Cigar Box Material

[kurly]

Hey folks,

Are cigar boxes from Cuba made of Spanish Cedar? I have some RyJ, Partagas and Bolivar (empty ) kicking around and I don't know how to tell the difference. Information online has said that the boxes are either varnished or unvarnished cedar. Except for my Cohiba boxes, mine are all presumbly the unvarnished variety.

I would expect regular cedar boxes to have a cedar-y smell and Spanish (non-aromatic) to not have this smell.

Also, I've always been told (and have followed the advice) to never allow water to come into contact with cigar box cedar. The only reason that I can think of why this would be an issue is that it would likely warp it. Does anyone know any other reasons why this should be avoided?