seal it creates when closed. If the humidor is not airtight, then a lot of that humidity is going to escape.
The optimal relative humidity (RH) range is between 62% and 70%. Ideally, you want to be mid-range around 65% most of the time.
Really, we’re assessing two things here: The source of your humidity and how it’s working, and the humidor itself. If your humidor is not airtight, you have a problem. If your humidity source is not maintaining the right levels, you have a unique problem.
If you do use Boveda packs, or you use a Cigar Oasis, you shouldn’t mix the different varieties. Boveda packs, for example, come in 58% RH to 75% RH variants. Your electronic humidifier will have a single set-point. Don’t mix those varying packs and don’t mix your electric humidifier with Boveda packs.
Boveda Inc even makes this clear to everyone. Mixing different packs in the same container will make it extremely difficult to even out the humidity levels. The humidor is naturally going to have variations inside, anyway, especially if it’s larger. You’re making things much worse by mixing these packs.
And if you have an electric humidifier, you don’t need to use the packs. You can store those elsewhere if you have some and save them for your travel humidor or external cases.
Calibrate your hygrometer
Source: Briley Kenney / The BS Lounge
A hygrometer is what you use to detect and measure the RH inside your humidor. You should already know what they are, and if you don’t, you’ll want to start there. But every hygrometer is different, and from time to time you need to calibrate them to make sure the readings they provide are accurate.
If you’ve never calibrated your hygrometer before, you should consider doing so. Holt’s has an excellent guide on calibration that you can read. Someday, I’ll probably write one of my own. But for now, if you’re experiencing low or high RH levels in your humidor, make sure your tools are calibrated. The salt test is a solid method.
How full is your cigar humidor?
With bigger humidors, like cabinet cigar humidors, you want to fill them up as much as possible. They have plenty of space inside to let the cigars air out, so you don’t have to worry about overfilling as much. The biggest exception to that rule is if your humidor has shelves or drawers. You don’t want to overfill those drawers by cramming too many singles in.
If you have a small humidor, like a desktop humidor or even a tupperdor, you only want to fill them about 75% of the way. Cramming way too many cigars in leaves minimal room for airflow. That airflow is essentially how cigars breathe over time, by sucking up and releasing humidity. If you overfill a humidor, it doesn’t matter what your source of RH is, Boveda packs especially, because they can’t keep up with a high quantity of cigars.
You should be using about one 60-gram Boveda pack per every 25 cigars in your humidor. But it’s also about the capacity of the humidor, not necessarily the quantity of cigars you have. If your humidor holds 50 cigars, you’ll want two packs, even if you only have 25 cigars. Hopefully, that makes sense. You fill to the capacity of the humidor.
The Boveda packs use a 2-way barrier and salt-water solution to add moisture when it’s needed, but also to stop providing moisture when RH is too high. You don’t have to worry about them over-humidifying your cigars, which is pretty darn convenient.
If you’re using an electric humidifier like I do, make sure the water reservoir is always full. There is a fill level line so you don’t put too much water in, but either way, the system will release humidity as needed to maintain the appropriate levels. Some of these devices are more accurate than others, so keep that in mind. The only way to know for sure if you’re hitting your RH set point is to place additional and calibrated hygrometers in your humidor. In my 3,500 count cabinet cigar humidor, I have a hygrometer at the top, a hygrometer around the middle and a hygrometer at the bottom.
As I’ve said, and depending on the size of your humidor, you may see varying humidity levels from top to bottom. This necessitates rotating your cigars to make sure they’re evenly humidified. If your cigars at the top are getting more humidity, every few months rotate them back down to the bottom. If your cigars at the bottom are getting more, do the opposite.
The best way to discern humidity levels across a large humidor is to use several hygrometers. Don’t leave your monitoring down to the single hygrometer included with your electric humidifier. And if you use Boveda packs, you definitely want to add some hygrometers in there.
According to Boveda, humidity packs can last anywhere from two months to one-year, it depends on the humidor or container and the surrounding environment. But what they truly recommend is swapping out those Boveda packs every three months or 90 days.
I’ll let you decide the optimal time frame rather than lecturing you. Some people even like to recharge Boveda packs using distilled water.
However, the takeaway should be that they don’t last forever. Some people might argue that point, but you should be open to replacing those packs from time to time. You can usually tell how much moisture they have retained based on how squishy they are. You’ll know instantly when a Boveda pack has dried out, but you should probably replace them long before that happens.
What if my cigar humidor is leaky?
Source: Briley Kenney / The BS Lounge
If you discover that your cigar humidor is the source of the problem, and it’s leaking humidity, you have two choices from that point. You can either reseal the humidor or you can replace it entirely. Wood and Spanish cedar humidors can sometimes be finicky, more so when they’re not constructed well. That is one of the reasons why some enthusiasts choose a tupperdor or airtight container for their solution rather than a traditional humidor.
As long as your container is airtight, you’re good to go.
To reseal a leaky humidor, you can use silicone by caulking the gaps. You want a clear, non-toxic and food-grade option — because you’re consuming the cigars you store inside. Take all of your cigars out beforehand. Let the silicone dry for a few days before you put them back in.
Alternatively, you can find someone that works with wood to help reseal or reseat your humidor.
Briley has over 16 years in the publishing and content marketing business. He's been writing about cigars for nearly half that in various forms. What makes him a tour de force is he also smokes them.
Source: Briley Kenney / The BS Lounge
Source: Boveda Inc
Source: Briley Kenney / The BS Lounge
Source: Boveda Inc
Source: Tanbir Mahmud / Unsplash
Source: Briley Kenney / The BS Lounge
