How to Take Care of Cigars

If you have a cigar collection or selection of cigars that you aren’t ready to smoke straight after buying, you’ll need to take care of them to keep your cigars in the best condition. 

Taking care of your cigars involves keeping the humidity and temperature right to ensure they don’t become too wet or dry, which can cause issues with the way they smoke. 

In our guide to cigar care, we share our top tips for caring for your cigars, so you can enjoy the perfect smoking experience every time.

Store Your Cigars Properly

When you begin collecting cigars, you’re inevitably going to find yourself with more than you can smoke. This is by no means a bad thing; the more, the merrier!

However, one of the most important things to take into account when it comes to cigar care is how you store your cigars.

Cigars are made primarily of two components: tobacco and water. This is why it’s essential that you store them consistently at the appropriate humidity. Too high and the cigars may begin to go mouldy; too low and your cigars could dry out, causing the wrapper to crack.

The appropriate humidity level is going to vary depending on the cigars in your collection, but the general ballpark for that perfect smoke is between 65-72% relative humidity.

Storing Cigars Short-Term

If you only smoke cigars on special occasions, or someone has given you some cigars as a gift, or you’re not sure if you’re looking to become a true collector just yet – whichever applies, odds are you’re not looking to store your cigars for a long period of time.

This likely means you’re also not looking to fork out for a decent humidor either, which is understandable. What’s not understandable is letting your cigars spoil.

If you’re planning on only storing your cigars for the short term, why not try:

• The plastic bag method.
• Using a humidity pouch.
• The Tupperware method.

Check out our blog below to discover how to do these methods:

Invest in a Humidor

For anyone looking to keep cigars for longer periods, either because you’re a collector or because you’re looking to age them, our advice is to invest in a decent humidor.

Humidors are storage containers specifically designed to keep their internal environment at a constant level of humidity. With the right upkeep, your humidor can keep your cigars in perfect smoking order for years!

Keep Your Humidor Half Full

Did you need an excuse to buy more cigars? Well, here you go!

The biggest challenge of owning a humidor is finding that tantalising sweet spot where the humidity level is just right. And once the humidity level has stabilised, you’ll want to do everything you can to keep it there.

To properly regulate the humidity levels within your humidor, you should aim to keep it half full at the very least and three-quarters full at the most.

Should You Keep Your Cigars Separated?

When cigars of different brands, flavours or strengths are stored together in a humid environment, the flavours and aromas inevitably begin to infuse with each other which alters the taste of the individual cigars. 

While it’s ultimately down to personal preference if this isn’t something you want, most aficionados will argue that you should keep your cigars separate to avoid this flavour mashup. 

Obviously, we’re not suggesting you spend hundreds on various humidors to keep all of your cigars separated, but we do recommend that you use cedar dividers that can slot into your humidors to stop the flavours from mixing. 

If you’d like more information on how to keep your cigars separate, check out our blog below. 

Rotate Your Cigars

You could buy the most perfectly functioning and high-spec humidor on the market today, and you’ll still face the same issue – some spots just don’t get as much humidity as others. 

While this is frustrating, there is a simple fix: rotating your cigars. 

Every two to three months, shuffle your cigars around inside your humidor, bringing the ones at the bottom to the top to ensure the best humidity distribution throughout your collection. 

Handle Your Cigars With Care

While they may look big and bulky, cigars can still be very easily damaged, particularly the wrapper.

If handled carelessly or inappropriately stored, the cigar wrapper can easily become split, cracked, or torn. If this happens, then your cigar may burn unevenly or leak smoke and ultimately spoil the entire experience.

While there are some methods to repair a cracked or split cigar, the best one is avoidance. Always check your cigars before you light them up to ensure they’re in tip-top shape and aren’t too dry.

Complete Monthly Humidor Maintenance

In a perfect world, your humidor would be able to do all of the work without any input from you. Alas, this is not the case.

While humidors can be left for long periods of time without much being done, it’s still important to carry out monthly humidor maintenance to make sure everything’s working as it should. The key things to do to keep your humidor happy are:

• Add distilled water/humidor fluid as needed – humidity is caused by moisture, and without it, your cigars will begin to dry and crack.
• Check for mould – mould on a single cigar is a simple fix, but mould in the humidor itself could then infect the entirety of your collection.
• Perform tests – particularly to test your humidor’s seal and the accuracy of its hydrometer.

By following these simple care tips, you should be able to keep your cigar collection in the best possible condition for years to come.

If you’re looking to expand your collection, or your humidor is just running a little low, why not check out our fantastic range of cigars online now with free standard delivery on orders over £50.