subject: How To Store Cigars For Longevity [print this page] For a cigar aficionado, storage is crucial to maintaining your priceless collection of cigars and a number of significant aspects must be considered for your Cigars to last long. Even if you are just beginners but intend to store your Cigars, knowing how to store them safely is crucial to using them later. The first thing to consider when contemplating a storage method is the cost of the cigars you want to store. Because the quality and making of cigar give them varying prices, buying a $600 humidor for a $30 Cigar may not make much economic sense. On the other hand, if your Cigars are the expensive and high quality types, then investing in an equally expensive humidor becomes a viable option. You don't want your expensive Cigars to lose their flavor the next time you smoke them.
Cigars need an environment that is warm and very humid and the humidor by far gives this perfect storage environment. Humidors come in different sizes from small wooden boxes to the big wooden cabinets and your storage requirement determines the size to buy. When considering how to store Cigars for longevity, ensure as well that the humidor you buy is airtight. You can do this by performing the "whoosh test" in which you lift the humidor's lid by three inches, drop it and listen out for the escaping "whoosh" sound of air; that is reflective of a good wooden humidor. However, you can as well use a plastic bag to store your cigars. Because the plastic won't allow your Cigars any air, it's advisable to open the plastic container every once in a month to ensure the right moisture content and keep them fresh while at the same time retaining their flavor.
However, if you settle for the humidor, it's prudent that you buy a humidifier for regulating the humidity and a hygrometer for measuring the humidors humidity. Every humidifier will carry an instruction manual and it's good to carefully read them before attempting any operations. You will need to add little water to your humidifier once in a while; the instruction manual helps you do it the right way. Before placing your cigar in the humidor, ensure that its humidity is stable to prevent your cigars from becoming dry and tasteless. Further more, when considering how to store cigars, put them in a Ziploc bag and then store them in the humidor. Regular maintenance of the humidor's humidity is necessary and on the average, the humidity should range at 74% and the temperature be kept at 70 degrees. As soon as the humidity levels in your humidor hit 70%, you can then store your cigars and start the maintenance work.
