Hello and welcome to the Humidor edition of the Puff FAQ series. In this article, a companion piece to the Puff Guide to Humidors, I will be answering some common – and uncommon – questions users have about humidors, whether they be related to temperature, troubleshooting, or something as simple as whether or not it is ok to keep your humidor empty.
 

In these FAQs I usually use the format of answering a newbie question, then answering the question of a veteran. In this article I am going to do away with this structure and just get straight to the questions and answers. That being said, here is our first one:

Question: Is it okay to keep my humidor empty?

Answer: Yes, with a caveat or two. First, you will still need to keep an eye on your humidity and ensure that the humidity level remains constant. If your humidor is well-seasoned, you should be all right. If the RH level does begin to drop in a big way, it is not the end of the world. Simple recharge the humidor and all will be right in the world.

Question: Should I store tubos and cellos in my humidor?

Answer: It does not hurt. The thing to keep in mind is the purpose of tubos and cellos; that is, they protect your cigar. They protect it from being torn or snagged, but also protect it from the air, and therefore the aging process.

I suggest a simple method when storing tubos and cellos. If it is a tubo, you can do one of two things: take the cigar entirely out of its tube and place both it and the tube in the humidor, allowing it to age. This way, you can simply put it back in its tube if you want to take it out with you, ensuring it will not get damaged. Or, you can simply uncork the tube, leaving the cigar inside, which should allow it to age as well. The choice is yours.

I would do a similar method with a cello; you can either completely remove it from the wrapper (being very careful of course, so that you do not rip it), or you can just open up the end of the cellophane, allowing it to “breathe”. This way, when you are ready to take it out and about with you, you can just reseal the top.

Question: Should I keep my cigars in the box when I place them in the humidor?

Answer: It does not hurt to do so, so long as you keep the lid of the box slightly open (you can use a small piece of divider board to do this). In addition to aging your cigars, the box will also add some more of that cedar flavoring to the cigars in your humidor.