Do Individually Wrapped Cigars Need a Humidor?
Individual cigars are packaged in cellophane, in a tube, or with nothing around them when they’re sold. Regardless of whether cigars come in cellophane or not, they must be humidified after you buy them unless you plan to smoke them within a few days. The box the cigars come in won’t keep them fresh either – without access to humidity – even if it’s also wrapped in cellophane.
Humidification Keeps Cigars Fresh
You can store cigars in a humidor indefinitely as long as you maintain the humidity. Without humidity, cigars begin to dry out after a few days and will eventually become unsmokeable. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to keep cigars fresh without a humidor if you don’t have one. Boveda packs are the most popular method because they require no maintenance and are ideal when you’re giving cigars as gifts.
The best conditions for storing cigars are between 65-72% RH (relative humidity) and 65-72 degrees Fahrenheit. When cigars dry out due to a lack of humidity, they will burn hot, taste bitter, and could even fall apart. That’s why it’s a bad idea to smoke a dry cigar. You can re-humidify a dry cigar, but it won’t taste the same when you smoke it because the oils and moisture in its original flavor profile have dissipated.
Cellophane Doesn’t Keep Cigars Fresh
Cellophane serves an important purpose by protecting cigars during shipping and keeping customers’ fingerprints off cigars that are displayed in a retail environment. (That’s why it’s proper cigar store etiquette not to handle a cigar unless you’re going to buy it.) Cellophane is porous and allows humidity to access the cigars while they’re stored in a humidor. Conversely, when cigars are removed from a humidor, the humidity evaporates. Therefore, you can’t rely on cellophane to keep cigars fresh once they’re out of the humidor.
A debate exists among cigar lovers on whether to store your cigars in the cellophane in your humidor. Choosing to keep or remove the cellophane is a matter of personal preference. Generally, if you’re aging your cigars for a long time, you may want to take the cello off to allow the flavors of the cigars you’re storing in your humidor to meld. However, some folks prefer to age their cigars with as little influence from other cigars as possible, and they keep the cello on. Also, if you plan to travel with your cigars or move them around a lot before smoking them, keep the cellophane on.
Do Cigar Tubes Keep Cigars Fresh?
Some cigars come in tubes, also called tubo cigars. Cigar tubes are aluminum, wood, or glass. A tube will encapsulate a cigar’s humidity more aggressively than cellophane, but the cigar should still be stored in a humidor if it will be more than a few days before you smoke it. When you’re storing a tubo cigar in your humidor, it’s best to remove the lid on the tube, or at least loosen it, to allow sufficient access to the humidity. Or you can remove the cigar from the tube entirely to store in your humidor. Cigar tubes are great for gift presentations and for traveling. A tube protects a cigar much better than cellophane when you want to toss a single in your breast pocket or golf bag, but it won’t keep your cigar fresh if you leave it there for a week.
