One of my friends recently started getting into smoking cigars. Of course if you buy and smoke it immediately, you don’t have to worry about storage. However, if you decide to buy a bunch to keep around on a rainy day, you need to know the right way to store them. My friend was totally unaware of how to store a cigar, so he just kept them on his dresser, out in the open. As soon as I found out, I quickly told him that he can’t do that. I mean he can, but his cigars will either dry out or in a worst case scenario, become infested with beetles.
Cigars must be stored properly to avoid deterioration. The first thing you need to know is that cigars must be stored in a humidor until they are ready to be smoked. There are tons of humidors out there to choose from, ranging from large to small (we have many cigar humidors on our site). A humidor basically controls the air flow to keep the humidity level between 70-75 percent. Keep in mind not to keep your cigars in an air-tight container, as this can cause a moldy environment without air circulation.
Keeping your cigars too dry or too moist can create bad conditions. The humidity level must be just right, and the temperature inside the humidor must be around 70 degrees. Anything below, and you risk drying out your cigars. Anything above, is grounds for beetle infestation. The microscopic larvae are embedded in the leaf and high temps or humidity allow them to hatch and destroy any cigar they are in.
Humidors are easy to maintain. All you need to do is make sure it is closed properly and make sure to add distilled water to the humidifying device periodically. Also, do not place your humidor in direct sunlight, like near a window where the sun shines in. This raises the internal temperature of the humidor.
