Although you may not know it, every new ... fresh ... cigar contains a certain amount of moisture. It's embedded right there in the tobacco that has been used in the cigar making process and it's important to keep it there right up until the time you actually smoke the cigar.

It can be some time between when the cigar is made and you actually find it resting in your favorite cigar store and then at your home. Everyone along that supply chain has gone to a lot of trouble to keep that moisture content right there in the cigar. They understand that a cigar that retains its moisture retains its freshness and that makes for a very happy cigar smoker when he or she lights up.

One of the ways cigars are kept humidified during shipping is to ship them so they are literally wet. You could almost squeeze water out of them. Obviously, a cigar this wet cannot be smoked. Some people refer to these as "fresh" cigars. This type of fresh cigar is for the survival of shipping, rather than the joy of smoking. That is not what we are referring to as a fresh cigar.

We want you to be able to keep your cigars in good condition until you smoke them. If they get too dried out, you will have an unpleasant smoking experience.

You do want your box of cigars to last a little longer than one night and you do want them to stay fresh so you need to know how to store them so that they retain that moisture content. There are a number of ways you can store your cigars when you get home and we'll have a look at some of those right now.