Stop Fighting: The Truth About Storing Cigars Properly

Listen carefully.

One of the biggest frustrations we have as a cigar retailer is when someone spends good money on premium cigars, takes them home, ignores every piece of advice we give them, and then comes back a few months later saying their cigars are hard, burn poorly, won’t stay lit, or simply don’t taste the way they’re supposed to.

The truth?

The cigars aren’t the problem.

The humidor most of the time isn’t the problem.

And quite often, the humidification product isn’t the problem either.

The problem is improper storage.

More specifically, the problem is not following the advice we’re giving you when you buy those cigars.

We aren’t telling you these things because we like hearing ourselves talk.

We’re telling you because we want those cigars smoking exactly the way they’re supposed to smoke when you get them home.

We want them burning correctly.

We want them drawing correctly.

We want them tasting exactly the way the manufacturer intended.

Yet time after time, customers ignore the fundamentals, create problems inside their humidor, and then blame the cigars or us when things go wrong.

The reality is that most cigar smokers believe they know how to store cigars properly when, in fact, they’re doing far more harm than good.

The good news?

Proper cigar storage in a traditional wooden humidor is actually incredibly simple.

People just make it far more complicated than it needs to be.

Start by Filling the Humidor Correctly

Before we talk about humidity, humidity levels, or anything else, we need to talk about something most people completely overlook.

Volume.

A traditional humidor should not be packed completely full.

Believe it or not, air still needs room to move.

When you’re loading up your humidor, you should aim to fill approximately 80-85% of the available volume with cigars and leave roughly 15-20% open space for airflow.

That gives the humidor enough room to breathe while still allowing the cigars to help regulate humidity naturally.

As you smoke through those cigars and the humidor begins to empty, eventually you’ll reach a point where only about 40-50% of the humidor’s volume is occupied.

That is your signal to replenish what you smoked.

Don’t wait until there are only a handful of cigars left.

Once you fall below that 40-50% range, the humidor becomes increasingly difficult to regulate efficiently.

The cigars themselves are one of the biggest stabilizing factors inside the humidor.

The more volume they occupy, the more consistent the environment becomes.

The Biggest Mistake: Not Enough Cigars

This is the mistake we are able to determine by asking customers questions more than any other.

Someone buys a humidor advertised to hold a certain number of cigars.

Then they put a fraction of that amount inside and wonder why they constantly struggle with humidity issues.

Here’s what many people don’t realize:

When a manufacturer says a humidor holds 100 cigars, that number is typically based on a standard 5” x 50 ring gauge cigar.

That’s it.

Not a Toro.

Not a Churchill.

Not a Gordo.

So if you primarily smoke larger cigars, you’re never actually fitting the advertised number inside the humidor.

That is exactly why volume matters more than cigar count.

The amount of physical space occupied inside the humidor is what matters.

Not the number printed on the box.

And this leads directly into the biggest storage mistake.

Let’s use a simple example.

Imagine buying a humidor advertised to hold 100 cigars.

You place only five cigars inside.

Now those five cigars are sitting in a massive amount of empty space.

Most people respond by adding more humidification to get the humidity up.

More packs.

More devices.

More gadgets.

More moisture.

And that’s where the trouble begins.

The humidification system keeps working harder and harder trying to maintain the environment of the entire box.

Meanwhile those few cigars absorb excessive moisture.

Now they’re over-humidified.

They burn poorly.

They become difficult to draw.

They feel soft.

They smoke inconsistently.

And people blame the cigars.

The real problem is the imbalance they created.

A humidor works best when there is enough cigar volume inside to help stabilize the environment.

Think about it like a beer refrigerator.

Imagine a refrigerator that holds 100 bottles.

If you only place five bottles inside, the cooling system constantly cycles trying to maintain temperature.

Now imagine that same refrigerator with 50 bottles inside.

Those bottles help stabilize the internal temperature.

Everything becomes more efficient.

The motor works less.

The temperature stays more consistent.

A humidor works the same way.

Cigars help regulate humidity for each other.

The more properly occupied volume inside the humidor, the more stable the environment becomes.

This is why maintaining at least 40-50% occupancy by volume inside a traditional wooden humidor is important.

Once you fall below that point, it’s time to replenish your inventory.

The 70/70 Rule Isn’t the Whole Story

For years cigar smokers have repeated the famous “70 degrees and 70 percent humidity” rule.

And while it isn’t completely wrong, it’s often misunderstood.

The number most people ignore is relative humidity.

Relative humidity changes based on temperature.

As temperature rises, relative humidity naturally decreases.

As temperature falls, relative humidity rises.

That’s simply how relative humidity works.

In a traditional wooden humidor kept inside a normal home, chasing a perfect 70 degrees isn’t necessary.

What matters is maintaining a stable environment without constant up and down temperature changes.

Most homes already provide a perfectly acceptable temperature range for cigar storage.

What you should focus on is avoiding extremes and maintaining proper relative humidity for your cigars.

Many experienced smokers today actually prefer humidity levels below the 70% range because cigars often burn better, draw easier, and produce a more consistent smoking experience.

The important lesson is this:

Stop obsessing over hitting a perfect number.

Focus on maintaining a stable environment.

Consistency wins.

Stop Using Weird Humidification Methods

This is another area where people create unnecessary problems.

We’ve seen and heard everything:

Wet paper towels.

Tap water.

Sponges.

Shot glasses full of distilled water.

Homemade contraptions.

Electronic gadgets.

Fancy humidification systems.

Random solutions poured into random devices.

Stop.

You’re making something simple incredibly complicated.

One of the easiest and most effective solutions available today is a Boveda pack.

Simple.

Reliable.

Consistent.

No maintenance.

No guesswork.

No mess.

For most cigar smokers using traditional humidors, Boveda packs are the best solution available.

The guideline is straightforward:

One 60-gram Boveda pack for every 200 cubic inches of humidor volume.

Notice what we said.

Cubic inches.

Not cigar count.

This is where many people get confused.

Someone tells us:

“My humidor holds 100 cigars and I only have one Boveda pack.”

That tells us absolutely nothing.

We need to know the actual cubic inches.

If your humidor measures 450 cubic inches, you don’t use two packs, you use three packs because you’ve exceeded 400 cubic inches.

The sizing is based on volume, not cigar count.

But here’s the critical part:

Even the correct number of Boveda packs won’t work if the humidor is mostly empty.

The packs and the cigars work together.

One without the other creates imbalance.

Humidification isn’t about stuffing moisture into a box.

It’s about creating a stable environment.

Why We Care So Much

When we sell you cigars, we want those cigars smoking exactly the way the manufacturer intended.

We want them tasting their best.

Burning their best.

Drawing their best.

We want you enjoying every dollar you spent.

When we give storage advice, we’re not trying to make things complicated.

We’re trying to save you frustration.

Because the customers who listen almost never have problems.

The customers who argue almost always come back with the same complaints:

“My cigars got hard.”

“They won’t burn right.”

“The draw is tight.”

“They don’t taste the same.”

Almost every time, the issue traces back to storage.

Not the cigar.

Not the humidor.

Storage.

The Bottom Line

Humidor storage isn’t difficult.

Fill the humidor properly.

Start around 80-85% full.

Leave a little room for airflow.

Replenish inventory when you drop to roughly 40-50% occupied volume.

Use the proper number of Boveda packs based on cubic inches.

Keep your environment stable.

Stop chasing numbers.

Stop overcomplicating the process.

And most importantly:

When your cigar retailer who knows what they’re doing gives you advice on storage, listen.

We want your cigars smoking perfectly just as much as you do.

Follow these simple principles and your cigars will stay fresher, smoke better, burn better, and provide the experience you paid for in the first place.

Humidification is simple.

The best thing you can do is stop making it complicated.