A Humidor: The Perfect Gift for a Cigar Aficionado
Don’t ruin a good celebration with a spoiled cigar. The right cigar storage can spell the difference between a good smoke and a bad experience for cigar aficionados.
There’s a long-standing tradition of men lighting up cigars to celebrate momentous occasions. The birth of a baby, a successful proposition, or winning a business deal are all reasons to celebrate with a cigar.
Rose, one of our customers, knows a little something about that. She’s not a smoker, but she’s watched the men in her life celebrate the births of children for generations.
She watched her brother greet the birth of her great-niece with a cigar. Just like their father celebrated her own birth with a fine smoke.
Time changes our traditions sometimes. Nowadays there are rules against smoking within the confines of a hospital. But that doesn’t stop proud fathers everywhere from stepping outside to enjoy a good cigar. Or handing them out to friends and family in celebration.
Not all cigars are the same, though. Not only do you need to find a good quality product, but you also need to let them age properly.
This tradition began in Cuba, where factories shipped huge wardrobe-sized cases of cigars to the market. These cases were capable of holding 5 to 10 thousand cigars at a time.
Many non-smokers don’t understand that cigars, like wine, get better with age. But for cigar lovers, it has always been a consideration.
In the 1920s, Alfred Dunhill wanted to improve upon the smoker’s experience, as well as help cigars age and mature correctly. So he built three large rooms under his store for the different stages of the process.
He called them the Maturing Room, the Keeping Room, and the Humidor.
Dunhill created a process that became the norm for cigars. Stores would buy them, mature them, and then slowly release them to the market when they were ready. These cigars were properly aged and refined.
Over the years, cigar trends have changed drastically. Fewer cigar stores have the space or the capital to mature large numbers of cigars. Cigar connoisseurs have to take care of this important process themselves.
This is why humidors are the perfect gift for the cigar-lover in your life.
Humidors let cigar smokers age and mature their prized cigars to perfection. The right box can be a beautiful display item, as well as a showcase for the promise that lies within.
However, not just any old cigar will do.
What Makes a Good Cigar?
Before you think about aging a cigar, you have to pick out a good one.
So, what makes a good cigar?
There are a variety of ways you can discern the quality of a cigar. Look for these details when judging your next cigar:
Taste
Okay, it’s important that your cigar tastes great. You don’t want to wince your way through every puff. But taste is a very subjective experience.
What tastes great to you be awful to someone else.
If you want to get a real taste of a cigar, you need to smoke it from beginning to end. Like with wine, you need to engage all of your senses: See it, touch it, smell it, taste it. Some cigar lovers claim that you should also listen to it as you roll it between your fingers. You can determine the moisture content of the wrapper that way.
Sight and Touch
When you take a cigar out of the box or humidor, you need to inspect it. Use the feel and appearance of the cigar wrapper to tell you about the taste.
Wrappers don’t make or break a good cigar. But they do embody its overall personality.
If smoking is a feast for the senses, take this time to feast with your eyes and sense of touch. Let the texture and beauty tell you about the cigar. Is it appealing?
Ash
After you light up your cigar, it’s time to look at the ash. White ash is preferable to grey ash, according to some experts. It’s not merely that white ash looks better, though.
The color of the ash has to do with the soil the tobacco plant grew in. Soil with a higher magnesium content produces tobacco leaves with whiter ash. Generally speaking, the whiter the ash, the better the taste.
If you find that your ash is very flaky, that means the growers added too much magnesium to their fertilizer. No one wants to smoke a messy cigar.
Burn Rate
You should also observe the burn rate of the cigar. It has to burn evenly. A good cigar will burn through the different tobaccos used in it during the entire length of the smoke.
Stay away from cigars that burn unevenly. It changes the taste and balance of the overall cigar, which can ruin the smoking experience.
Freshness
Freshness is also important to a good cigar. You can ensure this by using proper storage units that are neither too dry nor too humid. Both can ruin your favorite cigar and the occasion you’re celebrating.
You may find that it’s impossible to smoke cigars that are too dry. Or the flavor may be bitter.
On the other hand, too much humidity can make it difficult to get a good draw from your cigar. High humidity may also burst the wrapper from the moisture buildup inside.
You can avoid all of that, though, with the proper storage.
Why a Humidor Is So Important
There are a variety of ways you can store a cigar properly. However, if you want to keep your cigars in the best possible shape, you need a humidor.
If you don’t have one, your cigars can dry out in just a few days. Once they get too dry, you won’t be able to smoke them anymore.
You can try inexpensive hacks like Ziploc bags or Tupperware containers. But the plastic smell and potential toxins may leech into the cigar. You definitely don’t want that.
Instead, you need an expertly crafted humidor. It’s the perfect gift for the cigar lover in your life.
When you buy a humidor, consider these 5 factors:
- Size
You need to have enough room for the cigars you’re planning to store, so size does matter. Humidors come in a variety of sizes, but if you’re giving one as a gift, the personal size works perfectly.
Kustom Products’ Small Black Humidor with initial engraving and wreath is an understated gift to give to a business partner or teammate. It holds a conservative 10–20 cigars and makes an elegant statement on any desk.
- Capacity
The rule of thumb is to buy a humidor one size bigger than the number of cigars you wish to keep on hand. So, if you want to keep 10 cigars on hand, a humidor that holds 25 would be perfect.
The Cherry Humidor from Kustom Products is a perfect example of capacity and simplicity. It holds between 25 and 50 cigars, for just the right amount of space.
- Cigar Size
Also, think about the size of the cigars that you or your recipient favors. Many humidors calculate capacity based on traditional Churchill cigars. But if the gift recipient has a preference for Toro Grandes, fewer will fit in the humidor.
- Smoking Regularity
Does your recipient smoke regularly or do they reserve it for special occasions?
For humidors, the right size depends on how big your humidifier is and how often the cigar smoker plans to restock. When in doubt, it’s better to go bigger to accommodate different-sized cigars.
For the true smoking aficionado, there’s the Executive Humidor Bundle by Kustom Products. Not only does it have a 100-cigar capacity, it comes with matching cigar accessories. The glossy beveled glass top can also be engraved.
- Infusions
The scent of aromatic cigars tends to infuse everything inside the humidor. That includes the traditional smokes stored there.
Over time, even the wood of the humidor will take on a note of that infusion.
If you know that the recipient likes both types of cigars, give them the gift of separate homes for their smokes.
Keep it Fresh with a Customized Humidor
Cigar smoking on special occasions is a time-honored tradition. If you want to experience the true enjoyment that can come with a good cigar, proper storage is crucial. It will maintain the integrity of your smokes. Help the cigar lover in your life preserve their little beauties.
Why not give the cigar connoisseur in your life a beautiful cigar repository?
If you’re looking for great customizable humidors, click here. Kustom Products has a wide range of humidors for every smoker in your life.