My Journey Into the World of Cigars

I still remember when I first started collecting cigars.

Until then, I had only smoked the occasional cigar at a wedding or while on vacation. I didn’t really know what I liked, how to choose a good cigar, or—more importantly—how to properly enjoy one.

Around that time, I came across a cigar advertisement in one of the local papers and ordered a promotional sampler from an online catalog. The day the package arrived, I eagerly took one of the cigars with me on an evening walk. It was a breezy summer night, and I fired up a CAO Cameroon Robusto.

It was beautiful.

The toasted, nutty flavor rolled across my tongue, and I was sold. Within a week, I had ordered a box of the recently released AVO Caribe Toros.

My adventure had begun. I was officially a cigar collector.

My goal here is to share some of the lessons I learned through my own trials and tribulations as a cigar enthusiast. Hopefully, I can save you some of the time, money, and frustration I experienced when I was getting started.

One of my first mistakes was buying an arched glass-top humidor that caught my eye online. I still like the way it looks and occasionally show it off to friends, but I quickly discovered that owning a traditional humidor was more complicated than simply putting cigars inside it.

Once it arrived, I learned that it needed to be seasoned before I could use it. I also became convinced that I needed to keep it at least two-thirds full in order to maintain stable humidity. This was a problem because the humidor was advertised as holding roughly 150 cigars, and I owned nowhere near that many.

So I did what any new and overly enthusiastic cigar collector might do: I started frantically combing through the bargain bins of one of the large online cigar retailers.

My goal at the time was less about quality and more about filling the humidor. I ordered several bundles of inexpensive cigars, including a bundle of Rocky Patel Po' Boys, which I would recommend for the money, and another bundle of unbranded Po' Boys, which I definitely would not.

I also bought an assortment of inexpensive humidification devices and accessories.

Once everything arrived, however, another lesson became obvious: humidor capacity ratings can be wildly optimistic.

There was absolutely no way my "150-count" humidor was going to comfortably hold 150 cigars unless every cigar inside it was unusually small and packed together like sardines. In practical use, I found that somewhere around 45 to 60 cigars was much more realistic.

Before long, I had cigars crammed into the humidor and extras stuffed into little zip-top bags. Unfortunately, many of the bargain cigars I had purchased simply to fill space turned out to be barely worth smoking.

Lesson learned: don't buy bad cigars just to fill a humidor, and don't take advertised humidor capacity too literally.

After everything was finally seasoned and set up, I ran into another problem. My cigars seemed to be drying out much faster than expected.

As it turns out, many traditional wooden humidors are not particularly airtight. Glass-top humidors can be even worse because the glass introduces another potential point for humidity to escape. In my case, I was able to improve the seal considerably by applying a thin bead of silicone sealant around the inside perimeter of the glass.

That helped, but it still wasn't the ideal solution.

It wasn't until months later, after reading countless articles and watching far too many YouTube videos, that I realized I would have been much better off starting with something far simpler: a large airtight plastic container and a few Boveda packs.

In cigar circles, this setup is usually called a "Tupperdor."

It may not have the same old-world charm as a Spanish cedar chest sitting on a bookshelf, but for most beginners—especially budget-conscious ones—it is incredibly difficult to beat.

A good airtight container is inexpensive, holds humidity extremely well, requires almost no maintenance, and can easily be expanded as your collection grows. It's also useful even after you've moved on to more elaborate storage. Plenty of experienced cigar smokers still use Tupperdors for overflow, aging, or separating different parts of their collections.

The difference in humidification efficiency can be dramatic. A Boveda pack that may last only a few months in a traditional wooden humidor can potentially last far longer in a well-sealed plastic container because so little moisture escapes.

More importantly, the entire system is nearly maintenance-free.

Some cigar enthusiasts genuinely enjoy constantly checking humidity levels, calibrating hygrometers, experimenting with beads and gels, seasoning cedar, and tweaking their storage systems.

I did too—for about two months.

Eventually, though, I realized that I wasn't collecting humidification equipment. I was collecting cigars.

Unless you run a cigar shop or simply enjoy making humidor maintenance part of the hobby, you probably don't want to spend your time constantly worrying about whether your hygrometer is three percentage points off or whether your humidification device needs to be refilled.

The point of a good storage system is to disappear into the background.

Your cigars should be ready when you want them, and your time and money should be spent enjoying them rather than babysitting the box they're stored in.

If I were starting my collection again today, I would skip the fancy humidor entirely—at least at first.

I'd buy a good airtight container, a couple of Boveda packs, and, most importantly, a smaller number of cigars I was actually excited to smoke.