Frequently Asked Questions for Humidor Maintenance

Q1. What sort of preparation is necessary before filling a new humidor with cigars?

Q2. When I buy cigars at my local shop, they come wrapped in cellophane. When I put the cigars in my humidor, should I remove the wrap?

Q3. I justed bought some cigars that came in individual aluminum tubes.  Do I need to stores them in a humidor?

Q4. How fresh do cigars stay outside of a humidor in their original boxes if you don't break the seal or plastic wrapping?

Q5. I recently bought a box of cigars. To my surprise, many haven't burned evenly.  I've kept them in properly humidified conditions.  What is the problem?  Are they too tight?  Is it a problem of quality control?

Q6. How can I tell the difference between plume and mold?

Q7. Help! I smoked half a cigar, then put the other half in my humidor.  When I opened the humidor a few days later, everything smelled like the bottom of a dirty ashtray in a Las Vegas casino.  Any suggestions?

Q8. There's plenty of spring cleaning to do around the house, but what about inside my humidor?  Should that get a good cleaning as well?

Q9. What are the most important things to keep in mind when rehumidifying dry cigars?

Q10. A friend who knows nothing about cigars gave me a very special smoke that had been sitting in a drawer for a year, makeing it bone dry.  How do I bring this baby back to life?

Q11. When aging cigars, how long is too long?

Q12. Some of my cigars have begun to swell an even split the wrapper as soon as I take them out of my humidor.  What's going on?

Q13. Now that my heat's on full blast, I'm having trouble keeping my cigars humidified.  Any suggestions?

Q14. Summer is here.  Is there anything I should do to protect my cigars from the increased heat and humidity?

Q15. Like many cigar smokers, I live in perpetual fear of a tobacco beetle outbreak.  Are there preventive measures I can take?  If I do discover an infestation, then what?

Q16. What's the point of putting cedar dividers in your humidor?

Q17. Is it all right for cigars to comingle in my humidor?

Q18. Should I rotate the position of cigars in my humidor?

Q19. Whay are aromatic woods such as red and white cedar considered undesirable for lining humidors?

Q20. If mahogany and Spanish cedar are both acceptable humidor liners, why choose one over the other?

Q21. Are humidors that store cigars vertically bad for my smokes?

Q22. I know tupperware is an imperfect method for storing cigars, but what exactly are it disadvantages?

Q23. I am traveling out of the country for business and I want to bring along a few smokes to enjoy.  Unfortunately, I don't have a travel humidor.  What should I do?

Q24. A cigar case is great for taking a few smokes away for the weekend, but it doesn't keep them from drying out.  Short of buying a travel humidor, what do you recommend for keeping them in prime smoking condition?

Q25. I live in the Northeast, where, in the winter, it's often bitterly cold outside and heated inside.  As a result, my smokes often don't even make it through dinner before drying out and unraveling in my cigar case.  Any tips to get me through the winter?

Q26. I'm heading to Las Vegas, and want to bring some cigars along. I've heard the desert can be hard on cigars, even those previously well humidified.  I have a nice wooden cigar case in which I like to carry my cigar when I go out at night.  Will this do?