Frequently Asked Questions for Humidors

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?


A: Two suggestions: put your case in a Ziplock bag and/or insert a small, cylindrical humidification device in one sleeve of your case.

Credo makes an effective device called The Tube, and Western Humidor makes one called The Torpedo. About the size of a petit corona, both units are small, slender versions of the rectangular models made for desktop humidors. To activate them, you squirt distilled water through slots in the casing, saturating the green Oasis foam inside.

While these units alone will give the cigars in your case a much-needed shot of moisture during those lengthy meals in overheated restaurants, an additional safety measure is to slip your case into a Ziplock bag before stowing it in your jacket pocket. The bag may detract from the elegance of your case, but at least your post-meal smoke won't unravel in your hands.

This is a reprint of the article in the "Tip of the Week" section of the website
of Cigar Aficionado ( www.cigaraficionado.com ) in the week of January 19, 1999.