How do really old cigars survive ?

[Bruce T.]

My experience over the past several years has taught me that to keep the RH constant it is important to have a good seal on your humidor or whatever you are using for long-term storage. That is why so many experienced cigar people use Tupperware or winadors. So here's my question.

There are these beautiful, old, wooden humidors hat have cigars stored in them for decades. They are sometimes sold at actions for huge sums of money. I find it had to believe that the cigars were closely monitored over the many months and years they were in storage. If they ever dried out, even once, then the quality would greatly suffer. If anyone can enlighten me on how these 20 or 30 year old cigars maintain their quality when they are stored in wooden humidors that often don't have sophisticated seals on the lids, I'd love to understand. If they are stored in a cigar vault with fancy humidity control then I understand how they would age well, but that does not always seem to be the case.

 

[THEMISCHMAN]

My best answer to your question isn't a matter of sophistication so much as it's a matter of attention. A humidor containing old cigars going for a mint at auction would have to have some sort of documentation as to the state of the cigars. Then again, never underestimate someone with more money than sense. Regarding humidors, in general, they aren't necessarily inferior vessels for the storage of cigar, so much as, there are better options out there. A person who lives in an area with a higher RH probably isn't as concerned about maintaining humidity as a person who lives in, say, Phoenix. Similarly, the guy in Phoenix is more concerned with temperature control than the guy who lives Pennsylvania and keeps his stash in the basement. There is a good possibility that the old humidors that you're referring to are a handmade product of all Spanish Cedar or other suitable wood. Most of us today are more familiar with cheap humidors from China.

 

[Bruce T.]

When I was pondering the question and decided to post it I was thinking of all the trouble I have had with various desk top humidors. I forgot that some people live in parts of the world where active humidity management is not even necessary. I live in Ontario and the summers are 80-90 deg with lots of humidity. The winters are well blow freezing for a full 4 months so the air in my house is about 20% RH. The wooden humidors were a constant challenge. I had to see to them every few days to insure that they were staying in range.
The first time I traveled to Cuba and went into a Habanos shop I was surprised that their cigars were just out on shelves and not in a big walk-in. Then I realized that the whole country is a big humidor with a climate that is perfect for cigar storage. Anyway, I still think many of the old cigars I hear about must have dried out at some point unless they were well cared for throughout.

 

[Craig Mac]

You'll never know how well they were kept, and chances are they saw some fluctuation in humidity over the years. I can tell you that personally I have kept cigars for 7-8 years and there are probably some on this forum that have kept cigars a hell of a lot longer than I have. If you care about the cigars you can maintain them fairly easily, even with less than optimal storage.