Cigar Blog

Happiness is a good cigar

Spanish Cedar For Humidors

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When it comes to humidors, the foremost material that comes to mind is Spanish Cedar. This wood has long been established as the best lining for humidors. This is because of the fact that Spanish Cedar has the tendency to absorb moisture, giving it the ability to restore moisture within the humidor, which is ideal for cigars.

But did you know that Spanish Cedar is technically not cedar? As a matter of fact, it comes from the mahogany family. If you look at it, you will see a salmon red tight-grained wood. The aroma is very nice and spicy, making you want to smell it more. 
Another piece of trivia – Spanish Cedar is used not only for humidors but also for other building materials as lining.

Another advantage of using Spanish Cedar for humidors is its natural ability to resist molds. This is very important as no one would want any mold formation inside his humidor! In addition to this, Spanish Cedar is also resistant to tobacco beetles! Anyone who has had an experience with these nasty little critters will know just how important this is.

In modern times, however, developments in technology have made the use of other materials possible. Electronics and plastic have been used to treat cigars without the need for Spanish Cedar. As such, you will find many humidors today that do not make use of this wood at all.

That is not to say that you cannot find humidors made of Spanish Cedar. While this wood may not be a require material, many still find humidors made of it desirable over those using modern materials.

Originally posted on January 31, 2011 @ 5:23 pm

Don’t Forget To Season Your Humidor

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At this point, I hope that you have decided as to whether to age your cigars or not. If you have decided to age your cigars, then you should be in the market for a humidor already – if you have not already bought one. Before you jump ahead and start storing your cigars in your new humidor, however, you should remember to season your humidor. One of the worst mistakes that you can make is to use that brand spanking new humidor without seasoning it! So how do you do this? Read on to find out.

First, why do you need to season your humidor? This is because the cedar that is the material used for the humidor also absorbs moisture. Brand new humidors and old humidors that have not been used in a while need to be seasoned because the cedar does not have sufficient moisture itself. What will happen is that the wood will actually GET moisture from your cigars if you use the humidor without seasoning it.

In order to season your humidor, you have to get distilled water. Remember, it should be distilled and not tap water. Get a sponge and wet it with the distilled water. Then you should wipe down the whole inside of the humidor. After this, put the sponge – which should not be too saturated – on top of a piece of plastic inside the humidor. Then follow the manufacturer’s instructions as to how to fill your humidifying device. Wait for 24 hours, repeat the sponging process, and then wait another 24 hours.

It should then be fine to use your humidor. Just make sure that the insides are not damp.

Originally posted on November 22, 2010 @ 8:07 pm

Got A Plug In Your Cigar?

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Before we go any further, do you have the vaguest idea what I am talking about? What are plugs in relation to cigars? Think about it, what does a plug do?

Now that I have got your brain working, let me help you out a little bit. Imagine yourself lighting up a cigar, excitement running through you…suddenly, when you inhale to take the draw, you seem to be having a lot of difficulty drawing the air in. What has happened? The chances are that you got a plug in your cigar.

So basically, a plug is a blockage that can sometimes occur when a cigar is manufactured. This is not the fault of anyone, really. These things just happen. There can be many reasons for a plug. One common reason, though, is that when a piece of leaf gets caught up with a stray stem and then they get pack too tightly before the cigar is rolled. The result is that this combination will block the air during the draw.

What can be done about this? The most common thing that seasoned cigar smokers do is that they massage the cigar which has a plug. Of course, this should be done very gently and very carefully. An additional suggestion would be to moisten your fingers a little bit before massaging the cigar. This would help keep the wrapper moist enough and not crack easily.

If it doesn’t work, then I suggest you get another cigar.

Originally posted on August 24, 2008 @ 7:56 am